u/Ann_georgia-

I got my first Brixadi injection 27 days ago and have my second injection later today. Unfortunately, my first injection was a really difficult experience. I have a severe needle phobia but I’ve gotten way better overtime, and the injection was much more painful than I expected. I almost fainted and threw up, which has never happened to me before, even with my phobia. I'm curious what injection site others have used and whether you noticed a difference in pain. My first injection was in my hip/upper butt area. Has anyone had it in their abdomen, and if so, did you find it more or less painful? Part of me likes the hip area because I can't see the needle, but I'm wondering if the abdomen might hurt less. I also think I’m gonna try to bring an ice pack. I'd appreciate hearing others' experiences.

⭐️Any guidance or advice appreciated!!⭐️

Backstory: it took months to get on the medication and I had to do all the work calling insurance, multiple specialty pharmacies, and my provider. It was a mess and took forever. Luckily, I did all the work and I finally got on it three weeks ago. Also, my clinic is impossible to get a hold of to the point where I have to drive down there just to talk to them sometimes.

My first Brixadi injection was about 3 weeks ago. My provider told me I could receive my next dose at the 21-day mark, and that was the plan I’ve been following. I started experiencing minor withdrawal symptoms at day 13. I have a supplemental films, but I absolutely do not want to take them. Everyone says mind over matter and I have been pushing through. I kept telling myself I just had to make it to 21 days.

Now, literally one day before my scheduled appointment, I’m being told that something “went wrong on their end” and I likely won’t be able to get the injection until the 28-day mark.

They can’t seem to do their job. They sent the prescription to the wrong pharmacy. The only reason everyone figured that out was because I did the digging they had no idea. I would’ve showed up to my appointment and they would’ve been like oops the medication hasn’t arrived. Only because I told them, they resent the prescription to the correct pharmacy. The pharmacy says they have received the prescription, but insurance is rejecting it as too early. There has also been confusion between the clinic and pharmacy about what was submitted and when, and I’m not getting a clear explanation of what actually happened or where the breakdown is.

What’s making this especially hard:
I was originally told 21 days was possible
I started having withdrawal-type symptoms around day 13
I only found out about the issue right before my scheduled dose
I’m getting vague or conflicting explanations from different parts of the system
I was told something was “messed up on their end” but not what

I’m trying to understand if anyone has experienced something similar:
Has insurance ever denied a 21-day Brixadi dose even if a provider said it was okay?
Were you able to get a prior authorization override or appeal approved quickly?
Did any savings/copay programs actually help in situations like this?
Or did you end up having to wait the full 28 days?
Is the only answer paying out-of-pocket or waiting?
I’m not trying to bypass treatment. I’m trying to stay stable and avoid withdrawal while everything gets sorted out.
Any experiences or advice would really help.

I am so frustrated right now and honestly just need to vent.
It took me almost 3 months to get approved for Brixadi. During that process, I felt like I was doing all the work myself. I was constantly calling my insurance company, multiple pharmacies, and my provider's office because nobody seemed to know what was going on. If I didn't make the calls, nothing moved forward. I finally got my first injection 3 weeks ago and my next injection appointment is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The only reason I even discovered there was a problem was because my clinic accidentally scheduled me for TWO appointments, one today and one Wednesday. When I called to figure out why, they told me today's appointment was being canceled because my injection wasn't there and wouldn't arrive in time.
That immediately worried me because my actual injection appointment is less than 48 hours away.
I asked if my medication would be there by Wednesday morning, and before I got an answer, the call disconnected. I then called my specialty pharmacy directly and was told they had not received anything from my provider. So now I'm sitting here trying to understand how my injection appointment is less than two days away when the specialty pharmacy says they haven't even received the prescription yet. As far as I know, the prescription hasn't been processed, insurance hasn't been run, and the delivery process hasn't even started. I got a hold of the front desk at my clinic and they said they apologize. They have no idea what’s going on.
I've already been dealing with withdrawal symptoms and have been pushing through because I've been looking forward to getting my next injection. I’m just furious right now. Has anyone dealt with anything similar?

I wanted to share my experience/ compare to others.
I have always had a pretty significant fear of needles, but before Brixadi I had never passed out, gotten dizzy, nauseous, or had any kind of vasovagal reaction from an injection. I could usually get through shots even if I was anxious. My fear is mostly IV’s!
When I got my first Brixadi injection, I wasn't prepared for how large the needle was, how deep it had to go, or how slowly the medication would be injected. During the injection I became extremely dizzy, nauseous, lightheaded, my ears started ringing, my vision went black, and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. I also had pretty intense pain at the injection site during/afterward. My next injection is coming up, and I'm trying to figure out ways to make it easier. I'm considering bringing an ice pack or maybe an instant cold pack since the clinic is about a 20-minute drive away and it can take another 30 minutes before I'm actually called back.
Has anyone found that icing the area beforehand helped? Any other tips for preventing the dizziness, nausea, or pain? I'd really appreciate hearing what has worked for others.

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for other people's experiences switching from sublingual buprenorphine to Brixadi. I did make a post a few days ago when I was panicked.
I was on 24 mg/day of buprenorphine strips before switching. This is my first Brixadi injection. Things were mostly okay at first, but around day 13 after my shot I started having symptoms that feel a lot like withdrawal.
I'm currently on day 15 and have 6 days until my second injection (my next injection is at the 3-week mark).
My symptoms include:
excessive sweating (including waking up drenched at night)
chills/hot-cold flashes
diarrhea
stomach cramping
restlessness
feeling generally uncomfortable/gross
My provider gave me 4 mg strips to use as emergency supplementation if needed, but I've made it this far without taking any.
The frustrating part is that it took almost 48 hours to hear back from my provider. They finally responded and said it's safe to use the strips, but they also offered comfort medications instead:
Loperamide for diarrhea
Clonidine or Gabapentin for sweats/chills
Ondansetron (Zofran) for GI upset
Hydroxyzine for sleep/anxiety
They also said my next injection date and dose are staying the same for now.
I'm trying to avoid supplementing with strips if possible because I really want to make this transition work, but I also don't want to be miserable for the next 6 days.
Im wondering:
Did you use the supplemental strips?
Did you try comfort medications instead?
Was clonidine or gabapentin more helpful?
Did you try other medication’s that helped?
Did things improve after your second or third injection?
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through something similar. Also, I’m going out of town the last week in July which should be my fourth shot, but I’ll be gone the entire third week so at that point, I’ll need to get my shot four weeks out instead of three. I was really hoping I would be one of the people that didn’t experience symptoms.

Looking for experiences from people on Brixadi.
I'm almost 2 weeks out from my first monthly Brixadi injection. My next shot is scheduled in 8 days.
The first 2 weeks were mostly okay. I had some night sweats, but I was having those before the shot too. Today, though, I've been feeling increasingly restless. As the day went on, I developed diarrhea, sweats/chills, and a really uncomfortable restless feeling. I feel so gross that I haven't even been able to eat dinner. I was on 8mg/3X a day so 24mg/day of films for like 5 years.
My provider gave me some supplemental films and told me to use them if I felt bad, but I'm really struggling with the idea of taking one. I know that probably sounds irrational, but I worked hard to get approved for Brixadi and I was hoping not to need any films anymore.
For people who experienced withdrawal symptoms before their next shot:
Did you end up needing supplemental films?
If you took one, did it help?
Did needing a film mean you had to keep taking them every day until your next injection?
Did your provider adjust your dose or schedule afterward?
I'm especially interested in hearing from people who had symptoms around the 2-week mark. I'm feeling pretty discouraged and anxious right now. I just want to cry. I’m so mad at myself

For those of you who do recurring weekly drop-ins on Rover, how do you make your schedules work?
I just got a request that may start as 1 day/week and eventually become multiple days/week. The client mentioned a preferred time, but I also have other bookings and my schedule isn't always identical week to week. Do you require flexibility on recurring visits? If so, what kind of time window do you give clients (e.g., plus or minus an hour, a 2-hour window, etc.)? I'm especially curious because while I'm more available over the summer, I still have existing bookings, occasionally travel, and can't always guarantee I'll be available at the exact same time every single week. For example, I'll be out of town for a week later this summer, and I start nursing school back up again in late August, so my availability will likely change after that. I definitely will let them know that my availability will change and I clearly state that in my profile as well. For those of you who do recurring drop-ins, how do you handle schedule changes, vacations, school, other jobs, or just life in general? Do most clients expect the exact same time every week, or are they usually flexible as long as the visit happens within an agreed-upon window? As for me being gone on vacation for a week, that’s definitely a week I won’t be able to do.
Anyway, I'd love to hear how other sitters manage this.

Pet sitter peeve: arriving to a two week sit with a completely full dishwasher
Am I the only one who dreads this? I can unload plates and cups, but then there are 40 random bowls, travel mug parts, plastic lids, cutting boards, food storage containers, etc. and I have no idea where any of it belongs. On longer sits, it leaves me trying to decide whether to unload an entire stranger's kitchen or just hand-wash everything for the duration of the booking. Also I can never find a sponge or dish brush. If you're hiring a house sitter, please give them an empty dishwasher (or at least enough room to put their dishes in it)!

I've been on Rover for a little under a year. When I joined, most house sitters in my area seemed to be charging around $45–65/night. I started at $65 and gradually increased my rates as I got more reviews and repeat clients. I currently have 60 five-star reviews, which is high for my area. There are around 200 sitters near me, and roughly 160 of them have fewer than 25 reviews. My current rate is $95/night with a $50 additional dog fee. For the Fourth of July, I set my holiday rate at $150/night, which felt pretty aggressive for my market since many sitters around me have holiday rates closer to $70–80. I just got a booking that comes out to around $200/night, and I'm honestly shocked. The owners are great, the pets are low maintenance, and it's one of those bookings that makes me feel proud of how far I've come in less than a year. One thing I've noticed is that a lot of sitters in my area seem to keep their rates lower and pretty consistent over time, even after getting a good number of reviews. I've also noticed some people charge more for drop-ins than I would expect compared to their overnight rates. I'm not saying anyone's pricing is wrong. Everyone has different goals but I'm curious how other sitters think about raising rates. Do you increase them regularly as demand grows, or do you prefer to keep them stable? For me, I can’t imagine not raising my rates after I get a consistent amount of reviews and my experience grows.

I know Rover pushes clients to book with multiple sitters and I get that. But what’s been so frustrating lately is I get a bunch of different requests for like holidays and two seconds after they sent the request, I’m typing up a response back, and then five seconds later I get “never mind” or “cancel” or “disregard”. I’m curious from the owners perspective why you would do that? Is it because another sitter answered? Is it because you didn’t realize the total holiday price or additional pet price? Is it because you accidentally sent the message when you were just trying to browse? Like why would you send a request and then five seconds later, change your mind. It obviously hurts the sitter‘s metrics because they have to archive it. It’s happened to me quite a bit recently. It just seems to be a lot more common recently. I’m wondering if it’s my price but honestly, I think my price is pretty reasonable for my experience. I am on the higher side for price, but my experience is also a lot greater than most people in my area. There’s a lot of new sitters in my area! Only a total of 16 sitters available for house sits July 4th week that have over 25 reviews in my area, which is crazy.

I'm curious what other Rover sitters would do in this situation.
I have a repeat client who books me fairly regularly (about twice every other week). They pay my full rate, which is on the higher side for my area, but they've never tipped or left a review (I get that it isn’t expected but I do receive a lot of tips in my area). They're easy to work with and I've never had any issues with them. Today they canceled a walk just a few hours before the visit because their partner was able to stay with the dog instead. My cancellation policy would have allowed me to keep 50% of the booking, but Rover also gave me the option to waive it. I ended up waiving the fee because they're a regular client and I wanted to maintain goodwill. They only canceled one other time so far. They thanked me and acknowledged the inconvenience.
My question is: what would you have done?
Do you generally enforce cancellation fees even for good repeat clients? Do you make exceptions occasionally? If so, how do you decide when to waive it and when to stick to your policy?
Part of me feels like keeping the 50% would have been completely fair because I had reserved the time. Another part of me feels like being flexible once in a while is worth it for a client who books consistently. Also, I don’t think this client would’ve said anything if I didn’t waive it. I have had other clients ask to waive it and that made me uncomfortable.
Interested to hear how other sitters handle this.

So I’ve been going back-and-forth with my insurance company, my provider & clinic, and like 10 different specialty pharmacies. It’s taken 2 1/2 months to figure out, but I finally got accepted and approved for the Brixadi shot. Since I hit Max out-of-pocket, everything is free, but starting next year, I will have a 30% deductible. Anyways, I’ve been on 8 mg films/3X per day, of Suboxone for about 5+ years now. I noticed when I go longer like when I wake up in the morning and I haven’t had my film that I get really sweaty and I start to have minimal symptoms of withdrawal. I am terrified of withdrawing again. It was one of the worst things I’ve gone through and I’ve gone through a lot of horrible things in my life. I’m 24. I’m really nervous that there will be some withdrawal effects just switching from the films to the shot. After I switch over slowly, I’m gonna go down. My goal is to eventually get off the shot very slowly! I have the summer off from school, which is why I thought it would be the perfect time to switch, but I still am working. Does anyone have encouraging words or experiences that were positive that they could inform me about? I’m getting my first shot later today. Very, very, very nervous for everything.

So I’m finishing up a long booking of drop ins on a particular cat. This cat is very reactive and aggressive. Luckily I do have experience. Although I wouldn’t lie to say my heart didn’t drop every time I walked through the door! I had to use protective measures like shields to get by the cat did swing every time but luckily, since I had that barrier, it didn’t get to me. The cat charged at me once or twice and vocalized that it was very unhappy that I was there screaming at me. The cat doesn’t like anyone, but the owner and the owner does know this. The owner is nice and understanding. I want to be honest in my review, but I don’t wanna be super harsh. Does anyone have any recommendations? I was thinking something like this, but I don’t know. “Kitty is an anxious cat who is not comfortable with unfamiliar people and may react defensively during visits. I had the best success giving her space, avoiding direct interaction, and using barriers when needed for safety. She preferred to observe from a distance and was more relaxed when her routine was kept consistent. This kitty would be a better fit for a sitter experienced with fearful or reactive cats.” I’d like to put something positive in there. I just don’t really know what to say. The cat really doesn’t like people is not motivated by food. It’s not motivated by toys and I think the only time the cat is ever relaxed was when I wasn’t there.