No Withdrawals From Suboxone
Before I rant; keep in mind suboxone is a “good” thing…if used correctly. I used it to get off of oxy and vics and to cut off the lifestyle I was living completely. It worked for me. Been off the sub for a long while now and for me; I just don’t have any desire, let alone any cravings for any opiates.
NO WITHDRAWALS FROM SUBOXONE WHEN YOU TAPER….
People ask me about my taper and for additional suggestions. What I have or had written down in my Taper 101 post was my final taper, the literal last step. It was not my first attempt to taper down to like zero before I jumped off. Before I took this final decline, taper or what ever you want to f-ing call it; I went up, down, sideways, couple donkey kicks and so on when it came to my dosing…and the reason of course was…cause I didn’t want to go thru withdrawals.
My Doctor, who in a way was just great because she just went with what I wanted to do…was also being though a patronizing hypocrit, but in a nice way I guess. “Brian, you have been on the suboxone along time now, you have been at 1mg or 2mg a day for a while…” She goes on to say with her heavy educated middle eastern accent (that was kind of hot and so was she) “Brian….see, you are down to such a small dose of the suboxone that it is all mental, you won’t feel any withdrawal symptons especially at the dose you are at, it’s all in your head, but what ever you want to do, you tell me”. “What ever I want to do….”…*lol* “Well, lets see, I want to rent a UH-1 Huey and fly around Southern California and or Garden Grove with a loud speaker and firecrackers…” (I know a little out there and I am kidding…I think)
I thought it was funny that my Doctor asked my girlfriend to come in with me on d-day minus whatever it was (which my gf had gone with me before); I think though at this time it was more to give me that push that I needed cause really I wanted to stop and get off the suboxone but I did need a little knudge or a 5 pound steel candle holder to the forehead. I had some questions though, that I had asked a hundred times before but I was a little more direct and specific this time. So I asked the following (or we did).
- “Are you serious, because I have tapered so much I might not feel ANYTHING, like NO withdrawals, nothing”?…She answered “Yes Brian…at the dose you are at (which was like .25mg in the am and .25mg in the evening or even less) the suboxone shouldn’t even be working anymore or doing anything for you”.
- “How many of your patients have successfuly quit suboxone and have any of them complained about withdrawals”? Her answer to me was “Alot of my patients have started and stopped the suboxone and I haven’t had any major complaints yet”.
- My girlfriend jumped in and asked “Out of those people that have successfuly stopped suboxone, how many have relapsed on either opiates or the suboxone and or have stopped and you haven’t heard from again”… OH SHIT…DING, check mate on that questions. My Doctor was like a deer caught in the headlights of life ”Uh, times up, we talk again soon ok, call me if you need anything”…(Like what would I need? A tranquelizer gun for myself when I jump off the suboxone?) Fucking hillarious,… I thought. I literally laughed to myself and thought ”Oh boy…Im fucked”.
To be told to your face that there is ZERO withdrawals from suboxone is just wrong in the literal and sarcastic sense. It’s like aguing the color of the sky “The sky is blue”…. “No the sky is Black”…. “NO, the SKY IS BLUE!”…and so on… The sky of course is blue but, put into a dark room with sleep deprivation listening to Journey for a couple years and being told “The sky is black and drives a 87 Nissan Pathfinder and it will pay all your bills”…. you’ll eventually believe it. It’s the BS with a benefit kind of thinking; if I am getting the milk for free, who cares where the cow shits (*L*). My point in being is that you’re gonna want to believe what your doctor says even when everyone else says the opposite, even by sure experience. Bottom line, suboxone is a great tool to put it in neutral stress free and cruise….but cruise knowing you are going down a hill that either way your brakes are working at 10% and you’re fucked when you hit that wall at the bottom. It’ll suck either way, but it’s better than the unknown rollercoaster ride of opiates.
Unfortunately, you can minimize the damage of the suboxone withdrawal syndromes by tapering but it’s like equivicating it to a full nuclear strike versus a small tactical one, either ways it’s gonna be a f-ing mess. There is no way a doctor, good or bad can look you in the face and tell you that “If taken exactly as I am going to prescribe this and going by my comic book dosing guide and BMW Owners Manual, you will feel no withdrawals or maybe just a slight discomfort for a day or so”… If have a cool Doctor who will work with you and “LISTEN” to you, they’ll take what I suggest you say with a grain of salt, if they suck and have a stuffed dolphin on the wall and a squirrel on their head it might not go so well…either way…who cares… Tell them the following if in the event you are given this line of shit from the aforementioned ”You sir/mam are full of shit…..but…what can you give or precribe me beofore I jump off the suboxone to put down a large elephant for about 12-14 days”….
I hope everyone understands that 1/2 of this is true and 1/2 of this is satire or more elegantly put “a fucking joke” to a certain degree. I tried to have fun with this so you, like me wouldn’t stress from all the bullshit sites out there either telling you “you’re gonna be totally fine and running a marathon 2 days after you quite suboxone” or “You’re fucked and it’s all over, join AA and find the Easter Bunny… On a serious note in regards to the Doctors; if you are going to prescribe something, know what the fuck it is and what the side effects are or at the least tell people what to expect. Granted it is a GREAT new line of hope when it comes to prescription aids to help people with opiate dependency; the drug is on the up and up but the doctors are on the dumb and blind train it seems…alot.
No Withdrawals from Suboxone?
Yes, you will go thru some kind of withdrawals and either way they will suck… If you do taper, it can be a hell of alot better though and it feel just like the flu (bad flu for a while) versus Hell revisited.
This whole post, info or whatever is in response to alot of e-mails asking me if there was a way to get off of suboxone “withdrawal free”. From my experience and countless others that have contacted me, regarding this question…the answer is “No, you can’t walk Scott free…it’ll suck” but you can atleast contain the damage if you take your time and taper slow. Remember though why you took suboxone, understand that YOU made this choice (with help from family or on your own)… and if you got your life back on track… THAT IS THE WHOLE FUCKING point… So yes, it’ll be shitty, but hopefully it’ll be the last straw for you and you can walk away from this whole experience… I did and have. This was updated (9/4/09) and I have been good since 08 with out even the slightest thought of even looking down the opiate road again.
Hoped this helped even though it was depressing and not very positive…
“Better to be prepaired then un-aware”
Brian
Suboxone Taper
P.S.
There are alot of Doctors out there, like mine that just kicked ass and worked with me. I look back and realize my doctor told me what “I WANTED TO HEAR, cause I probably would have just went on”. I want to thank my doctor here in So-California and also Doctor Jeff Junig (www.suboxonetalkzone.com) who helped me ALOT. Just a great guy…and friend…and I mean this guy was a friend to me and still is.
Comments (436)
sorry for thr duplication
Hi everyone
I am looking for some advice, My boyfriends in reducing his does on suboxone with out being monitor by a DR. I am thinking maybe he need to talk to a Psychiatrists
because he will not go see his docotor again. Any suggestions?
Hey everyone
I am looking for advice. My boyfriend is now reducing his doses of Suboxone and stop going to his meeting. I feel like he needs to be monitor by a Dr or be talking to a Psychiatrists
any suggestions?
Hello Friends!
The common denominator here is that everyone wants to avoid feeling bad or experiencing withdrawal. The only way to do that with subox is to taper.
The strength in why subox can have a lasting effect where you no longer crave narcotics is when you are on it at least 6 months. Anything less and you run the risk of using again, at least statistically speaking. People that taper on subox for 6+ months have an 85% rate of NEVER USING AGAIN. They have been conducting studies in Europe on subox and relapse rates for years.
If you seriously want to break the cycle, then you need to experience being stuck on subox until you gradually taper it out of your system. That’s as complicated as it is.
If you are simply using subox between fixes or to temporarily avoid withdrawal you are not in the correct place mentally to quit.
How many times have you completed a brutal withdrawal week or two and said, “I’ll never go through that again?” Then a few weeks or months later you are on narcotics again? Probably every single person on this site has gone through this cycle too many times to remember at this point.
Painkillers are always going to rear their ugly head. What I mean is, you may quit and give yourself credit for staying clean for a week or two or months. But in reality you have avoided the people who have the pills. Yet we give ourselves credit for “being in control.” Just the other day a friend out of the blue offered me access to hundreds of Percosets. Not even a friend who takes pills. My point is, they will always rear their ugly heads and you will take them unless you have completed a long-term subox taper. Then you won’t have the urge at all.
I told my friend no thanks and didn’t even give it a thought. It’s not because I am better or stronger than anyone on here, in fact eh contrary I am probably one of the weaker people. The fact is this is the first time in my life since I took that first pill 20 years ago that I have no urge and it isn’t even in y thoughts.
I strongly encourage those people on here who truly want to break the cycle to stick with the taper. Taking it for a year is fine, in Europe it’s prescribed as a long-term treatment because they know the results. In the US they use it more as a band-aid which doesn’t result in usage ending.
There is hope, anyone can have their life back. Life is short and beautiful, wasting time on narcotics is a waste of your life. I wish I had learned of subox 15 years ago, I could have saved myself many many low points over the years.
Stay optimistic and focused and be patient and I promise you can and will break the cycle and will live and more importantly ENJOY life. Life is amazing narcotic free.
If you start sub treatment I have some advice. Dont start at 16-24 mg a day. Go through slight withdrawal first, then start at 4mg a day. This way you will cut your taper time down. Also beware of your doctor. Dont argue with him, just take what he gives you, then make your own plan to taper and quit. One last comment. Subs will not block out east coast powder (philly area) The H has gotten so strong it breaks though the subs. So dont use subs to “block out” your Herion problem” Subs are a godsend when used properly. Remember, even the people that are helping you are there for money.
Good Luck TJJ and Dev talk. Remember that its only a drug and nobody dies from this experience. We all got too comfortable cheating the withdrawl process. I’m right behind you so anything you can share would be helpful. 2 weeks from todayis my official jump date but I’m building in an extra week for any extra time to settle into my lower doses. Its not a race and another week will not kill you.
Anyone else who has any thohghts of getting off I ioghly recommend lowering the dose evry week. Suck it upand take the hits in small jabs because it actually works and it sucks and you will feel like shit but Ive had bad flus that are worse. Keep yourself active and learn to focus on your breathing and slow everything down. If you can jump at hihger dose more power to you. Everyone is differnt but once you decide to taper just stay with it and it really works.
Decided not to comment on this page until i jump.Will then discuss any symptoms after0 subs .Will stick to taper page until that proccess is done . Good Luck everyone!
Well, fate must have bumped me into this site. I’ve been tappering the films as low as 1/16th of a tab 1-2 times a day (not sure the MG amount). Tomorrow is my d-day. Took my last piece this morning and have felt fine until this evening. Going in to see the dr tomorrow. Simply can’t afford subs anymore and it’s time to move on.
Gonna try and be strong.
Hi Paul
I did 3 days on a trial jump month ago at 2mg and experiwnced many of those symptoms. I swit hed toa raw food diet and also switch to subutex. I thinknthe Naxalone in suboxone is fucking poison. The hole in the stomache I had was the worst symptom. it was like the worst case of acid you can imagine. The good thing is that none of these comes anywhere close to what the 3 days of hell that I went through on Hydro withdrawl a while back. Anyone who is afraid I can tell you that you will not die from any of these symptoms and they will get better once you get past the first week if you taper down to below .5mg There is hope for everyone and we all have tonpay. Im paying in small installments but the time comes when you have to pay for every indiscretion. I just went down to .5mg today so I will keep you all posted on my progress. Paul is right, every day off or lower down in the dose is a win for the home team.
Just going to toss in a withdrawal symptom list for those who are trying to rule out withdrawal from other health issues. Anxiety, Restless Legs, Nausea-Vomiting, Diarrhea, Severe Weakness, Depression, Hypochrodria, Delusions, Itching, Skin Sensitivity, Low B12, Low Iron, Low Omega 3, Anemia, Joint and Bone Pain, Neuropathy? (Still ruling this out), Acid Reflux, Clamminess, Sweating hands, feet, and back, Hot flashes, Cold spells, Insomnia, Emotional Sensitivity, Cravings, Organ Pain?, Painful Palpitations, Sneezing, Dizziness, Light headedness, No Appetite, Hypoglecemia, High and Low Blood Pressure, Hormone Changes, Increased skin oils, burning skin. This list may not be complete, but I am 82 days today off of that shit and all of this I’ve dealt with. Basically everything has stopped now. The PAWS effect has almost died completely off as well. If you are stopping it and really want to stay abstinent, just hang in there try to mark your days more as achievements and not so much just days off the shit.
Hey TJJ
Thanks for checking in. I read the last post and I think If I was put in a jail cell with enough food and water I would probably surivive all of the withdrawls the way Tom/anonomous described. Nobody is going to die from sub withdrawl. My good buddy went cold turkey at 12mg and didnt actually feel much until he got past one week. He was afraid to taper and he just did it and sucked it up. Everyone is different number one and number two I think the reason we taper is to get our bodies in optimal health and our inds ready for life off of subs.
Im at .75 for 4 days and I actually feel the sub more intense at the low dose which means that my mental cravings are more than my physical dependancy. I can only say that Itried jumping from 2 and 1mg and I found it to be too intense and miserable to deal with. Definitely use this slow taper at the end to eat the right foods, exercise, do meditation yoga orsomething that helps you get into an altered state in a natural way. That’s the beauty of this slow taper. You can cheat the bad withdrawls from your D. O. C. by takng the hits slowly and less intensely so that by the time you get down to .25mg there’s less Bupe in your brain and blood to deal with whenyou jump.
Ive come this far so another 4-6 weeks is not going to kill me. Slow slow slow is the way to go. Ifbyou can jump and tough it out more power to yoy but I must add that my buddy tried his D. O. C 4 months after getting clean and after 3 days he wanted to committ suicide. I think this process has me never wanting to touch an opiate or a benzo ever again. That’s the big diference. Like TJJ says it’s personal. No fucking piece of crumb pill is going to beat me. I will perservere in the end!
Good luck to all and here’s hoping to a pain free withdrawl for everyone.
Monkus
How you gettin on MONKUS?
Heh ANONYMOUS, If I read yr notes right, First you said you skipped the sub wd proccess, with yr amazing taper plan . Then in yr next note yr explaining how macho you are by going to work while in wds?!?!? Also i can just feel all the peace and serenityin yr last note too. Hmmm,,, Wish i would have thought of this miracle plan of yours,sounds like yr a pretty smart guy. congradulations on yr recovery. You could make millions off that miracle plan of yours. Peace Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quite being a bunch of pussys! So u feel like shit for a few days, big fuckin deal suck it up. You people act like the world is over. I wd and work but i just man up. U play u pay!
there is only one way to quit pills by using suboxone and not go threw bad withdrawls, you have to take a 1 suboxone every 3 – 5 days, when u take a suboxone it will last u 3 days, until u start withdrawling, and if u take 1 suboxone every 3-5 days you will beat the withdrawls from pills and skip pass the withdrawls from suboxone, did it got off of pills and never got addicted to the subs, did it for 1 month and beat it, thats how you beat addiction from pills
there is only one way to quit pills by using suboxone and not go threw bad withdrawls, you have to take a 1 suboxone every 3 – 5 days, when u take a suboxone it will last u 3 days, until u start withdrawling, and if u take 1 suboxone every 3-5 days you will beat the withdrawls from pills and skip pass the withdrawls from suboxone, did it got off of pills and never got addicted to the subs, did it for 1 month and beat it, thats how you beat addiction from pills
Hey TJJ
I’m right behind you buddy. I was stuckmat 2mg for 3 months but I thinkmonce you have a plan and goals for gettimg off the subs you can visualize the outcome. My friend jumped at 12mg and his worst experince was chills and a loose stool to go with the mental cravings. I can feel that with the mini withdrawls every morning. My other buddy is a Doctor of Pharmacy and he told me the taper is actually the way to go. It’s like a reverse dependancy.
Anyway, I’m right in the thick of it with everyone else and I can only say that if you get this far you have to make it your life’s purpose and visualize what it will be like to be sub free. The finish line is within reach.
Monkus
Yeah MONKUS you have been there and done that too!! Yr right on the exersing thing . I walk 3-4 mile a day . I hope to be able to keep doing this after the jump! Im down to day 3 .25mg . Just trying to make the landing as smooth as possible instead of a nosedive. We ARE going to have some type of wds man,no matter how we twist it. Still all i have to do is think about day 2 kicking off DOC,,, Yeah Im mnot going whine about this little bit of discomfort. These subs have gotten personable with me man , I never ran into anything i coulnt kick b4 and not going to start now !! Hope you have a comfortable day man!
Hey TJJ… Thanks for taking the time to respond. I was getting some mixed signals and just wanted some confirmation. My taper has taken me down to .75mg and the “hole in the stomache” issue that i had when I tried to jump from 1MG will hopefully be gone with the subutex but I am bracing for the worst and expecting the best when I finally jump. I’m going to take it slow slow slow…. I’ve come this far and really do not want to go neat my D.O.C. ever again so I agree with you wholeheartedly about the rationale. I have to say that at this level I can not stress how important exercising and meditating/Yoga etc is.
I do feel it’s becoming all mental at this point. I tried jumping twice at higher levels on suboxone so hopefully the third is a charm. I’m going to follow the taper plan down to .25 in two weeks and start skipping days. Will keep everyone posted. This website s a great resource for anyone who wants off the subs. My mind is made up so I’m going to keep going down .25 every week.
Thanks again
Monkus
Heh MONKUS,, If it is so easy to taper off DOC, then why did you start subs? Just wondering, sounds like yr mind is trying to monkey fuck you!!!No disrespect ,,just cant see the logic in that type of thinking ,or maybe Im just missing something here! There IS going to be some type of wd, noy if its just when. No matter how you twist it ,poke it, justify it . You ARE going to have some type of WD maybe mild maybe wild but you can count on the inevitable! Good Luck
So. I’m trying to look up on the net if anything bad will happen to me if I have not taken suboxone for like 3 days, then in my addict bullshit head, I get this idea to look to see if I have any old H cottons lying around because I felt sooooo shitty. But I found a 2 mg Suboxone instead I broke it into 4 pieces and took it over 3 or 4 days, Did i just fuck myself ROYALLY? Am I going to go into full Suboxone withdrawal again? I have not access to anything but buspar and holistic supplements. Someone tell me if I’m going to be in Hell all over again. Please.
Hi all. First time psoting. Been tapering Suboxone and switched to my friends Subutex. He went cold turkey at 12mg and made afetr 2 weeks. I find the subutex easier on the stomache. I see two posts recently that proscribe going back to DOC for 2 weeks to stop the PWD? Just wondering if I can do this at 1 mg subutex and if I take a low enough dose will it get the Bupe out of my bloodstream and allow me to get off the Doc with taper of subutex ( short term taper)? Anyone who can share comments thoughts? I would do only the smallest amount to reieve cravings from the Bupe while I recover through stage 1.
SMARTSTUPID,, I agree completly, with you as far as getting off the subs as quik as possible,, Unfortanatly, I didnt educate myself at the time i got on them ,and Dr. Didnt know what he was doing either.Blaming no one though. By the time i did the homework ,was too late already into big time Just saying taper is working for me and know myself enough to know if i play around with DOC GAME OVER,, Good luk man!!!
It’s been 13 days now and I feel better. I still feel like shit sometimes but not all the time. I’m not going to do that just because if I’m wrong I’m fucked. But, it still makes sence to me. Someone who takes subs for a week will have an easier time getting off than someone who takes them for a year. I think subs are good for detox, but not fort long term use.
I dont know smart or stupid.All i can say foe me,, If i tried to use my DOC, and play around back and forth with subs ,,, Its GAME ON for me with my DOC!! All the power to you if you can work that plan. Good Luck!!!
It’s not totally insane to think that getting addicted to a short acting opiate might be easier than being addicted to a long acting opiate. But thanks for the helpful advise.
Listen to what the FUCK you are saying… “Smart or Stupid”… Fucking A, you called it.
I have to agree with sandman. Or at least I should say that the slow taper seems to be working for me. Im on day 5 at .375mgs,will go full 7 days . I will drop to .25and go 7 days then start skipping proccess. Then just the 1 day at a time thing. I did try jumping at a higher dose, not for me . Some people say that Im just waisting my time ,and should have jumped alot sooner and faster. Well after getting subs r/xed to me by my Dr, who didnt know any better .I was well addicted to subs. High doses long time , didnt do my homework!?!? Good Luck all !!
I wanted to share some positive news for those of you who feel like you will never stop using Sub. I have to now admit my taper was tougher than I thought it would be. Getting down to low amounts 1mg and less was relatively easy.
However, I had a low energy level and needed to take daily naps. I stuck with my gym regiment which was challenging at times, but it helped. Finally after being completely free and clear off Sub I have my energy back, my mood has leveled off and I am generally happy. I am listening to music and enjoying it again – even sex is great again.
What I’ve learned is that it took me nearly a year of Sub to break the pattern of taking pills. I truly think this was the therapy I needed to break the cycle, I hope once and for all. Yesterday I found a Norco and I threw it in the trash and didn’t even have the remotest urge to take it.
Sub is a long rough ride that you can’t just jump off. That’s the power of taking it and why studies show it has a long-lasting high success rate.
Stick with it, continue to taper gradually and before you know it you will be taking .5mg’s every other day. Once you are here just stop. You’ll feel a little run down but you’ll feel like yourself within a few days and within a week you will be back to normal and able to enjoy life again.
There’s a reason we’re on Sub, it’s to break an incredibly bad cycle and get back to enjoying life again. Hang in there, disregard the negative stories on this site those are all written by people who haven’t tapered properly. Patience, patience patience. Remember, it took me a year and I feel like this time it’s different. I never want to have to go through a Sub taper again, that in itself is enough to deter me from taking a pill ever again.
Give means five… Vert means very… So on and so fourth… Fucking swype.
I’ve been on either heroin or methadone for the better part of nine years. About X months ago I got off methadone and onto suboxone. I slowly tapered down to a a very low dose, probably .1 or .2mg a day. This is my 8th day with nothing. I’ve been taking klonopin, clonadine, and kava root. I started to feel better on day 5 or so, but yesterday and today I feel horrible again. I can’t just take 3 months off from life to kick this shit. I was thinking about the first time I ever used suboxone. I was on heroin, took a low dose of suboxone for about four days then stopped and I felt fine. My girlfriend did the same thing a couple months ago. At this point my logic is that suboxone is easy to get off if you’ve only taken it for a few days, so I’m thinking about using heroin for a week then taking a mg of suboxone for a few days then stopping just like I did before. I’m not worried about relapse at all, I’m 100% over that shit, I just have trouble with the withdrawal. The only thing I’m worried about is having to do this all over again if it doesn’t work. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this?
Hello all. I was using 100 mcg fentynal patches (changed every 2 days), blowing about 1/2 gram of H a day, and blowing about 4 30mg Roxi’s a day. I decided enough was enough and have been using only suboxone over the past month. I went from full 8mg strips the first week, to 4mgs the 2nd & 3rd week, and this past week I’ve been down to 2mgs of suboxone. I feel pretty good, but I’m about to just stop taking the subs, or wait a day before taking my next one, and then I do believe I will only take 1mg for 4-5 days and I will hopefully be ok. After using what I was using and the amount I was using, I’m lucky not to be dead. And to be honest, I thought I was going to have wd symptoms even with the subs since I was using the fentynal, H, and roxi’s all at once. So, my question is….. Since I’ve only been on the subs for a month, and tapered for a month, how bad do you think my wd symptoms will be after I stop taking the 1mg of subs? I have xannax I am prescribed for anxiety so I’m not worried about sleeping problems, more or less mental and physical pain while at work. I honestly didn’t think I could go from 8mg of suboxone to 2mg in just 4 weeks, but I did, and I’m not bad at all. So, crossing fingers, because after 2 years of hardcore opiate use, enough is enough. I wish everyone on here luck, it’s hard, but just look at the long term goals. I will finally have my normal life back and save about $1,500 a month lol. Once again, I had a good read with this site and wishing everyone the best of luck!
Hi all,
Been on suboxone for 6 weeks. I am flipping out after reading everything and am deciding it is best to taper. I have gotten down to 2 mg and I was thinking of taking that every other day and weening down while taking every other day. Opinions please??? I am freaking out!!!!
Stephanie
Thanks beat it, took your way, and the taper way, Did 8mg, 24 hrs later, 4mg, 24 hrs later 4 mg, its now 24hrs later, dont feel that bad, but might descide to take just 2 mgs, dont know yet.
Yeah best way that worked for me was goinng back on my drug of choice for 2 weeks then 4mg(half sub) day one 4mg day 2 one day of mild diarea its beat
Hey yall, Ive been using oc, vicoden since june everday till wed, I started 30-60 mgs, of either oc, or hydrocodone. The past mnt I increased up to 60-100mg, mainly of oc. In the past wk I only used hydrocodone, between 6-10 (10/500) a day. I took my last hydrocodone at 6pm Wed, on thursday I got prescribed subutex 8mg. I took one at 6 pm thursday. Now its approaching 6 pm fri, and I dont feel that bad. Should I just tough it out at this point, or what? Suggestions please????
Ok I think by now we all know suboxone is a miserable to get off as all the rest of garbage. I am going to describe how I finaly was able to do it. I was on subs for around 2 years to gey off oxy/percs/methadone etc perscription pills anyway tried get off the subs via taper my body had developed very strong like. Anyway I went back on my drug of choice for awile then back 2 the subs well how I finally did get off with zero withdrawal was went back on my drug of choice for like 2 weeks then I broke a sub in half day one 4mg day two 4mg and walked away the champ
CLAYTON- I can only tell you what is working for me ,,as I am currently tapering down right now. I am not a Dr. But have worked closely with my Dr. as he had know idea at the time what subs are all about. After his researching subs and reveiwing Brians page we have both come up with this plan that ,so far is working. I started at 16mgs a day in July,2011,, Big mistake! I imediatly dropped down to 4mgs a day until i felt stabilized ,,,about 3 weeks. Then the taper started, I dropped down to 3,5, for 7 days then 3mgs ,7 days and so on down to 1mg a day. Now at this stage it can get a little hincky. So at 1mg a day i took that for 14 days until i felt stable ,, Now i recomend just dropping down every 7 days 25% ,, so idropped to .75, which i am crrently on until tomorrow .Then will drop down to .5 for 7 days then 0.375 for 7 daysthen down to .25 I plan to stay at this dose for 7 days then take 0 then take ,25 then 0 for 2 days .25 then 0 for 3 days ,25 then 0 for 4 days .25 then quit. You see how i slowed everything down after i got down to 1mg a day.. It just looks to me that you havent really found a good stabilazation point , and are trying to get off these subs too fast. My opinion and my opinion only OK everyone!? as far as some things to comfort you there are too many to list,as each addict has their own way of comforting themselves. First you should not need anything until yr at the 1-2 mg mark and you feel stable. Dropping under1mg is when it gets interesting. Foir yr anxiety and blood pressure colonide which requires a R/X from yr Dr. will help those things ,,I also pop a valium 10 mg now and then to help with sleep ,as i have never had any addiction problems with benzos, Aloy of people will tell you to stay away from benzos, but that is what works for ME!!! For the RLS ,I tahe 100mg cao of potassium and 400 cap of magnesium obtained fromyr local herb shop. Also soaking in very hot baths works wondres for me,,, Again I am not a Dr. I am just telling you what seems to be working for me !! You have to remember too that subs stays in yr system alot longer than , say smack ,,,So when you do quit you probably wont feel anything for 3 days after yr lastdose. And as long as you just slow everthing down ,make a plan and work the plan you should just have some mild like flu symtoms to dael with when yr done . Hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Il try to make this short..
Got in a motorcycle accident Jan 25, 2008. This accident turned my life upside down. My streetbike was ripped in half. I had collapsed lungs and later found out ky entire shoulder was completely paralyzed. Thanks to Dr. S at USC Medical center my shoulder now has about 85% movement from a nerve grafting surgery he performed.
As you can imagine I got my fair share of painkillers. Worked my way up the chain until March 2010 when I realized heroin was much cheaper. Started injecting until I got caught December 2010. It was a blessing in disguise because I had lost everything. My girlfriend left me, got kicked out of school even though I only had one year left to graduate with an electrical engineering degree, lost my job, had sold everything I owned except my clothes and my drums. Worst of all my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. All this happened in that December. So after getting arrested I was forced to tell my parents about my addict. I had somehow kept it secret from all my family and friends.
Went to rehab and did the 5 day detox and was officially opiate and withdrawl free for 30 days for the first time in 3 years. Then me being the dumbasses addict I am I relapsed the day I got out. Used heroin for a couple weeks then decided I had enough and put myself on suboxone. This helped but is like putting a bandaid on a wound that needs sutures. I relapsed a handful of times; each time screwing up what little bit of my life I had fixed. It’s now Saturday February 11, 2012, I havent used in about four months and am so fed up with all opiates/opiodes.
Up until last Tuesday I was taking 8mg suboxone every 20 hrs or so. Had been completely depressed and felt like I was going nowhere in life. I decided to kick coldturkey…BAD IDEA. Day 1 & 2 weren’t too bad, although I couldn’t sleep. By day for I felt like I had no energy but had RLS throughout my whole body. I also hadent been able to eat anything for 3 days and my blood pressure was thru the roof. Afraid of heart attack and starving to death I went and got a new script. I started back up on 4mg a day and felt it too much, probably because I withdrew and got my tolerance down.
I’m now going to try the methods you courageous people have endured. Anyone have any recommendations for other medications that would help? Primarily for anxiety and Restless Leg Syndrome and where to get them?
Sorry this turned out way longer than I meant for but it helps to get it out. Although I’m.only 23 I’ve lost most my friends from this addiction and have been really lonely. Il keep you all in my prayers and I hope you’ll do the same for me. I’m so over this!
God Bless,
Clayton
Have to agree with SANDMAN,, Tapering is the only effective way to comfortably get off subs. As for you DAVE i dont understand what dose yr at right now . If im right i think yr saying yr down to 2mgs a day,,Now is the time to slow down yr taper . If yr alright at 2mgs you can drop 25%after every 5-7 days or just go to 1.5 mgs for 5-7 days then to 1mg 5-7 days,, then i would slow it down even more to .75 then to .5 thaen to .375 then to .25 then use the skipping after 5-7 days on .25 take 0 1 day then take .25 then 0 for 2 days then the same for 3 days then 0 for 4 days then stop!!!!!!!!! You will probably notce some residual effect after stopping about the third day after you stop because of the longer binding effect subs have ,, but maybe you wont feel anything at all ! Just remember to go Slow Slow after you drop under 1mg Then you got it licked! Good Luck and go slow!!!!!!!!!1
dont know what 2 say was taking roxys 4 about 6mos be cuse of a surgery, the is over but now lefy with the fact that I am taking 10-15 roxys aday. decieded to quit went to a doctor he got me on subs told me 2 take 1 8-2mg twice aday.I didnt I started taking a hallf of an 8-2mg a dy I feell fine its been 16days now I have been doing that I want 2 ween down from the half would like some input on what 2 do next. do I go down 2 a quarter now an syay there 4 a week or 2 then quit or what dont know can some one help me with this.
I am on my full day 1 without any Suboxone and feel absolutely fine. I have patiently tapered over the past few months, most recently only taking .25 or .5mg per day in the AM with a tiny piece before I work out. So small I can’t measure it, it’s more psychological than anything.
You can absolutely taper with no side effect. I do agree with some of the other authors though, when you taper to under 2mg per day you feel it a little. But, it doesn’t even enter the same ballpark as a full blown withdrawal.
There is nothing to fear, my life has been normal for the past year. I feel in control and have not experienced a single urge to use since I started Suboxone. I see this as the only way to break the cycle. Up until now I was lucky if I didn’t fall into the grasp of narcotic painkillers. Now I am in control making a conscious decision to not use.
I took a pleasant nap today and will work out at the gym in a couple hours and will no longer take the Suboxone. I am officially done!
Good luck to all of you. Remember, be patient. You’ll naturally taper down. I was taking 14+mg per day a few months ago and began to cut back and felt exactly the same.
The half-life BS you read is exactly that, it’s BS. Disregard all the negative posts on this site, focus on the positive ones like mine and you will be perfectly fine soon with the long-term benefit of losing the cravings to use after you complete the cycle.
Started on .75 today,,, just dosed so dont have any info yet as to any adverse effects. Been fine on1mg for 14 days , so dont know yet will just play it out ! Will try and just stay on .75 for 7 days then drop . Oh wellthats the plan anyway!?!? Wish me luck and to all you others out there tapering Good Luck to you guys too!!!!
Well Im ready to throw the checkered flag and drop down to .75 tomorrow. Stayed on 1mg little longer than I wanted to-14 days. Feels like my bodt finalley adjusted to that dose.I have noticed though,, seem like my body is trying to tell me what time of the day to dose up Well you know what? I aint listening to my body. I have been adding an hour of waiting to dose for the last week now. Still nothing to mention about wds,, other than a littlt runny nose and a little bit of anxousness at about the time Im supposed to dose. Will try and just do 7 days at .75 then drop to .5. I dont know just playing it by dat to day. At least Im heading in the right direction! Got to admit though ,,just tired of every thing to do with all this bullshit!!! But will stick to the plan ,,Dammed if Ithrow all this work away now,got too much into this now to give up! Still would like to get ahold of the Dr, That prescibed this shit and kept telling me its no big dealto get off this shit!!! uh huh!!?!?!?!?!?
RUSS55,, Sounds like yr tapering down alright .You didnt mentoin how yr feeling. If yr feeling too dad jusy stay at that same dose a little longer .You will no from yr body reactions if yr dropping too fast! Also now is the time for somr gentle exarcise,load up on yr vitamin sups and some tylenol pm to help with any kind of insomnia.. Other than that man ,,you ARE going to have some type of wd,, but if you taper donw to nothing it will be just like some mild flue symtoms and notlast foe only a couple of weeks . Alot of this all depends on aloy of things ,,,,, How long you were on sub yr body yr head ect.ect Yr heading in the right direction just keep it slow slow slow here on out man God Bless
I have been tapering. started @ 8/4 strip. went to a 1/2 of a strip then to a third. At the present I am taking 1/10th of a strip. 2 more days and go to 1/12th. I will stay there 2 weeks and then 14th. 2weeks and 16th etc.etc. When do I throw the Bullshit flag and quit? Please, any advise would be appriciated. this all started from a lumbar fusion that went south. Nerosurgeon prescribing roxy 15mg 5xd for 13 months.
JJDUBB Sorry man hopped up on my coffee right now wanted to tell you taht you might also want to just stay on 1mg for a little while and not drop at such big doses! you said you went from 2mgs to 1mg and feeling kind of rough ? Maybe if you were to just drop at a little lower dose ,,, like 25% each tme you wont feel so crappy. Just a thought man . This is what seems to work for me. If you have the time and resources then whats the hurry? No sense in suffering if ya dont have to Good Luch man Im rooting for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
JJDUBB Good job man, Yr down to the difficult part now! Just keep it SLOW SLOW SLOW from here on out. As i said b4 idropped down to 1mg and was only going to stay there 1 week then down to .75,,, but i didnt feel that my body was leveled out just yet for the drop so going to go 14 days at 1mg ,,will drop to .75 on 2-7-12 Just now feeling pretty good ,so i know the next drop wont be bad at all. Keep up the good work man ,,sound like you and me are about neck and neck on this crap,I know me ,,and do know if i try to rush this i will just give up ,, but i already have my doses cut and bindled up all the way down to .006 thats the hard part man crushing that crap up and weighing it all out then bindle it up and then got those littje tupperware deals and labeledthem all and i guess you could say just want to have all my ducks in a row in case i dont feel up to doing it all later on Sooo Stay in touch man and i will check the site every day to see how yr doing and try and give you some support God Bless
on 1mg now.. down from 2mg a day 2 weeks ago and feel ok. i have other medical conditions which make this very hard for me and totally deplete my energy levels. at night advil pm works wonders if i need it , i usually hate dipenhydramine but it def helps if you have insomnia. trying real hard at this. i had quite cigarettes and weed too but recently started back which was a dumb idea but i guess first things first. opiates are number one priority for kicking right now
Hello all – My first post, but won’t be my last. For starters, I am proud of everyone in here. Keep up the good work, keep your head together, and stay strong.
I was a drug user for about 3 years. At the end, I was snorting 240mg/day of roxi, and as I’m sure you can all relate to, wasn’t even getting high anymore. It got to a point for me where I absolutely hated myself. The bad part for me was, NOBODY knew. Not my family, friends, girlfriend, nobody knew I was ever using. So I finally hit my breaking point and decided to get clean. I went thru 7 days of brutal withdrawal, and finally started to feel like I could walk on my own 2 feet. I didn’t trust myself worth a damn, however, so I decided to try out suboxone to keep me off the pills.
This was 2 & 1/2 years ago. I started out on 8 mg, then they actually upped my dose to 16 mg. I thought it was a friggin miracle – I felt great, had energy, didn’t think about pills, I felt like a normal person. Over time, these feelings subside, as you all know. I have now tapered myself down to .25mg/day. I only had a hard time tapering once or twice (4mg-2mg for some reason sucked in particular) I have been on the .25mg/day for almost a month, and am ready to JUMP. I have been feeling heavy anxiety about this, driving myself crazy. Last night, I decided that today was going to be the day I put this in my rear view. I told myself I wanted to try to take some extra sub to see if it actually made a difference in how I feel anymore. I took .5mg, and sure enough, about a half hour later I felt amazing, like the first time I ever took a sub all over again. However, another half hour passes, and I was sick as a dog. Headache, stomach ache, sweats, couldn’t sleep etc.
I felt like crap all morning, and am finally starting to feel better now. I actually think yesterday was a good thing, kind of put things into perspective for me. The half hour I felt great is how I SHOULD/WILL feel ALL THE TIME! he rest of the night and early part of today remind me of the nightmare addiction that has plagued my life for the past 5 years.
If anything, I hope this post can help put this into perspective for other people as well, or you may just think I’m plain old crazy. My taper has not always been easy. I have alot of anxiety and jitters, sometimes feeling a bit flu like, but nothing unbearable. If I can get to where I am now, you can all do this as well. Follow the advice from Ceaser, I took a similar approach myself and it worked very well for me. I will keep you all posted as I go thru this process. Best wishes