Suboxone Taper 101
My Suboxone Taper... I have detoxed off of “Pain Killers” 3 times and my last and final time was off suboxone after being on it for 2 yrs and about 9 months… This was the best and last path I had to walk on this shitty road. Just some quick background information for you so you know I’m not some novice putting my 2 cents in… Now, straight to what you are here for; some info on what I experienced or what you might expect coming off the sub. My 6 Month Suboxone Taper: 1) During 2 yrs and about 9 months on suboxone; I went from 16 mg to 8 mg pretty quick. I’d say within the first few months of being on the suboxone I dropped to this and it was not really planned. I just dropped in dosage over time cause that is how suboxone works. Stayed at 8 mg for about 1 1/2 years and change (when I mean "change" I mean 1 or 2 months). I then went from 8 mg to 4 mg in a couple months. NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. 2) In a 6 month period I went from 4 mg to 3 mg... I then tapered to 2 mg in a few months. I did this and adjusted from 2 mg to 3 mg down to 1 mg….back and forth till I felt right at 2 mg…I did the taper, I went at my pace… I didn’t let anyone “push me” or force me to taper. The final month or so I went from 2 mg to 1 mg then to .50….. I only felt a little shady when I dropped big amounts; like when I would drop from 3 mg. to 1 mg. to see how it would feel. I suggest you don’t do this. You don’t feel any withrdrawal or shady sympstoms right away, you feel it 3 or so days later… It’s not bad though…you can though adjust and do a 25 minute quick fix to feel better with a chip off your suboxone pill to make you feel better. It’s funny how easy the “quick fix” is…but what a pain in the ass it is when it comes time to the ultimate repair work…ie. when you have to take the jump and get off the opiates or suboxone. *Quick note* 90% of what I have written below regarding my taper process and what I went through while coming off the sub was from my notes / journal during my taper / withdrawal from the sub… I have edited only a little bit because I now have a clearer head and some of the thoughts I had when writing this were blurred. The following is what I went thru… Your taper and withdrawal process might go smoother or worse. Talk with your doctor first, if you can. If you have a stubborn or ignorant doctor, get a new Doctor before you taper or even if you just want to continue on suboxone. One BIG point, just from my opinion. There is nothing wrong with long term suboxone treatment or even lifelong treatment with suboxone; again that’s just my opinion… I just suggest that you should only quit if you feel like you have changed YOUR life SO much that, the person you were, is no longer alive…..or what I mean, your old self is gone mentally. SO…. 3) Ok, D-Day minus 7: I went from .50 mg to .25 mg and actually less, the rest went in the toilet and I had alot of suboxone left. I suggest getting a $1.99 7 day pill box for your taper (that’s what my girlfriend did for me). Sounds f-ing lame but it helps you keep track of the dropping process so you don’t cheat (you’ll only be f-ing yourself if you think about it and it’ll just take longer). It’s just human nature to make yourself ”feel better” and subconsciously you’ll take “just tiny bit more” and that will F**K things up. I am not a pro at the taper thing, I f***ed up a bunch of times; went up down, back and forth etc. Will power helped but by my girlfriend helped me alot by breaking the sub up and putting them in the weekly pill reminder. Support is great put ultimately it’s all you in the end. I did feel a little “different” but not uncomfortable at .25 mg but I was ok. I think it was more mental than anything at this point. 4) Last .25mg at 8am on a Sunday morning. Went all day with NO PROBLEMS, slept fine and even had a steak that night for dinner. 5) (First +24hours) Monday Day: Morning…woke up fine, nervous though like I thought literally I would wake up with Death standing in the corner. Went about Monday ok. By the afternoon I was feeling pretty good, Cocky even..”Yeah F*** everything I read online, it ain’t bad, my taper worked or will”… Monday Night, actually slept ok…. Nervous still but ambien works great (I had written on my original site that Ambien CR “could or probably” would work better, NOPE, my bad….Bull Shit bad advice on my part!. Regular ambien kicks your ass right away and puts you right to sleep and doesn’t “slowly” release like Ambien CR does; I suggest regular ambien). An additional piece of advice and you can take it or leave it. I would put the regular ambien in my mouth, but then bite it in two. For me it seemed to work faster and when you feel bad…every minute seems to count. 6) (Day 2) Tuesday: Morning…Uh…Thought I was ok, I was very optimistic. Lost some speed and felt a little slow. Tuesday mid afternoon felt like I was weighted down. Uh oh… This is where I am suppose to write about how day 3 was all out Thermo Nuclear War, The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited and or then the 7th Seal of The Bible was opened and GOD said unto me ”I shall let loose many apocalyptic pigeons and they shall shit all over your custom chopper….” and God smiled and it was ALL GOOD…. Well… Let’s talk about day 3. 7) (Day 3 early am) Wednesday: Day 3 is where I should now be telling you that the 72 hour half life, once it’s up is not that bad. Ok, sorry, just telling you the truth. The missiles launched…Castro, Khrushchev, Kennedy never worked things out and the pigeons did shit on my chopper. I woke up Wednesday morning around 3am or so and my girlfriend was talking to me, I freaked out I guess. I was crying, shaking, sweating…legs were all jumping crazy style… I was in pretty bad shape. Killed the situation though and went into negotiations with another ambien and broke out the xanax or the big guns to suppress the living nightmare. (suggestion: If you got xanax (from a Doctor), take them (not to much or don’t take them if you have had some addiction issues with xanax / benzos), don’t take them forever also, just during this whole withdrawal process; so don’t stress about the f***ing posts on how you can get hooked on them; I mean come on, we’re talking about a 2-3 week time frame here). 35 minutes later I was asleep and slept ok. Off of regular opiates, this would have never happened, being able to sleep so quickly even with the help of ambient and xanax. 8) (Day 3 continued) Wednesday continued: Morning, woke up like I had the flu and just the flu. No flu X’s 100, no crawly crazy feeling… Surprisingly and thinking about it now; the cold sweats were not that bad either but I did get them. I did have restless legs so I just went with it. It wasn’t out of control, it just bugged. . Another thing, I was and had been eating even though I was forcing it. (Day 3 continued) Wednesday Mid-Day: Not good, same feeling, energy now going bankrupt. Split town Wednesday night to a small place in outside of town and was there from then on out, or thru the somewhat ruff-stuff. (Day 3 continued) Wednesday night: Slept ok, took 1 ambien and 1 (one) 2 mg xanax before bed. 9) (Day 4) Thursday: Energy was gone, did ZERO except watch “suspenseful” movies to keep my mind occupied during just miserable, but bare-able conditions, bare-able to a degree I would say, still f-ing sucked. Went for a quick walk that night and felt ok during that time. No major stomach problems though, so laying around was not a major hassle. Let me add, the stomach issues were not a “zero issue” but they were not horrible like coming off of oxy, vics or a full agonist. 10) (Day 5) Friday: Felt ok actually when I woke up…and felt ok, still shitty but “ok” for most of the day. Went for like 5 walks and mixed it up with very short jogs (like 100 yards) throughout the whole day. I was able to do this due to positive thinking though along with being angry about having to go thru this whole deal…now looking back on it. Walking or just doing anything physical; this makes the feeling or withdrawal symptoms go away fast for a short period of time though. Even when you feel like you have zero energy to do anything; you just have to do it! Trust me, it’ll help when it comes night time / sleeping. Any tiny bit of help is better than nothing, hu? You also have to force yourself to eat. I did eat and the problems that usually follow with full blown opiates were mild but not good. The stomach issues I had with full opiate agonist withdrawals is what I really hated, everything just going thru you and in turn this makes you so weak. The Suboxone, even after almost 3 years on it, didn’t give me the hardcore stomach issues I have had before. This condition of diarrhea dehydrates you and makes the “healing” process take longer. This is just common f-ing sense…but as we all know; when you have no appetite it’s just f-ing tough to think about food. I Ate pasta, lots of scrambled eggs, cheese and toast…I know, sounds stupid. Eating this shit would have killed me and go thru me while detoxing off of full opiate agonists (like pain meds, full opiates etc…). Since I have been thru the real thing 3 other times and knowing how bad it could be; I thought “What can make it any worse so might as well eat as much high protein and high fiber stuff as I can”. I was getting cocky again and stayed this way. If I felt I wasn’t hungry… I ate, if I didn’t want to walk…, I walked (I sound like Forest Gump?)….and when I thought I felt ok I had a drink (not a good idea and I don’t suggest it at all). I drank (alcohol to be clear) Friday night and woke up Saturday feeling like I was back to how I felt on Thursday…ok, my bad on my part. Keep in mind you are fighting to keep your body a float a long with trying to keep your mind together and on coarse so, again….don’t mess with anything that can trip you up or that puts you back. 11) (Day 6) Saturday: Relaxed all day, went on my walks, ate, walked…ate… laid around and so on. Energy level still low, confusion, loss of creativity and in addition my anxiety level was running pretty high. Where I was taking my time to do this was up in the mountains, so there was snow there…it was very cold… I actually was punching snow, like the hard packed shit. I did this cause I thought it would help my brain release some kind of endorphins… Not sure if it really worked, cut my knuckles up pretty good though, but it did get my mind off of how I was feeling (which was like shit) even if it was just for a few minutes. The stupid things we do out of desperation… 12) (Day 7) Sunday: Felt…..nothing. Not good, not bad….just nothing. That is better than feeling like shit I guess. Maybe I did feel like shit but I literally felt like I was in a fog. This part is hard to explain… I was just brain dead it felt like. I did concern me at the time. 13) (Day 8) Monday: woke up 3am wired. Wide awake. Monday was foggy and I was so tired from lack of sleep. Still felt shady like Sunday but now I couldn’t sleep at night or during the day. My energy levels were still low. This is what I didn’t get. I would be so tired during the day and the previous week I could sleep. Now I was tired all day and come 10:00pm when I wanted to go to bed I couldn’t sleep at all, even with ambien. 14) (Day 9) Tuesday: Though I did sleep or had slept kind of, it had been so light that I remember even being in a slight dream state at like 1am and thinking “I am not getting any REM (rapid eye movement) sleep”. I am no expert but I do read enough to know that getting a deep good night sleep and being in that REM state is when your body really does the repairing of itself and this is important, obviously. Being at day 9 and with night 7, day 8 and night 8 being the same, I felt like I was leveling out and that I would have to put up with this unfortunate now barely bare-able state for a while. I could function but I was very jittery, confused, dizzy and when I walked up a flight of stairs, I would get a bouncing motion in my brain. This had not happened before coming off of hard opiates ie. being jittery, wired, fog like confusion and not able to sleep. Keep in mind, hard opiate withdrawals, sleep is questionable….it’s like you are so out of it your body shuts down and makes you sleep or when you want to sleep that is when the shear nightmare hits and you are kicking like a mule and paranoia / anxiety is at its peak. Also, I kept thinking that I was at like day 14 (when I was really at day 9). Keep in mind that the half life of suboxone / buprenorphine is 72 hours and you don’t feel “like shit” till day 3 or so. Even though I consciously knew what day I was really at I couldn’t break this feeling or thought. Any other opiate / pain med withdrawal lasts a minimum of 11 bad days, or it had for me. Off regular oxy, vics, etc… When you stop regular opiates let’s say in the morning, you feel like shit that afternoon… You knew that the w/d’s started and that the clock was ticking till you’d relapse or if you hung in there, you could be in the clear in 11 or so days. Off of full blown opiates I would feel shady for 11 or 12 days and bounce back fast after that (with 3 days of feeling a little off my rocker after day 11 or 12)… Don’t get me wrong though, suboxone is still the best way to go cause it gives you time to break that “habit” and get your life back to normal. Plus as I’ll write about this in another post; the sub detox is more of a pillow effect even though it feels like it lags due to the first 3 days of being in the clear, then it hits you, then it lags or drags on. I would take the suboxone route every time though…much safer. (Day 9 continued) Tuesday afternoon and evening: After eating good, keeping myself force-ably hydrated and being overly stressed about real life situations; I was getting worn down mentally. I was at this point questioning was this going to go on for weeks? I wondered… “Am I going to be one of those people that I had read about in the “OH SO optimistic forums who took suboxone and that SOMEONE FRIENDS’ COUSINS’ DOG WHO SPEAKS ONLY ANCIENT LATIN had gone thru 4-8 WEEKS of w/d’s before they started feeling even close to ok again due to the LONG half life”? Then you get the following line at the end of these idiots overly negative post…”Oh and by the way….everyone is different though so you might be ok”. Wow! Supportive, negative, stupid and totally contradicting. These kind of comments really F**K you up; cause you now are wondering “Shit, am I going to be ok or am I going to go thru hell?…Is there any middle or gray area”? Bottom line for me… I felt like shit, but not like I was in the literal sense of hell like regular opiates… The suboxone w/d’s, it just f**king bugged… I felt just so numb and brain dead. I guess I would say at this point I was really wondering “Did I maybe do some damage to my brain”? (This didn’t happen though, just telling you what I was thinking and feeling at that time). 15) (Day 10) Wednesday: Woke up Wednesday and am feeling “normal” again, kind of, or so I thought. Feeling numb, no thoughts, zero creativity, didn’t want to do anything and if I did I couldn’t think of something to do. I was also still dizzy or had this bouncing motion. I want to add this also, not only did I feel my brain bouncing, but I would also visually see a bouncing motion, very bizarre and it did make me nervous. At this point, I thought I was or should be in the second stage (whatever that means) of coming out of this. Cause of the lack of good sleep, I think or I now know I was suffering from sleep deprivation. Wednesday did not improve, got more tired, edgy, jittery and felt like I was wired on a coffee IV drip nonstop. What the F**K, am I going backwards? It’s this back and forth feeling… One day you feel like shit, the next day for a few hours you feel ok… Then it’s back to the same shit, of feeling, just that… like shit. Then new things start to show up, confusion…muscle aches. Hey, I want to clear something up. I would not classify them as “muscle aches” it was more like the cross section of my shoulders, my neck and the base of my skull were soar and cold? It was just f-ing annoying. (Day 10 continued) Wednesday afternoon and night: This was getting ridiculous, almost getting worse. Stomach was somewhat ok though, I felt soar across the top of my shoulders and looking back I had during this whole time. I guess this was the crawly soar feeling from the suboxones’ point of view, which I was cool with compared to a full agonist effect / w/d’s. At this point of time (Day 10) I just had shit I had to do, that I had to get done and I had to get back to normal, not only physically but also mentally and work wise. Venting time for Day 10: At this point or day 10 of being in the withdrawal process, this is what I was thinking. “Since I had tapered so much and for so long, I expected or felt like I WAS OWED a very easy way out. Hey, I have been off all opiates for almost 3 years, I changed my life, I f*****g did my time, my taper and I changed my WHOLE F***ING LIFE! I DID THIS ON MY OWN, I DECIDED TO GET CLEAN WITH OUT FORCE, WITH OUT SOME LINGERING CONSEQUENCE that if I didn’t get clean something would happen. I changed my life cause I WANTED TO! I don’t owe anyone or have to pay up for anything, I have done my time…I DESERVE a free ride….” I wasn’t talking to God, the Easter bunny or some fat clay pot dude… I was yelling at my past, the person I was, the choices I made. That person is still a part of me and either way, both of us co-signed on this “36 month loan” willingly…. Got to pay up sometime hu? My time was up. It’s either “Pay up or keep charging”, I opted to pay up. Keep in mind the effects that suboxone (an antagonist) and agonist opiates themselves have on the brain when it comes time to face the problem. It’s like the IRS and worse…They don’t seem to care about time, excuses or circumstances; one way or another you’re going to have to pay up. New phrase: Death, Taxes and then there are Opiates. (Day 10 night time) Sleep was the same. Light sleep but what was pissing me off now is that I had felt like REALLY ok a couple times for maybe 30 minutes here or 45 minutes there. It was now just a tease. Regular opiates, from my experience don’t do this as I have said. When you jump out of the plane with straight opiates you don’t have a parachute and you’re gonna hit the rocks hard. When you jump with suboxone you have a few positive options. #1: You get to pull the cord at 25′ off the deck #2: You have time at least to think about what you are going to do… #3: That you get to pull a cord at all. Still, I am not taking anything back I have said, it was still, in retrospect 90 Xs easier or let me put it this way….smoother than the hard crash off regular opiates where Hell feels like a resort. I’m just bitching and explaining what “I” went through… 16) Day 11: Thursday: The day was chaotic, things had to get done, I still felt the same though, confused, dizzy, anxiety, mentally and physically tired but unfortunately “tough shit” things had to get handled. So with an overstressed day, the lack of sleep, something was going to break and at Day 11, sure as hell isn’t gonna be me. I thought at this point “Worse case scenario, Day 15 or 16 would be better, so only a few more days”. Thursday evening: Going thru my e-mails while my 4yr old son was in the hospital and while I had been at the hospital for 2 whole days (while feeling like shit and feeling confused). I had taken a small break from at least 3 of the 5 w/d feelings by staying busy and having to handle at the least 7 out of 10 things I had to do work wise to to keep my house; it was now 7pm at night. I was though still working at 110mph cause I had to and the stress level I was at was still way high when…something came to my attention in a very subtle way. About 30 minutes had passed while in this unusual work mode and I just realized something, the gun was NOT at my forehead anymore; I couldn’t see it or feel it. I didn’t have the anxiety or that threat in my face or feeling that threat of any minute I would start feeling really shitting again. Being in a crowded environment at the time, with family and staff around (I was working on my laptop so it was pretty mellow) I literally looked left and right and I mean literally. I was thinking any second the gun is going to go off or the situation of 3 bullets and hearing “MEOW, MEOW” like from the movie the Deer Hunter was going to be the threat and anxiety that had been there the past 11-12+ days. I let myself relax, I let my muscles relax and I “figuratively” pulled the trigger and thought about what withdrawal symptoms I should be feeling… Just thinking that I felt like I had a 50/50 chance of the gun going off…. I heard a click. They seemed to be gone… (I was still not out of the woods or in the clear… I was still foggy but not really feeling that hard crappy feeling). Thursday night: I was burnt out. Holy s**t I actually felt wiped out without feeling drained out. There was actually conversations going on between two old friends in my head, Officer Neuron and Lt. Receptor were talking and seemed to be having a beer. It’s like 2 old friends that hadn’t seen each other due to a falling out and now were shooting the shit and patching things up. I went home, and fell asleep EASY. This was the first heavy sleep I had in a week or more. Keep in mind I was always drained, but sleep at night was just impossible. 17) (Day 12) Friday: Woke up early that morning and I woke up tired. That was a big deal cause feeling tired from waking up was a big difference from being tired from lack of sleep. It’s then that I realized I might be in the clear. By about 11am or so I realized I got a Green light on day 12 (not 100% but enough that I could start to move on). Mentally / physically I was at 90%, I still had a slight sourness in my shoulders but nothing that I cared about or that bugged me to the point that I couldn’t concentrate on things. I still felt around 90% but it’s a hell of alot better than having felt at like 80%-85% and overall mentally feeling like I was regressing or deteriorating by 5% everyday. So Day 12 was for me the end of this s**tty ordeal (to a certain degree). I can say now of course that looking back on it, I don’t think it was that bad. Again, most of all the stuff I posted up here was from my notes / journal I kept. It kind of helps to keep one and check it to see your progress day to day…..I didn’t go over mine though or check my progress… I just kept notes. I was just thinking common sense wise especially if you have to go thru w/d’s on your own (either way even if you have support, you really are going at it alone); it’ just s a good idea to see your progress so you have some kind of support even if it’s your own. I didn’t feel 100% till day 25… Listen, what I mean by this is that at day 25, I felt back to normal…Kind of…. To elaborate on this; it’s hard to feel 100% after years of opiate dependence even if suboxone is an antagonist instead of an agonist. You can use these terms but these words don’t mean shit to your f-ing brain…all your brain knows is that “the opiate bliss was there and now it’s gone”….and big terms, definitions and so on are…..just words to us…but they don’t mean shit to our actual physical mind… Our brains function on what it feels is normal or how the choices that WE have made have influenced how it works and thinks it should be working. Suboxone can be a great tool so you can take a break from your drug of choice, from the PIECE OF SHIT PEOPLE that may have influenced your life…from the DOCTORS that push the oxy’s, vics, percs, fentanyl etc for just stupid reasons “You got a headache, here is an 80mg Oxy, you’ll feel much better”…from the personal choices YOU HAVE made if you got on this rollercoaster willingly or not…. Maybe something happened though where if you had to take them cause of a real medical issue, they (the doctors) either keep you on them, which is a majority of the cases and when a "problem" is raised or addressed by you they yank you off them cause they don't want to held responsible…. Suboxone can get you back on track… It's all up to you though. The above paragraph sounds like a f***ing commercial BUT, just so you know, I don’t represent the manufactures of suboxone. This site is not a money maker for me but I keep it going since I get so many incredible emails and “thank you’s”… Never thought me just ranting and posting up my mistakes in life would help others. I keep stepping this site up and will continue to do so. I only hope that this site gives you just that…”hope”. Brian
Comments (60)
Hey- Glad to hear you made it- i just asked my doc to replace the sub 8mg for 2mg dose strips- I’m hoping it is a mental thing- I was still at 3 8mg strips- I keep reading to go down 2 mg about every 6 days- is that what you did? But I’m so scared of wd- i give up everyday and I want to quit so bad- I guess because I have gone through wd so many times I just can’t handle the lethargic feelings and feeling like crap- so did you feel like you had the flu? were wd just like the opiates? I think it is mental for me- well a lot of us- I just need to hear some encouragement because I have no one to share it with- my dark secret. MY husband knows but doesn’t understand addiction so I can’t share my feelings without getting a “suck it up” or something.. I was hoping someone would be around to post but I haven’t gotten any feedback yet- I just want someone to say it isn’t that bad- you will be ok- it isn’t that bad- and not be lying! Sounds like if I can make it through a week – I will survive???
Hi All
Its been a few days since I wrote and I just felt obligated to check in. I went 21 days and actually beat the acute physical wothdrawls ( jumped at .4mg) and I have to say thta it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
Ok. minor set back: I may have developed an ulcer or somethingbthatvwas masked by the subs so I have an endoscopy scheduled so my GI doctor can tell me if theres a medical condition. If theres nothing there then its because of my receptors in my stomach ( yes we have them all over our bodies not just our brains ). If its nothing medical then Im going tohave to do whatever I need to do to fight the pain. The good news from what I hear is that once you beat the acute physical withdrawl ( day 9 for me) then you have motivation to go forward because your enrgy comes back to you ( even if your sleep cycleis screwed up)
Im a tough cookie and Im not going to stop until I am off completely so just want everyone to know that there is hope and it can be done and its a marathon. Everyday you taper down or quit using is a win. All this wins add up and will help to your ultimate goal.
Safe day to everyone
Monk
Hi Brian,
Great site! it’s so nice to see some positive feedback. I’m just starting my sub taper, have been on 2 mg for a while and was being a complete chicken about tapering. I kept putting it off “I’ll do it next week, I’ll do it next month”
Been on suboxone for a little over a year… I dropped to 1mg this week so I’m going to stay on 1 for a little and then slowly taper like everyone is suggesting.
Either way, I know I will have to face the music once I stop completely. The fear sometimes takes over but my drive to get off this stuff is stronger then my fear. I’m determined and after coming across your site it has inspired me.
Also reading everyone elses posts was very helpful too. It’s so nice to hear stories of people who are finally off suboxone. It gives me motivation. After going through oxy withdrawal several times I think the suboxone might not be as bad, especially just tapering slowly.
We all have to go through it, but from all the posts and responses I see I’m not alone in my struggle.
Goodluck to everyone and stay strong!!!!
Thanks Brian u r a great person
This is so inspiring…and I liked the “Officer Neuron and Lt. Receptor were talking and seemed to be having a beer…”
But really I want my life back so so so much and this is proof that it is possible. I was addicted to oxy’s and stopped doing them at the same time that I broke up with my bf of 5 years. My friend had a prescription of suboxone and would give me small chunks when I would show up at her house crying and withdrawling. That was over a year ago and I have been getting suboxone from dealers ever since. I hate it because I can’t always get it and I’ve had such a hard time with the w/d symptoms. Plus it sells for 20 dollars a pill. I need to get professional help but I’m afraid they will scold me and not give me medication to help the symptoms. I can’t have my life back until I can stop worrying that I’m going to run out of sub or how I will get more.
Thanks, Brian. I have referred to this page many times during my withdrawal from Suboxone and I have to say it has helped me a great deal to reach the point where I am now. I was on 16mg for about 6 months and decided to do a self-reduction and quit because I felt enslaved to the drug and wanted to get back to normal as soon as possible.
I tapered myself down from 16mg to 8 in about a week, then 8 to 4 in a week without feeling much of anything. When I dropped below 4mg, I started getting some mild symptoms but nothing really significant. Within the following two weeks, I jumped from 4 all the way down to .5mg and then stopped. By the first day, I was in full blown withdrawal and then the second day I was in hell. On days 3 and 4 I called into work and stayed at home with the worst restless leg syndrome I’ve ever had. On day 5 I fell off the wagon and took some roxicodone for relief. Then nothing for two more days. Then I got some more suboxone and did 4mg a day for three days. I knew my w/d’s were gonna start over but I figured it would be milder. After those 3 days, I went turkey and am now on day 12. I’ve been able to go to work the whole time but it’s been very difficult, I am in auto manufacturing. Last night was the first time since I stopped taking the meds that I felt as though my body actually repaired itself during sleep. It’s always a good sign when u can wake up and stretching/yawning feels ‘good’. During withdrawal, everything seems unpleasant. One other thing I have to say that helped me through the worst part was, and I know this is gross for some people, but masturbation. Orgasm triggers the release of endorphins and if you’re feeling really bad, it can give u instant relief for 5 to 10 minutes. Enough to restore u to sanity.
I think I jumped off too quickly and I would recommend tapering much more slowly with the help of a doctor. Truthfully, I think I would rather have gone thru the withdrawal from a full agonist, that way there aren’t really any surprises. The sub withdrawal has been a slow and subtle torture with a wave-like nature. But I think I’m well over the hump now. Thanks again.
I’m seven days off sub and feel fine(93%). I was a long time user, oxy’s, heroin, for several years. Faced with several real serious personal tragedies and looking at a state sentence, I had to quit. So I have more motivation than most! Kicking a habit in the joint is true hell on earth!!! I did a six week taper, starting at 8mg/day, for three days. Decreasing to 2mg at week 3. Week 4 1mg/day. The road gets rougher once you start going under a 1mg/day. I did experience some withdraw, but would take .25mg as a rescue dose. The last 4 days I was almost stable at .25mg(thats 250 micro grams). Day thru day 5 you get minor w/d’s(sneezing, stomach feels bad, lethargy(real tired!), and bad sleep for about 6 days. I took restorol for the first 5 nites(life saver). It gets better every day!!! I can honestly say at day seven I feel pretty good, I think once my sleep normalizes I’ll be fine. I will add here that I’m in excellent condition and I’m sure that helped. I also exercised as much as strength would allow thru the entire detox to speed up the healing process. don’t lay around it just makes the w/d lag on! I hope this helps some of you. You all can do this and break your tether of addiction!!! It’s one or two (at the most) bad weeks to get your life back. But do yourself a favor and taper down. This was the easiest detox i’ve done! NO where near the pain of kicking dope!!! God Bless and good luck!! Pray for me I’m going upstate for two years and losing a good women and two great kids from this stuff, it is the devil in chemical form!!!!
Your story is so inspirational. I too am getting off of suboxone. I havent been addicted for only a year or so now but i was getting pretty deep into them. I first started out with perc 10s then went to oxycotin and then started to do opana and dilaude. It wasnt till this summer i went on sub. I am down to about i think 2 mgs. I want to be clean before i get worse into the pills. I lost my job and almost lost my wonderful boyfriend over this stuff. I wanna get my life back before its too late. I hope my tapering isnt hell but i will have to face it sooner or later…
I have in on sub for 2 years 6 months. Ihave a question, this is my second time gettin off sub. The first time was about 4 mouths ago, and was off 32 days, I could not deal withthe depression that went with it, so my Doc put me back on it with wellburtion. Now four months later I just stopped cold turkey at 4mg a day. Its day six and I dont really feel to bad. is the half life gonna catch up tp me or is it the same either way?
Im 50/yrs old and have been using opiates on and off for almost 30 years(unfortunately). I was shooting about a half gram of real good heroin for a time, then my connect got busted and decided to start on a regiment of 200-300mg of oxycodone and tried to wean off with some perc 10′s. I think you guys get the message. I have always been a high functioning addict, working and even working out, and staying in good shape(by the way your physical condition will definitely, and i mean definitely speed up your detox! Especially that I don’t have enough energy to sit upright feeling! During those 30 odd years I have been clean for brief periods of time(6months- year and a half) and I before sub I don’t think I would have ever quit.
I think the key is a slow and steady decline in the dosage. You want to get to a reasonable dose (2mg or 1mg). Then once you feel comfortable the hard part is getting from your comfort dose( that 1-3mg) to, say .25mg. a
At that point you have to start thinking in terms of micro grams, not milli grams, the only way to do that is to get to the 2mg strips and section them with a “sharp” razor blade into smaller and smaller sections. I jumped off at 50 micro grams and its tolerable and that OMG I don’t have the energy to put on my shoes feeling will not persist as it will with some one that jumped off, say .5mg(500 micro grams). Yea! It take longer and requires more discipline, but it’s way more comfortable and we addicts are real cowards when it comes to withdraw pain! Get those 2mg strips cut them down small. You’ll get there! I tapered a little over 2 months from a 3 year,300mg oxy habit. Feeling 100% takes about a week if you taper slow. Good luck every one. Can’t believe how many suffering addicts out there, especially the mom’s with kids! My heart and blessings go out to you all! You gotta stick with it, it’s a time thing, it seems forever but it just seems like that!
I need help tapering please call me 7703344655 i want this part of my horrible life over i already have been quit from roxys for two days i took 8mg of sub the strips and feel great what next
Hi Folks, and thanks for your time invested,
just gona give a quick rundown of my drug history before suboxone
age 16-26 lots of alcohol (for a 16yr old atleast)12pk every night after work, drugs few times a week, mostly pot, then shootin coke by age 18, darvset, codine, but really was raised to belive that drugs would put you in jail and fuck up so whatever you do, dont get hooked, early 20′s a liter of vodka every morning, waiting in parking for liqure store to open @ 700am and off to work then shaking like a 50 yr old wine’o by 300am back to Licqure store parking lot before 700am opening time, detox,treatment,jail, skidrow couple times a year
Meet young nieve beautiful girl that thought I was coolest cowboy she had ever meet married and drunk entire 1st year,
Baby on way, sober 8 months when baby boy was born, clean & sober 10 years, 1 wife, 4 boys and 0 divorces, And lots of less important stupid shit, like house, cars, trucks, boats, motorhomes, horses, cows,dogs, every man toy I ever wanted, drug free with beautiful wife and 4 boys to enjoy it with, life was good I was happy, perfect poster child example of how bad drugs & alcohol can be and just how wonderful life without drugs or booze can be,
My wife pulled a musle in her neck and after a dozen trips to a chiropractor and massage therapist at a hundred bucks a pop, I took her to a neoroligist and came home with 180 ultrams
That was close to 8 years ago and I have used every single day for well over 7 years except the 3 times I tried too cold turkey it, never making past 10-13 days each time,
1st time was around 100mg hydro and 8mg zanx daily for 2 years, cold turkey for 10 days with the 10 th day
just as bad as the 3rd, worst hell ever felt in life up till then day 11 went to doc got some oxy’s, told him to stick the zanx bars up his butt.
another couple years on oxy’s every single day, 120 mg-upto 300 mg a day, down to zero overnight, another 12 days of living hell, but still not as bad as hydros and zanx where the time before, 13th day went to doc,
wasted another 2 years using every day ,never missing A day of methadone oxy’s and morphine, getting really serious this time so I get vitamin B complex and tyrsine and cold turkey it for 12 or so days, another 2 years of methadone, morphine and oxcy use made widthdrawls was as bad as the zanx and hydros 4 years before, really just a living freakin hell, went to doc told him to keep the methodone and morphine, funny thing was every time I told him to keep zanx, morphine and methodone he just seemed so proud that I so responsibile with my meds acting as every suggestion I made to increase the oxys was great so It’s to doc at around 13 days again, back on every day using and could’nt get high and could not lay off a few days so I could get high
6 months ago went to sub doc, 16mg per day for couple months then in 1 weeks time easily down to 8mg per day,
stayed there couple months then piece of cake to drop to 4 mg per day, then down to 2 mg a day for couple weeks.
it was much more like taking candy from a baby than taking dope from a junky, jumped off at 2 mg per day 12 days ago, 1-3 easy 4th day rough,5th-12th up and down back and forth, but nothing like any hell I went through before,
now some people say suboxone gives them thier life back and makes them normal, My first day on suboxone I was not close to normal, I got best opiate high in my life, I was out working in the yard and even ask a neighbor that I cant even look at to come and help me clean up, it was first time in years that I felt great, I was high like years before, But not normal and after first few hours of that first day on subs, I was not high ever again, but I felt foggy, maybe stoned a little is kida a way to put it, but not what I remember as normal for sure, I know I kinda came off fast at 4mg for couple weeks then 2mg per day for couple weeks then off at once, but I want to feel again,and now at 13 days with zero stripps or pills, it seems it would be stupid to go and get back on subs just to take say 1 mg then 1/2mg and so on, HOW MANY JUMPED AT 2MG ?? AND HOW MANY OF THOSE MADE IT 2 WEEKS, SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE IS SAYING, REGAURDLESS OF JUMP POINT, THAT AFTER 30 DAYS OFF SUB YOU COULD NOT MAKE THEM TAKE SUBS ARE ANY DOPE OF ANY KIND, for me its up all night. then little sleep next night, then up all night again then little sleep next night, all 3 times before the sub taper when I would try, no amount of imodium would stop the stomach pain or diarea, now 13 days after subtaper, never any fever, never sweats or chills never RLS, just tired, with depression up and down, never praying that I would die a single time Plus very little imodium helps the stomach pain, and passing solid stools like I was taking 16mg of subs a day or 300mg of oxy a day, now somone please tell me this is real and that on or about 1-1-2012 and around 26 or so days off my subs I’ll be oh so close to normal.
thanks all, sorry I did’nt keep it short or spell check it
testing1 2 3 testing 1 2 3
Hi Brian,thanks for posting this stuff. Some people have no idea of this battle we fight,my hat is off to you. I tapered off methadone 90mgs to 28 mgs over 1 and a half years. Ive been on sub.for three weeks now(2 8mg sublingual melt strips a day) I want to start the taper,for my clinic wants me there FOREVER* . I run a great program(aa/na meetings and have two years TRUE sobriety. Any suggestions?? Thank You very much! Joe:)
This site got me through and let me know what to expect. I’m on day 19. Still am not 100% but should be by day 25.
Bro, I read your entire post. I gotta say, this is truly the light at the end of a very dark and long tunnel. You give me hope, dude. That says a lot! I tried to kick suboxone a couple of times now (Once, just jumping off at 16 mg/day, and again at 2 mg/day) and the first time, I was in the hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack. The second time, I just gave in and took the suboxone again. I ended up going back up to 16 mg/day, and alternating down to 12 mg/day just to start to taper. I think I’ll be okay at just 8 mg/day for now, but I want to get off of it. I mean, yeah, I made some HUGE changes in my life since being on it, and the treatment only gave me the strength to do so, but I think it’s time to move on, and finally write the end of this chapter of my life. I know, once I kick it completely, my family, and my girlfriend will be proud of me. It’s the fear of going through the w/d’s that worries me. I know what to expect, and I know how I’m gonna feel. The only thing I don’t know, is how to deal with it all! It’s a terrifying thing to deal with and I got to about day 5. . . then I turned back. . . I wish I never did! I’m glad that you are doing okay now, though! Hopefully, the next time I write to you, I’ll be in the same place. . . Cheers!
I just hit my 1year of being on suboxone. October of 2010 I started after a 2 yr fast growing Percocet addiction. I had tried to drop off sub at 4mg in April of this yr and it was a huge mistake. Do not do it…..anyone! The taper is suggested for a reason!!!! I tried to fully detox after stopping sub too quickly for 1 month before I went back on sub because I was miserable and relapsed but luckily I was smart enough to go back and try again. I am now at 4 mg once again, taking 2 2mg subtex per day as prescribed. I am nervous cuz this is the point I was at back in April when I tried stopping. But I will ride out this taper……and your post was helpful. I will taper as low as possible before stopping since my previous experience showed me that stopping too fast just does not work. My personal opinion is that the high cost of the doctor visits,….I’m in Boston where the opiate addiction rate is one of the highest in the nation,….it’s just too expensive. Please refrain from saying its cheaper than buying drugs cuz yes I know that lol….but it’s still not sustainable for a lifetime so I must get off eventually. Doctors charge whatever they want and they do. And it’s a lot. If the price was less so many more people would be clean…..it makes me sick to think of. People that say its cheaper fail to understand the 1 very important fact that makes the cost-relation insanely stupid…..is that addicts tend to seek treatment BECAUSE they have run out of money, are in deep debt, and can no longer afford to sustain their drug of choice on a daily basis. This is the problem….this is the point in which we seek help. So yes it’s cheaper than drugs….but when u r out of money and income…..treatment is VERY expensive. Anyway…..I hope we see many positive changes in the future to help addicts……and suboxone and subtex…though being miracle drugs indeed…..are not accessible to all that so desperately need the help. Thx for your story….I hope to find my final taper a success. Congrats to you….and thx for sharing ;)
I am the guy that looks like he has everything, but deep inside i have a secret that we all share. I won’t bore anyone with my story but now i’m on suboxone and have been for about a year now. In my business 2 weeks off is UNHEARD OF. I make close to 100k yr and the fear of losing my job to kick this is just as shocking as the w/d’s. But for my life i am going to do this! This story literally made me cry. I have had this secret for so long i don’t even know how to tell my friends and family. I have 3 kids and i want to see them all have children. In my opinion, i do not think suboxone is a safe thing to take. Even the doc will say they do not know what the long term effects are. Bottom line its not natural, and it delaying the inevitable. I am venting here because i haven’t had anyone i could tell. But this post has hit me right between the eyes. I am going to get help and i am going to take the final jump. what’s that saying “PAIN IS TEMPORARY, PRIDE IS FOREVER” Brain thank you. I promise to post again from the “OTHER SIDE”
the part where u refear to thermonuclear war and cuban missle crisis is great im 2 days off and its the first laugh ive had since
im on 3 months 8 days clean from suboxone. i feel great. i actually have a life now. its been so long since i felt this way that i feel kinda weird. but its great being able to go somewhere without having to stock up on pills. i went on vacation for the first time in 5 years without drugs. usually i had to bring all kinds of shit. ive been depressed lately, but i just start thinking of how good ive been doing to stay positive. i wasted 5 years of my youth on drugs and im glad to say i will not be wasting anymore time with drugs. i am now appreciating life. its so worth it to stop opiates and suboxone. to be honest suboxone was just as bad as oxycontin. there both drugs, and no matter which one i stopped doing i still had horrific withdrawals. i cant stay im 100 percent normal cuz i still get bad cravings sometimes, and hot flashes when i get anxiety. but every week i feel more and more improvement. its very doable. you just gotta be strong and you have to want to be clean. its really hard. but if you make it your priority to get clean you will succeed and later on you will be very proud of yourself. goodluck everyone
My Names is James. When i Was 16 years old I was shot at gunpoint. I was in the hospital for months. They put me on all kinds of opiates and pills. When I finally got home I went through Withdrawals and had no clue why I Felt so sick. I realize now that my parents just didn’t tell me what I was going through, After all I was just an ignorant 16 year old kid who did as he was told. Well as most addicts know our addictions eventually progress until we reach rock bottom. Well I got back on dope and used heroin for years. I finally joined a drug program with the local Community Service Board after doing a year in jail. I highly recommend that anybody tapering off of suboxone or any drugs develop a support network. It can be a great tool to help you along your way. I cant express the gratitude for the confidence I have gained on my recovery from reading your post.
I dont have 16 days or even 2.’ to feel like shit. I work 6 days a week… I can’t take off….I can’t sit around at work….I need some alternative….can someone help me??? I’m at 8 mills a day now from 16 a month ago. please.
On day 28 and i wish i would of cleaned up a long time ago. i feel so good, my depression is finally gone. the worst part was the first 2 weeks. now that i look back sub withdrawal was far better then oxy withdrawal. its very do-able. just gotta stick it out and think positive.
Suboxonw works for me because I went cold turkey off the painkillers for three days untill i thought it was over. started 8mg suboxone…starting taper.now…how long untill you get your manhood back (libido or Hard-## again) andalso when does the constipation stop? hanks for your website. Thanks for any help yall can give me…. I am prying for all of you guys.
Cee Ya
im on day 16 of no suboxone now. i still have minor withdrawal symptoms like yawning and creepy crawly skin. but for the most part i feel so much better. i wish i would of took this step a long time ago. i actually feel better normal than if i went n got high off oxys. im sure im gonna feel better day by day. for everyone out there struggling with opitates, and or suboxone, you can deffinitly get clean and feel good. with my experience. the first 12 days were rough. honestly if you care about your life and your family. throw all the drugs out and just take 2 weeks off of work. and sweat it out. you wont regret it in the end. good luck
Some of the words are misspelled bc I was in a hurry, and spell check. “sold our land”. Coca- doctor. Meeds- meds
Wow, thank you for sharing your experience. I, like you, am so proud that I have taken my life by the horns and made a decision to get clean. Well, I’m not off the suboxone yet but I’m down to one 8mg a day. I started with 3 of em a day. I’m so ready to make the change and I guess the reason I haven’t went all the way is bc I have wanted to be absolutely sure that my mind can handle it and I think I’m ready. I have been on suboxone for exactly one year. I was only addicted to painkillers, I never cock tailed my pills but I always have had Anxiety attacks and have been given Xanax to take for it. Of course I would rarely ever take one. I usually traded them for extra money to buy my painkillers and only kept about 3 a month just in case. When I felt anxious, I would break a peach Xanax in half (that’s how much of a light weight I am for xanax) and it would usually put me to sleep. I don’t know what’s going on lately but I haven’t had much issues w the anxiety again until now and I swear I feel like it’s gonna make my heart explode. My doc prescribes me clonidine to go w my sub and, yes, it would knock me out but I just don’t wanna be dependent on a blood pressure medicine especially for months and months. So anyways, I took the clonidine every now and then when I couldn’t sleep well, even broke it in half just so it was a really small dose. I took that for about a week straight and then stopped. I am having heart palpitations, and when I went to my family doctor, my pulse was up over 125 per minute and it does it very often. It’s really making me nervous and I don’t know what to do. I’m 27 and I honestly feel like I’m 100 sometimes. I’m 5’6 and 115 pounds and I’m so lazy now. I feel like a piece of shit. I don’t even want to get off of the couch. I get so hungry and nothing ever sounds good to me. It’s like I don’t know what’s wrong w me anymore. I have a 3 year old and I can’t live like this. Might I mention that my fiancé and I were hard addicts together. We both took at least 20 hydro 10s percs OCs …. I tell no lie at least 250 mgs each every single day for 2 years. We sold purr land, I stripped, the whole shebang… I mean it’s embarrassing, but it’s what I did.back to my point, I have insurance and he doesn’t. So I get my suboxone free every month, but He takes methadone. He seems to not have any battles w addiction but I’m assuming it is bc he is still probably getting high. I, of course, get no high. He is taking 90 mg of methadone a day. I have no idea what methadone is like bc I have no experience with it. I seem to be more focused on dropping my suboxone then he is on dropping his methadone. I just am so frustrated and I just want this all to just go away. I hate the suboxone. I hate how it tastes, it disgusts me when i take it. Did u feel like I feel? Am I depressed? The coca have gave me different depression meeds and all of the meeds seem to make things worse. I constantly get hot flashes and feel nauseated, but that could be due to the fact that my f!/king bowels don’t seem to work anymore. Maybe I feel like shit bc I probably have shit all the way up my neck bc that’s about how often I go to the bathroom. I’m just so mad. I wish I was in your spot.
Hi Brian. Your story had helped me feel better about things. Knowing I’m not The only one struggling with this “disease”. For me it all started when I was prescribed vicodin for an injury. That was about 5 years ago. Also hanging with the some of the wrong type of people influenced me to go onto oxy etc. Im very fortunate I found out about Suboxone two years ago. It was such a god send. OMG I thought I was in the clear, thinking I wouldn’t have to goto rehab to fight any type of withdrawals. I was on and off Suboxone for two years switching back n forth from oxy n sub. Then finally for the past 3 or 4 months I stuck with subs and I tapered down to less than 1 mg a day. Today marks day 7 I haven’t taken anything except for Xanax cuz I cannot get any sleep. Between the leg and stomach pain it’s excruiating. I feel good for 30 mins here n there. It comes n goes. What really bothers me is I don’t know how long it’s gonna take to start feeling better. I know for sure it’s not gonna be soon. I abused drugs for so long my brain will prolly need much time to recover. It’s unbelievable tho that even since I tapered down to about .5mg of sub a day that I would still suffer from withdrawal. It’s not as close as bad as oxy withdrawal but it still sucks and it’s affecting my daily activities. To everyone who Is trying to overcome this problem good luck and be strong. We only got one life and why be miserable when you have The option to live a Healthy normal life. I hope I can stick this out for another week or so then maybe at least I can start feeling somewhat normal. Lol I don’t even remember what feeling normal is. It sickens me. F*** the drugs and just stop associating with people who still use.
I’m currently at 4mg Suboxone per day. I started at 16, then 12 then 8, back up to 12, back down to 8, currently at 4 mg. I have to get a refill because I only have 12 more mg’s left and I know that isn’t enough to get through a proper taper down to 0, although I have heard of people tapering quickly when they don’t have any money to get a refill. I’m a full time musician, and make next to nothing- I have rent and bills to pay.. My Suboxone program has been expensive and I can’t keep it going as long as my doctor wants me to… I need to complete the taper with my next refill- I will have twelve 8mg subligual tabs to get it done.. Any advice? There’s obviously no easy way to do this.. I’ve been on and off oxy’s, vics, norco’s, etc for several years.. Before I started the Subs 3 months ago, I was doing about 90mg’s of Oxy a day- more when I could afford it or was given the opportunity.. I began taking it to relieve chronic pain in my wrists/hands, but also found that it improved my mood and also helped with anxiety… I was super naive and had no idea how powerful the chemistry of opiates were. My brain was literally re-wired. Getting on the Subs was a big step, and the relief they’ve provided has been amazing. However, like I mentioned, it’s not financially possible to continue much longer.. (somehow I was spending less buying Roxy’s off the street to maintain my opiate addiction… I got a really good deal on my pills, I guess). If I could stay on the Subs, I would.. But I have to get off them asap and hope that I have done enough in the last 3months to prepare myself for sobriety. I’ve never wanted anything more than to kick opiates once and for all..
Thanks..Going through what you did right now.. Down to 1mg and not fealing good now..I have enough to last 3 more months.. Feels like I cant get any lower..
Thanks Brian for your story.
I have been on suboxoen for 3 years.
I am on about Day 17 ? I did not keep a accurate count.
Reading your story gave me the courage to try the taper.
I am still having waves of nerve pain shooting down my back and going down my legs. But I am sleeping some or part of the night now. It seems to be getting better every day. It is slow going though. The taper method is the way to go. If every day keeps getting better I will finally make it. I am going to give it all I have. I don’t want to be on opiates the rest of my life.
Thanks Brian for your story.
I have been on suboxoen for 3 years.
I am on about Day 17 ? I did not keep a accurate count.
Reading your story gave me the courage to to the taper.
I am still having waves of nerve pain shooting down my back and going down my legs. But I am sleeping some or part of the night now. It seems to be getting better every day. It is slow going though. The taper method is the way to go. If every day keeps getting better I will finally make it. I am going to give it all I have. I don’t want to be on opiates the rest of my life.
I also had no problem going from 2 halves a day of the orange 8 mill pill…and then not much trouble a month or so later..going from 1/2 of the pill to even 1/4 of the pill or 2 mills….and then even didn’t bother me too much to stop the afternoon dose and to just the 1/8 or One Mill in the morning. I didn’t feel great..had some of the unpleasant effects….mostly psychological. The lethargic..wanting to lay down…not feeling well and no energy mainly. I don’t like the sweats either. I find the doctors in my area..have no idea how terrible this drug is. They know how to get you “on” suboxone but when you have been on almost 3 years and are just irritated by the expense and the dependency. I dislike it greatly.
Plus if you do have an injury..no opiates work. I am determined to ‘Jump’ by March 15th…but it may be april 1st. I am down to just a crum. I have not found the dropper deal working very well..cuz I don’t know what to do with the other 3 doses…that just dries up in the spoon. I don’ t like to mess that much with it. but I have no way…of knowing..when just pinching or flaking off a piece of the bill with your thumb nail. I know this.
If I had known this shit would be this difficult to detox from, I would of never taking one ever. This is much more difficult to get off of than hydrocodone or even other similar opiates. It is a complete scam for Class B doctors that can’t make money the normal way. It is Big Pharma and stupid drug reps pushing their legal heroin on the public. Thank you US Govt. for once again looking out for us.
show are my going to support my familyim still feeling like the grimm reaper is standing over me had a couple of bad panic attacks thinking about my job and busness my wife hates me she wants me gone until im better and i can totally understand because i have an 11 year old boy who is seeing and hearing to much around the house i know he knowes whats lup and it is scaring him to see me like this conemp tplatingworks and leaving for the rest of withdrawal period never left my family before always hear for them but i have to get better and i will thru gods work and perserverance ill be back god willing
Glad I found this site. i over think too many aspects of my addiction which makes it hard for me to commit to quitting. I always relapse because i cant do my job and deal with my family (3 kids under 4) while feeling not right knowing that vics or percs will fix me right up. I had been doing 15-20 vics a day and somedays I would get 30mg oxycodones and sniff em. This is what really ended up making me realize I had to stop. I have pissed through so much money that it isnt even funny. I feeel like such a disappointment to my family. I am always here for them but obviously on the drug I’m not really here. I started the suboxones again and I managed to drop from 8mg a day down to 3mg within the first week. Im hoping to drop down again next week to 2mg then 1 then .5.
What do you guys think about using tramadol to lessen the w/d symptoms of subs. I would have my wife hold and administer the tramadols. I was able to quit vics in the past using tramadol
I had a ten year opiate history that started with 1-2 vicodin/day, progressed to 10-15norco/day and ended with a combo of oxys and slamming fentanyl. Lots of both. Everyday involved multple glasses of wine as well. I started on 24mgs of suboxone and tapered over 9months on my own. Cutting to 3/4 of my dose, then half my dose, then 1/4 of my dose. Each for a week or two at a time. There were a few maintenance periods where I tried but couldn’t cut it down so I stayed at that dose for a few more weeks. I can’t tell you if it was mental, physical or both but I finally got to 1/4 of the 2mg tabs, ever other day, then every thrid day. I stopped 12 days ago. Tomorrow is day 13 not taking a thing. I have clonidine and valium – clonidine was around the clock for the first 10days, down to only one yesterday and today, and helped the shakes, sweats, anxiety and creepy crawly skin. Valium helped the SEVERE anxiety and with sleep and I have used it intermittemently. The concept of “half life” pharmacolgically speaking is NOT a straight calculation. It means that at the end of each period of the “half life” what was in your system is halfway eliminated – so it takes a lot longer than expected to be gone completely. That is why days 10-14 are usually pretty bad as far as discomfort. If you do the math it looks like this:
2mg dose.
Day 3 – remining 1 mg (1 half-life)
Day 6 – remaining .5 mg (2 half-lives)
Day 9 – remaining: .25mg (3 half-lives)
Day 12 – remaining: .125mg and so on.
This is he reason you want to taper down to as little as possible before you jump off. The more you start with, the longer you are stretching out the slow withdrawl.
OK – Enough chemistry.
Day 7-today were the worst. I am anxious, completely apathetic, and had NO energy. I was an avid runner beofre and I am now FORCING myself to run every day. Every step is terrible but the endorphins allow me to feel less crappy for a bit. The thought “oh my god – I feel awful – maybe I am just a miserable human being and will never feel normal or be nice again” runs through my head constantly. Albeit, the intervals in between this thought are lengthening. In fact, for the first time in nearly two weeks – discomfort is momentarily absent. I’m not happy – don’t get me wrong – but late today – I started feeling…steady. Not miserable.
**As I sit here, I am realizing that I have not thought about feeling bad in at least an hour or two***
Anyway – I know it is slow going but look at my opiate history. Twelve days of hell and a few more weeks – maybe a month or two of putting one foot in front of the other? I will not be a big baby. I will handle this. And it will end. If I can do i – you can too.
Thank you for sharing your struggles with us your words have not fallen upon deaf ears. Im working on my taper. im down to 2mg a day and will be jumping off soon you all have reminded me that there is HOPE and givin me FAITH.
Sincerely,
Gman
I wanted to add a few things to my previous post that I think are important to the success of anyone who attempts the taper method I wrote about…
I had access to and took full advantage of the relief provided by 2 mg Xanax bars and 10 mg Ambiens throughout my entire withdrawal process as well as the 1st few days of any milestone dosage decrease during the taper process. These medications are so very important due to the fact that they provide SIGNIFICANT relief and enable you to somewhat silent your body and brain in order to sleep and just simply get through each day. If you have a doctor I suggest you ask them for Baclofen, a muscle relaxer which helps with the creepy crawlies and restless legs anytime of the day but mostly at bedtime. These symptoms were unbelievably minimal with my method anyway but not completely absent. This drug, Baclofen, is not sold on the street to my knowledge. My doctor gave it to me when I told him I had night tremors. I also took the recommended dosages of extra-strength tylenol and Ibuprofen throughout the entire withdrawal to deal with the achey legs and back. Use a heating pad or ice packs to help with minor sweats and chills. Take showers and baths whenever you feel it getting rough, this provides a surprising amount of relief. I actually fell asleep in the tub on the 3rd night after experiencing a bit of RLS when I got sleepy, luckily I woke up a few hours later before the water got too cold and my head went under. Over all I slept in 3-4 hour segments throughout each day/night whenever possible. I didn’t try to force sleep I just let myself nap whenever possible (that’s why I recommend taking off of work… so you can minimize stress and sleep whenever the hell you need it or feel like it). There is no such thing as Circadian Rhythm during the withdrawal process and these naps are priceless and necessary. Stomach issues were minimal but keep a bottle of pepto bismol or Immodium by your bedside just in case. It is important to stock up on any of the items I mentioned before you jump off the subs!!! Also pre-prepare meals for the week (dinner plates to heat up, microwavable meals, canned goods such as chef boyardee and soup, which I sometimes ate right out the can… YUCK… basically anything easy). Also stock up on liquids to drink (bottles of water, gatorade, electrolyte drinks, and protein shakes for when you just can’t force yourself to eat). I even bought plastic forks and spoons, paper plates, and cups so I did not have to do any dishes that week. Buy 2 cartons of cigarettes if you smoke and, BY GOD ladies, DO NOT try to do this at a time of the month when you are expecting your period. That’s an instant relapse if you get severe cramps like me. Please take care with the medications I mentioned and only use them when necessary and at safe dosages. Again, good luck and be safe, Jaime
I have a great tip that helped me tremendously as I got below the 1mg portion of my taper!!! I started at 16 mg a day of sub to deal with a roxicet/OC habit and tapered my sub dose over an 8 and 1/2 month period. I just followed what my body was telling me to do and gradually started minimizing my dose once I felt ready mentally. I can’t say my taper did not come completely without minor withdrawals but it was worth it to hold on to that last dose as long as I possibly could without taking my next daily dose. This enables you to jump to a lower dose more quickly, but quick = slightly uncomfortable. WELL, that said, HERE IS MY ADVICE… Using a diposable plastic syringe (without the needle or course), dilute a 2 mg piece of suboxone in 2 mL of water or just use a basic 1:1 ratio or 1:2 ratio to dilute, measure, and dispense the liquid sub mixture under your tongue. I was able to taper, quite easily, to .03 mg per day using this method, which, by the way is also a very precise method of tapering unlike breaking off chips of the sub. YES! .03 mg per day of suboxone. My taper was like clockwork due to the very precise and very small dosage decreases this method allows. Once you’re at .03 mg of sub take your time deciding when the time is right to jump off and make plans for an uncomfortable, but fairly easy, withdrawal. It took me about 5-7 days (1st two days weren’t bad at all) to get over the VERY subdued physical withdrawal in comparison to the much more difficult time I had jumping of at .5 mg and even .25 mg. This method also helps minimize the “I think I’m OK’s” and produces a much more stable period of physical withdrawal. I would suggest taking off of work for at least a week and dedicating yourself to this task completely while also following this site’s owner’s advice (He is very spot on in my opinion). Though this method did make the physical withdrawal much easier, the psychological aspect is another story with a completely different timeline and experience for each individual person. Get help… it is so lonely and difficult to do on your own. This experience was the hardest of my life. It makes you feel very scared and support will help with the fear. Good luck, Jaime
Daniel,
There is nothing wrong with staying on Suboxone (I think… Granted I did get off it and have stayed off it but that was my choice regarding my own personal circumstances). Seriously, you don’t think I thought the exact same thing or considered the situations that you have described. I didn’t start smiling really, (without putting effort into it) for probably 2 months. I mean, I did ok, I could laugh a little, joke a little, but I had to almost be self conscious about it cause I felt out of place.
I know exactly what you are talking about….. (to much to cover but I just read your post again back to back)… I am good now but I’m also in my early (early) 30s…Not that I am 18 but I can still somewhat bounce back. Im ACTIVE now but I can fully see where your decision is coming from or based on. When I say I am more active now, I do have to say that this whole ordeal, coming off of everything and the sub has taking some of the “life” out of me.
Don’t take this the wrong way and Im just giving you my opinion. If you kicked ass, felt better and were more active on the suboxone….then stay the course. I mean seriously, you’re 50…between now the time you’ll be 55… they’ll come out with something that’ll be like a Norton Anti Virus for people like us…. it’ll clean all the bad stuff out while making us feel 18 again…. Wishfull thinking hu…. Or actually, I think there is something they came out with but we already crashed and burned on it, get my meaning.
What works for you (suboxone for instance), what keeps you healthy and keeps you away from a drug that can or could depress your respitory system so much that you die (i.e. oxy, vics, percs…pain meds in general / opiates)…. If you’re good on the suboxone and you’re happy, then roll with it. Don’t take a chance at this time.
I see no one has posted since Feb. Now I am worried that this was all for naught… I hope you are still off Brian, or if you are back on- that it was simply because you wanted to get high, and not b/c the sub was kicking your ass.
Hi Brian! I hope you are being honest. I have had a tough time w/sub. I wont go into my opi history- on and off for 20 or so years, but mostly off. I had almost 10yrs off at one point. That was when I went back on and couldnt stop and went on sub August/2006. I have tried several times. It was the last time that kicked my ass. I went from about 6mg and jumped at detox. 4 weeks in detox, and another 5 at home clean. Total- 9 weeks clean, and the fog, the dizzy (exactly as you describe-to the “t”) and weak etc- but the foginess, lack of motivation/ weakness. I just couldn’t take it any more.
I ended up going back on. I really feel bad about my self. I have two wonderful daughters that I raised by myself. They saw what I was like before I went on sub. I am but a shell of that person. BUT as you say- it does stabilize you. You are not “high” or nodding etc. You can think +/- ok. The down side of sub: typical opi side effects: zero libido, hormone change, lack of true motivation etc.
So here I am- I went back on in mid Feb. I am at about 6 mg again. I have heard that taper works much better.
I can deal with 14-30 days of weakness/no motivation/dizzy etc. But I was past 2 months and feeling this way. So you have given me hope. I have also taken advantage while back on sub to go to support group // .(wont mention name). That is going well.
So my question, I hope you answer me. Please, I need hope- If I take my time- taper 6-4 to 3- that wont be hard getting to 3. Two may take a week of taper, but 2 is not bad. BUT 2mg is when it seems to begin. So if I do as you say, crush the tabs, and go sloooowly from 2-1.75, 1.5, 1.25, 1.0- all the way down to .25 and (assuming I can do this) stay at .25 until I feel relatively ok- relatively- then (if it is possible to taper further? great if so) then get off at .25-
Am I going to go through the same deal of feeling worse and worse and worse- even at 60+ days?
I am prescribed Klonopin- so I have no problem getting them. I have found that Seroquil helps greatly w/sleep. I slept well during my last detox. But do you think the taper is going to help? If not- I cannot go through that again. The zombie feeling was just too horrible. I will have to stay on for life. If so, I will likely jump with a rope around….. because I do not want to finish my life like that. I was active- super active- I am 50 now, but up until I started the opis (for 3 months) then on Sub at 47, up until then- I was scuba diving, hiking mountains, surfing, yardwork- I was in good shape. Now? I feel like a used up 60yr old that does not excercise.
I NEED HOPE. I go to the Subsux website and it is filled with hellish stories, and some of them are true, if not most. But tapering may be the key to easing the length of PAWS.
Hopeless in Miami and Maine (live both)
Daniel- thanks everyone
Hey Brian, Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I’m a 32 year old female, and I’m planning to come off of suboxone once and for all. I had been on opiates (IV) for 10 years with two stints of clean time (’01 for 3 months & ’03 for a year). Aside from being pissed at myself for relapsing when I was home free for a year, I am very fearful of withdrawl. In November ’09, I began subs and have been tapering them from 8mg 2x/day down to 2mg 1x/day right now. I tried stopping a week ago, and did well– UNTIL Day 3! I was able to somehow conjure up the energy to get through the day at work (no appetite, extreme fatigue, and hot/ cold sweats), but when it came time to go to bed, I was a MESS! My legs were thrashing around, and I felt like my stomach was filled with razor blades. I broke down after fighting till 3am, and took 2mg. I needed to get some sleep–I have to work, my job is physical. Then I felt depressed because I gave in and needed some medicine– I felt like a failure. I was doing 1 mg/day,for a couple days, but had no energy at all, and still had a rough time at night unless I used a sleep aid. So, now I’m back to the 2mg a day, I have decided to not lose hope, I didn’t use opiates for 2 months, it was 10 years, so I can take my time. The bottom line is that I have completely changed my life since I began the subs– I go to work every day, work out, I can save money, I don’t need to lie, cheat, manipulate or steal anymore– I lead a very productive “normal” life (whatever normal is). I have had to re-learn behaviors, and learn how to live life without rushing home to use– the suboxone made this possible. Now, I’m ready to be off for good. I will taper down to 1.25mg for a month (starting this Mon), then down to 1mg daily for a month, then .5mg and so on until I’m ready to jump off. It may be a bit rough for the 1st week, but I’m gonna ask for a week off at work in advance, so if it’s tough, at least I don’t have to deal with customers & hard work. I’m also gonna ask my doc for some xanax or ambien (just for that week or two). In the event that things get a little too unbearable, I can always take a chip off a sub, and resume my plan. It’s a hell of a lot better than relapsing on opiates– I have no desire to use them ever again! I have to keep my head up and know that I can do this, I appreciate your story, it has given me some hope. Best of luck in your continued sobriety.
Sincerely,
Tcg
After using dope for nearly 3 years with intermittent bouts of clean time, including a year in a program, I reluctantly went on Methadone. I got off the meth waaay too quick. I thought a month would be enough time to taper from 85mg to 0mg ! WTF was I thinking. I couldn’t deal with the prolonged withdrawal that methadone produces. Horrible. I didn’t sleep for 23 days, at all. Feeling like I had lost my mind I had a great plan of catching a dope habit long enough for my body to “forget” about needing methadone. I tried quitting after a month of running & still the withdrawal never ended. So I went back to dope for another 7 months. I got clean for 30 days, all of which sucked physically & opted for another “easy way out”. Suboxone. I have been on 8mg for 5 months. I needed to know how I would feel if I didn’t take my dose. It seemed worse than coming off dope. I threw up, which I never did coming off of dope. I have 35 8mg pills left & I want to taper to 0mg. Any suggestions? I know that no matter how I do it, it will be uncomfortable. I just don’t want it to be like kicking the other 2 evils, b/c then whats the fucking point. I am considering to immediately go down to 4mg for a month. Which would leave me with 20 pills left. After that I am not sure…I will figure it out, but any suggestions would be appreciated..Thanks… – T.R
all opiates are the devil i hate being on them
I reasearched/googled “Suboxone Taper” because I have been on Suboxone for one year now, after a long 9 years of hard opiate dependency. I was wanting to read up on the taper and came across Brian’s personal experience with Suboxone Taper. This was really good for me to read- I’ve been thinking of when and how I’m going to start the process of tapering. And i now know that it really is possible and there is HOPE!!!
Thanks to all the ppl who made remarks and posts their experiances.
-Kelly S.
This article is a fantastic find. You have done a great service and in this case have really given me more faith I can get thru and done with subox.
1994 – snapped metacarpals 4&5 in half, bones shoved up into wrist. my accounts of post-cast pain were answered with cold-turkey from 30 mg/day vicodin (“that’ll teach him!!”).
1996 – complaints of spreading pain up into elbow and visible atrophy.
surgery to re-break, scrape, and pin&screw bones.
1998 – surgery to remove pins. post-surgical pain was EXTREME. I kept describing it felt like a pin had been left behind, something was stabbing. surgeon enraged by my (101% true) complaints and requests for opiates.
NEW DIAGNOSIS: RSD
Local pain-management “wizard” treated me like street addict, sent me for x-rays. whattya know, radiologist finds still-fractured metacarpal.
2000 – surgeon’s partner immediately sees reason for one more surgery..a fusion…..I COLD TURKEY from years of 125mcg/48 hr. duragesic to beat surgery deadline by 30 days. that withdrawal was a solid month, wherein I also got addicted to librium.
Surgery: re-break, scrape, plate&screw for FUSION. I agree to trade power grip and wrist-bend for pain-free life. He provides Tylenol3 only. Post-surgery pain @ 45 days is 300% WORSE. Surgeon’s answer: “you’re gonna have to get off the painkillers”….yes, he’s marked me as “addict” and therefore refuses further treatment. I was fired.
Strange thing- I was told the surgery would take away the bending of my wrist, that it would be a rigid structure. Curiously, I can bend my wrist 90 degrees. NO SURGEON will discuss this with me…..I am asking only if it is a broken fix and possibly the reason for pain?
HOWEVER: my primary care knew I was speaking truth and promised to keep me comfortable as long as I was proactive in seeking any non-narcotic solution. I got to a daily max of 960mg oxycodone/day with 12mg xanax/day to help with anxiety, and pain is pushing me toward suicide.
Acupuncture restores temp and color to my gray/purple/freezing hand.
SUDDENLY, another doc informs me oxycodone is INCREASING my pain. AT this point, I’m HAPPY to hear that- it’s a real reason to quit chasing tolerance.
I attempt to titrate. Due to “oversight” by my doc’s ass-istant, Aug 2, 2007 I took my last doses of everything, slammed into cold turkey, and had to wait a week for a bed to open in the ONLY rehab hospital here that can or will treat benzo withdrawal. Opiate withdrawal is the worst thing ya can go thru, and xanax withdrawal 100 times worse than THAT.
Been on Suboxone since August 07- gone from 24mg/day to a now-easy 8, and had a perfect record at the rehab- like honor roll :). BY the way- the rehab nurse got me to test prozac to see how my pain reacted. Were I a “purposeful” addict, I would not have reported the miracle of nearly TOTAL elimination of my pain! NO MORE OPIATES was the best possible future. I owe that nurse. I stayed on prozac a bit over a year. when i stopped, still NO PAIN! There is structural pain, but not random stabbin NERVE pain.
I left nothing but a trail of perfect credibility. Baltimore/Annapolis is still a small town.
I tried cold-turkey from 8mg/day 2 weeks ago. By Day 6 the crawling was too intense. I was BEGGING for a muscle relaxer (Soma), saying that I was SO close to the finish line…..I was refused. The same doc who watched me fulfill every promise to get off the oxy, whose mistake caused me to do the vertical plummet from 800/day oxy and 12/day xanax now refused me soma to help me get thru the last/worst part of my effort to get subox done and gone. I called a friend from rehab group who came to my rescue with a couple 8mg to help me get back to “functional”, and I’ve stuck at 4mg twice a day.
However….the doc I’m working with to titrate me from subox keeps pushing me UP and I am risking non-compliancy by refusing to increase. I suspect exploitation in the community….extremely expensive fees and no-insurance options…..I have to pay $250 initial and $100 a week JUST for the paper scrip. I was on the 30-day subox supply but now with new doc it’s 7 days. I’m in the WRONG end of that business.
THANKS for making this available and congratulations on your victories :)
Brian
Whats up bro? My names Vic 32 yr old male from Upstate NY. Ive been using pills for about a year. Mostly Darvacets and ultracet in higher doses. About a month and a half ago I bought subs off of a friend to help quit and keep my withdrawls down from the others. I have tapered down to 2mg a day with really no withdrawls at all. What I’m wondering is what to do next, I’m actually thinking about everyother day dropping down to 1mg then my next day back to 2. (like this mon 2mg tue 1mg wed 2mg) and then drop my 2mg days down to 1 mg and keep my other 1 mg day for a couple days to let the change settle in. (Now ill be mon 1mg tue 1mg wed 1mg etc…) Then after a couple of days drop down to .5 mg everyother and taper off like that. This may let my brain get used to lower doses and heal up a bit before dropping to nothing. Ive also heard to save a bit for when you do quit and feel withdrawl to take a .25 mg dose to fight them off everytime you feel them comeback (usually every 2-3 days) Let me know your thoughts bro. I value you opinion and give you props for keeping up the fight even after you felt like shit. Vic
Matt,
What can I say that you don’t already know. You are on the right track bro; you are on the same track I was on…. To be scared shitless….dude I was. You know, it sounds so f-ing great how I documented everything and to read it takes 25 minutes or so; it’s great reading it hu? The reality; just trying to prepare you or help prepare you for what I went thru is; the bottom line is it is alot easier than just stopping regular opiates though. EVERYONE ignores the big picture…suboxone is the emergency break, NO ONE stops opiates after being an addict or they dont “TAPER”… I mean, I DID OR TRIED but I F***ED up and fell off the wagon time and time again. This time now, after 3 1/2 years… I broke the cycle using the SUB. It still sucks getting off it but it’s better than just hitting a telephone pole at 100mpg. You’ll be fine dude, ride this shit out. Let me know how you are doing.
Brian
Man I gotta say this has been encouraging.. You sound like a right-on guy, Brian. i wonder if you might be able to steer me in the right direction. I was an oxy user (40-50mg per day) for about 3 and a half yrs. Prior to that about 1 or 2 percs a day for a couple years. Was never out of control or using high doses, never ever snorted or shot the stuff either. Recently started waking up mildly dope-sick, as I used the short term roxicodone, not the contins. Instead of continuing to increase dosage, I opted to start the suboxone. Found a decent doctor and about 3 weeks ago started at 16 mgs like you did. After a few days, dropped to 8mg. then after a few more days to 6mg, then after 4 days to 4mgs, now after 4 days at 4mgs, I have dropped to 2mgs. Today is my 3rd day at 2mgs. I am surprisingly, despite enormous interpersonal and financial troubles, feeling sorta OK. Not great, but functional. Considering my length of time with the subs (at day 22 on sub), this relatively rapid wean has been do-able. With your knowledge, bro, I am hoping you could advise me on what to do next. I want off, but have to maintain being functional. Can you point me in the right direction? Based on the short duration I have been on the stuff, what should I do next? Goal of course is to get off completely and in the next 7 days. What is someone like me up against? If you can help me please send me an email..it’s: lonesomebastard@gmail.com Any advice, I’m scared shit and I’m alone and broke. Thank you, in advance..you speak my language, I’m curious. HELP! Thanks so so very much for a reply ASAP…
Sincerely,
Matthew