Can't get off Suboxone

I was on subs for 6 yrs. I also had a hard time because of fear. For me the best thing was to take less and less every2 weeks,not less and less every day. That's probably too much of a drop too fast. I took 4mg by crumbling the film into a ball and  swallowing the film, not dissolving it under my tongue. I truly think this made it easier. After doing that for a month I did the same thing with half the dose,2mg, for 2weeks and then I started taking only 1mg. After a week of 1mg it wouldn't show up on a 12 panel drug test. I know these drug tests must be some what accurate because they hold up in court, I actually had to sign paperwork and so did my Dr. prior to taking the test. Regardless of the 1mg I was taking, because it didn't show up on the test my Dr. decided that I was clean enough and said he would not prescribe the suboxone anymore. He gave me some options..he prescribed some blood pressure patch and said after I was done taking that for a week I could get a shot that would make me very sick if I took any suboxone or vicodins. I was so pissed off because I wasn't expecting any of this fast c**p so I stopped going to any doctor all together. Funny cuz I felt fine for not even a week but then my withdrawl set in. Way worse than ANY prior cold turkey quitting,(my prior use was 50-70 10mg vicodins/day). I was like f**k this..I got my hands on 5mg vicodins and took 3 the first day, 2 for 2 days, 1 the last day, then I literally forgot about it all. I've been clean for almost 9months. When I took the first 3 I didn't feel anything at all I just wasn't ill at all. In retrospect I feel like maybe I could have gotten off the vicodins years ago like I did in the end but everyone's different plus the weekly therapy probably had a lot to do with me wanting to quit..you kind of grow up and have a different sense of pride in different aspects so I'm glad how it went. I still crave something every day. I smoke pot. Very small amount. I go trough about $50.00 every 6-8months. My good Dr knew this trough my entire treatment and understood why. This must have something to do with underlying issues. I was never one to search/make the calls for drugs or go pick them up, that fear is greater for me than anything because of my family so it's kind of out of sight out of mind. I don't struggle with it daily but I am crabby here and there, anxiety is a huge issue but always has been. I would love to be back on clonezapam but my new as****e doctor won't give it to me because he claims it gives you liver cancer. It took me 20yrs to find out that clonezapam 1mg every3 days is a life saver but this as****e has made me lose all hope in other assholes like him. This new Dr. does not know anything about my prior suboxone use. I feel like it's none of his business plus he's pretty dumb. I don't need some id**t judging me and I don't feel like resharing the last  decade of my life with a door knob. I went trough enough BS for long enough. Only my suboxone Dr and I know everything. Sorry about the rambling but I hope he runs across this post some day. He will know who this is right away. I can't thank him enough. He and I saved my life! Take it slow as you want, the results are worth it. Or make sure you save some suboxone so you can slice it to a million pieces and take a tiny bit every other day. I still think you will feel terrible withdrawl with any amount of subs though. Regardless of the amount. Good luck to you.

Since I started taking suboxone 3 months ago actually a lot has happened. I started off with 4 mg a day and I did that for the first 2 months. Then I weened down to 2 mg for 2 weeks followed by 1 mg for the last 2 weeks. Well guess what? I relapsed and started taking Vicodin again for about 3 weeks. I was absolutely ashamed of myself and I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. I decided to ween off of the subs simply because they weren't really effecting me like they used to when I first started taking them. But when I was on them everything was great. I started working out again, running a lot, all that good stuff plus meanwhile I was studying to get my life insurance license. I have crazy ADHD and for some reason on the subs I was able to comprehend everything I read and I was learning so much. Then all of a sudden after about 2 months I started to have less energy less motivation and I was having a lot of trouble studying so that's why I decided maybe I could ween off of the subs and be independent without them. Well I guess I was wrong. Wanna hear something weird. My doctor didn't want me to get off of them? Yeah weird huh I mean he could care less about the money right? Pfffftt dip my balls in honey and call me Ronald! It was a crock of sh*t. He told me if I get off of them now I will only have a 3% success rate. Just the thing I wanted to hear ya know? But I said f**k him I can do this on my own. Well about 3 days after I was completely off the subs I was losing my mind. I was pacing around the house thinking oh come on not again please God don't let me buy Vicodin. But I did. Maybe it happened for a reason. If you relapse don't get down its not your fault it's all in your mind. But I truly thinking withdrawing from opiates is way more moderate than withdrawing from subs. My doctor told me I would have to take the subs for 1 full year in order to successfully recover. What a load of BS. I mean how do you expect me to believe my withdraws would be worse if I was on suboxone for 3 months compared to a full year? It makes no sense they just want your f*****g money. Now here is where my success story starts. After I relapsed I had another eye opener but I had even more motivation than when I first decided to get help. So here's what I did and I promise you this is the best way. I bought 2 subs from a buddy of mine. I took 1 mg a day for 8 days so that I could get the Vicodin out of my system. After that with the last sub I took the tiniest pieces ever, I mean soooo small. I probably made that 1 sub last me about 3 weeks. Seriously... Really really small just cut them with scissors and keep cutting the corners off. While I was taking those pieces I was running a lot like 3 miles a day so that I could sweat out all of the bad sh*t out of my body. (Yes I was having tiny withdrawals but nothing unbearable; you just really gotta be strong and tell yourself this is my plan this is what I'm going to stick to). Not only that but I luckily have a steam room and a sauna at the country club my parents belong to. Steam room is the best to sweat. I was taking b12, b6, magnesium, and potassium pills along with an amino acid supplement that repairs my muscles after a nice workout and run. When I was done with my last tiniest bit of sub it was honestly like I wasn't taking anything anymore. I prayed a lot a lot and went to church every Sunday so that helped a lot. Honestly I think that sweating out the bad stuff really helped but mainly the running. Make yourself sweat. Keep pushing yourself and just keep busy. When I was off the subs yes I had tiny withdrawals but they were so tiny I mean it was just more of soreness not like I really wanted any drugs. And that was that, I have been clean for 2 weeks and I finally am back to my old self and I am so GOD DAMN PROUD of myself! I'm happy to say it. If you are in a rut, don't worry. I used to have that feeling like OMG I NEED SOMETHING. Now... Nothing! So key points.... - ween off subs almost immediately - ween off with tiny doses - run and sweat - keep busy - open your ears to the good Lord (He always listens) I'm telling you... Keep pushing, it will get better I promise you can only go uphill. I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck. I will keep checking this post and would be happy to reply as many times necessary. FOR ANYONR ELSE OUT THERE DO NOT TAKE SUBS FOR A LONG TIMR LIKE YOUR DOCTOR SAYS. THEY ARE FULL OF sh*t. Cheers!!!

Hello Cato,
You have to taper very slow, if you taking 24mgs you can cut down to 16mgs for about a month, then drop to 12mgs for a month, then drop to 8mgs for a month, then 6mgs for a month ect.
Once you get down to 2mgs, this get hairy, you must at this piont drop your dose even less, try 1.5mgs for a month, then 1mg for a month. 1/2mg for two months. then try to stop. n

Good luck, and just know you must have a strong support group through all of this. Try helping someone else or doing for others while your lowering your dose, it helps keep you mind off any withdraws.

thanks for post am having similiar probs. w/ sub icant get off of .250 film a day. have been trying for 3 monts. am curious about rapid detox for 6,000. bucks . any info greatly appr. good luck and god bless. allan