It seems that everyone on here is tapering off their subs incorrectly.
It amazes me that some of you have drs that aren't giving you all the information or tools that you need to get clean.
I have been on subs for a year and 6 months. I started on 8 mg a day. I am now on 1 mg a day.
When you begin 'tapering' off, you can only go down 10 percent of what you are using per 2 weeks. I know that is really confusing, but what I do is make a calendar for the month and my first tapering month went like this:
Monday 8mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 8mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 8mg
Sun 8mg
for 2 weeks - then the next 2 weeks would look like this (keep in mind, to split up your pills there is no need to cut them. Put the pill with the "cross" side up, push on each side of the cross and the pill will split itself in half for you)
Monday 6mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 8mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 6mg
Sun 8mg
for 2 weeks - then the next 2 weeks like this
Monday 6mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 6mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 6mg
Sun 8mg
so basically, when you move down at all, you can't just go from 8 then to 7 then to 6 and on and on. You have to go down for one day, the next day go to your full dose, blah blah blah. Just think each two weeks you cut your mg down by 10 percent of your total mg's from the last week. If you need a calendar, just email me and I can send you one.
The medication in suboxone is forulated so that some of the medications stay in your system for 3 days, (mostly the ones that help with cravings, and your mood) but other portions (like the tiny ammount of opiate in it) only stay in your system for about a day, maybe two depending on your metabolism. So just tapering down by a mg a day or whatever... really bothers your brain.
Suboxone was formulated so that you CONFUSE your body and you don't have withdrawls. Or cravings. So if you don't CONFUSE your body... you will fail.
I hope this helps someone, anyone. Because I know that if I didnt' start my suboxone program when I did, I wouldn't be alive. It literally saved my life and I have never been happier.
Listen to this: I'M GLAD THAT I WILL NEVER HAVE TO GET HIGH TO LOVE AND APPRECIATE MY ENTIRE LIFE! ALL THE UPS and DOWNS! Wouldn't you give anything to be able to say that to someone, and acctually belive it?
Well, I can say that....
Good luck to everyone, please don't hesistate to contact me if you want some personal inspiration or help! I know more about suboxone than most people, but that is only because I was serious about curing my addiction.
Thanks all who took the time to read this whole post!
Tinaster*
tinasterwagnerster - at - yeahoo - dot - com
It amazes me that some of you have drs that aren't giving you all the information or tools that you need to get clean.
I have been on subs for a year and 6 months. I started on 8 mg a day. I am now on 1 mg a day.
When you begin 'tapering' off, you can only go down 10 percent of what you are using per 2 weeks. I know that is really confusing, but what I do is make a calendar for the month and my first tapering month went like this:
Monday 8mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 8mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 8mg
Sun 8mg
for 2 weeks - then the next 2 weeks would look like this (keep in mind, to split up your pills there is no need to cut them. Put the pill with the "cross" side up, push on each side of the cross and the pill will split itself in half for you)
Monday 6mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 8mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 6mg
Sun 8mg
for 2 weeks - then the next 2 weeks like this
Monday 6mg
Tuesday 8mg
Wed 6mg
Thursday 6mg
Friday 8mg
Sat 6mg
Sun 8mg
so basically, when you move down at all, you can't just go from 8 then to 7 then to 6 and on and on. You have to go down for one day, the next day go to your full dose, blah blah blah. Just think each two weeks you cut your mg down by 10 percent of your total mg's from the last week. If you need a calendar, just email me and I can send you one.
The medication in suboxone is forulated so that some of the medications stay in your system for 3 days, (mostly the ones that help with cravings, and your mood) but other portions (like the tiny ammount of opiate in it) only stay in your system for about a day, maybe two depending on your metabolism. So just tapering down by a mg a day or whatever... really bothers your brain.
Suboxone was formulated so that you CONFUSE your body and you don't have withdrawls. Or cravings. So if you don't CONFUSE your body... you will fail.
I hope this helps someone, anyone. Because I know that if I didnt' start my suboxone program when I did, I wouldn't be alive. It literally saved my life and I have never been happier.
Listen to this: I'M GLAD THAT I WILL NEVER HAVE TO GET HIGH TO LOVE AND APPRECIATE MY ENTIRE LIFE! ALL THE UPS and DOWNS! Wouldn't you give anything to be able to say that to someone, and acctually belive it?
Well, I can say that....
Good luck to everyone, please don't hesistate to contact me if you want some personal inspiration or help! I know more about suboxone than most people, but that is only because I was serious about curing my addiction.
Thanks all who took the time to read this whole post!
Tinaster*
tinasterwagnerster - at - yeahoo - dot - com
i tapered off of my suboxone in 9 days i was on 20mg a day i kept reducing my dose by half a pill every 2 days. i have been off for about 3 or 4 days now and i feel great.
i have been on subs for 2 and a half months. i todl the doc i did more stuff than i actually did to get more and help out my friend who were also trying to quit. i used to take like 2 mg a day the first 3 weeks, now I take 2 mg every other day. i feel pretty good. i have 2 mg of sub left and then i run out. i have ten perc 10's to help with the wd from sub. i plan on taking like 1 every other day. this should help, right??
the worst is over in 4 days then u just have insomnia for another 4 days. hang in there you can do it
Hello everyone, reading this has given me alot of support to know that I am not the only one going through this. It sucks so bad waking up every morning with that kind of dull feeling and buzzing in your head, especially waking up early when you couldnt fall asleep for so long the night before. Although most if not all of us did it to ourselves, We all must remember that it is only human to enjoy the feeling of opiates and then suboxone. I was addicted to opiates for probably 1 and a half to 2 years and then taking the subs for another year, so this new sober living is very different to me. I feel like I have no strength if I had to fight for my life. Remember, any time that anyone may use the drugs we are trying to get off of, you are only putting yourself in a bigger hole. It felt good for me to read what you all had to say and to know that there are others in the same boat, so I just figured id tell you about myself. My word of advice is if you cant sleep do NOT start taking sleeping meds, why the hell would you replace one problem with another? If you are going through pain it may make the day seem long, but just stick it out for a few weeks, you will feel better.... i hope. I still dont feel much better and im a week and a half clean of everything, but I will stick it out becuase one day I will feel like I did before all of this.
Hey everybody i am 24 years old and was on oxycontin for my back problems for a about a year I started snorting the oxy a week into my first script at the end i was doing about 300mg a day i started to see my life fall apart thats when i went to get on suboxone i started out taking 24mg a day but i knew that i had to wean myself off the suboxone because i was scared of the stories that people tell about how they were on subs for so long that there body just got a addicted to that; thats true you cant let yourself become dependent on the subs people think there clean when on subs your not its in opiate it is doing the same thing in your body that the heroin, oxy,vics and all other opiates do you just don't get the euphoria high but it is still doing the same thing to your body thats very important to know so when you make up your mind to quit opiates and get on the subs you can wean yourself off fast I have seen people do it in a week and half and having a way bigger habbiat than me and they had no signs of withdrawls from the subs. but I am on day 4 of having nothing and i weaned myself off in 3 weeks taking 1mg for the last 7 days tell i stopped i will tell you i waited to long to to tapper of the subs two weeks works the best from what i have seen. from my experinence with the subs day two i got withdrawals but i will tell you this it is 1000 times better than just going cold turkey so for that subs have saved my life everyday i feel better but through the subs withdrawls its very important to get exercsie iam not just saying a walk i mean workout so hard that you sweat i am telling it saved my because gets your natural pain killers to produce again and thats all you need once your body can produce that on its own you will be safe. so all these people telling not to get on subs are really weak minded because this is a mircle drug i going throught it right now and i have had 3 friends kick a 400 + oxycontin a day habbiait in a week and a half with the subs if you really want your life back get on the subs everybody is different so it might not go has good for you that it did for me and my friends but in the end its on you and you can only make that choice i am telling once you have beaten opiate addiction you will feel better than any pill or bag can do for you i have no regrats starting to take oxycontin never feel sorry for your self that you should have never started and you screwed your whole life up with opiates its never to late and i am glad that this happened to me i am stronger person because of it and i feel that you have to hit rock bottom before you can ever know what it takes to make it to the top to have your dreams come true just tell yourself when your feeling the withdrawls from the subs that you wont let this beat you you can beat it i know it sounds corney but its true your mind plays the biggest role in coming clean some people get so down and lose fouces when there in withdrawals they trick their mind into worst withdrawals find some f*****g faith and spirtulaity or hope whatever it takes to get through also think about what you really want to do with your life when ur going through those horriable withdrawals what you want to do and what kind of person that you really want to be when all this bull sh*t with opiates is done it changed my life for the better i am going into my senior year of college i got one more year of college hockey left and i going to give it everything i got because i know what its like to be rock bottom no money no food just your f*****g oxycontin pills and thats all you cared about than not even your friends or family how screwed up is that because no matter how much money or what you do all you got in this world is your friends and family and i promise that if your addicated to opiates you will hit rock f*****g bottom at some point understand what i am talking about so kick this sh*t its not worth it no body said it would be easy just have to get through a few days when your done your life will change it will be so much better not worrying about where to get the next pill or bag you wiill be free its amazing and has for me i got some sh*t that i have to do get my hockey carrer back on track got one year left if it goes good i could be playing in the nhl who knows but what i do know is i know what i am fighting for now (sorrry for the mis spelling and me blabbing on and on just hope that this well help somebody) good luck JAKE
Hello-
Boy has the last writer really hit the nail on the head. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT when getting off of subs. You all ARE right when you say to wean yourself off of them. Just like everything else, your body forms a dependency on them so you have to slowly do it. And yes, if you take subs for a long time...(more the 6months) it wil be hard to get off of them. Like the above writer said, stay on em for 1.5-3 weeks so you give your body a chance to get the Oxy out of your system and replace it with an opiate that is less likely to give you withdrawal symptoms. Listen, 8mg of a sub is ALOT. It will get you high as sh*t, I know ;-) If you are only dabbling in Oxy then I would recommend 4mg per day not 8. But if you're on "H" do 4mg-8mg daily for the first week, NO MORE THAN THAT, ya hear me! Look, you can wean yourself off subs and only have minor withdrawal symptoms, again I know from experience. Look, it's not easy and I know you feel like you're never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel but YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH! When you get that craving/itch to get high tell yourself you don't want to die and leave the people you love the most behind you.
Here's a little herbal remedy to help withdrawal symptoms. Please take any multi vitamin...you need to get vitamins and minerals back into your system. Take a Complete Vitamin B pill...this will help with your nervous system and help to keep you emotions from bouncing off the wall. I also recommend St. John's Wort....this is a pill also that helps with mood and overall attitude. This DOES work, oh I almost forgot...someone wrote to exercise ALOT and sweat ALOT. This is sooooo very true. The more you sweat the more bad toxins leave your body and the quicker you feel better.
Cheers
H.R.
Boy has the last writer really hit the nail on the head. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT when getting off of subs. You all ARE right when you say to wean yourself off of them. Just like everything else, your body forms a dependency on them so you have to slowly do it. And yes, if you take subs for a long time...(more the 6months) it wil be hard to get off of them. Like the above writer said, stay on em for 1.5-3 weeks so you give your body a chance to get the Oxy out of your system and replace it with an opiate that is less likely to give you withdrawal symptoms. Listen, 8mg of a sub is ALOT. It will get you high as sh*t, I know ;-) If you are only dabbling in Oxy then I would recommend 4mg per day not 8. But if you're on "H" do 4mg-8mg daily for the first week, NO MORE THAN THAT, ya hear me! Look, you can wean yourself off subs and only have minor withdrawal symptoms, again I know from experience. Look, it's not easy and I know you feel like you're never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel but YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH! When you get that craving/itch to get high tell yourself you don't want to die and leave the people you love the most behind you.
Here's a little herbal remedy to help withdrawal symptoms. Please take any multi vitamin...you need to get vitamins and minerals back into your system. Take a Complete Vitamin B pill...this will help with your nervous system and help to keep you emotions from bouncing off the wall. I also recommend St. John's Wort....this is a pill also that helps with mood and overall attitude. This DOES work, oh I almost forgot...someone wrote to exercise ALOT and sweat ALOT. This is sooooo very true. The more you sweat the more bad toxins leave your body and the quicker you feel better.
Cheers
H.R.
It is definatly possible, not at all comfortable or pain free, don't stay on it long, get down to as low as you can go,like biting a half of a half and hold on for a ride, It seems to me it was just like kicking total insomnia not feeling good, but it was a milder kick compared to methadone or cold turkey. it lasted 29 days I did not sleep, but it was do-able. I went to alot of na meetings and yes you will feel like sh*t, I just kept thinking hold on you have gone this far, and you could be kicking cold turkey in county, comming off a hell of a run or 13 years of methadone so this is nothing, the reality is you have to want to be clean more than you want anything else, because there is no pain free easy way to kick any kind of opiates, thats why so many of us use for so many years. Hang in there, you can do it! Life is good now and I feel great and It was so worth it, you never have to use again even if you want to. :
I was on strong painkillers for 3 years. Had a few surgeries and then was hooked. I was prescribed 3-80mg OC's a day, 6-30mg Roxys, and 2-60mg morphine pills per day!!! At first I was tore up all day long, but as anyone that has took pain meds know, after awhile you don't get that nice little feeling anymore. Of course I believed if I wasn't buzzed up, it wasn't working. It got bad! Even being prescribed all that, plus 2mg Xanax's also, I would still be out in 3 weeks and would have to buy off the street. Then I started snorting them. I would wake up, crush an 80mg OC, 2 of the 30mg Roxys, snort them, go have a smoke and a cup of coffee and then do another 30mg before I left the house for work. It got so BAD, I would have to crush at least 2 of the 80's and snort, chew up a 60mg morphine(which taste nasty as hell) and swollow 2 of the 30mg roxys to get a buzz. I really am lucky to be alive. This went on for almost 2 years. Then I had enough. I asked my pain doc to lower my scripts and he actually got an attitude with me. Said I need them, if anything raised because my tolorance to them should be up and they shouldn't work as well for me anymore. We actually got into an argument at his office because I wanted to lower my scripts!!CRAZY!!! Long story short, quit going to him and tried to get off pain meds by myself. I did tapered down alot, but I was still getting sick 2 months later if I took less than 70-80mg of perecet per day. It really took 2 months just to get to that point. A few months later I was down to around 50mg's of hydrocodone a day. Then decided to quit. It was pure HELL!!! My stomach was awfull, sitting on the toilet and vomiting in a trash can in front of me at the same time. Sweating because my skin felt hot, but deep inside, like my bones, were freezing. Tried to take Xanax and sleep threw it, tried taking Benadryl because a friend that is a Dr. in the ER said it works on the same receptors of the brain and would help some(BULLSH!T). I have never been so hot and so cold at the same time in my life. I won't even get into the stomach cramps, leg cramps, shakes, and the stuff that constantly comes out your nose, plus your eyes constantly watering up. After 2 and a half days, I broke down and did a OC 40. It helped for a few hours. I bought two, did the last one that night and was at the doctors and on Suboxone by 2pm the next day. Was already getting sick again at the doctors office. He told me the pros and cons of Suboxone, then gave me half a one, then the other half 30 minutes later. I stayed on it for a month, then weened myself off from 3 a day at first like he prescribed, then 2 and 1/2 for 3 days, 2 for 3-4 days, 1 and 1/2 for 3-4 days, 1 a day for 3 days, and then half a one for 5 days, and at last 1/4 of one a day for 4 days. When I was done, I must just be lucky or something, because I felt fine. Was very tired for a few days and didn't want much to eat for about a week, besides that, I felt great. NO SICKNESS, CRAMPS, NOTHING!! I just actually felt like a real, alive, person again. Recently I had a severe herniated disk in my L4/L5 area of my spine that caused severe impengment on some nerves, AGAIN, I was put on HIGH amounts of pain meds. I did need them and didn't abuse them this time. I was on 100mcg Fentanyl patches, 30mg Roxys every 4hrs, 8mg of Dilaudid every 4hrs, in-between the 30's, so I had something being taked every 2hrs. and 40mg Opanas, 1 every 12 hrs. Opanas are kinda like Oxycotin. Instead of being oxycodone it's actually worse(stronger) it's oxymorphone. Was on this cocktail of pills for about six weeks. Two weeks after my back surgery, I called and asked my doctor to NOT prescribe me the Dilaudid and the Fentanyl patches because the surgery went so well, I didn't believe that I needed them anymore. I also, asked for the Roxys to be lowered from 6 a day, to 4 a day. My wife went to pick up my scripts,(I'm still not cleared to drive yet. Not till October 20th) when my wife got there, the doctor decided to lower my meds even farther. Cut EVERYTHING out except for 15mg of roxecet, once every 6-8hrs, and 20mgs of Opana, once every 12 hrs. I got sick as a dog! I tried it for 3 days, but it didn't work. I was vomiting, which felt great with a big cut down my back, sweating, shaking, it was almost full DT's. I callede my doc and told her what was going on, I was sick, and still in alot of pain from surgery 2 weeks prior. That she cut me back too far, too fast. I was told, she was sorry, thats the best she could do for me, and if I was still in pain go to the ER. When I said I HAD to take the meds more often than prescribed to be comfortable, pain wise and withdraw wise and I would run out early at this rate, I was told, "If I ran out of meds early and had withdraws, she could get me into a in house rehab facility." REHAB?!?!?! I just had major back surgery!!! I had to once again, break the law and buy some extra percs just to not be sick. It's been 3 weeks since surgery, I'm not risking my life and lifestlye or take a chance of losing my wife and children by going to jail for buying pain pills, so I made one last deal. I had a friend get me 9-8mg Suboxone's and had to ween myself off them very quickly do to the fact I only had 9 of them. That sucked bad, but without the Suboxone it would of been unbearable. Again, i must be very lucky, I was hardley sick at all coming down off of everthing while taking the Suboxone and didn't get sick at all when I ran out of it. Was just very, very tired for about 3 days. I believe the best way to get off suboxone and not get sick is not to be on them long. A month tops. Both times I did them, it was for a month one time and only about 6 days the last time, neither time did I get sick from it. I'm gonna tell that doc where she can go when I go back for my check-up. There was no since in doing what she did, and it was actually life threatning I believe. Of course to even threaten a doctor bodilyharm up here is a felony. Maybe I won't theaten any harm to them that way, just with my lawyer. Still in alot of pain from surgery, but I will just take Aleve!
I'm sorry this was so damn long. I have just been there, and it sucks, it sucks bad. I hope maybe this might help someone come off the pain pills and it won't be so bad for them. I know what worked for me and just wanted to let you know how MUCH stuff I was taking and how I took the suboxone to come off it. It really did seem the quicker I got off of it, the less withdrawl symtoms I had from it. I wish anyone luck trying to get this large monkey off thier backs. It's hard, very hard, but think of the ones that loves you, your familey, mothers, fathers, your kids if you have any. Do what you must do. It may feel like you are gonna die going threw DT's, but you WON'T!!! Hang in there. If anyone ever needs to just talk to someone, . I hope this loooong as post helps or makes things easier for at least one person. God Bless You ALL!!!
I'm sorry this was so damn long. I have just been there, and it sucks, it sucks bad. I hope maybe this might help someone come off the pain pills and it won't be so bad for them. I know what worked for me and just wanted to let you know how MUCH stuff I was taking and how I took the suboxone to come off it. It really did seem the quicker I got off of it, the less withdrawl symtoms I had from it. I wish anyone luck trying to get this large monkey off thier backs. It's hard, very hard, but think of the ones that loves you, your familey, mothers, fathers, your kids if you have any. Do what you must do. It may feel like you are gonna die going threw DT's, but you WON'T!!! Hang in there. If anyone ever needs to just talk to someone, . I hope this loooong as post helps or makes things easier for at least one person. God Bless You ALL!!!
I have been taking 32mg of suboxone for a year now and i quit cold turkey. I took suboxone 2 times in the first two weeks (nothing prescribed just felt like taking it) and am now 8 days out from my last dose and im started to feel withdrawls pretty hard, and the bad thing is ive read this is only starting.
FOR ALL THE PEOPLE COMING OFF SUBOXONE THIS IS WHAT WILL HELP U WITH THE WITHDRAWLS>
-hot baths/showers
-Smoke about a hit of weed just to take the edge off
-DO NOT TAKE BENZOS DURING suboxone while on of coming off it is very dangerous PER MR DOC
-Ambien at night seems to help alot
and i would drink alcohol but my body seems to reject it so i dont waste my time.
ummmm......thats about it. Other than that its the usual cold swets and flu like symptoms. ITS NOT AS BAD AS OPIATE WITHDRAWL. Its different. The longer u stay on the subs the longer withdrawals will be. I mean dang by doing opiate withdrawl would be long gone.
FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT GOING ON SUBS
PROS : The only pro ive found is when ive tried opiates they dont work and i generally felt good after taking 2 8mg subs twice a day.
CONS : THE LIST IS TOO LONG.
Just tough out the opiate withdrawl for 1 week peeps. Dont waste your time on the subs. EVERYONE whos being addicted to heroin will tell u the withdrawls are TEN DAYS MAX. JUST TOUGH IT OUT.
U can beat it. I know i can.
FOR ALL THE PEOPLE COMING OFF SUBOXONE THIS IS WHAT WILL HELP U WITH THE WITHDRAWLS>
-hot baths/showers
-Smoke about a hit of weed just to take the edge off
-DO NOT TAKE BENZOS DURING suboxone while on of coming off it is very dangerous PER MR DOC
-Ambien at night seems to help alot
and i would drink alcohol but my body seems to reject it so i dont waste my time.
ummmm......thats about it. Other than that its the usual cold swets and flu like symptoms. ITS NOT AS BAD AS OPIATE WITHDRAWL. Its different. The longer u stay on the subs the longer withdrawals will be. I mean dang by doing opiate withdrawl would be long gone.
FOR ALL THE PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT GOING ON SUBS
PROS : The only pro ive found is when ive tried opiates they dont work and i generally felt good after taking 2 8mg subs twice a day.
CONS : THE LIST IS TOO LONG.
Just tough out the opiate withdrawl for 1 week peeps. Dont waste your time on the subs. EVERYONE whos being addicted to heroin will tell u the withdrawls are TEN DAYS MAX. JUST TOUGH IT OUT.
U can beat it. I know i can.
Hello. This all started with chronic upper back/shoulder pain. I was in one state back east, the doctor there would only give me like 20 or 30 of the 5mg Lortab at a time. Then I moved to another state out west and the doctors here gave me at first 60 of the 10mg Lortab then 120 of the 10mg Lortab at a time and I never even asked for all that much. I was like "OK! thank you so much!"
Well after several months I was totally dependent and suffering from moderate to severe withdrawals everytime I ran out. So I went to a drug dependence out patient thing and got on suboxone. I really felt so much better, didn't feel high or anything, just felt like my old self again. At first they put me on 8mg a day of Suboxone but I soon discovered that was WAY too much for Lortab addcition. So I've been taking Suboxone for well over a year and about 4mg a day was all around the best for me.
But I've started a new job that interferes with the clinic's schedule(early mornings only). So the last script I decided was going to be my "last". I tapered down to practically crumbs, very hard to keep them consistent, but the last two or three weeks I have been taking 1-2mg every other day. If it looked like the "crumb" I broke off was a good quarter of a 8mg pill I would try to shave it down smaller.
Well as of today I have been Opiate free for 6 days. On day two the withdrawls were kicking in. Mostly chills, no energy, no appetite, back pain galore, and total insomnia with cramps and restlessness. That only lasted maybe 2 days and getting better ever since. I finally got some sleep last night even though it again took hours of tossing and turning, and I have an appetite when I wake up. This withdrawl was nothing compared to Lortab withdrawals.
Just remember to taper down, the longer you do it the better. Take long hot showers, stock up on soup, ibuprofen and tylenol, and some herbal compound I found for RLS seemed to help somewhat. And most importantly take a couple sick days from work.
Well after several months I was totally dependent and suffering from moderate to severe withdrawals everytime I ran out. So I went to a drug dependence out patient thing and got on suboxone. I really felt so much better, didn't feel high or anything, just felt like my old self again. At first they put me on 8mg a day of Suboxone but I soon discovered that was WAY too much for Lortab addcition. So I've been taking Suboxone for well over a year and about 4mg a day was all around the best for me.
But I've started a new job that interferes with the clinic's schedule(early mornings only). So the last script I decided was going to be my "last". I tapered down to practically crumbs, very hard to keep them consistent, but the last two or three weeks I have been taking 1-2mg every other day. If it looked like the "crumb" I broke off was a good quarter of a 8mg pill I would try to shave it down smaller.
Well as of today I have been Opiate free for 6 days. On day two the withdrawls were kicking in. Mostly chills, no energy, no appetite, back pain galore, and total insomnia with cramps and restlessness. That only lasted maybe 2 days and getting better ever since. I finally got some sleep last night even though it again took hours of tossing and turning, and I have an appetite when I wake up. This withdrawl was nothing compared to Lortab withdrawals.
Just remember to taper down, the longer you do it the better. Take long hot showers, stock up on soup, ibuprofen and tylenol, and some herbal compound I found for RLS seemed to help somewhat. And most importantly take a couple sick days from work.
Don't get me wrong-Alot of what people are saying about Suboxone and the withdrawal process have good input and insightfulness for those who are nervous about what the withdrawals feel like.
However, I forgot who specifically wrote this, but I have to disagree completely on the subject of duration of withdrawal, and not being able to take a benzo to help ease the withdrawal pains.
When I tappered off, I did go down within a month from 2mg's to a crumb to nothing.
The first three days were cramps, sweat, rib and muscle aches, but with a good heating pad, and 1 or 2 mg of Klonopine or Clonodine a day, it takes the nausea away.
I would not recommend in any sense of the imagination to ever start taking Benzos(Xanax, Florazepam, Valium(Diazepam), Ativan(Lorazepam), etc.., for withdrawing from them is the only kind of narcotic that could kill you, takes years just to finally get off the withdrawal, and is extremely painful and very sad to see loved ones go through.
That being said, for extreme cases, and short term use, I feel it did indeed help with the Suboxone withdrawal pain.
Duratin wise, it does not last a long time. Than again, I am empathetic in that each person's diff, theiir body fucntions to drugs differently and alot of the pain is mental, hence motivation and determination by having positive thoughts about how good it will feel to get off finally.
It took for me exactly 1 week, than all symptoms gone. The third day was the worst because Suboxone is a long lasting half opiate that sticks to the brain receptors for over 24+hrs.
Withdrawal is the worse as all of it is leaving your body.
Hope that is helpful!!
Stay well..
However, I forgot who specifically wrote this, but I have to disagree completely on the subject of duration of withdrawal, and not being able to take a benzo to help ease the withdrawal pains.
When I tappered off, I did go down within a month from 2mg's to a crumb to nothing.
The first three days were cramps, sweat, rib and muscle aches, but with a good heating pad, and 1 or 2 mg of Klonopine or Clonodine a day, it takes the nausea away.
I would not recommend in any sense of the imagination to ever start taking Benzos(Xanax, Florazepam, Valium(Diazepam), Ativan(Lorazepam), etc.., for withdrawing from them is the only kind of narcotic that could kill you, takes years just to finally get off the withdrawal, and is extremely painful and very sad to see loved ones go through.
That being said, for extreme cases, and short term use, I feel it did indeed help with the Suboxone withdrawal pain.
Duratin wise, it does not last a long time. Than again, I am empathetic in that each person's diff, theiir body fucntions to drugs differently and alot of the pain is mental, hence motivation and determination by having positive thoughts about how good it will feel to get off finally.
It took for me exactly 1 week, than all symptoms gone. The third day was the worst because Suboxone is a long lasting half opiate that sticks to the brain receptors for over 24+hrs.
Withdrawal is the worse as all of it is leaving your body.
Hope that is helpful!!
Stay well..
I just spent 10 days in a regular hospital after being on 16mg for 2 yrs then 12mg for 10mos then quickly down to 8, 6 4 & 2mg in 1 short month after my quack doc went over her 100 patient limit. I was on IV fluids 9 of the 10 days with severe vomiting & diarrhea. I couldn't even hold down any solid food and ate the equivalent of about 1 meal in 10 days. I also didn't even drink 1oz of fluids for the first 4 days. That sh*t screwed up my intestinal tract and all, eventually leading to an inflamed bowel and pancreas. If you research it, Suboxone was intended for short term use, as in 3 months or less. Do your homework when choosing a doctor and get off of the Subs as quickly as possible. Don't go through what I did.
I don't NOT believe the ppl who are saying w/d from suboxone is as bad or worse than an actual opiate, however i do feel that is the exception and not the rule.
I've gotten off of them twice, first time jumped from 4mg cuz i was in the mental ward of the hospital (i am bipolar and was in a bad manic state due to my reg doc prescribing me cymbalta) anyway they forgot to call it in at first, and I spent a little over a week there. I was taking depakote, thats a mood stabilizer, seroquel, thats an atypical-anti-pyschotic(which is why I think I didn't have w/d's and lorazepam 1mg every 4 hours for horrible anxiety (which I had coming into the hospital, not due to w/d's). Long story short they never did get clearance from my sub doc to prescribe them (they won't start you on them there for some stupid reason) so every day that went by I was amazed at the fact that I had no withdrawals symptoms at all. Now I will say I was very sleepy (due to high doses of seroquel) one of the BEST drugs to get thru suboxone w/d, and cold but they kept that place as cold as a freezer. That and looking back I did have RLS ONE night. After I got out I felt happy cuz i'd gotten out scott free, no paying the piper! but i couldn't get out of bed.
NOT thinking ahead enough that maybe that would go away after awhile, I decided to get some oxycodone 30's so i'd have an opiate in my system and go back to my sub doc to get back on subs, just for the energy. just to take now and then for a real energy boost. An addict thinking they can control their addiction lol. Needless to say I ended up wanting energy every day! So I took em everyday and here I am now on day 7 no suboxone about a year later. Both times I was on for a YEAR.
There is a very good reason to use sub long term and that is because it enables you to change your lifestyle, your surroundings, your friends, whatever it was in your life that was enabling you to use. To get used to getting your drugs from a doc instead of on the streets etc. It keeps cravings away at least for me 100% of the time. This is my main concern coming off of them for good is my brain will go into addiction mode again and start cravings. But I have no connections now so I should be fine. Even tho I'm sure they are all around me.
So my experience this time coming off of them was much different than even my own exp last time. I've been in bed all week. I had some discomfort, sorta like a bad cold or the flu for the first five days or so. Then since then everyday is a little bit better. I don't work full time so I allowed myself the time to just lay down and get thru this. The worst thing for me has been the restless limbs, aka heebie geebies, that is torture! I'm thinking of calling my doc and seeing if he can prescribe something for that. I've also used seroquel which i believe lessened it alot. Its what my sub doc prescribes for withdrawaling. For those of you who have never taken it, you won't need much. I been on it for a year this time thats why I think it only lessened the withdrawals instead of masking them completely.
Day 7 like i said and i don't feel bad at all but i don't have any energy and my body just feels heavy in general. I'm drinking this powder stuff from the grocery store that has a ton of vitamins and taurine and is supposed to be for energy so we'll see how that goes. I have to be very careful of any kind of energy drink, boost, coffee, caffienne(sp?) because my anxiety will kick in and i'll be all jittery and I hate that feeling.
I'll close with a kind of off topic post because someone said something about being addicted to benzos, well I've been taking 2mg 2x a day klonopin since i got out of the hospital. I guess I will need a medically involved detox for that when I am ready. I'm hoping by not taking sub my anxiety will lessen.
I've gotten off of them twice, first time jumped from 4mg cuz i was in the mental ward of the hospital (i am bipolar and was in a bad manic state due to my reg doc prescribing me cymbalta) anyway they forgot to call it in at first, and I spent a little over a week there. I was taking depakote, thats a mood stabilizer, seroquel, thats an atypical-anti-pyschotic(which is why I think I didn't have w/d's and lorazepam 1mg every 4 hours for horrible anxiety (which I had coming into the hospital, not due to w/d's). Long story short they never did get clearance from my sub doc to prescribe them (they won't start you on them there for some stupid reason) so every day that went by I was amazed at the fact that I had no withdrawals symptoms at all. Now I will say I was very sleepy (due to high doses of seroquel) one of the BEST drugs to get thru suboxone w/d, and cold but they kept that place as cold as a freezer. That and looking back I did have RLS ONE night. After I got out I felt happy cuz i'd gotten out scott free, no paying the piper! but i couldn't get out of bed.
NOT thinking ahead enough that maybe that would go away after awhile, I decided to get some oxycodone 30's so i'd have an opiate in my system and go back to my sub doc to get back on subs, just for the energy. just to take now and then for a real energy boost. An addict thinking they can control their addiction lol. Needless to say I ended up wanting energy every day! So I took em everyday and here I am now on day 7 no suboxone about a year later. Both times I was on for a YEAR.
There is a very good reason to use sub long term and that is because it enables you to change your lifestyle, your surroundings, your friends, whatever it was in your life that was enabling you to use. To get used to getting your drugs from a doc instead of on the streets etc. It keeps cravings away at least for me 100% of the time. This is my main concern coming off of them for good is my brain will go into addiction mode again and start cravings. But I have no connections now so I should be fine. Even tho I'm sure they are all around me.
So my experience this time coming off of them was much different than even my own exp last time. I've been in bed all week. I had some discomfort, sorta like a bad cold or the flu for the first five days or so. Then since then everyday is a little bit better. I don't work full time so I allowed myself the time to just lay down and get thru this. The worst thing for me has been the restless limbs, aka heebie geebies, that is torture! I'm thinking of calling my doc and seeing if he can prescribe something for that. I've also used seroquel which i believe lessened it alot. Its what my sub doc prescribes for withdrawaling. For those of you who have never taken it, you won't need much. I been on it for a year this time thats why I think it only lessened the withdrawals instead of masking them completely.
Day 7 like i said and i don't feel bad at all but i don't have any energy and my body just feels heavy in general. I'm drinking this powder stuff from the grocery store that has a ton of vitamins and taurine and is supposed to be for energy so we'll see how that goes. I have to be very careful of any kind of energy drink, boost, coffee, caffienne(sp?) because my anxiety will kick in and i'll be all jittery and I hate that feeling.
I'll close with a kind of off topic post because someone said something about being addicted to benzos, well I've been taking 2mg 2x a day klonopin since i got out of the hospital. I guess I will need a medically involved detox for that when I am ready. I'm hoping by not taking sub my anxiety will lessen.
Hello, so I have been on suboxone for about 2 years now. At one point my "doctor" had me on 32mg-40mg a day for 4 months.I honestly think it was the stupidest decsion I've ever made in my life. I've been decreasing the dose down to about 2 mg a day for over a year now. But if you need help with the withdrawls then smoke a little bit of weed. It helps take the edge off!! Im on day 5 now and I feel pretty good. Well good luck to all of you!!