Getting ready to come off Subutex Therapy.Have some ?'s

I am in the same boat. I have been off subutex since Saturday...I hate it! My back hurts, I can't sleep, diarrhea, can't eat...it is so hard not to go back to the pills. I cry because I don't know what to do. Hope it goes better for you! Good Luck!

Im trying to cut down after 4 and a half years on Subutex, Ive tried before but failed, am doing it VERY slowly this time. I think its best not to just stop from taking it every day but to cut down to smallest dose, (half a 0.4 for me) then cut out a day, then go about a week or whats comfortable, then another day, then another and so on until youre off, wish me luck for the second time!

I've just got back on subutex cause I'm a naughty little smackhead!! Before I start, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me because I'm a good guy. I don't steal to fund my habbit which was never that big anyway.. I just like getting screwed sometimes. Basically, about 4 years ago I started smoking crack because everyone else was.. stupid i know but that was the craze at the time. I used to smoke it by itself and loved it but it always left me feeling so shitty afterwards and if i had money, it would ALL go on one session. I found that smack/heroin complimented it well. After I smoked all the crack i would smoke a bit of smack and felt no ill effect from the crack and wasn't left wanting more. I'd found the solution and it was great!!... Until it got more than just recreational use. Because I was smoking so much crack, i was smoking so much smack and ended up getting hooked. It was only ever £20-40 per day on smack so nothing compared to some of the habits i've heard of but still waaay too much. After a few months of this i was screwed and didn't know what to do. I wanted to get off it all but couldn't because it made me too ill. A friend got me booked in at the local Specialist Addictions Clinic and they got me on subutex straight away. Started me on 8mg for a month or 2 then 6mg for a couple of months then 4mg for a couple until i was down to 2mg. Life was good again, I could work normally, family life was good and I didn't see those same people so I wasn't thinking about crack or smack. After 6 months still on 2mg I got the job of my dreams and then the girl of my dreams too. We'd been together a few months and decided to go to Thailand. It turns out that you can't take opiates into thailand even with a prescription so I had to get off subutex quick before i went. Started reducing myself over 9 days taking 1.5mg for a couple then 1 for a couple then .5 for a couple then .25 for a couple and then forgot and took a whole 2mg just before we left so there wasn't time to reduce it all over again, I was just going to have to grit my teeth and bear it. Cluck it out like a man. I was expecting the worst but in all honesty it wasn't too bad. On the plane on the way over there i was pretty rough. Runny nose, runny eyes, splitting headache, achy all over and it was too hot to be dealing with airports and stuff feeling like that. The first night I didn't sleep but that could have been jetlag. Eating was OK but I got a bit of diarrhea but that could have been the spicy food. Day 2 I felt ok. Tired and achy but still went out around Bangkok. Night 2 was a bit restless but not too bad. By day 3 i felt great!! I had beaten the smack, got off subutex and could go on and enjoy my life! Every time I thought about what I had achieved, I shined a lil bit and was so proud of myself. I couldn't be around the naughty stuff though. I would leave peoples houses if the drugs came out. If we hadn't gone to Thailand I probably would have been on it a lot longer but that event gave me the kickstart I needed and the girl gave me something else to think about. A year later we split up and I was devastated a loooooong time but managed to avoid going back to smack and crack and have been living the good life until 5 months ago :-(
I started having a little weekend treat which turned into a midweek and weekend treat, then all weekend then all week... yup it got me again. I was a fool to think I could control it. An addict cant just have a lil bit... So I spoke to the doc a couple of days ago and I'm waiting for the referral to the clinic and to get back on subutex again. I had tried to cluck it out cold turkey style but couldn't cope so its back on the subutex. I won't let it drag on so long this time though. Apparently it is best to do a long course to help deal with the cravings while you try to change back to the right lifestyle so it won't be as quick a reduction as you have had but I'll get there.
So after me getting all that off my chest my opinion is this: Subutex is a wonder drug and I thank god it was invented. It works differently to heroin so smaller doses are a lot more effective. Apparently it is harder to go cold turkey on subutex than it is heroin but it is easier to reduce gradually on subutex. It only costs £6.80 per week instead of ~£400 per week on smack and crack. If you reduce to a low enough dose (.4mg being the smallest pill and i guess half of one of those is a small as the does gets) you can can bear it and will probably only have a few restless nights and aches. If you can time coming off of it with some big event you should find it easier because you won't be sat there feeling sorry for yourself and end up reaching for the pills. Best of luck to all of you and I might pop back and let you know how I got on when I get off it again. Cheers

Hi guys

Dont know if you'll ever read this but I was on smak for 4 years and then Meth for a further 4 years. I basically had enough around a month ago and got on o a Subutex program.
The doctor put me on a 3 week detox and its been rather smooth until Sun. This is cos it was my last dose of .25 and sine then the only real problem has been lack of energy and twitching hands and feet and night. Its not letting me sleep as it keeps jumping every time I drift into deep sleep!! Its a real pain to be honest cos sleeping helps forget about this feeling.
Does anyone know of any medication which will stop this twitching? I would be so greatful if anyone did.

Not sure of a medicine that would stop that but then I'm no doctor. Your doctor will be able to give you a 3 night course of sleeping tablets or something stronger if its needed. I didn't have that side effect last time i came off it and that was off a higher dose but I suppose it affects different people in different ways. A couple of nights on a muscle relaxant like Valium/Diazepam might do it but my doctor doesn't like to give it to little addicts like me. Good luck either way, it will be back to clean living before you know it!!!

Will it ever stop are we just substituting one addiction for another. In all honesty we could ween off anything by lower and lowering dosages. Is there going to be actual opiat withdrawal from the sub and now what do we need to take another addictive drug? is it ever gonna stop..

I've red not all posts, but I feel same way like everyone here.
Thanks God I managed to reduce for last 5 days from 0.4 breaking it in half, so for 4-5 days I've been on around 0.2 (0.17 up to 0.22) it was difficult to brake. I was getting my Subutex and other stuff like antidepressant anxiety in France, but where am I now even Codeine is illegal (UAE).
All the point of my post is reduce to as low dose as you can, cause this is second time I'm doing it and the last time I managed to reduce to 0.1(it was Temsolin) or something. 3 days I felt not that good, but not as bad as I was expecting. This time I have Lexomil and the most helpful Monocrixon (tramadol)200mg, I just took 3 of it and even managed to read forum and type something.

P.C. Any suggestion about (I took 3tablets of tramadol-200mg and still couldn't feel better, so took 3 more, I think it's too much although, but no restlessness or pain or legs doing no roller-costa. I don't want to watch TV or do anything at all, depression is on the highest level for me now) how often and for how many days should I
take tramadol, cause it's just a weak but still an opiate.
As we all know W/D lasts from 3 to 6-7 days depends what and from what dosage you stopping. Any experts on how long the stupid depression after w/d, will go on?
I wouldn't like to get addicted to tramadol, although I only have it for about 7-10 days.

Good-luck everyone, and keep clean as long as you can, better (forever) I don't mean don't drink bear(in my case it's at least I can do, but if you got drunk too much, you just might go crazy and go looking for drugs, so be careful.

Let the force be with us,
God force maybe stronger then movies one

In the same ocean too. My posion was Oxi/Dilaudid after a 60 day stay in the ICU, came on 3x80 oxi, prn 1mg dilaudid. This continued for several months, until i went on a bender and did 20 80's in two days. My family said, us or the get this under control. Went to addiction specialist got on Sub 8mg 3x/day, been doing this for a year. No cravings, no slip ups over the year. I feel my doc is more interested in his copay rather than titrating me off the Subutex? Any comments?

Hey people, i was on heroin for about a year and subutex for 3 an half years, i went to a small clinic to do a detox from subutex over 12 days, i came out (28 dec '08)1 day early, about 48 hours after my 0.2 dose of subutex, i took the blocker naltrexone in the morning and as soon as, i got a taxi home, i then threw uip a little bit. Since then my sleep has been few and far between, the most sleep i have had is 5 hours after taking zopiclone...my general mood hasnt been to bad although i have been not feeling well at all... aching back, aching legs, sweaty belly every now and again, i still dont really want to face going outside for any period of time, but i have been to get chinese takeaway and a spliff. the weed isnt really helping though, it is helping me get off to sleep, but i am being stupid and smoking in the morning and thats prob the worst thing to do, making me lethergic etc, anyway, i have looked everywhere for something along the lines that i am typing to try and help me through this withdrawl and letting my body get back into its natural state, with not much joy so i am typing this to try and help myself and anyone else who is having a rubbish time of getting back to "normal"....Its almost been 2 weeks now since i have come out of rehab and i still feel generally sh*t but its nothing like it was when i first came out. so just try to focus on the long term and say to yourself that its all for a bigger goal at the end, everything i wanted to do has been suppressed due to drugs of some sort and i look forward to being able to go out and do things i enjoy without having to worry about going chemist or my dealers or raising cash. Good luck with detox and i hope someone gets a little something out of this post....if only just a bit of info as to how long u be feeling sh*t for, 2 weeks almost and i see light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes i have weak moments but they pass after a few minutes, thinking about brown and going back on subutex etc.

I am not a doctor by any means nor do I suffer an addiction problem .
I know of some friends whom are recovering addicts and are currently on Subutex and also tapering off .The withdrawal symptoms have been hard for really difficult to deal with at night and during the day with the irritability and other painful symptoms that comes with the withdrawal , but they have found that Medical Marijuana/Cannabis (INDICA!!!!)( not Sativa). Helps very much with the INSOMNIA,TWITCHING, LEG RESTLESSNESS, NAUSEA AND HEADACHES.Cannabis is also shown to be effective in helping recovering addicts .
Stay up everyone and Stay very strong..there is a battle to be won .
Good Luck , CHeers!!! ;-)

amyc143 wrote:

Here's my story in a nutshell...started taking Percocet approx. 4 years ago for neck/back pain (stress induced). Took one 10mg as needed, and liked the way it made me feel (shocker...right?!?!) Had some major traumatic events in my life (mother died in summer '04 of cancer, 12 days later father-in-law died of cancer, Sept. '04 paternal grandfather died suddenly, Dec. '04 caught husband cheating with a friend of mine, Jan. '05 maternal grandfather died. Crazy 7 months of my life. So, needless to say the Percocet intake increased gradually. Skip forward to Spring 07 and I am taking eight to ten 10 mg Percocet per day. My life is miserable and I'm just so tired of the freaking drug. It doesn't make me feel good, I just have to take it to feel normal and get on with my day. I'm a professional in the medical field and a college professor and luckily didn't manage to screw up my career during my Percocet years. I couldn't go away to rehab for the suggested 90 days. I have two young kids and a husband who travels every other week for work. Luckily, I found a place...Meditox of Palm Beach. I went in April 07 (its an outpatient facility, you're only there a couple of hours). When I got there, I hadn't taken a Percocet for 15 hours and was really feeling it. I got the Subutex and my starting dose was 12 mg per day. I did that for two weeks, then tapered to 8 mg for one week, then 4 mg for one week, then 2 mg for one week and now I am on 1 mg per day and have a few more days left. I have felt fine these past 6 weeks. When I would cut down the Subutex dose, I never felt any negative side effects. So my question is to those of you who have been on short term Subutex tx...after I take my last 1 mg in a few days, what should I expect to feel? The Dr. did call me in some Ativan, Provigil and Ambien should I need them during the first week or so after stopping the Subutex.

So basically, I have a 4 year Percocet history, 6 weeks of Subutex therapy. Since I have tapered down the Subutex every week since beginning them and was on them for a relatively short time, are the w/d's going to be bad? Please tell me what I should expect. I can take it. I'm not going back on the Percocet. They were the worst mistake I have ever made in my life. And coming off of Subutex after tapering down for 6 weeks will not be anything near going cold turkey off the Percocet, right? (please say Yes :-)

Thanks for any comments.

Quote:

I'm just reading your post for the first time. Can you tell me how your experience was after coming off the subutex.? I didn't see really any answers to your questions. Hope I'm doing this right! My first time to post.

anonymous wrote:

Guest wrote:

I am in the same boat. I have been off subutex since Saturday...I hate it! My back hurts, I can't sleep, diarrhea, can't eat...it is so hard not to go back to the pills. I cry because I don't know what to do. Hope it goes better for you! Good Luck!

In the same ocean too. My posion was Oxi/Dilaudid after a 60 day stay in the ICU, came on 3x80 oxi, prn 1mg dilaudid. This continued for several months, until i went on a bender and did 20 80's in two days. My family said, us or the get this under control. Went to addiction specialist got on Sub 8mg 3x/day, been doing this for a year. No cravings, no slip ups over the year. I feel my doc is more interested in his copay rather than titrating me off the Subutex? Any comments?

:? I started on 16mg at the end of May of 2010.I started due to vicodine addiction.My friend had said she knew of people that had been on it and it was awesome.I should have done more homework before going to the doc to hand him $ and at the time not knowing it but also my life for the next yr..Make a long story short the subutex for me is way harder to get off of withdraw wise.This is a tricky med.im on 4mg now and after 3mons.with little prob. all of this sudden im having wd symptoms on the 4mg.What a way to bring in the New Year.Im going to the doc soon,going to start weening and if it lingers im gonna go cold turkey!Imscared because im the mother of a very busy 8 yr. old and i know that it will b a couple wks. of hell constantly.It will b hard to do the house cleaning and shopp.so im gonna try to get as much in order as poss. before i go on this scary painful adventure.I feel like im rambling but this is the first time for me to post and i think theres not enough info on how to get off of this stuff.Seems like docs r quick to prescribe long term use but when it comes to getting off their somewhat clueless.I feel this doc is always dangling mgs in my face like oh u feel bad lets up u to 5mg instead of 4.I would not go up in dose its only prolonging this nightmare.I do believe their in it for the $.I hope i helped u a little.I want to b an advocate on NOT using this med.longterm.Short term use seems not to bad.I would like to know is there anybody out there that has experienced the chills and sweats to the point of it not going away for wks.thats what happens to me when i try to stop.I went 2 wks before i broke down and started on 4mgs instead of the 16 i was on.Im a strong person and after 2wks.of no relief of the chills and sweats for so long i caved.Im mean it was so prominent i couldnt go anywhere and in the house it was blanket on and off every min of the day.I know its normal for a couple days but why does it not let up w/ me.Im scared theres perminet damage and of course the doc seems clueless..big surprise!

Is there anyone out there that has taken subutex long-term at least 4mons.or more and got off of it successfully?If there is can u please tell me what u experienced during withdraw and how u went about dealing with the pain.It seems like no doctors know how to do this.This has been a nightmare for me.Im a mom and i dont want my child to keep seeing mommmy sick.I want to go through the withdraws and get this over with...I want my life back!Anyone reading this that is thinking about starting subutex do your research.Get on posts and read some of the comments of people like me.Its easier to get off vicodin cold turkey then subutex by far ive done it in the past.Even though my doc doesnt seem to bad mouth this drug i can feel my body is going through hell and i cant wait to be healthy!

i dont even feel the subutex. Some other people that use this get a different feeling. I have taken myself down to 4mg in the am and pm. I really think that it would not do anything to me. does this happen to anyone else? What is it suppose to feel like. I mean some people take 2mg and are really messed up.. I have taken subutex for a long time. It really doesnt effect me at all.