been off it 5 days and already feeling better. its hard ,especially at night but its doable.
Hi. I've been lurking...doing research on how to get off suboxone for a couple years now. After about 10 years of taking Rx pain pills (then later snorting heroin to save money), I was put on Suboxone. It served it's purpose, but I always felt like I was taking the easy way out. The Dr. put me on 20mg to start and I was pretty numb. Over the next year and a half, I stayed at that dose. I couldn't make it to the classes anymore, so I began to ration my pills and got down to 2mg/day quickly. THERE IS NO REASON TO BE ON SUPER HIGH DOSES OF SUBOXONE!! It was really easy to get down to a reasonable dose. I then began shaving a little off every couple weeks (use a razor). Whenever I'd feel shitty, I'd leave the dose where it was and use marijuana to supplement. Today, I'm on day 10 w/ no suboxone. The first few days were pretty rough, but I'm back at work. I feel sluggish, but I'm not miserable. I yawn and my stomach is pretty unsettled, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty positive.
The horror stories you here are usually from people who didn't taper down slow enough. If you can't ration out your own stuff, have someone else do it for you...whether a Dr. or just a trusted friend/family member. It's very possible to do without missing work (which was always my biggest concern. Get support from good people....the ones who are always there for you without judging.
I got married a couple months ago and my wife and I are expecting a baby girl in January. My wife quit Lexapro and alcohol cold turkey. There are more important things than yourself. My unborn daughter is my motivation, but if God, Satan, Yaweh, Allah, Jesus or your dead grandmother gives you strength...go with it.
Good luck to everyone
--Hood Rat Matt
I respect the encouragement you guys are putting out but let me tell you.... I got off of 150mg of oxys cold turkey and it was a shorter ( more intense though) w/d thatn the subs/ Coming of subs SUI'veCKS and i tapered down. The depression is the worst ever. I'e been clean for 8 days and I still feel like sh*t, I wish you all well hang in there and any DR who says there is no w/d is a liar
6 days since my last 2mg dose of Buprenorphine (Subutex)! First two days were hell, and hard to see past/get through. With the support of a loving God, supportive wife and two small anklebiters that will never remember Daddy withdrawing from this junk/, I have made it this far. Here is a list of activities I undertook to help my body speed up the recovery process (this is no way an "absolute" list; just what helped me get through:
Day 1: Make plans to stay in bed all day. I didn't have ANY energy. I slept a good part of the day, but was up most of the night.
Day 2: Pretty much the same. Don't overdue it on the Clonidine / Benadryl / Valium or else you're gonna pay for it the next day. Better to stick with only Clonidine and maybe one or the other. Think I made it into the shower at least once, and made my son's bed for him (needed to feel productive). Watched the US Open. Maybe an hour of sleep that night.
Day 3. Felt like the Holy Spirit willed me out of bed. Showered and went to church purely on the strength of my faith in Jesus that He would sustain me. Guess what? He did. Left church feeling COMPLETELY inspired. (Try it, if you're in withdrawal and JUST SEE what God has in store for you.) After church, managed to drive myself to the gym (1 mile away) and did some low intensity treadmill. Laid on the couch, tried to sleep (mostly unsuccessfully) and just tried to make it thru the day. Slept 3 hours that night.
Day 4: Holiday (Labor Day). Went for a run in the morning. Took 3 hot showers during the day. Drove my family to pickup a new bookcase across town in the afternoon. Ate a somewhat substantial amount of food for the first time since my last dose. Went to a Celebrate Recovery meeting at night for strength, and found it there. Again, not much sleep, maybe 3 hours again.
Day 5: First day back at work (fortunately the boss was out of town). Not my most productive day, but did get some work done. Went to doctor for advice on getting some sleep. Prescribed Trazadone, and I tried to go to bed early. Not a good idea. Even if you're tired, try staying up until your normal bedtime THEN taking the medication. I'm thankful that I had more hours to lay down and get some rest (went to bed @ 7PM, didn't fall asleep until 11PM or so, slept until 4:15). In total, about 5 hours of sleep first night on Trazadone. DEFINITELY woke up with a lousy hangover feeling that's been hard to shake all day.
Day 6: Today. Got up, went to work. Boss was back, and I was able to appear sharp (sharper than I felt, that is). Still not fully rested, but getting through the day. Planning on going to bed tonight between 9-10PM, and taking the Trazadone by midnight (if I can't fall asleep on my own by then).
SUMMARY: Your mind and body are TWO DIFFERENT BEINGS when you're withdrawing from this stuff. Your body will tell you "no, I can't do anything" but if you make up your mind to do something, you will be surprised at what you can do. Don't get me wrong, here on Day 6 I'm still feeling under the weather, but not bad enough to stay in bed all day. Kinda like a mild cold, with lethargy, sneezes, the occasional chills and that's about it. PUSH YOURSELF! There is no quick fix to getting off this stuff. You have to go through the storm to enjoy the rainbow. If you're in your first day or two of withdrawal, I'm praying for you to just get through it. Start thinking about what you're missing by being down and out, and make every effort to kick yourself in the butt to fight against what your body says you can't do. YOU CAN DO THIS. Use this misery to remember how awful drugs/withdrawal are, and promise to NEVER GO BACK to using AGAIN! I can tell you that I've learned my lesson (after a 5 year addiction to Vicodin + 2 years on Suboxone/Subutex). I'm already feeling like I can accomplish more than I could before while on the meds. I hardly recognize my new self. Where have I been hiding all this time? Oh yea, opiates. They're the killer. Don't EVER go down that road again. Would love to talk to you if you're looking for someone dealing with the same junk you are, or if you need a little support. I'm not at 100% yet, but would love to listen to your story.