Suboxone/ Subutex Withdrawal Symtoms Timeline Chart.

I'll be following this thread. I've read some people's horrible symptoms last weeks, sometimes up to a month or more. The usual hot baths, long hot showers, trying to exercises even if it's light walking, gettting out of the house, not moping around in bed, etc seem to be the usual advice. Clonidine some sort of blood pressure medication gets mentioned a lot, Valium is better than Xanax I hear a lot too, Ambien has worked great for me in the past for sleep, maybe try that to catch an hour or two here and there. I don't think you're really asking for advice, so I'll try to lurk quietly in the background. I wish you the best. I only use Suboxone for short tapers and it's not difficult to get off the stuff that way. Lots of people talk about Loperamide as taking away withdrawal symptoms but I don't think you should take that stuff for the long period of time that your WD's will last. 

I really hope you are succesful! 

Oh, I would try to avoid crackpot ideas like getting back on Heroin for the duration of the long Suboxone withdrawals from long term use, then quitting Heroin. That's been floating around here quite a bit too. 

Hey I appreciate all the tips for sure. I have been doing Subs for years and never caught a break to quit. Before that was pain meds and dope and its been a long rough road. I know a i feel horribly bad atm, but it's surprisingly not as bad as it could be. I have been in day 3 now and still no stomach pains, loss of appetite or diarrhea yet. Just got a lot of real real bad anxiety, sweats, cold shakes, hot flashes, depression. Been smoking buds lately to deal with it which has been helping somewhat to relax, but it's not the best. My brain keeps wanting to go back to Sub but my heart def is done. Kinda helps I don't even get paid til Fri, and by then I'll have 6 days sobriety in and would be too far in to turn back. I def need to do this though cause It's the only way I'll ever have a better life or anything nice. I keep telling myself a lot that i only did this to myself, and that have been through worse and made it out ok, but no matter how many times you tell yourself that, its still their taunting you, torturing you slowly and painfully. I just feel weird inside my own body, and almost like I am literally going to go crazy at times in my head. Sometimes it seems bad and sometimes not so bad. I read articles too saying it gets worse for weeks. Hoping that is not the case. Ill def be taking your advice and trying to find some Valium or Xanax asap! or at least a sleeping pill to catch some zzzzz. It's not as bad as i was imagining this to be so far, but it is at times all the same ya know ha. I appreciate your advice and just taking the time to listen to me.

Day 3- (Tues)

Turned out to be worse than the previous 2 days as the day went on. Wasn't so bad when i woke up in the morning, but as the afternoon turned to evening, and evening to dusk i really started to lose it. I could move around and stuff, but my body literally felt like it was running a non stop marathon and the aches got so much worse by night time. The anxiety intensified, the sweats got worse, the cold shakes were off and on as well as the hot flashes, and my runny nose got even more runny, and continuous sneezing ocurred through out the day. That Restlessness feeling intensified, thoughts of Hopelessness and Depression continued. I was very uncomfortable inside my own skin to say the least and the mental battle was horrific.

By 8pm I was saved but also not saved when I found a 2mg piece of subutex and ended up doing .05mg of it at 8, and from 9-12 I felt awesome lol Granted I'm sure i'll be restarting those next 3 days all over again, I felt so much better later last night and even all today I still am doing good from the tiny piece last night, feeling like i could make it all day today no problem with out any and going to for that matter. Little disappointed in myself for taking that tiny tiny piece last night, but all the same feel so relieved to feel somewhat normal today to get my mind together to do this all over again. I still have 1mg left (Slightly over a mg of subutex) so saving that for the weekend if it gets too bad. My goal now is to make it to Sunday before giving in this time. Not sure if Cold Turkey is possible for someone like me with out losing my damn mind and god knows what else, so my back up plan now is to go every 3 days or so and do a tiny piece if i cant do it complete cold turkey. I figure this would be just as good as weaning off them and maybe assist in making Withdrawal a little easier until I'm down to 1 piece each week, almots as if I am just starting out doing them again, but only quitting this time. Weaning seems to be the best and easiest option, as Cold Turkey is very cruel and much like torture.

 

Day 1- (Wed) [Starting over]

The days much easier today. Slight sweating occurring, and thoughts starting to do another piece but been easily relaxing today sso far and making it through. Starting to wonder if maybe having some sub on back up makes your mind easier doing this knowing that you have something to fall back on in case, rather than having nothing at all around. It's a very strong self control battle between mind and spirit with this drug. Feeling like you either need to be strong willed or give it all to God to quit. Will update you all on Day 2 tomorrow. (Thurs)

Day 2 (Thurs)-

- Symptoms of prior Days 2 came back. Cold shivers, Hot flashes, profuse sweating, increased heart rate, anxiety, panic attack feeling, feelings of Hopelessness, depression, anxiety, and anger. Runny nose began again.

Day 3 (Fri)-

- Symptoms have worsened, but still not as bad as the first withdrawal, since doing that tiny piece of Sub earlier in the week.

- Runny nose increased and the sneezes started.

- Body Aches started increasing today. Feelings as if I am running that non stop marathon, but never leaving my couch really.

- Cold shivers are happening a lot more often, but due to the warmer 70 degree weather, its very tolerable. My advice is time your withdrawal for the summer time, that way when you get cold, just go sit out in the sun. It helps!!

- Hot flashes still occurring, but can barely tell with the warm weather as it just feels like normal.

- Anxiety is the worse of this whole thing. Can't seem to shake it.

- Feeling weird in my own body. Can't get up off the couch, but also can't sit on the couch too long with out losing my patients and mind.

Day 4 (Sat)-

- Barely got any sleep last night. Tossed and turned for hours. Felt very very tired when going to bed last night, but the longer i laid there with my eyes shut, tossing and turning, the less tired i started to feel. Eventually fell asleep after 3 hours of struggling with it, but got a good night's sleep once i did get there.

- Woke up today with the body aches incredibly painful. It really feels like you went on a 10 mile jog, played some basketball and hacky sack afterwards, then went dancing all night at a club. lol Feels as if my body has been working out non stop. That kind of pain.

- Stomach is actually starting to get a little growling and slightly achy at times. the Diarrhea started some (also on Fri too). I still have a slight appetite to eat, but can't eat too much. It's almost like my stomach gets full too fast or just can't digest the normal amount of food i eat because of the sickness.

- The Mental battle is the worse. Still haven't felt too bad yet to where i needed to give in and do more sub after doing that piece on Tues. Going to try pushing it off as long as possible, as the weaning process really seems to help.

- Starting to feel as if i'm coming down with a slight cold or Flu symptoms illness. Sneezes worsened, runny nose still going on, body aches are rough today, throat starting to feel a little scratchy, slight back pains beginning. Almost feeling as if the pain is coming from my bones, around my hip area and lower back. Starting to think Suboxone/ Subutex works into your bones and stores there til withdrawal.

Hi there,

After such a long time on subs the WDs are going to be worse and you are doing it much too quickly by jumping off at 1mg! If you are having such a bad time then maybe your method is not too good for you. This is a very powerful drug.

Preparation is all - Look at the Amino Acid Protocol and start on that at least a week before you start reducing the 1mg. Force yourself to go for walks to get into the habit and flush your system out with lots of water. Valium is not a bad idea to help you through the night although some people do disagree with this, and some even say Tramadol used lightly in the final week. But these are both very temporary measures.

You should not have to go through this excessive anxiety and depression. That could lead you back to using again.
I started on 6mg of subutex 6 months ago, got stuck on 3.6mg for 9 weeks (during which I had panic attacks and extreme depression most of the time i.e. when the 'honeymoon period' was over) , then decided to start reducing myself at 0.4mg every 3 days. Now down to 2mg - on 3rd day, and apart fro feeling cold a lot of time and sniffly all is fine. Suspect it may get more difficult in which case I will extend the 3 day periods to 4 to 6 or even decrease by 0.2mg every 3 days. Making progress is mentally good for you, however long it takes.

Don't hurry yourself. Your goal is to be clean and free. And what is a bit more time if you are going to feel mentally stable and happy in yourself.

Good luck friend

I am so glad I found this post. I am ending day 8! When I was reading your Day 1-3, it was as if I wrote it myself! I decided to call-in to work for about 13 days. I don't even care about getting in trouble. Well, let me tell you about myslf. I was on subs 8mg for about 4 years. My doctor recently lost his suboxone certification, so I had to go looking for another doctor... guess what??? They don't exist! Most Dr's put me on a one or two month waiting list. How in the hell is that supposed to help me?

Like I said, I am on day 8. The good part is I don't feel worst each day, so the worst part has peaked. The bad part is I still feel weak... I have no ambition... even taking a piss seems like hard work. My body just feels weak. Bathroom issues started on day 5. I have still have uncontrollable sneeze attacks...some body aches... getting sleep is a luxury, all I do is toss and turn. I don't have weed, so that would be out of the question. I force myself to eat because though Im not hungry, I know nutrition is my best friend. If there is some way we can support each other, I would like that. Remember, this is not forever. Each day that passes, is one day closer to getting better. Keep in touch!

Are you saying that you have jumped off at 8mg?!!

Please try and get to see a doctor or go to your local ER for some full on advice. This is a massive jump off and especially after being on it for 4 years.

Please be steady and take it easy.

I wish you all the very best - you are being incredible but DO go for help.

>>I got down to doing a quarter chunk a day before i switched to the white ones and started doing 1mg-2mg everyday for a year. It's very hard >> Feefifoe, the OP, Stunningsteve was not on 8 mg before he jumped off. Jumping off at *any* doses is difficult though, even 1 or 2 mg. I wanted to agree with Steve that sitting out in the warm sun is almost as good as taking a hot shower/bath. You can feel the heat seeping into your bones, your body warms up, you just feel better. I try to imagine in my mind that I'm a lizard that needs the sun to energize me. But at the same time, ever since I was a little kid I had trouble sleeping. I would turn on my little Wall mounted AC unit, and try to make my bedroom as cold as possible. Then I would imagine that I was a reptile or snake that needed the cold to slow down my metabolism until I fell asleep. This type of thinking sounds silly, but if you are desperate and are able to concentrate really hard your mind can achieve a lot of neat things. Your list of side effects by the way is very typical. It sounds like everyone else's side effects , by which I mean to say that yes you are going through a difficult time, there is nothing out of this world or biologically horribly wrong with you. Thinking that this is normal, what I'm going through might as well be scripted in a movie could help lower your anxiety levels a bit. I try to watch TV in our Florida room, it's like a den at the back of old Florida homes. I'll sit on a recliner instead of lying in my bedroom with my 60" 3D tv. This way when I do lay down in my bedroom, my body should know it's to be knocked out, for rest and not tossing and turning. Also, I can't stress enough being active or moving about. Lying in bed depressed, unable to sleep will only add to your problems when your lower back starts to hurt your whole body will ache, and in my case my sciatica flares up with a vengeance, About taking that .5 mg of subutex. It was not a "relapse" and you "did not use" it helped alleviate your symptoms and if it lasted a good while, then good for you. Resetting the countdown clock is optional. I would not. It's not like you "took one hit of crack and your hooked for life" That's a small amount of subutex and it will not be building up in your system, so I don't see how it will do anything to make your withdrawals any more unbearable

Lol, everyone completely overreacts to jumps at higher doses. Go to a local ER??? The guy made it to day 8 jumping at 8, and from what I can tell in his post, he's doing about the same as someone jumping from 0.5. My experience jumping from 6 mg was quite similar. Jumping from any dose on subs is doable for some people, perhaps most. I don't know, all I can say is the guy made it to day 8. And what is an ER gonna do for you anyways? Write a script for clonidine?

Hey :) It is really hard 2 come off any opiate but I promise if u set urself up in the right frame of mine It'll be so much easier! I came off 2mg I was meant 2 be on 6mg but I cut myself down! I must admit it was alot different coming off the subs than it was with the methadone & H It did last abit longer 4 me but it wasn't as extreme :/ if u know what I mean! I just had no energy at all & with 2kids it was really hard! I kept getting ringing in my ears Which started at day 4 of being clean Plus my lips would go blue & I got dizzy, strange I know! Music really helped me 2 move my ass & get up & about! I didn't want 2 leave my covers unless I put the iPod on ;) lol

I tried my best 2 go walks & stuff even though I didn't want 2 c any1 plus I felt like I was getting stares off people!

I did great 4 4months & was so proud of myself! THE sh*t HITS THE PAN :@ My kids dad who was still heavily using H kept offering it 2 me & after 2wks I screwed up & took it! Now I'm ruining my life again & I'm not losing my kids! So I've got 10 2mg tabs & I'm going 2 do a really fast detox like 2tabs 1tab 1/2tab & then crumbs! Hoping it works Has any1 else did this? And I'm hoping (well praying) the WD won't be as long this time if I use it 4 a week instead of 2years!

Here come the sweats & sleepless nights :( woo hoo NOT I can deal with the rest no probs My kids keep me going! I can't believe I've fecked up but at least I'm going 2 try ONCE again!

Hope every1 else is doing good! This site really helped me when I did my sub WD & even the 4mth clean I got I still came on 4 a read xx

been on sub,s for 4 mo,s I started on them cause Dr. said it woiuld help my PAIN.( BULL sh*t) on the sce. mo. I started achinh all over.got light headed when I smoked a cig.walking made me disy.i even wike up hurting like hell all over.after two mo,s. I had too much to handle started skipping days for a mo. then a Dr. gave me...75 mg. of INDOMETHACIN for my pain itook all saw 800 mg. of GABAPENTIN 4 times a day.these together I feel like new no pain or other side effects just doudts an a little anxiety. this is my 2 1/2 day with nothing.after taking 8 mg/2mg a day for these mo,s feb-june this is 2015.remeber haven a few for back up really helps your mind handle stoping. try this way at youre own risk of making it off subs.remeber this is a lot of head games youre mind plays.like oh one more wont hurt etc.((DONT GIVE IN)) GOOOD LUCK.

Hello. I can also say that I can relate to this post sooo much. I did 2 years at 24mg. I was getting 3 strips a day for free for a year through pharmaceutical company ( its called here to help. Every dr who prescribes it is allowed to have 3 patients signed up on program ) that ran out I wasn't financially able to get anymore so over the past 2 months I did 1 month of 8mg and made it 6 days of cold turkey from that before going to ER. Mainly because I thought I was going insaine. No sleep for 4 days and restless body and feeling ice cold was the worst symptom. Since then I got enough to taper myself a little better. The first 3 of 6 days I took 1mg which only worked for 12 hrs so I was in wd for half the day and now I'm going on day 3 with nothing. All I can say is Suboxone wd makes you wish you were wd off pills again because I rather be too sick to think about it then it be over in couple days , rather than go through this hell that is so drawn out. My biggest complaint is restlessness (especially in arms) , insomnia (sleeping in 5 minutes increments ) feeling ice cold. I have clonadine, trazodone, and visteril. Which don't work (feel trapped in a daze) The ONLY time I feel relaxed is when I'm in hot bath. (Taken about 20 in 2 days). I also feel like my neighbors are looking at me like I'm a crackhead.

Hi just want to say I'm in my second day jumping of 8 mg a day I tried once before and made it through 17 days and then went back on it now 6 months later I'm trying agin and really hope that this time I make it thru right now I'm sitting here trying not to think about next day coz I know I will still get much worse that is right now just know one thing I have to make it no matter what keep your head up

I'm not sure why I stumbled upon this site tonight. A friend of mine is coming off subs right now and it brought back so many memories. My husband jumped off at 4 mg over a year ago and is still clean. He went from 16 mg to 4 mg in about 2 weeks and then jumped off at 4. It was hell. I am not even going to lie. When the withdrawals finally stopped the Paws began. But each month he seemed a little better. By 3 months his memory started to comd back. By 6 months he had his energy back. By 9 months his mood had stabilized and he wasn't having quite so many rages. It has been about 18 months since he jumped off at 4 mg and he is still opiate free. So nomatter what u jump from it is possible!! But I often wonder if his paws and withdrawal symptoms would have been less severe with a slow taper. Regardless, I think when you have had enough of the sub and want off then you are ready and should go for it. I admire you all for taking the steps necessary to get off this stuff! I didn't witness it first hand but I was there by my husbands side and I know it takes a true warrior to get through it, which all of you are!!! Stay strong! It will be worth it!
Love, a thankful wife