Suboxone Withdrawal - Help!

I'm on day 8 of sub with draw. Cold turkey, 4 mgs. Roller coaster of c**p but way better than being on them. All symptoms are tolerable. I deal by using POT zanax clonedine and mass amounts of activity. Do not sit on the internet and read all the negative c**p. Nothing in life is easy, but quiting sub is easier than staying on it or your drug of choice. Mind over matter people.

I've been on Suboxone for over a year now. 8mg twice a day. I went to my dr. and told them i was ready to get off of them. She decreased to 8mg once a day (which i feel is a big jump). Yesterday was my first day at the decrease and i had the sweats/chills so bac and my back hurt just like i was going through withdrawl from herion. I couldn't eat, sleep nothing. So i decided myself to take 1 1/2 tabs now. I take a half in the morning and I'm going to take a whole one tonight. It scares me reading these posts because a lot of people say they have withdrawl a lot. I am terrible at going thru withdrawl and my dr's promised me when I got on this med I wouldn't go thru withdrawls at all. I just need some advice on how to taper myself off and how to get thru all of this!!! I do not want to be on this for the rest of my life because my insurance told me that they are going to stop paying for me to go to treatment in 6 months. Just need advice PLEASE!!!! Any advice will help. Thanks. If anybody is reading this and thinking about going on Suboxone, just go through the withdrawl from whatever you are on because you will just go through it again with Suboxone.

Good luck with your attempts. And i do mean it. i myself have been in this for couple of years now, and just don't have balls to quit. Because none of the closest people know, neither my parents nor my girlfriend nor my work. And they mean too much to me to put them through this hell which is my own fault. Going a month with terrible withdrawals is not an option. However, I did came close few times to quitting completely, but messed up by takins "just a little bit" so I can get some motivation to clean my room, or some stupid excuse like that. Anyway, back to the point:



"Melatonin - helps sleeping.

Vitamin B - energy and mood enhancers

Multivatimins - helps with nutrition, since it is hard to eat while being sick, and also diarrhea leaves your body robbed of most nutrients.

Liquer - sometimes it helps to calm your anxiety(however, it is a dangerous game, hangover while sick is not pretty)

Weed - calms your anxiety and upset stomach (but may kill any motivation leftover you had, i personally quit weed after smoking daily for 5 years to be able to quit subs, still trying btw.)

Valiums - helps with anxiety and sleep, I used to take one (5ml)every 4 hours) But be carefull, you're not supposed to take benzos with suboxones.

Valeriane drops or tea or pills - (i hope i spelled it right) it's a liquid that drives cats crrrrrazy, and weirdly enough calms people down a bit. Helps with sleep and mellows you out. However, it is a very mild effect, but when you're on the edge, anything helps.

And 6 hour energy drinks to help to get through the day. HOWEVER, they might interfare with your attempts to fall asleep at least for few minutes (same with Vitamins B as it's the main ingredient in these drinks).

Exercising - if you can do it, or walking or riding a bike or whatever. It helps to sleep better and also does make you feel better in general, almost gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Because sitting on a couch just watching TV is the worst way to quit, because then you're just stuck in that depressing circle of anxiety and same thoughts and your body feels crappy and so forth and so forth. Exercising i'd say is #1 in helping to kick. Sweating in other words.

Showers - makes you feel better.



DO NOT FORGET, I AM NOT a doctor, or a professional. This is not an advice, just a list of items that help me to deal with my withdrawals. Use this information at your own risk, as everyones is different. What worked for me, will not necessarily work for you.

However, I wish you the best.



I can't think of anything else. Sometimes it is usefull to get few extra perks or vicodins, just to take the edge off, but usually with most of us, it is hard not to take all of them at once and get high for once instead off taking one every once in a while.



Good luck to you man (and everyone else out there)as I'm feeling your pain and suffering, as I am stuck in this neverending nightmare that I got myself into. It can be done though, there are few brave people out there who did it.

id hate to say when i came off sub.. i went through over a month of withdrawels.. all of the above includin mental to. couldnt stop crying felt like i was out of my body.. so stick with it.. go to your doctor they can help you.

Relax-
Kicking Suboxone is no big deal. It doesn't even compare with heroin or methadone. I dropped down to .5mg a day for a week and kicked with no problem. If possible get something for anxiety and for sleeping. I suggest Lorazapam and Klonopin but if you can't keep a positive attitude listen to some good music and ride it out.

Ive been on the suboxone for about 5 years now. I wasnt a terribly bad addict when I got on em either. Just needed a little help with what I had done to myself after a tramatic accident. Anyways, ive tried kicking 2x over the past 5 years. The first time I tried to kick I was on a daily dose of 4-8mgs a day. I was fine for the first 3 days, then things got worse. But listen it wasnt so bad that I couldnt function. By day 8 I couldnt get out of bed. So I whimped out and got back on em. The second time I was on 2mgs a day and by day 5 I went back on em because of the depression. Now after taking .5mg a day and sometimes every other day Im quitting...again. I dont care what I have to go thru Im stopping. Im in a good place in my life now. Im happier than Ive ever been in my life and its time to be done with the sh*t. Suboxone is a good thing for some in certain situations, I believe, but for me, quitting is long over do. The only thing that worries me is how long Ive been on the sh*t. I dont smoke, drink, or anything but listen Ive got sum gin, sum green, and valium right here to help if I need it. Good luck to all of you by the way. Ive searched and searched the internet for years on kicking this sub habit and really its not the thing to do. Ive been so scared and caught up with the horror stories I read that I put it off because "what if...."

TO ALL WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM SUBOXONE WITHDRAWAL - Someone else on this site suggested this approach and I tried it, it works! It will not completely kill the symptoms but it will greatly reduce them, making life livable. You will need an over the counter medication containing the following as it's active ingredient, "Pseudoephedrine," found in 12 hour cold and sinus medicines like Sudafed. The other is a natural remedy, "Calm Tabs," by Good Nature or similar. Or a natural herb called, "Valerian root," it also helps with sleep. Most health stores, GNC, etc. and some walmarts carry calming tabs of some form, most being the same. All I can say is, it will help make it bearable. GOOD LUCK and I'm praying for each of you!

first of all your a dumbass to try to come off of it that fast. i have been on suboxone for just over a year now and over the last six Maonths i have tapered down from 24 mgs to 2 mgs. the withdrawl is not as bad as the heroin withdrawls, which i might add are the absolute worst out of all of the opiates, before suboxone i had been addicted to heroin and cocaine for six months (intravenious) and before i was a daily oxycontin user of up to 200+ mgs a day. previous to that i was taking the weakest opiate vicodin, and sometimes percocet along w a coctail of other types of drugs. all i am really trying to say is the subs do work, and they work well as a tool to quit opiates. but only if you give them the proper time and effort to work. most suboxone patyients take it for over a year on average depending on how bad your addiction is. i have been clean from heroin as well as any opiate and cocaine for 8 months and i am so close to being off this too. i have mild symptoms such as headache, congestion, terrible aches in the knees, trouble sleeping and anxiety. to all you recovering addicts out there you can do it just keep your head up.

Hi...I've been on suboxone for almost 3-yrs. I tried quitting 5-times. And I'm not saying this is for everyone. But each time I tried to quit it was horrible. I wish the doc's would keep people on this ***edited by moderator*** ** inappropriate posting** for only a week or so... would be much easier to come off of. Anyway the only thing that working for me was to wait til the third miserable day and take a 5mil vic. i did this for 3-days and after felt fine. I only had enough vic to get through 3-or four days.. no withdrawl yehh. good luck everyone.

Hello, I am addicted to subs. I have been off of them now for 3 days......I am n H*ll I ache, no motivation, I can't sleep I lay in bed and cry.....Is there ANYTHING that can ease this??? Please let me know!! I seriously do not think I am mentally Physically going to make it!!!!!!! It is ashame that doctors give you the BS that there is not pain when you decide to stop taking the subs. That is a total lie.......really sad!!

:-D Hello all, I have been reading posts on the internet for a week now through my own w/d's and this one seems to be the most negative so I thought I would help some of you out. My opiate dependence stated like many of us, with a bad car accident and a doctor who wrote scripts freely. In the end I was spending up to $1000 a week buying them on the street on top of my 90 every 2 week scripts. This went on for 2 yrs. I started suboxone treatment in February of '09 and then switched to Subutex in May of '09 due to depression. Just an fyi the naloxone in suboxone can block seratonin in the brain for some people, switching really helped me. Anyways, I had been wanting to get off the sub's for a while now. I do think sub is great for us opiate addicts in the beginning of treatment but I don't think it should be used for a long period of time. My work is seasonal, I run heavy equipment for construction in the spring summer and fall and get laid off for the cold midwest winter. So this time the day I got laid off I called my doctor and notified him it was time to kick the subs to the curb.(I think it is very important that your sub doc knows you are quitting that way if it gets too intense for you he doesn't think anything fishy is going on if he gets a call from you) First day wasn't too bad. A little rls and a bit of the creepy crawlys. Second and third day were hell. No sleep, the runs, really bad rls, hot and cold flashes and all the rest. But then I seriously just told myself, your stronger than this. I sucked it up on the fourth day and started doing stuff around the house, still feeling icky but kept telling myself mind over matter. I think it is important to keep yourself busy. I didn't use any home remedies or anything. Although I don't know why but chocolate did seem to help just with the cravings. But just be sure to keep fluids in your body and take vitamins, for health reasons because it is hard to eat. Other than that I have to say just keeping a positive attitude worked best for me. Keep your eye on the prize mentality. It is day 8 now and I feel pretty damn good. Eating 3 full meals a day. Remodeling my whole upstairs. Just started to happen as I was trying to keep myself busy. haha. I'm not trying to sound like the God of sub w/d or anything. I'm just trying to say, it can be done. It's easier for some than others but eventually you "WILL" feel better. I promise. Good luck to everyone going through it. Stay brave and sober. :-D

I have been addicted to opiates off and on for the last 3.5 years. I used suboxone that I bought on the street to help me kick oxycontin 2 years ago, and I only went through about 2-3 days of wd's. It was wonderful and I really believed it was a miracle drug. Then, about 6 months later, I met a new "friend" who had oxy, methadone, vicodin, anything you can imagine... I "dabbled" a bit and thought it would be okay. Until he showed me how to smoke oxycontin (the old OC 80's) off tin foil, and I got hooked quickly. anyway, I ended up moving to a new city (from Seattle to Portland) to try and avoid the bad influences, and quit cold turkey off oxy at that time. It took about 4-5 days of withdrawal's before I was back to my old self. Then I ended up finding a new dealer in portland, got hooked again, and finally got a script for subs. They worked great, kept the withdrawals away, kept the cravings down, etc etc. After roughly six months on subs (MINIMUM time my doctor recommended) I decided to get off them. I slowly tapered down to less than 0.25 mg per day, or every 36 hours, as long as I could wait b/w doses... When I jumped, my doc gave me 30 .25 xanax, a small amount of clonidine, plus 10 ambien 10 mg. EVEN AFTER my extremely slow taper (I was on .25 mg for more than a month) I experienced BAD withdrawals. No, not quite as bad as oxycontin wd's but BAD. Right now I'm on day 14 of 0 mg and I still get a bit of the "cold turkey" feeling, only sleep a few hours a night, and have absolutely no energy. TRUST ME, there is really no arguing, suboxone is an opioid just like any other when it comes to withdrawals -- the "partial agonist" bs only pertains to the fact that it won't really get you high, especially if you are opioid tolerant! and the ONLY reason sub withdrawals aren't as bad as oxy or vic wd's is because it last SOOO long in your system (hello! 36 hour half-life people) that it slowly leaves your system, and gives you a milder but MUCH longer withdrawal period.

IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT QUITTING ALL OPIATES NOW, take time off from work or school, get clonidine and some sort of sleep aid (NOT benadryl, diphenhydramine raises your blood pressure and makes the restless legs/cold turkey feelings worse) and KICK the heroin or oxy or vicodin rather than doing these so-called "sub detoxes" b/c they are b.s. If, on the other hand, you want to kick heroin but are afraid you are in danger of relapse, then sub can be a good choice, b/c it does keep the H or oxy from getting you high while its in your system.

On a side note, on day 11 I was given some gabapentin, and for me it's been a minor miracle. Takes away the icky chills, gives me a bit more energy during the day, and helps me sleep at night.

PS I do know what I'm talking about. Besides having been an addict for years, I also have a Biochemistry degree from a top 10 university, am a 2nd year medical student, and worked my way through college as a pharmacy technician. (i know, i know, bad career choices for a pill addict, eh?)

I have been addicted to opiates off and on for the last 3.5 years. I used suboxone that I bought on the street to help me kick oxycontin 2 years ago, and I only went through about 2-3 days of wd's. It was wonderful and I really believed it was a miracle drug. Then, about 6 months later, I met a new "friend" who had oxy, methadone, vicodin, anything you can imagine... I "dabbled" a bit and thought it would be okay. Until he showed me how to smoke oxycontin (the old OC 80's) off tin foil, and I got hooked quickly. anyway, I ended up moving to a new city (from Seattle to Portland) to try and avoid the bad influences, and quit cold turkey off oxy at that time. It took about 4-5 days of withdrawal's before I was back to my old self. Then I ended up finding a new dealer in portland, got hooked again, and finally got a script for subs. They worked great, kept the withdrawals away, kept the cravings down, etc etc. After roughly six months on subs (MINIMUM time my doctor recommended) I decided to get off them. I slowly tapered down to less than 0.25 mg per day, or every 36 hours, as long as I could wait b/w doses... When I jumped, my doc gave me 30 .25 xanax, a small amount of clonidine, plus 10 ambien 10 mg. EVEN AFTER my extremely slow taper (I was on .25 mg for more than a month) I experienced BAD withdrawals. No, not quite as bad as oxycontin wd's but BAD. Right now I'm on day 14 of 0 mg and I still get a bit of the "cold turkey" feeling, only sleep a few hours a night, and have absolutely no energy. TRUST ME, there is really no arguing, suboxone is an opioid just like any other when it comes to withdrawals -- the "partial agonist" bs only pertains to the fact that it won't really get you high, especially if you are opioid tolerant! and the ONLY reason sub withdrawals aren't as bad as oxy or vic wd's is because it last SOOO long in your system (hello! 36 hour half-life people) that it slowly leaves your system, and gives you a milder but MUCH longer withdrawal period.

IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT QUITTING ALL OPIATES NOW, take time off from work or school, get clonidine and some sort of sleep aid (NOT benadryl, diphenhydramine raises your blood pressure and makes the restless legs/cold turkey feelings worse) and KICK the heroin or oxy or vicodin rather than doing these so-called "sub detoxes" b/c they are b.s. If, on the other hand, you want to kick heroin but are afraid you are in danger of relapse, then sub can be a good choice, b/c it does keep the H or oxy from getting you high while its in your system.

On a side note, on day 11 I was given some gabapentin, and for me it's been a minor miracle. Takes away the icky chills, gives me a bit more energy during the day, and helps me sleep at night.

PS I do know what I'm talking about. Besides having been an addict for years, I also have a Biochemistry degree from a top 10 university, am a 2nd year medical student, and worked my way through college as a pharmacy technician. (i know, i know, bad career choices for a pill addict, eh?)

My husband was released from a detox facility with a 20 day RX for Suboxone. He was in detox for a dependency on Demeral for U.C. The DR. told him to decrease the amount he was taking every 3 days until gone. He did as prescribed. The last week he was on 2mg of Sub everyother day for a week until he finished. He has been in full blown withdrawl for 9 straight days now. He has ALL of the symptoms...fever, chills, anxiety,mood swings,BAD abdominal pain, insomnia....Well the leg cramps have stopped . How long will this last. The purpose of detox was to not be in this situation....Has anyone else experienced this on such a short dose? He called his DR that prescribed the Suboxone and his 1 and only option was to get back on.....My husband REFUSES but feels TERRIBBLE....How long can this withdrawl last? Help!!!!! :'(

I smoked oxy cotton for about a year straight, One our two 80's a day, i got tired of spending the money so i switched right over to suboxin, i have been taking a half of a suboxin 4mlg i think it is for two in a half years, the other day i decided i was going to stop cold turkey i am on day 6 going on seven with no suboxin and have had very little withdrawl, i have called ten suboxin doctors trying to figure what the hell is going on because i have read w**** storys about it and they say i am one in 200 people that this happens to. I guess im still wondering if the withdrawls are going to come on day 7 8 and 9 or was i really lucky?