Im on a 8mg suboxne a day... and.. i half to quit because i got kicked out of my clinic for smoking weed... and im really really scared to quit!! i tapered myself down to about a half a day.. can someone give me some hope.. i have a baby and im scared to be really sick!!
Guest wrote:
I am suffering from these sub withdrawls.. I would have done it diffently. Its 5 days and I feel like im withdawing from herione,all over again!
what exactly does half life mean
I am suffering from these sub withdrawls.. I would have done it diffently. Its 5 days and I feel like im withdawing from herione,all over again!
Quote:i used to be BADLy addicted to opiates,i was taking 30 lortab 10's or percocets a day which ever i had bought for that week..the WD from the opiates were absolutely HORRIBLE!! i quit cold turkey but on the plus side after about a week and a half i started feeling better. and the hell i went through kept me from taking any pain pill ever again....Well i ran n2 subs and they gave me alot of energy and i was taking a half a day for about 1 1/2-2 yrs...i went down to a 1/4 a day from the 8mg pill and i decided to quit cold turkey 5 days ago..the WDs arent good but all i really experience is the muscles aches in my legs and the loss of sleep but feels like its getting easier every day..as long as ou keep busy and dont sit around it shouldnt be really bad..dont believe everything you read on here!!
been over a week since last taken sub. its been a rough week. stomach aches, chills, sweats, diahrea, muscle aches, cant sleep, no energy. but it has gotten less in the last few days.....stomach pains are lessining and diarhea is almost gone. muscles still hurt, but if i keep myself busy i try not to think about it. this has been the most difficult thing i have gone through in my life. but i have made it this far and i dont want to do this all over again. im just keep looking forward to the day i will feel normal again. good luck guys
i havejust recently come off of suboxone. i am in a 4 month treatment program now, which is day 3. i was on 6mg day for 1.5yrs, going to aa/na, all the while tellingmyself i was clean because that's what this dr said who prescribed this. i am 49, and i believe my brain/body has the progression of the opiate disease,meaning that suboxone acted JUST LIKE ANY OTHER OPIATE I HAVE DONE. It did sort of help me function,geta job, relieve depression , etc. But I kept telling the dr I think this drug is turning on me. I really want to stay clean this time, and I think Dr's should becomemore aware of what the patient's opiate history was like.Unfortunately, I think unless someone has been there themselves,they don't know what it's like. It's like the alcoholic saying- "Once you've become a pickle, you can't go back to being a cucumber again." Good luck everyone
After reading these posts for days while I was withdrawing from suboxone and looking for some hope as to how long it would last, I am now on the other side and feeling normal. So I figured I would post and give some needed hope too.
My story, I used every opiate there is for about 9 or 10 years, methadone off and on but then consistently for 4 and suboxone for almost the last 2. Giving me a grand total of 16 years of being dependent on one opiate or another. I had pretty much accepted the idea that I might very well be on a maintenance program for the rest of my life. Through out the years of my addiction, I had the unfortunate opportunity of kicking various opiates in various jails around the country. And am quite familiar with the agonizing horrors of cold turkey opiate withdrawal.
So, it was understandable that I had a lingering fear of finally getting off suboxone. So much fear in fact, that the stress was beginning to cause heart issues. Finally, as crazy as this will sound to some, I talked to a medium, who gave me a message that my deceased friend was telling me that I was basically making a mountain out of a molehill and to stop worrying and go ahead.
So, the suboxone trail that lead me to an easy withdrawal....
Of course the doc tried to start me at 16 mg and like many, it was too much, I was quickly adjusted and happy at 6mg. From there, over the next year and 3/4, I slowly tapered down, about a half a mg, sometimes even a quarter at a time and let my body completely adjust for a month and a half to two months each time. I finally got down to 1/8 of a 2mg strip (I was on the strips, after a while instead of the pills). So, I decided and told my doctor that I would be quitting on Saturday, now last Saturday. Friday morning I took my last dose. Saturday I could feel the difference but I was still fine. Sunday, day 2, the withdrawals started. It was uncomfortable and seemed like the slowest day ever but still not as bad as regular wd's. The night time was worse because out of all the symptoms of withdrawals, restless legs are the worst in my opinion. I was up most of the night, but did get 2 or 3 hours of sleep. It was a bit of a fight to stay hydrated, for every sip of water or gatorade I took, I lost 10 times as much with bathroom issues. I lost 6 pounds in 3 days. The morning of day three was the worst, instead of being anxious, I was now past that and into foggy headed and weak. In the afternoon, I was able to take a nap and that made all the difference, I woke up pretty much normal. The entire time though, it was manageable. Because unlike other opiate withdrawals, I was still a civilized human being, I was still able to get up and go about my daily routine, if a slightly lighter version but normal daily activities nonetheless. Something I could have never done while withdrawing from other opiates. And I knew all too well that it could be a lot worse.
My formula was, as many on here have suggested,trying to stay hydrated, making myself eat healthy foods, going for walks out in the sun, multi vitamins, hot baths and movies at night. I also meditate daily and do yoga so that helped. And praying to spirit guides, G-d, deceased friends and loved ones, anyone on the other side who might be able to pull some strings lol.
I did have a bottle of clonidine in my closest and thought about taking it for the worst of the restless leg nights only but two posts scared me, one that said their doctor said that it could prolong the restless legs and one that said that she would sleep on clonidine but wake up feeling worse and even though I have taken it many times during withdrawals, I was still kind of on the fence about how I felt about it and was not willing to take that chance.
Besides, I firmly believe that taking anything just prolongs you not feeling normal. If your withdrawals are so bad that you must take something, then perhaps you need to go back and taper down more slowly and regularly (if possible) and allow enough time for your body to adjust. 1 and 1/2 to 2 months each time I reduced worked for me. Listen to what your body is telling you. All in all there were a lot of scary stories on here but several gave me hope. The ones that said that it was basically 3 to 5 days. Really, if you think about it, I was only in withdrawal from day 2 until the middle of day 3, a day and a half. And I never even got the chills or the sweats or anything. Did get the anxious/nervy feeling though.
By the middle of day 3, I literally cried tears of joy knowing that after 16 years, I am finally free!
Best of luck to you all.
In Love & Light,
New Life
My story, I used every opiate there is for about 9 or 10 years, methadone off and on but then consistently for 4 and suboxone for almost the last 2. Giving me a grand total of 16 years of being dependent on one opiate or another. I had pretty much accepted the idea that I might very well be on a maintenance program for the rest of my life. Through out the years of my addiction, I had the unfortunate opportunity of kicking various opiates in various jails around the country. And am quite familiar with the agonizing horrors of cold turkey opiate withdrawal.
So, it was understandable that I had a lingering fear of finally getting off suboxone. So much fear in fact, that the stress was beginning to cause heart issues. Finally, as crazy as this will sound to some, I talked to a medium, who gave me a message that my deceased friend was telling me that I was basically making a mountain out of a molehill and to stop worrying and go ahead.
So, the suboxone trail that lead me to an easy withdrawal....
Of course the doc tried to start me at 16 mg and like many, it was too much, I was quickly adjusted and happy at 6mg. From there, over the next year and 3/4, I slowly tapered down, about a half a mg, sometimes even a quarter at a time and let my body completely adjust for a month and a half to two months each time. I finally got down to 1/8 of a 2mg strip (I was on the strips, after a while instead of the pills). So, I decided and told my doctor that I would be quitting on Saturday, now last Saturday. Friday morning I took my last dose. Saturday I could feel the difference but I was still fine. Sunday, day 2, the withdrawals started. It was uncomfortable and seemed like the slowest day ever but still not as bad as regular wd's. The night time was worse because out of all the symptoms of withdrawals, restless legs are the worst in my opinion. I was up most of the night, but did get 2 or 3 hours of sleep. It was a bit of a fight to stay hydrated, for every sip of water or gatorade I took, I lost 10 times as much with bathroom issues. I lost 6 pounds in 3 days. The morning of day three was the worst, instead of being anxious, I was now past that and into foggy headed and weak. In the afternoon, I was able to take a nap and that made all the difference, I woke up pretty much normal. The entire time though, it was manageable. Because unlike other opiate withdrawals, I was still a civilized human being, I was still able to get up and go about my daily routine, if a slightly lighter version but normal daily activities nonetheless. Something I could have never done while withdrawing from other opiates. And I knew all too well that it could be a lot worse.
My formula was, as many on here have suggested,trying to stay hydrated, making myself eat healthy foods, going for walks out in the sun, multi vitamins, hot baths and movies at night. I also meditate daily and do yoga so that helped. And praying to spirit guides, G-d, deceased friends and loved ones, anyone on the other side who might be able to pull some strings lol.
I did have a bottle of clonidine in my closest and thought about taking it for the worst of the restless leg nights only but two posts scared me, one that said their doctor said that it could prolong the restless legs and one that said that she would sleep on clonidine but wake up feeling worse and even though I have taken it many times during withdrawals, I was still kind of on the fence about how I felt about it and was not willing to take that chance.
Besides, I firmly believe that taking anything just prolongs you not feeling normal. If your withdrawals are so bad that you must take something, then perhaps you need to go back and taper down more slowly and regularly (if possible) and allow enough time for your body to adjust. 1 and 1/2 to 2 months each time I reduced worked for me. Listen to what your body is telling you. All in all there were a lot of scary stories on here but several gave me hope. The ones that said that it was basically 3 to 5 days. Really, if you think about it, I was only in withdrawal from day 2 until the middle of day 3, a day and a half. And I never even got the chills or the sweats or anything. Did get the anxious/nervy feeling though.
By the middle of day 3, I literally cried tears of joy knowing that after 16 years, I am finally free!
Best of luck to you all.
In Love & Light,
New Life
hi everyone, i am on day 4 off of subcxone, and i have to say i am feeling better each day. Yesterday was not a good day but i forced myself to stay hydrated and EAT something! bc with all the upset stomach issues and nausea you have to keep something in there for energy, I have started taking a one a day multi vitamin, b12 and biotin. ive also been pretty consistent with taking about 3 200 mg ibprofen.(sp). I was able to sleep for about 8 hours last night, 2 the night before that and about six before day 3. i have to say day three was the hardest for me. I dont feel like a million bucks today but i am forcing myself to move on with my life. I am a full time student and I have a part time job. i missed an entire day of school yesterday but i will not flunk out or lose my job over this. i am doing this to better myself. and i have been constantly reading all these posts and it is serving as a wonderful support group for those of you who have conquered it so far. I hope everyone who has is still going strong. i have an amazing boyfriend who has supported me and helped every step of the way. he keeps telling me what doesnt kill me will only make me stronger. i stopped taking them after about 2 years and i ended at 2mg on friday morning. im looking forward to each day to wake up and feel that much better. Bc once your done, your free at last! and it already is helping me get through knowing i am alive and awake today with a POSITIVE attitude to help me get thru this. I deserve this, and so do all of you! It is a horrible thing to be reliant on a pill to make you feel normal. thats not the way our bodies were made and we have to stop torturing them. Help yourself and live your life the way i know you all want to! i will post again and let everyone know how im doing. Just remember, STAY POSITIVE! or youll never get through it. Good luck to all !
I just wanted to post again, now that it has been three months since I kicked suboxone. I kicked in August (you can read that post above) and it was a very short withdrawal. After that, I felt pretty normal except for some P.A.W.S. symtoms (Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome) that would come and go, mainly just having days where I was really tired and a lack of motivation. By September, I had basically moved on and forgotten about suboxone and was and have been since, living a normal life. I am finally free. Oh, I did seem to suddenly catch a lot of colds for awhile, which is strange because I am normally one of those people who never gets sick. But I figure that it takes a lot of my body to completely recover so it's energy may be focused elsewhere instead of combating colds. That has passed though. And I'm not sure if this has anything to do with recovering from suboxone at all or not but for awhile I kept getting swollen lymph nodes in my arm pits but I saw the doctor and she said that it was probably from the colds. It has stopped happening also. I was worried that I would go through periods of depression because I would get depressed in the past when I would try to quit opiates but I was fine this time. I am happy and healthy and enjoying life. I recently took a 1st degree reiki class and I love it. I wish I would have been able to do reiki self treatments while I was withdrawing, it would have been a big help. Anyway, I just wanted to post this update in hopes that it may encourage others to stick with it and know that if they taper down safely at a rate that works for them and give their bodies time to adjust to each decrease, they can get off of opiates and finally have a normal life.
Take some time to relax and let yourself heal. (even if that can only be after work each day) You'd be surprised what even 5 minutes a day of meditation can do. Go for walks, read, paint, do yoga, listen to music, create music if that's your thing, even lay out on the lawn and watch the clouds go by and soak up some sunshine. Eat really healthy, pamper yourself. Think of it as creating your own personal spiritual/healing retreat. And enjoy knowing that you are healing and gently preparing for your new life free of addiction :-D
Take some time to relax and let yourself heal. (even if that can only be after work each day) You'd be surprised what even 5 minutes a day of meditation can do. Go for walks, read, paint, do yoga, listen to music, create music if that's your thing, even lay out on the lawn and watch the clouds go by and soak up some sunshine. Eat really healthy, pamper yourself. Think of it as creating your own personal spiritual/healing retreat. And enjoy knowing that you are healing and gently preparing for your new life free of addiction :-D
I've done a good amount of research on suboxone and withdrawl, habing experienced it myself. Th emost important step to getting off of it is patience! Taper very slowly. The move form 20mg to 16mg to 12 to 8 to 6 to 4 to 2 to 1.5 to 1 to 0.75 to 0.5mg is not as bad as it sounds if you take at least three days between tapers, and up to 2 weeks if needed. Once down to the 1/2 mg (yes, that is 1/16th of an 8mg, fold it and cut it with scissors). You are close. Cut that sucker in half to 1/4 mg when you are ready. Then, after you are again, ready, (and you should know you are because if you did as I have described you will not have felt any withdrawal) go to every other day, 1/4 mg until you are ready to break clean. The process should take about six weeks. Know this, when you break clean, you wwill feel depressed, not having that boost of being in a good mood to look forward to each day. You may benefit from being on antidepressants. Some have advocated megavitamin dosing with niacin and vitamin C. Exercise heals the damage. One final step. Naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opiod antagonist that lasts about two days in pill version and one month if injected by your dr (to the fine tune of about 800$). It is non addictive, and will help your brain recover at the sites where the addiction took place. It also stops you from getting drunk if you drink.
One warning. Do not buy naltrexone pills online, and say, "I'm gonna just pop one of these suckers and it will clean my right up!) If you do, and you recently (one two days ago abused an opoid like heroin, or it has been within a week of your last suboxone), you will truly wish you were dead!. I mena truly wish for it form the suffering due to precipitated withdrawl. N need to be a masochist and punish yourself or teach yourself a lesson. Do not make the nlatrexone too early mistake!
You hit the nail on the head. you need to force food liquids and excercise to get over this withdrawal. im tapered down to a crumb of suboxone. probably .5mg and it has been a nightmare. this sh*t sucks it just postpones your withdrawal. i would rather go cold turkey. i shot dope for years. i have also detoxed cold turkey a handful of times. I have also spent alot of time drying out after detox in holdings like tewksbury for 5 months after detox and forcing myself into a personal bootcamp including no smoking and forced meals with excercise. it's the only thing that works. it has turned me crazy i believe. i am going through it again and i know i wont be able to really eat for days. You need to take showers, eat, drink, and move. i know it can be done i have done it before... it is the best life ever...
HK,
I was on subs for 2 years . Tapering down is best. You wont feel great but its better than cold turkey. Just hang in there. You shoulnt feel sick after 12 days and about a month before you are completely back to normal. And that month you will just feel a little weak and unmotivated but thats it.
hang in there, Sky
I was on subs for 2 years . Tapering down is best. You wont feel great but its better than cold turkey. Just hang in there. You shoulnt feel sick after 12 days and about a month before you are completely back to normal. And that month you will just feel a little weak and unmotivated but thats it.
hang in there, Sky
guest wrote:
Quote:i used to be BADLy addicted to opiates,i was taking 30 lortab 10's or percocets a day which ever i had bought for that week..the WD from the opiates were absolutely HORRIBLE!! i quit cold turkey but on the plus side after about a week and a half i started feeling better. and the hell i went through kept me from taking any pain pill ever again....Well i ran n2 subs and they gave me alot of energy and i was taking a half a day for about 1 1/2-2 yrs...i went down to a 1/4 a day from the 8mg pill and i decided to quit cold turkey 5 days ago..the WDs arent good but all i really experience is the muscles aches in my legs and the loss of sleep but feels like its getting easier every day..as long as ou keep busy and dont sit around it shouldnt be really bad..dont believe everything you read on here!!
Im on a 8mg suboxne a day... and.. i half to quit because i got kicked out of my clinic for smoking weed... and im really really scared to quit!! i tapered myself down to about a half a day.. can someone give me some hope.. i have a baby and im scared to be really sick!!
My advice is to taper but if you cant good luck. eat healthy excersice medditate music love reading movies. ANYTHINGG BUT SITTING AROUND. So much luck!!! -Sky
This thread helped me a lot. I just moved halfway across the country, and used up all of my suboxone on the way down (25-26 hour drive over two days with a friend). We both basically stopped cold turkey when we got here, and at first I didn't even know that suboxone / subutex had such a horrible withdrawal cycle. When I first started crashing, and over the next two days of complete hell, the information I found here helped me make a definite change in the outcome. I'm on day 5-6, and am already feeling fifty times better than I was just a few days ago.
At first, I tried downing some Nyquil, Immodium and sleeping pills so I could finally sleep. This was a terrible idea. The sleeping pills gave me muscle tremors like crazy, the Immodium didn't seem to do that much, and the Nyquil made me throw up. After a few nights of trying the sleeping pills, I gave up completely on them and just resigned myself to only get 30 minutes to an hour of sleep every few hours.
On the third day, I started eating a lot of bread, eggs, bananas, rice, beans and meat. This is what really helps you overcome the horrible feelings associated with the withdrawal. I also bought Vitamin B-12, Fish Oil suppliments, and finally today got some L Tyrisone. I still feel a little run-down, but I actually had the energy to get up today, take a shower; I had interest in doing things other than trying to distract my mind from how hellish I was feeling. The L Tyrisone really helped a lot within an hour or two.
I have read a lot about how overcoming Sub' withdrawal can take months, even a year and a half in some cases... But, I simply cannot imagine feeling this way for that long. Forcing myself to eat properly, cutting down caffeine and sugar, and getting regular exercise was enough to make me believe that this may only last another week at most, and then I will be back to my old self. I sincerely hope so.
Anyway, thanks so much everyone for the vast knowledge contained in this thread.
What's funny and ironic is that when I posted above three days ago, I was feeling wonderful compared to those initial WDs. Now, I'm on day 10 I believe, and I still can't sleep for more than 1-2 hours a night. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I'm cracked out or something, and even simple conversations are ridiculously jumbled. My voice is still shaky and I still get the watery eyes / sinuses full of mucus to the point where even if I -could- fall asleep for an hour or two, I can't breathe properly.
My body feels much weaker than it did three days ago, and seems to come in waves. Usually I feel best around 8-9 pm, and even though it's 12:30 and I'm exhausted, I know that if I lay down, I won't be able to sleep. It's the insomnia that is really driving me crazy.
Does anyone know how long it will last on average? Because I simply can't see it ending. I can take care of daily responsibilities, shopping, etc., but with such a severe lack of sleep, finding a job is proving to be impossible. When, oh when, will I sleep normally again?
Although I still stick by the proper diet / L Tyrosine + B12 / Melatonin (if you want to fall -right- asleep... for an hour or two), I have found no way to treat my insomnia and lack of mood. I had an initial spike when I began feeling better from the initial withdrawals, but now I feel much more depressed and aimless, and definitely do not want any SSRIs or other mood suppliments...
Thanks!
I'm on early day five at 3 am and can't sleep ........ I feel horrible I've been on whatever subs I could find ( which was a lot). Around 8 mg a day on average. I have the drive to quit but I'm thinking and feeling like sh*t.... Body aches, shots, and depression...... I just got a job that I start tmrw afternoon and I'm worried that my wd's are going to ruin me in my new job.... I will fight this with all I have but I feel like I want to just give in so I feel better....Im thinking of going into the doctors tmrw and getting a prescription for sleeping medicine for while I'm going through this....