Hi everyone, just thought I'd share my story and progress so far.
I was taking approx. 3x Roxys a day for over a year before eventually switching to heroin. Needless to say it nearly ruined my life. After a year of heroin (3x bags a day at LEAST, from Camden so also 3x bigger and more potent than anything else in the greater NJ area) I found a suboxone doctor. I was on subs for 8 months, starting at 6mg/day and dropping 1 mg per month, just about. The last month I was ripping that 8mg strip into tiny little shreds to take, so I probably jumped off at less than .5mgs.
First of all I would like to suggest to anyone taking more than 8mgs/day STOP IT RIGHT NOW! Suboxone is very powerful, even I regret starting at 6mgs, I probably could have started at 2mgs. Also I could've weaned in half the time, so if you've been on it for years, um, now would be the time to stop. A slow wean produced almost no w/d symptoms at all, maybe some mood swings.
The next thing I want to mention is that I did quit the Roxys/dope for one month after over a year of abuse. The withdrawal was torturous hell. Diarrhea, RLS, insomnia, fatigue, pain, you name it, for three straight weeks with no mercy. After three weeks, the physical symptoms were gone. I passed that test, although failed the mental test...
I am currently on day 6 (soon to be 7) of being clean from the subs, and I think the people sharing all these horror stories about subs are being irresponsible. Whether they never tried to w/d from the drug that got them on subs in the first place, or didn't wean down properly I don't know, but I just want to let people who are thinking of stopping subs know: IT IS NOT THAT BAD. Seriously. All the symptoms of my w/d from roxys/heroin are present, yes. But they are about 5% as intense. I can actually sleep, the diarrhea is nowhere near as horrible, the pain is managable. The worst symptom is being low on energy, and some sneezing. I am confident I will make it through this, and quite shocked that my symptoms are so mild honestly, because before stopping the meds, all I read are these online horror stories from people who I'm assuming don't have the proper perspective. Long story short if you've ever tried to stop heroin or oxys, stopping subs (at a low dosage) is a WALK IN THE PARK. I have some subs left in my house still, yet haven't been at all tempted to take them. If I had a percocet in my house when I was going through w/d from the roxys or heroin last year, I 100% would have snorted that pill!
Now clearly I'm not out of the woods yet, but I did take time off from work, have been drinking lots of fluids, and was prescribed strong tylenol, baclofen, clonidine, and trazadone. I feel as though I came prepared, and it's helping me win this battle. That being said I've only taken the tylenol and occasionaly clonidine; baclofen is for muscle spasms which I haven't had, and trazadone is for sleep but it saps all my energy, and the last thing I need is to be even MORE tired when that's the #1 worst symptom anyway.
I've not commented on the mental part yet. For me this was the best thing about suboxone and the true purpose of that drug. The 8 months since I started taking it, I broke up with my partner-in-drugs significant other (and they moved out of state), got a new #, and lost all my previous drug-dealer connections. It's helped me get away from that "scene" which will make a HUGE difference in combating a relapse. People, places, and things. Especially people. If your boyfriend or girlfriend was doing the same stuff you were, they have to go. They are not that important.
Mentally, that's a different story of course. Our brains are probably way more messed up than our bodies at this point. But, and I can't speak for everyone when I say this, I'd much rather be a little sad or depressed than be taking a c**p every 5 seconds or have horrible insomnia. If I have those physical symptoms, well that's going to make me depressed as hell anyway. But if I am physically fine, I can deal with the mental side easily. Or at least fake it. If I'm at work, it's much easier to fake a smile than it is to be low on energy because I had insomnia the night before. The point I'm trying to make is that my concern here is not with the psychological aspect as much as the physical aspect of w/d. We all have to fight our own mental demons, many of which have nothing to do with opiates, and we have to do this our whole lives. I understand that some people deal with depression better than others, and I hope no one takes offense to what I've said. I just want to underline to people coming off subs who are scared (like I was) that it's really not that bad so far. The mental aspect is different for everyone, and we all have to overcome it. All I'm saying is I've been more depressed and listless than this.
It's the physical symptoms that I take issue with because I have to, you know, go to work, and that's hard to do if you are physically ill. I'm only on day 6 and will return to work on day 11. Slim chance I'll be 100%, feeling fully healthy and amazing and energetic by then. Everything takes time, surely. But if I had to, I could go to work right now. I know this is a super long-winded post but I am mad, almost bitter, at all the "OMG THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER" stories I read online. Not necessarily in this thread, mind you, just in general. I'm here to tell others that those stories are HIGHLY misleading exaggerations. Get mad at me, I don't care. The difference between stopping dope could turkey, versus weaning off then stopping subs, is like comparing the freaking bird flu to a common cold. One is completely manageable and the other one is not. In the hours and hours I spent reading personal testimonies online, I found maybe 3 stories remotely similar to mine, and 3,000 stories of people screaming bloody murder. And yes if you try to stop at 8mg or something it probably is hell. If you've never quite heroin cold turkey, I'm sure stopping subs seems like hell. But if you HAVE tried to stop heroin/oxys after long-term use, and are worried stopping subs will be just as painful, I assure you that as long as you are jumping off of a low dose, there is ABSOLUTELY NO COMPARISON. I hope just one person can read this one post in the sea of c**p that is the internet, and maybe find some inspiration. According to most of the people on the internet I'm supposed to be feeling like the devil is being exorcised out of my body right now, but really, I'm just a little tired. :)
Good luck to you. You probably won't be 100% when you go back to work. I wasn't. You'll get there, though. Take care
Well I guess I will join the conversation and tell my story for you to read. I have been on opiates for around 12 years of the those 12 years about 3 years on sub. This is my third time to try and quit subs last time I made it about three weeks and I still felt like sh*t! I was eating every kind of pill I could find that was not a narcotics to try and help but I didn't get any relief.
This time I'm on day 5 and well I'm out of bed I went for a walk (Very Hard to do) but I forced myself to do it. Yesterday I got a great Idea I would buy some liquor and drink myself to sleep. That was a big mistake for me I woke up at around 10 times more pain holly sh*t I walked threw hell last night and I'm not going back! It got so bad my girlfriend was begging me to take a sub now that is bad!
I find myself smiling sometimes I haven't done in over 10 years especially when I read these post.
Well on day 5 I'm shaky, cant sleep, no energy but the good news is I'm out of bed.
Its day 6 for me i dont feel like i will ever be normal again im just laying in bed and only get up if i have to.I take a couple of tylenol 3 every 8 hours or so just to manage my pain and anxiety. sure hope this ends soon
When I tried to quit last time I laid in bed for two weeks! I'm not joking aether! Also I had about four hours of sleep last night woke up about 2 am. i have been on opiates for 12 years and I'm talking everyday! The only pills I'm taking right know are vitamins and Advil.
YOU NEED TO MOVE START SLOW SET A GOAL IF ITS ONLY 20 FEET!
It took about 2-3 days of walking three times a day to be OK with pain. I have not laid down since 6 am!
Hi, and I so feel for all of you who r still goin thru the subox blues. It is for the most part over 4 me and if I could get thru it any 1 can. If I could go back I would never take the saboxone and would do a clinical 10 day taper off the opiates. Sabox is most difficult 2 shake off ur dophamene receptors in the brain, I guess becus of its half life which is like it stays 1 n half longer in your system after every dose. Eating a little chocolate and some type of exercise helps get your endorphins coming back 2 the brain/body.I also had to take anti diareahals,4 the bathroom issues and some benadril n cold meds for the flu like part. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It was just a mess 4 me n I suffered n didn't really know what was happening. Things as far as anxiety, doom, depression, creepy crawlees started 2 get better n I finally started sleeping about 21 days after. That's long 2 suffer so if people can go into a detox setting do so. 1 e room gave me an antihistamine /anti anxiety med that I will post later when I have the name right. It helped with those intense anxiety attacks. There is light at the end of the tunnel so hang in there everyone please. Time does make this one better,but somedays r still hard, U have 2 take the good with the bad. I am free n clear alcohol 1 month n sabox/ opiates almost 2 months. So after years of it all that's a miracle for me,and oh and dont put alcohol over ur withdrawls, almost died doin that to myself. Love , peace and light 2 all, most importantly talk to ur Higher power which mine is God n pray for help, thats when I finally started sleeping. Truly Julie.