suboxone withdrawal: how long is this going to last...I'm mi

I have been on suboxone for almost 3 years, I really want to get off of it! I went from 8mil to a quarter of a pill wednseday and thursday nothing friday saturday or sunday!! I caved today!! I really have regrets! I have been reading all posts and I guess everyone is different for the length of the withdrawl process. I am seeing 2 to 5 weeks. Can anyone who sucessfully withdrew give me a ball park??? I can deal with the hot n cold sweats just not the puking I could not even hold down water this morning!! please help??? when will i be able to some what function again n Will I have to start all over since I caved today?????

I am on day 9 of my opiate withdraws and after being on suboxone for 13 months. I would take a 1/2 to a 1/4 of an 8 mill sub a day. No matter what your Doc says you do not need 2 or 3 8 millagram subs a day to stay out of withdrawls. "I was on Oxycontin and oxycodone for 2 years before I got on subs and I would use up to 8 80's of OC a day at times so my tollerance was high, and a 1/2 of sub a day will keep you from getting sick." Now back to my current withdrawls I did my last sub 16 days ago so I'm allmost positive that it is all out of my system, but then I did some ms contin for 3 days, "because OC's are no longer accesable, thanks Purdue!" and then lomitil for 4 days, which yes is an opiate and and will prolong the withdrawl process, I suggest that you don't use this in the process for diarrhea because you will truely not be starting the withdrawls. Because I was off sub for a week my withdrawls started the 1st night after taking the lomitil at 6 am, I did not sleep, cold turkey, severe kicking, leg and ankle pain tension in my shoulders severe anxiety, sweating, etc. I took imodium for dirrhea and phenergan for nausea, "wish I had some clonadine for the high blood pressure/cold turkey but doc wouldn't give it." And took hot baths every 3 hours to help with body pains. I didn't get out of bed for the first 3 days except for baths and did not get any sleep till the 4th night and that's only because I took 3 mg of xanax that I got from a friend. Benzoes of any kind will help sedate you but you don't want to take them for an extended period becuause those wd's are not fun either. After that night of Benzoe induced sleep the days started getting a bit more manageable, still fatigued, pain in my legs and cold turkey, stopped taking the imodiam so those problems started but not as severe. Thinking positive is helpfull, especially coming to the relization that I won't be a slave to sub any more is a good feeling! The rest of the nights I've been averging about 4-5 hours of sleep with help of unisom, it's not ambian but it will help get you to sleep in the begining. On day 6 I started eating normally again, all thats left is the fatigue, some minor cold turkey and a little bit of leg pain but it's tollerable. I haven't got a full nights sleep yet but I'm hoping tonights the night! Oh and by the way support is allways helpfull, I've had my wife to help me the through this and with out her I know this journey would have been a lot harder! I can tell you I've been through Oxy wd's a few times and they are a bit more extreme but they are shorter. I think the hardest part of the sub wd's is the duration. I'm looking forward to feeling normal again and from what I've got from info online is its about 14 days, so I'm allmost there! It seems like it will never end some times, but eventually it will! Good luck to every one out there suffuring. And I'm not a Dr. but if I had the perfect list of things to help me through this process it would have to be clonadine for the cold turkey, imodium for the diarrhea, phenergan for the naseua, ambian xr for sleep mixed w/ melotonin. a long acting benzo like clonopin for the anxiety and sleep. multi-vitamins and any kind of otc pain relief, not sure if the last to really do mutch but if you think positive you might get a good placibo effect. Once again good luck to you all!

IVE been stuck on opiates 4yrs. finally found a doctor who wants to help me insted of sticking me on some other sh*t!! Ive tried lots only this helps! Dont tell doc about with drawls or they judge you as a drugy when most of us opiate users are past that phase and just cant quite b/c of with drawls. i lost my job... You say your legs are restless!!! ITS EFFECTING YOUR EVERYDAY ACTIVITYS like work sleep you tried ibprofin nite time sleep stuff. My doc info isnt linked between all docs like KAISER so I said/did go to emergency room because it was too much and late at night! say a outa town one b/c you where at friends they gave you Colonidine 2mg! 1mg didnt work for me. it regulates blood presser and constricting veins helps the pain, gitters, aches, bone hurting.... look up if want and VALUME 5mg for anxiety!!!!! your mind races and you think to much about simple things that ITS EFFECTING EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES!! it helps suiside thoughts, anxiety, makes you feel sOo much better!!! both low risk dependency no WD from them! 5 HOUR ENERGY SHOTS help! vitamin boost get 6pack walmart $11!! Stretch listen to music thats happy! like afroman funny, mista FAB, they help me they are California Bay Area music thow... take warm bathes 5 mins sunlight! get peptobismal or ANTI-NAUSEA meds from doc. keep water bottle with you all times! try smoothies helped me and soup stuff like when your sick. muli vitamins can help! NIACIN vitamin FLUSH FREE!!! helps lots take before bed cuts WD time in half!!! detoxifies body! good luck hope it helps! if i can help ill do my best!

Same thing with me! I didnt know they where centhetic heroin or elde I never started!! didnt think therd be such a thing. lost job car house college credit cards all of it. no one knows/understands just quite i wish! doc.s think you drugy when most of us opiate users past that stage!! need it to be normal not with drawl. i preyed for death sometimes... needs to be more help for us help prevent others getting like this! been 4yrs most doc stick you on another kinda drug! only thing worked for me Colondine 2mg. SAY FOR RESTLESS LEGS AT NIGHT VALUME 5MG for ANXIETY both are YOUR EFFECTING EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES! both non narcotic not opiate low risk drugs make you feel normal again only need to take 2 month tops!! 6 hr. energy shots help niacin flush free cuts WD time half bathes, music, 5mins sunlight helps!! its not easy I know! hope this helps look up what i told you on google if you want better discriptions or ***edited by moderator*** web addresses not allowed

antibiotics like that are fine! ask your doc to be sure. abdominal pain i had too!! get niacin flush free from any drug store it naturaly flushed toxins out of your body! take before bed also cranberry juice or vitamin pills once a day lots of water! peptobismal helped me a little! get doc. check its not a bladder infection! i got one with no symtons turned into kidney infection!! painfull not good!! hope this helps! got other blogs about WD symtoms and what helped me if you wana check it out. Good Luck!

I have been addicted to opiates for more than half of my life. I got clean 2 years ago and recently started messing around with Subs taking a quarter of an 8mg for the past couple of weeks. ! Few days a go I noticed I was getting back into my old ways and old thinking so I stopped taking them. I am only experiencing minor wd symptoms..achy back restless anxiety, depression. Im just glad I caught myself before it got out of control. I have kicked heroin countless times cold turkey...methadone after 2 years maintnance 100mg was the worst 90days of my life..suicide crossed my mind more than once.
Just want to tell anyone out there reading this that you just have to tough it out...do whatever it takes to not use or take that pill 1 more time cuz it only gets worse and worse. Trust and believe that things will get better..and they will. I know its bad...just be strong....a life of addiction legal or not is no way to live!

there are 100s of thousand folks who have had gallbladder removed but still sick. docs cant figure it out a lot of times. but there are some treatments if u want to look at them on here.

Don't feel bad if you are addicted, it can happen to anybody. I got addicted to Oxycotin after back surgery. I kept getting refills after the pain stopped. Then I Dr shopped, then finally I bought them illeagilly thru a coworker. I have been on Sub for over a year. My last dose was on Thursday. I started w/d on Saturday. Flu like symptoms and I can't sleep. But you got to push thru it. whats 10 days in a lifetime.
The blessing in disguise is the lack of appitite. Also, I go to the bathroom (#2) about 5-10 times a day. Get on a anti depressant. I recommend prestique because it gives you a boost. The worst in not getting comfortable at night. But you got to push thru it.
I just wish that pain killers diden't feel so good.

tes test test test

OK I have been lurking on boards for 3 years and here is my story in a nutshell- legit pain but abused lots of vicodin usually around 6-10 10mg a day ... W/D a bunch of times and went through hell for a few days till I managed to fix myself up with more ... decided I'm done for good and got Subox. Waited 24 hrs from last dose of vicodin- it was 25mg that day al in one dose and took a whopping 23 mg of subox the next day in one dose. Thought I was goingt o DIE that night and pretty sure if it were a 'regular' drug I woulda OD'd but it's pretty hard if you do NOT MIX IT with anything including alcohol. Anyway next day was a disaster... second day off felt like the beginning of a 'normal' W/D from opiates... but no bathroom issues (lil constipated but thats it) ... day 3 a little better... day 4 now... and I gotta say that besides being a little beat up I feel pretty normal. Wsho knows tomorrow I could wake up in full detox or something but right now this is a miracle. I have eaten like a mONK- bread, water, been VERY VERY VERY VERY nice to my body lots of tea, NO BENZOS, not even an OTC pain pill... NO antihistamines, NO ANYTHING. That means NO CIGARETTES either!!!! I believe treating my body better than it has been treated in years including getting in bed and reading at 8pm did the trick.
Don't worry if you can't sleep, accept the pain, tell yourself that you can feel GREAT by day 4 like I do. This is the most important thing in your life right now except for your kid(s)... take the time off work if you can.. and let this be the last message you waste your time on... sitting in front of the computer is the only thing that has made me feel worse... dizzy, nauseous, etc... I promise you that if you do everything you can -vitamins, tea, etc. and whatever other nice thing you can do for your body- you have a great shot at feeling better within 3 days. I slept like a baby last night betyter than I have in 3 years.

YES YOU CAN FEEL BETTER in the next few days regardless of how you feel now!!!!!! Follow ALL THE ABOVE!!! NO CIGS! No nasty oily acidic coffee! Tiny amounts of healthy food and a positive attitude... and no you can never ever ever go back even for a peek at another dope high. I didn;t believe I would ever want to be sober cause I LOVED being high but I feel better than any high I ever had and I'm still kinda withdrawing... I forgot what 4-5 days of being really nice to my body feels like!!!! I can;t believe it feels better than dope!!! YEEEHAW!

Have faith that you can feel better in the next 48 hours regardless of how you feel now.. and keep feeling better and better.

id take puking and diarrhea and all the other stuff over the ebbie jebbie i experience at nite..its a livng hell. dont know why i w/d like that but my brain is flying and my body is beat but wont sleep. anyone have an treatment for these ebbie geebies.

Hey "JUST DONT KNOW" you cant expect to not have severe withdrawals while still on 20mg of subs! You have to taper down miss. I had been using oc's for almost 4 years before I got on subs (4-5 80mg a day i might add). I have been on subs for almost exactly one year as of last week. I tapered down from 24mg (or 16 i cant remember what i started out on) to 1mg a day. My Dr. put me on SUBUTEX for my last 2 weeks. I have not read anyone else's postings about getting on subutex for their last doses. My Dr. told me it would make things a little easier and I think he's right considering the post's I have been reading. I am on day 7 and feel like I'm riding an emotional wave. The first 2 days were great I felt fine and had no sleeping issues. Day 3 anxiety set in along with diarrhea and sleeplessness. I am still having trouble falling asleep and I am waking up extremely early (which is not normal for me). Depression sets in around 4pm or 5pm everyday. Its so weird to feel ok (maybe a little anxious) throughout the day and then BAM 4 or 5 I just get soooo depressed. I know that might sound weird but I got a hold of some xanax and that helps along with a half bottle of wine or a few beers. I try to listen to something funny like opie and anthony on xm 202 and lately I've just been getting "lost" listening to my ipod. I guess being outdoors helps but I cant motivate myself enough to get my a** out of this chair. Anyway everybody going through severe wd's probably need to taper down way more. I can assure you coming off 1mg of subutex is WAAAAYYY easier than coming off of 320mg of oc's. Trust me I know from experience. Also you are gonna have to taper down yourself bc your Dr. is not going to tell you what to do. They'll keep you on subs for 2 yrs if you dont taper down yourself. It varies for everyone though im sure. It just took me almost exactly a year to get to 1mg and like I said day 7 and im still kickin. I have no opiate cravings thats the best part. I can feel like sh** for another week and you can too. Just give it time I guess and hopefully we will feel like our old selves.

@guest who posted 2/10/11 6:49 PM - Your situation was very different from most people who are looking at this thread. First of all, Vicodin addiction is not anywhere near as bad as oxycodone or heroin addiction. Second, you had minimal withdrawal time because you didn't stay on Suboxone. The way you did it is close to what I recommend people to do if they are planning to go on Suboxone. Normally I would suggest taking Suboxone for 3 days and then stop in order to get minimal withdrawal symptoms. This isn't always a viable option for everyone because many people will be likely to relapse if they don't have some kind of maintenance for a while.

In any case most people can't say "Only a few more days of this until I feel better." For those who have been on Suboxone for a while, it really is likely to take 2 or 3 weeks. Also I don't think that it really helped to avoid benzons and cigs and such. Drinking tea and stuff to help detox is good, but avoiding other types of drugs isn't going to change your opiate withdrawals. In fact usually it helps (mentally), but it sure isn't going to make anything worse. For me cigs are the one thing that makes being dope sick bearable.

The problem with the use of Suboxone is that Physicians generally accept studies, and the agreement that long term use is most beneficial, it's not. The whole purpose of use is to release the addiction to the opiate, which is done when suboxone binds to the receptors once the patient is in withdrawal for the opiate. Each day the opiate is released from the receptor and more suboxone takes it's place, until finally, the opiate can no longer bind to the receptor. It is at this point the dependency to the opiate is no longer physical.
Generally a two to four week cycle of suboxone is sufficient to relieve dependency, In my opinion. Suboxone does have opiate as well, to help bind to the receptor.

The best way to beat the suboxone issue is not to take it for an extended period of time, 2-4 weeks max, and you must cut your dose as well. The withdrawals are very minor in comparison to the opiate withdrawal, but not as extensive as long term suboxone use. Now, Physicains will tell you to stay on suboxone, because of relapse, studies,etc. I will say, regardless of how long you take suboxone, you will always crave the opiate to some degree. It is at this point where the problem is not physical but psychological. Regardless if it's week 4 off opiates or 4 years, it is psychological.

Ive been reading blogs for a few months now and can honestly say I was scared stiff. I was or thought I was addicted to vicodin/percocet after a surgery I had 4 years ago and a friend told me about suboxone. WISH I NEVER listened! I've been on suboxone for 4 years now and finally last month (2/1/11) I decided I wanted to be free. Kicked 8 mg daily as well as zoloft in the same day. Was I crazy - I think so! I have never felt worse in my life! It has been just over 4 weeks and I am still in hell! No word of a lie. The sleep has gotten a little better with help of over the counter remedies and a little natural pill called melatonin for sleep. In the meantime I do have my good days where I feel great and then the very next day I am down and out w/fever and skin crawling, chills and sweats. Its also flu season so Im not sure if this has anything to do with it but like anything else when your body stops having something for so long you get sick. Havent been able to keep ANYTHING in my stomache for more than a few hours before it comes right back out - not good!! Have been using an old Italian remedy called BRAT (Bannanas, Rice (white), Applesauce and Toast). This is what I have been living on and seems to help with the toilet issue. Fevers come and go and I have to say I am shocked because its been over a month now!

Looking back wish I never took that first little orange magical pill - in my opinion I do not recommend taking this or at least not for as long as I did! Also, I quit this cold turkey and I know this is not recommended either but I cant seem to think its another money maker for these clinics and doctors! Do your research and remember a lot of this is in your head - U CAN DO IT! I have no idea how much longer I will be in this hell but I do know I will NEVER go back!!! Good luck to all - wish you the best!