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

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. :)

People aren't intentionally misleading. They are describing THEIR experiences to the best of their abilities. Not everyone was on heroin and has a that type of benchmark. I think that it's important to be realistic. I was on subs for 4 years and jumped off higher than i should have with some detox. It was miserable and you're right- dropping to the lowest possible dose will alleviate a lot of the discomfort.



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

Omg you have have me no hope because I have been taking it for a year and a half, and only a half of a quarter of one a day and the first day without I start the worst withdrawls ever I can't hold nothing down the longest I've been able to go is 3 days and I was severely dehydrated, couldn't sleep and it was like my life stoped I could not get out of bed and the only relief I got was from hot water. I was running a tub of water every hour for 3 days all through out the night. It is worse than any pain pill withdrawl and I use to take 5 oc 80 mg a day and that was nothing compared to this. The only thing is that I have came off the pain pills by my self and have been self medicated my self with the suboxen I need help but I want to do it at home without rehab and I just can't seem to kick it any suggestions on what to do because I took everything to try to help and nothing worked

The only reason ur symptoms are not that bad cuz u have not been on it for 14 years either that no one will know until they go through it

Dude i AM ON DAY EIGHT AND OTHER THEN MOVING SLOWLY .tTE FIRST FIVE WERE SPENT IN BED WANTING TO DIE!! i finally got up starting eating slow,drinking water,and mild exercises (not to much) now today and yesterday I have beefe will be amazing

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.

That's progress. For every bad day you put behind you - remember that you only have to do this once and never again. My advice would be to not drink, either. That's rehab talking. If you can, get a script of Clonidine, Vistaril - pick up some magnesium for muscle aches/restless leg. You'll get there. Stay strong

I'm on day 5 of a 12 year opiate addiction about 3 years on subs. I have been forcing myself to walk I walked three times today and it was easy I swear I was going to hit the ground. It took every dam thing I had to do this but I noticed last time I tried to quit laying in bed made it worse you got to try and move around. Like to day I have walked in circles in my house because as soon as I sit down my legs hurt. Drives me nuts and alcohol didn't work for me it made it worse.

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

I'm on day 6 too you have to get up! It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life! But I feel better on day 3 I walked about a half a mile and holy sh*t I thought I was going to hit the ground. I mental had to tell myself Left foot right foot left foot right foot!!! MOVE it helps trust me!!

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!

Try "Kratom" tea...Along with 5HTP, MultiVitamin, Phenibut and Vit C. GET UP! EXERCISE...Run 2 Miles. Try it! It worked for me!

Hi I am new using suboxone. Although my sister was on it for 1 year. Her symtoms lasted 7 days. She says she feels great and i am hoping that I will get through it as well as she did. One thing that I keep telling myself is that I am strong enough to get through it when the time comes because I too, have alot of responcibility and a beautiful little girl that I am supporting on my own. I think it has alot to do with the way you feel about getting your life back. They say "mind over matter" and in a way I believe that. Good luck to you on your journey.

Get off ASAP! I've been on subs for about 7 months now and am going into detox early December to get off of them. I only had a bad Percocet addiction for less than 3 months and every now and then I got perscribed Vicodin... I've tried withdrawaling but that was too painful to do on my own (hence going to detox) if your insurance covers it, I would go for it if I was you! I started this bulletin and I hope everyone's doing well! I'm just updating everyone on my progress! I'm down to a quarter of a strip everyday (sometimes a quarter twice a day) but I'm going to cut down once more this month before detox, I'll be taking a half of a quarter of a strip so like .5... I don't know if that makes sense. Wish me luck everyone!!!!

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.

I also forgot 2 say taking omega 3,6,9 gels also help by balancing the acids in your brain. That is fish, flax n borage oil same thing, which just happens 2 b a natural helper for bi-polar and other disorders. go figure which I slacked off 4 about 4 months b 4 withdrawing.Peace, Julie.