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

Im currently on day 6 off suboxone. It feels like its getting a little better. days 2,3,4 were pretty bad. Horrible aches in my back and legs, slept maybe 4 hours all 3 of those nights. Days 5 and today have been a little different. The daytime isnt too bad but once it gets around 8pm my skin starts burning really bad and tingling. I cant even stay under my covers. So i dont hardly try sleeping. Taking a shower definately helps but its short lived. I wish i could take a long bath but being 6'4" i havent been able to sit comfortably in a tub since i was 14. Some tylenolPM and some pot and a shower at 3 am and I can sometimes sleep for an hour or two. The worst thing during the days now are chills and pure body exhaustion from lack of sleep. Im hoping i will be getting close back to normal in a few days but who knows. Ive read so many stories of people getting over it in 5 days to 14 or more. This is the hardest thing ive had to do but i guess i had it coming from messin with the OC's originally. Good luck to everyone. Stay strong!

Hello All,

I'll try to keep the background story brief. I hurt my back at work and was put on pain killers (Percocets) for a few months. When my Doc felt it was time to stop, my friend (no longer my friend for getting me hooked) turned me on to Oxycotin. I was taking 80+ mg's of Oxy a day for a few months. Prior to this I had never done ANY drugs in my entire life (25+ years), hell I hadn't even smoked cigarettes much less weed or anything else.

Anyway, Oxycotin is very expensive and I became hooked, which led to me switching over to the big, bad "H". Much cheaper, same effect. This was an all time low in my life. Finally I had enough and came clean to my girlfriend and family, and began seeing a Dr. and taking suboxone. I can't speak for all of them, but the 3 different Dr's I met with are all really just drug dealers themselves. Insurance doesn't cover the visits, it's like $150 for not even 20 minutes of useless "therapy", and then you get your script. Fortunately I found the dumbest one of the 3 and convinced him I needed to take triple the amount of Subs per day then I really did, and he was too stupid to realize I was only coming every 3 months (instead of monthly).

So yeah, I was on Subs for roughly the last 2 years. No relapses or drug use at all during that time, but now I'm engaged and am tired of being addicted to anything....basically I traded in Oxy & Heroin for Suboxone. I had tapered down to 2mg's of Subs a day, and with the 8mg pills, can't really break them down any smaller without them turning to dust. To make matters worse, I lost my job due to the economy so I no longer have insurance. This created the perfect storm of reasoning for me to decide to get off Suboxone.

The last time I took a 2mg suboxone pill was last Saturday morning, 2/13/10. Suffice to say, the last week has been utter and pure chaos and hell. I've gone 50 hours without sleep 3 different times. I'm never hungry, but force myself to eat 3 small meals a day. Then I'm constantly going to the bathroom all day and night. I get hot and then cold, arms & legs ache, all the usual symptoms. By day 4 I felt like I had the full on Flu, so I've been living off Dayquil and Nyquil to function. I really haven't left my house except to go get more Dayquil in the last week.

My mom is a nurse, so fortunately she was able to get me some Xanax which I've been using to knock me out. Let me tell you all, there is NOTHING that helps more than rest. I slept 10 hours 3 nights ago and woke up feeling 1000000 times better and thought I was cured. After taking nothing and having another sleepless night, I took Xanax again last night and got another 10 hours of sleep. Right now I feel pretty solid, like someone recovering from the Flu.

So yeah, it's now Day 8 without Subs and I'm still going. Each day is better, each day I feel stronger. If I had to go to work or do anything important, I'd be useless, but fortunately I don't have to so now was the right time to detox from this. But I know that I've learned my lesson and will never take another painkiller (short of advil) again, no matter WHAT happens to me. And I will never take a "friends" advice over a doctor's.

Everybody, keep fighting the good fight, you CAN do it!!!! XD XD XD XD

Anonymous Johnson

Thank you everyone for all of your honesty, this is the first time ever trying to get off oxy and im doing it with suboxins from a friend, my game plan is to do 2mg a day foe 16 days (as i have 4, 8 mg tabs) and then cold turkey. My thinking, after reading everyones input, is that the longer you are on subox, the deeper it gets into u,just get through wd's from oxys, Lets c what happens ? :-|

Today is day 2 for me off subx and i cant stop yawning. Restless legs. Feeling like c**p!!! I know I have a lot farther to go, but I have to continue going to work i cant afford to take time off. im petrified. could really use some prayers, trying to stay positive and remember why i am doing this---to live a chemical free life. Any other smokers notice a definate decrease in a desire to smoke? Maybe i can finally kick smoking too...Hoping this wont last more than ten days. thanks for everyones personal experiences i find it very helpful.

Thanks! That really helped. I'm on day 4 and feeling a little better. Baths do wonders, I've missed the past 2 days of work and plan on going back tomorrow. Can u tell me how long the stomach pain and insomnia last? Bless u all

Man this site is as addicting as the dope itself. Day 14 off subox for myself. I must admit I'm making it further into the day everyday. Here's the deal. If you plan on getting off subox as you taper start to EXERCISE NOW! I also purchased 'withdrawal ease'. This stuff has everything in it that one needs to be more comfortable. It comes with two daytime supplements and a nighttime supplement. My doctor also prescribed me a new non addictive anxiety/depression pill called lexapro, and 3mg tabs of lunesta sleep aid. All these things combined and YOU WILL NOT HAVE PAIN OR SLEEP ISSUES! That said, even with the sleep I still feel tired most days. That gets better around day 12. I'm not all there yet, but I feel it getting better everyday. I have been running 3 miles everyday for the past two months, and I know that has made all the difference. After a run hit the hot tub if you belong to a gym. Like everyone else has said, warm showers and baths help. I know its a mother f****r but you have to dig deep and find the discipline to take the right steps to make things easier on yourself. If nothing else you feel better about yourself for doing it and it also provides a nice distraction. I can't wait til I'm 100%. I feel it coming everyday.

Hey all. I recently posted my experience at day 6 off the subs. By then the worst of it was over but i wasnt in the clear as i was hoping. Im now on day 13. Its definately a WHOLE LOT better but im still having withdrawals. I can sleep most of the night with plenty of tylenol PM but i still wake up around 3 every night with the burning skin. A shower will get me back to sleep but i cant ever sleep past 7:30am no matter what i try. I wake up feeling like i didnt sleep which is frustrating, and most of the morning im achy in the legs and have what feels like negative amounts of energy, i feel like i can barely walk around. Forcing myself into my daily activities gets my mind off it and i feel alright during the day. My mind is sort of getting back to normal, i can laugh and enjoy watching tv and doing other stuff. This has been the longest 2 weeks of my life but its all starting to feel worth it. Im hoping to get back to normal in a week. I was on subs for almost 2 full years so my detox might be taking longer than most, but if your just getting started off the subs expect 2-3 weeks to get back to normal with the 6 first days of bad withdrawals. Hope my experiences can help someone, i know reading everyones stories definately helped me, not to mention the time it killed during the worst of the WDs. Good luck to everyone! theres a light at the end of the tunnel! and REMEMBER..... if you get to day 3,4, or 5 and think about relapsing...your gonna have to go through all the worst WDs AGAIN the next time you quit. ITS NOT WORTH GOING THROUGH IT MORE THAN ONCE!!!

Hey WOLF how are you doing these days? did you get through?? Its now been a few months being of subs and i feel like it was yesterday i was on here looking for some magical cure to help with sub withdraw god that was brutal.. Now its been since Nov. and i still don't feel as motivated as i was before getting on opiates in the first place. I really wish i never took the stupid pills in the first place and now i keep catching myself thinking of ways to get Norco's even after all the hell with money for subutex doctor visits and Subutex withdraw.. Its like the withdraw was so long ago i cant remember anymore i just remember being really weak and i think just one more time........................

Dooooon't do it. Not worth it. I really really don't think tapering or how long you were on suboxone matters with W/D's . I mean everyones different for sure but I jumped at 4mgs and from what I read I feel better than most who did the long dragged out taper. So whatever. Just grind it out. Like they say. "Your worst day sober is better than your best day high." Ok maybe I don't believe that all the time but it still sounds nice. Lol!

i too was never told of any wd with sub by my dr. after many years of back injuries, herniated disks, ruptures and surgery etc opiates became my drug of choice. i grew up in the 70's so wasnt afraid to "experiment" a little. my question is, is it wrong for a dr to write a script for 180-30mg oxycodone and 60-10mg of meth a month? must be, they finally shut him down. showed up for my regular monthly appt and the doors were locked, you can imagine the panic being that i was leaving for vacation that night. turned out to be the beginning of my road to recovery. after 5 years of addiction i got my daughter help for the same addiction problem and shortly after went to an outpatient rehab. started at 16mg and weaned down to 1mg/day. have been there for just a week. after a pretty good workout last night i came home and started getting the jimmy legs and twitching hands arms etc. knew it was the beginning of w/d and thought why not quit now? i had some clonadine left over and figured it would be a good time to be done. out of curiousity i searched for wd symptoms from sub on google and found this site. after reading all 9 pages of personal accounts of what you really have to go through to get off this stuff i went and took another 1mg. i know that i have to do this and i know that the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you. it is the final trek on that slippery slope. i recently relocated and have a job interview in a couple days so i know that have to wait till after that but believing that God is in this with me will make it easier. there were a couple posts that were encouraging......the guy that cut down to 1mg a day then every other day then every third day, sounded like it went well for him. the ones that said force yourself to exercise and eat. it is different for everyone and hopefully it will go well. if you all could offer up a little pray for support i would appreciate it. stay strong and thank you all for sharing your experiences.

sh*t I think I just erased my whole message. If you have a job interview I would stay on the suboxone for a little while more. If you can carve out a little time to recover I would recommend it. 2 to 3 days at the most. I can't stress how important it is to prepare your mind and body now before you jump.
1) Exercise (as much as u can handle. Let your natural dopamine wash your brain for you)
2) Milk thissle helps control the legs. All vitamins are essential to easier recovery.
3) Food. Red meat and protein shakes help your muscles recover which helps with the aches and pain. No cheese or sausage or processed meats for these things do not help with your sleep.
4) If your can get your doctor to prescribe an anti anxiety med do it. I don't suggest benzos because obviously we are dealing with addictions already don' t need a new one. Lexapro is the latest and greatest and its claim to fame is being non-addictive.
5) A natural alternative is Avena Wild Oats Sativa. This is an organic alternative that is really great for the nerves.
6) Hot baths and showers are required. Take one right before you crawl in bed and this usually helps. Maybe not right away but eventually you require it.
7) Keep a journal. Provides a distraction and if nothing else you can reference your experience when your thinking about going back on. Because you will. DON"T!!!!
8)Music. I liked to take walks at night with my ipod and just jam tunes and feel sorry for myself. Its kind of spiritual and I always felt a little better when I got home. I can't explain it but it worked for me.
Again I jumped at 4mgs and it took 14 to 16 days to feel normal agiain. (normal enough) But I never had major sleep issues or physical pains at all. No jimmy legs nada. You just have to do the right things now before you jump. I just felt tired a lot. That is it. But that too passes with every day.

You can do it. Mind over matter. Keep your mind thinking about how great your going to feel real soon. I promise you it is worth it. DO NOT QUIT! PUSH ON! It doesn't have to take one month or two months if you do the right things now...................

guest-posted 3/1/10-11:36

thanks for your post and support. gonna jump monday and am taking your advice. gonna try the milk thissle, red meat, exercise, etc. i have a script for effexor, not sure if that will help or is the wrong direction but will give it a shot. no work so plenty of time for exerecise and music. i will be sure and report back how things went in case the next person that stumbles on to this site may need a little encouragement. thanks again for taking the time to come back to help me and others through this. your advice is greatly appreciated.

I am wondering how long the withdrawals for suboxone are? My boyfriend has been on it for about four years. He was down to a quarter twice a day and then decided to stop this past thursday. He is on day 4 and its been horrible! I feel helpless. Hes very restless and in a lot of pain. He mostley complains that his legs are in extreme pain and he cant keep still. At night its so much worse for some reason. By like 10pm hes rolling on the floor screaming to kill him. Punching the wall the floor, punching himself. Its scary. Hes taken clonidine and flexeril. Even xanax to calm him but nothings helping. I have tried baclofen and supplements like 5 htp and other dopemine supplements. Hes not sleeping and its driving him insane. Hes crying alot and I feel hes on suicide watch which is whats really scaring me. Hes just not being himself. Please tell me this will be over soon.

i am new to this too, jumped on saturday night so is only coming up on 48hrs, but from what i have read it is a rough road. you may want to take him in to the doctor that gave him the sub or maybe the emergency room. i would suggest reading all 9 pages of posts here to get a better idea of what is going on. seems like the longer you are on it the more you need to taper. i was at 1/8 a day when i jumped. exercise, walks, music, distractions, food, vitamins. milk thistle is supposed to help with the itchy, twitchy burning feelings. it sounds like he may be near the end of the worst. from what has been posted here days 3-6 are the worst, getting better after that. my daughter quit recently and confirmed that it is really rough, she jumped at 2mg. good luck, stay strong and remember the will of God will not lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you. will pray for both of you.

Hello all. I've been on oxys 120mg a day and every other week I would be on suboxone when I couldnt find oxy.

I don't recommend this but... I took 480mg of oxy in 2.5 days after being off subs for one day at about 4mg a day. I did that hoping it would kick the long lasting subs out of my system so I could do the oxy withdrawal of 4 days, instead of the sub withdrawal which is like 10 days.

It is now day 5 and I feel that a lot of the physical pain is over. Just like it would be with oxy. With subs it always took like 2 days before I got really sick. This time I woke up full blown sick, probably because the oxy did its job. Day 4 is actually the day I made the most improvement. Day 5 (today) is slightly better but not by much. I did get 4 hours of sleep last night which is better than any other night previously.

I feel that the withdrawal is definitely longer than just an oxy withdrawal, probably because the subs are still in my system. But this is also the longest I've ever been on this stuff to, (1 year) so that should taken into account. But I'm back at work on day 5, which is great.

Just remember people, every second you stay clean it's money in the bank.