i can tell you maybe why you are confused when you hear that people are having wd on these sub drug,you have overlooked an important detail that is common in all the present cases and that is the period of time on which they have been taking it,in your center you give it for 5 days,of course the patients won’t have any wd symptoms,but when you are asked by your dr to stay on it for at least 6 month i pretty much believe that some type of wd will take place and the degree of severity would vary from person to the other.just think of any type of medication,even if it was an “over the counter” type of med,if you take it every day for 6month(at least) won’t you feel any fatigue when stoping it?your body and brain got used to something precise everyday,so what if this medication is far from being an “over the counter” tip of med but rather a very strong compact chemical that works on a receptor in the brain to put down any cravings or thoughts.this is a treatment and it cannot be taken for 5 days,5 days are good to remove the wd of the drug(heroin,..)but the hard part is after the pain wears off and the cravings start kicking in in you need to fight it this is where buprenorphine(in my case)comes in hand,and helps you get through the day and have the motivation to go out and find a job and reconstruct yourself one step at a time,and this is no short process rather quite long just to start reconstructing everything you demolished throughout the years of addiction..so my friend i hope you understand why these fellow friends go through wd,which cm to think about it is awful,after having reconstructed your life and this story is becoming from the past u have to go through a wd that u have long avoided it..good luck to all n keep ur head up!
I had a long love affair with opiates for about ten years or so and I finally found what I consider a miracle drug in subutex. However, I realize their will a piper to be paid and I'm getting close to paying him. I have been sniffing the most scant amount of the stuff for about a year and a half daily, and have experienced withdrawals just once when I was in a situation beyond my control that did not allow me to get to my subs. I felt wd's for about 3 days but was still not out of the woods when I got back home to my stuff, needless to say, I continued the use and have always felt like I preferred to have the stuff over not having it. Anyway, I notice all these doctor recommendations to go from 4mg to 2mg and all that, but in my opinion and I have done it another way and it's more effective. I don't measure it, but I scrape just a tiny bump and sniff it twice a day, in the AM then Pm about 12 hours apart. If you bump it when you feel you need it, and bump just a little less each time over time you will naturally wean yourself off of it. I know this sounds too simple but you should listen to your body/mind, just know when your body/mind is lying to you. I should add that I can make an 8mg tablet last two weeks with this method but I did use much more in the past. I'm only stopping the usage because it's a pain in the ass to obtain them and I'm not going to the clinics for it.
When I was doing my withdrall of H I had people trying to offer me bits the reason they are doing this is because missary loves company and they dont want you to stop because the can't and it all so makes them look at the own dependacy so for god sake dont accept no matter how you feel and i would avoyed or stop hanging around with them because there not very good freinds if they are offering you sub when your trying to come off. 4 days clear is good going and it will get better it will just take time for your body to get back to normal but if you need a rought estimate i would say at least 7 days so keep going and keep up the fight :)
Just hang in there guys. I came off suboxone almost 2 years ago...and I'm not gonna lie it was hell. But was it worth it yes...I feel great you just have to remember anything worth having doesn't come easy. And sobriety is definetly worth it.
One word britlofex aka lofoxidine I had a 20 year love affair with heroine I was junky no 1 Tried meth subutex suboxon in patient detox jail etc nothing worked until britlofex came along take britlofex for 7 days then get on the naltrexone= opiate blocker promise you will get your life and soul back it's the only way
so what is the answer?
I am on my 35 fifth day off subutext. Did he taper down a milligram a day or was he taking the same amount as he did when he just came off heroin? If he was taking more than 2 milligrams of subutext a day and tried to just stop taking the subutext he might want to take one milligram so he doesn't go into shock or have a heart attack. If he has vallium that will suffice but will definitely not help with the withdraws. It will slow the heart rate down so he isn't as restless and might give him some sleep time.
It will get better but I think it depends on the person and your mind set ,I went 45 days cold turkey but just couldn't handle it ,7 years have passed now and I see no end in sight I take 24 mgs of Subutex a day~ 250 mgs of nuvigil to keep me awake ~ 3mgs of Clonazepam ~to keep me calm~ along with 10 mgs of Ambien~ for sleep. I take drugs to keep me awake and drugs to put me to sleep ,My doctor never mentions slowing down because for him it's all about the money. My doc. charges $250.00 a month plus the Subutex is around $400.00 a month but its cheaper than my old habit and all the ass kissing & running around I had to do to get what I needed.I know how hard this is ,My heart goes out to you but the reality is the doctors are only trading out one drug for another ,The only difference is Subutex is legal and very addictive. The doctors know it they just don't care,It's just a legal form of drug dealing in my opinion ,God help us all who suffer with addiction ,It has made my life a living hell ,I DON'T KNOW IF i WILL EVER BE MYSELF AGAIN??
To ANYONE who is trying to withdraw off bupe: DON'T LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE TELLING YOU THERE IS A "MINIMUM" DOSAGE. Go as low as you possibly can before completely coming off! I came off subs after almost 3 years of taking 24mg/day with NO withdrawals by doing the following:
#1. Buy yourself a cheap milligram scale (make sure it can measure as low as .001g) ~$20
#2. Buy yourself a cheap pill crusher ~$10
#3. Buy yourself a bag of empty gelatin capsules ~$5
#3. Crush your entire supply into powder (easier to weigh and dissolve under your tongue)
#4. Write out a plan of how you want to reduce and come off subs
#5. Weigh out all your doses each week and put them in gel capsules for each day of the week
I started by dropping to 4mg/day, then reducing my intake by .010 grams per day. I ended up reducing by only .002g/day (I am a complete p***y when it comes to wds). I am on my last few days. I'm currently taking so little, .006g, that I can't even taste it in my mouth anymore. The "withdrawals" I feel are next to nothing. Granted, it has been almost 2 months since I started weening myself off. And I tried quitting subs cold turkey from 24mg/day - ending up screaming and crying back to my doctor after the first 3 days.. wasn't quite on par with wds from a gram of heroin per day, but it was horrible in its own right.
IMPORTANT!!: My 8mg tabs weighed around .400g (don't ask me why this is). This means that for every .100g of powder, I was taking 2mg of sub. When I was taking 4mg of sub per day, I would weigh out .200g of powder. Weigh 1 whole tab (whether you take 8mg or 2mg) and find out how much yours weighs make sure you know the correct ratios.
Thank you so much for you post.
From A mother who needed to understand
the poster who talked about the weight taper has the right idea. the liquid taper is easier to measure though...THIS IS ONLY FOR LONG TERM BUPE USERS
first, slowly taper down to 1mg a day - this will be easy. then get a dropper bottle, crush a pill up, put it in, and fill with water, as bupe is VERY soluble in water.
the bottle will be 100 mll's, the dropper will hold 10 mll's, marked out in 1 mll marks on the side. one bottle will hold 10 doses, so use one dropper full a day.
cut down by one mll (one mark on the side of the dropper) per week. after 23 weeks, you will be down to 1 mll a day of liquid solution.
at this point you will be able to quit with no wd.
yes, it's a long process, but it's easy to do, easy to measure, and you will have NO wd's.
OR
use sub for a very short taper - one 8mg tab for 3 days, 4mg(half a tab) for three days, a quarter tab for three days, skip a day, do an eigth of a tab, skip a day, do your last eigth.
this method will involve a little discomfort (chills, sneezing, etc) and some lost sleep along with feeling like you have the flu, but you won't have full blown wd's.
after you stop, you will have a week of feeling beat down, then you're golden......as long as you stay clean :/