The secret to getting off Suboxone is:

TY for the answer. My husband told me his going start sub but after reading all these horror stories abt it I'm scared for him. Figured maybe he be ok if tired this short term method just to ease wds from the opiates b/c he can't go cold turkey & miss work.

Just fold the strips. I fold in half then again, then again till I get 8 .5 mg...then you just tear off the peice you want.go carrying/getting scissors was fuckn annoying

Not sure what dosages the strips come in but it's a little tricky to fold the strip twice. Tough to taper at times

jojo/erin - hey what's happening!!!!! Long time since I have posted. Been doing well and STILL clean! I have had a couple of rough days; craving wise but they passed. I have surgery March 5th to remove my screws and 2 plates from my ankle. I guess we all know what means. It's a out-patient process, so hopefully everything (including meds) will be short supply. I will be on crutches for 3 weeks and then walking cast.

This all came out of the blue Feb 3rd, one of the screws actually popped out my bone, sounds nasty but the pain was intense as hell. Went to the ER, they made an incision and took it out. I kept it too. It required 3 stitches and said Advil will cover any pain issues.

Only issue with the March 5 surgery is the 2 plates, Advil won't cover that since my bone has grown around it. Plus I have to get my ankle scoped for scar tissue. It's going to be a challenge for me mentally and physically. Pain is pain, no question about it. It is what it is I guess. I will deal with it as it comes. What happened to DONE? She gone or done I guess?

 This is for needhelp4hub. I am not going to get all dramatic on you because I dont think that scaring you to death is going to help your situation. I know from experience that reading these posts can do just that. While I think that the majority of posters mean nothing but the best, it can be quite confusing to try and figure out just who to listen to. The best thing that i can say there is to listen to yourself. If you feel like something is wrong then chances are you are correct. Seek the help of knowledgeable heathcare provider and dont let anyone tell you that there is a miracle drug or combination of drugs that will make or keep you free from active addiction. Once someone is clean from all drugs, it is up to their mind,body and soul to keep it that way.

  I was on Methadone for 3 years and have been on Suboxone for the past 2 years, trying to kick an addiction that started with pain killers and moved up to heroin. I went to methadone straight from heroin and from there I switched to Suboxone. I wish that I had known more about the affects of being on Suboxone for long periods of time. Unfortunately for me I am struggling coming off of it. I haven't used any street or prescription drugs for over 5 years now and for that, i will say that Suboxone saved my life. On the other hand, it has litterally turned me into a slave and i am now extremely addicted to it. Most people would say that i have achieved nothing in switching one drug for another, but i would dissagree. I have achieved more in the past five years than in my entire entire 10 years of active addiction. That being said, I am ready to be completely drug free and I have the mindset to do it. i am just really struggling with the withdraw symptoms while tappering off. I wish that i would have done more research into alternative methods of getting clean. My advice to you is just that (do your research). Everyone has a story and everyone has an experience to share. My experience is going to be different from everyone else's and so on and so forth. Suboxone can be a very useful drug but it is no miracle. It is still a high powered drug that can ruin a person if not used correctly. As i have heard throughout years of NA meetings "A drug is a drug is a drug" I cant say what your husband's experience will be, but i can say that i wish that i had gone another route. Depending on what drug your hubby was on, he may be better served to just tough it out and deal with the initial withdraw symptoms, rather than going through possible years of "treatment" just to have to go through even worse symptoms later. I have tappered down slowly and am very close to the finish line, but it hasn't been easy and most definately hasn't been pain free.

 I hope that you find the answers that you are looking for and i wish the best to your husband. Please keep us up to date on how his is doing. Please remember that he is going to be going through what he may consider to be the worst time of his life. he will probably say and do things that he doesnt mean to do. the best thing that you can do is give him your love and support. i dont know where i would be right now had it not been for the love and support of my wife and family. Above all, that is the most important tool in the recovery process.

best wishes! 

Kudos on an excellent, well-worded post.

Thank you for ur response.
I will keep u posted. My hub is currently taking abt 100 mg percocets a day but it culd be more. his suppose to start sub on Tuesday. just gonna try to use to minimize the wds b/c he cant miss work.

What does the imodium help with exactly? TY

I understand. Just please try to remember that as addicts we are naturally drawn to what makes us feel good or better than we think that we are. Our minds tend to make us feel worse than what we truely are. Once those thoughts start to take hold of you, your pain increases ten fold. I know the feeling of being scared of WDS. I am a business professional so I too can't miss work for any extended period of time. Just PLEASE keep in mind that although the subs will help to minimize the WDS, he will then withdraw from the suboxone even if only used for a few days. Believe me, I have tried many things over the years to get clean with as little pain and anguish as possible. The other thing is that you are supposed to wait a certain amount of time between switching from the PERKS over to the Subs.Otherwise, he may be thrown into immediate withdraw. In that time period, he will start to feel like he is going through withdraw (the mind over matter thing). The subs are going to make him feel better and therefore make it incredibly hard to stop taking those as well. This is how our vicious cycle begins. It is going to be extremely hard and take more will power than most of us have to only take the subs for a few days and then just walk away. Again, as i stated in my post yesterday as a guest, there is no miracle cure for addiction. I am not trying to detur you from seeking help. I just dont want you to end up in the same situation that some of my loved ones have been in before. It can be very discouraging to beleive in something and then find out that it wasnt what you thought it was. There are way too many health care "professionals" out there pushing opiate repacement drugs and have no idea what they are getting their patients into. Suboxone can make you or break you. Too many times, it ends up being the latter. I want to see your husband end up on the good side of that. Im sure that we will all send up a prayer or two for the both of you. Take care!

P.S The immodium helps with diarrhea which is one of the clasic symptoms of withdraw.

Imodium helps with more than diarrhea..it is an opiate that doesn't cross the blood brain barrier (won't get you high) from my own experience it stopped 95% of my wds.

WOW!! I had no idea. Thats some great information right there carlosr!! Thank you sooo much! I learn something new every day!!

It is possible to go on a short acting opiate to get off suboxone if you truly want to. When you know your using pills to get off something stronger such as sub the last thing you want is to get re-addicted to pills, so having that in mind and determination makes it possible. Before suboxone people did not know about the suboxone and its long wds, now they do, so in their head its all about getting off suboxone.

Getting addicted again is a choice.

Hi Gibson- I'm sorry to hear about your ankle :(! I'm very happy for you for doing such a get job getting clean! What's up w/keeping the screws Lol ?

 JoJo, I have the 8 mg strips...only other option is cutting em and I think 2 or 8 mg are the same size. I just fold em n press it over & over...it's certainly far from an exact precision for tapering purposes. For me, it works or just ripping off a smaller part. I just Clint cut em ahead or at the time so I started doing that.

Have a good one all! I'll be working 9-8p then making my honey dinner... Later :)

* can't lol...stupid IPad auto-correct

TY for ur honesty & advice. my hub had detoxed 4xs in past 3 years. each time relasping & using stronger & more. He says he scared it will progress to herion. his spending abt $500/week on pills. he says his not emotionally & mentally strong engh to resist cravings. Im scared to death of subs. i knw theres no quick fix to this. im trying to do has much research as possible & honestly it makes me feel hopeless to overcome this. Ty neefhelp4hub Im trying to help him through this but i honestly dont know if i can & shuld i just give up. seems like a never ending cycle of hurt & disapointment