This is one of the best post i've seen on here.  I'm not much one to participate on these things but i've been doing a lot of reading.  Like you, i quit cold turkey and have been doing my best to maintain for about a month.   All the stuff in the middle doesn't matter much once you have a plan and really want your life back.

TY for your contribution

Hello, my name is Adam,I'm 32 and I'm a soon to be professional this may, thank god. However, I am also a pill head. My daily routine consisted of me going to any number of my physicians and getting a refill legitimately for any number of the injuries I suffered from for years.  Everything from a fractured c3 in my neck,compression between L4-L5 which had to be fussed. A shattered humerous that required plates and screws, the  worst ever seen boxers fractures on 3rd 4th and 5th metatarsals.  These are the most recent of injuries.
However, the point I want to make is that we all get started on vic for the same reasons it seems, its just more an issue as to how and why we kept taking them long after the surgeries were over, and why we were'nt informed of the consequences, and why nobody stopped us.

Anyways, to try and part some info on you, 23 days ago I quit cold turkey. For months leading up to d-day I did endless research online, talking to friends, keeping an ear and an eye out anytime the subject of vic addiction came up. After getting a rough idea of what to expect, I decided my recovery would not work unless I took a minimum of two weeks off of work and school. I went to local health food stores and told them what I was about to endure and they graciously did their homework and came back with a battery of products used to aid in opiate withdrawl. Next I had a long sit down talk with my live in girlfriend, talking about everything and comming clean about everything, and was guaranteed her 100% support. I next contacted my dad and had him give about five xanax and 20 ambiens.

And then there was d-day. If I had to describe the process it would be like this. Day one through appox. day five I kept getting sicker and sicker with all the usuall withdrawl symptoms. Around day five I stopped getting worse and started felling better. I continued to improve up to day 12 when I honestly felt like it was over. Granted I still had some minor tremors occasionally and still had a little weakness in the arms and legs like I had just ran a marathon. But for the most part I felt good enough to go back to life which I did after day 14.

Like I said, I quit 23 days ago and feel good. You just have to want to quit and commit to it with knowledge, support and a rock solid and reasonable game plan.

No, never tried sub. I've only abused alcohol and morphine, smoked a lot of pot at one time, and ate acid and mushrooms a handful of times. That's pretty much it.

The only reason I ask about the dose is that SOME people wish now that they had started on much lower doses of suboxone. You might want to check out the forums at naabt.org ... there's a ton of ppl there - some advocate sub and some do not.

I'm not trying to scare you, but sub is a fairly new treatment for opiate addiction and may not be fully understood at this point. Just want you to be informed.

Thanks to all for the support.  I had never heard of suboxone till a couple days ago.  Was not ready to quit, but had to out of necessity.  The sub does make me feel better physically, but the mental stuff and habits are going to be really tough to get through.  Am trying to be/act/feel as "normal" as possible but can't think of anything else except what i am going through now.  Any suggestions on getting your mind off of this???  Do you guys go to support groups, NA or see a therapist?  What do you do to cope?  

i am on 24 mgs/day (8 mg tabs 3x day)

How much sub are you on / day?

Has anyone taken suboxone???  What has been your experiences with it??  I will check out that site - thanks for the info.  I am supposed to taper off the sub and be completely off in 6 weeks.

If you are looking at only 6 wks, then from what I've read it should not be a problem ... 24 mg/d seems an awful lot though based on what I've read.

i am in contact with a nurse who is stabilizing my daily dosage and it will be going down next week and the next and so on till i will be completely off in 6.  thanks again for the advice.  am interested if you tried it?

Yup, you are in the right spot.  I feel like I could have written your words.  I am on my first time around REALLY trying to quit.  I will be here to listen and I am anxious to hear about your (and others recently) experience using SUB to withdraw.  Seems like it is helping so many.  You are fortunate to find this assistance it appears, so GOOD FOR YOU... I wish you good luck.
Peace~

trust me, you are not alone. welcome to the site. almost 80% of the people who come here on a daily basis are trying to recover from some kind of opiate pain medicine. more than half of those people including myself started on that medicine for legitimate pain. its great you are on suboxone its helped many.


stephanie

Almost everyone here is in a similar sort of situation :)


You will find plenty of support here.