I need to get off Suboxone

My name is Melissa and I'm 24 years old, with an incurable back problem. About 5 years ago, my former doctor prescribed me norcos to handle the pain. Well, of course I became addicted and even abused them, so I needed to get off of them quick without having withdrawl (withdrawal) symptoms because of my intense work schedule.

Well it seems that I was in a habit of picking stupid doctors, because my most recent one suggested suboxone. He said it was a miracle drug that wouldn't limit me to a rehab/detox clinic. Well it seems this doctor likes to get paid, because he says he wants me on it for life. I WANT TO GET OFF. I hate the fact that I have substitued one addiction with another.

My question is this ; can anyone help me with a plan to taper myself off of these things? I have gone from 24 mg  a day, to 8 mg a day, and I am comfortable with this, but I want off. I have been on them for about a year and a half. Can anyone help me please?

[gnarly_1]

hi Melissa welcome to the forum....your story is not uncommon CUDOS for getting down to 8mg on your own....we have several members here that have successfully gotten off of sub
im going to send one who did it recently a message to get a hold of you she is a personal friend of mine and has a positive sub experience to share it late she wont be on till tomorrow but check back I will give here you post her nic is ang_811...we have others alsobut im sure she will give you piece of mind....we no longer post tapers in the open forum due to the high number of inexperienced people trying to help out but Angie will send you one threw the messenger and you will get it in your e/mail....hang in there help is on the way we will support you and guide you threw this read some of the post and keep posting for support
good luck and God bless.....Gnarly    

[Melissa2286]

Thank you Gnarly, I will be looking forward to it.

[el_em_en_oh]

The doctor that put you on Subs was definitely ill informed regarding the addictive tendencies of Suboxone.

I applaud your willingness to get clean and rid yourself of suboxone. You hit the nail on the head Melissa... trading one addiction for another is never a good thing.

Congratulations for getting from 24mg down to 8mg. I'm not going to lie and tell you that this is going to be easy, even with a slow taper, but I promise you, you're going to come out the back side of this on top of the world and loving life.

PLEASE keep posting back and let s know how your taper goes. Hopefully Angie will see this. She's got experience in the Sub-Taper dept. as Gnarly said.

LMNO

[ang_811]

i sent u a message. im already proud of u. u already know what u want and how to get it. ur a fighter and thats what it is gonna take to get ur life back. ur already moving n the right direction....congrats to u on going from 24 mgs down to 8mgs. thats great and u did that on ur own.. good luck to ya....<3 angie

[HenryS354]

Hey Melissa,

Im sorry to hear of your situation...  Just another example of misinformed docs out there.

Coming off suboxone is not an easy task, but then again... nothing good comes easy.

While I cant post a taper schedule here in the forum, most find that the lower the dose that you come off of, the easier the detox process is.  

For me personally, I found that going through the minor wd's each time I decreased my dose just wasnt working out.  I made it down to .25mgs and was in wd every day.  I went back up increased my dose to 3mgs, stabled out, and jumped from there.

While it wasnt the most comfortable thing, it was nothing like detoxing off of full opiate agonists.  The process is long, and it took me about a month to feel like my old self, but within the first 10 days I was able to go back to work and catch a long haul flight to the middle east with no problems.  

Stay hydrated, eat healthy, stay active, and dont overthink the process... you will do just fine.

Keep us posted with your progress...

Henry

[Zulli]

Here is a link to an old post about a successful Suboxone taper: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Addiction-Substance-Abuse/Suboxone-WDs-are-GONE/show/1362318

[salsinator]

Hi Melissa,

Congrats on your desire to get off the suboxone.  Henry has a ton of experience with suboxone and is one of the sucess stories, so listen to his advice.

I took suboxone for 4 years and kicked in a little over a year ago.  The secret is getting down to the lowest dose possible before stopping.  I quit one time - or ran out on vacation - at 2 mg and the withdrawal was horrible.  Taper down to as low as possible, like 0.25 to 0.5mg before you stop.  We are not able to give exact taper advice on here, but go slow.  Reduce your dose weekly in small amounts and try skipping a day between doses -that will help alot.  Notice that Henry said he was in w/d every day.  In the end, once you get to a minute dose, the withdrawal will be much easier.  Keep in mind that suboxone stays in your system for quite a long time, so the withdrawal will last longer, but at the lower dose, it will be easier.  Have a good aftercare plan in place as you drop your dose so you are not tempted to head back to the pills.  Keep posting and best of luck to you.

[Melissa2286]

Thank you everyone for your support. I appreciate the willingness to help and for all your support. I am starting the process slowly and if anyone would like to discuss anything you can message me anytime. Im always looking for more support, especially from people who are going through what I am. Thank you again everyone, this means alot to me and I truly appreciate it!

[FassFeat]

You have gotten alot of good answers and support already, I just wanted to congratulate you on making the decision to quit. It is worth it and it sounds like you will do it. Stay with it. God Bless