Quitting and Suboxone

[InNeed0924]

Hey all.  It's been a while since I've been on here.  I only was active for 4-5 days, but in that time I met some great people who are really supportive of other's decisions.  I just wanted to say that now I am on day 14 off of prescription medication (Mainly oxycontin, also Lortab and any other opiate).  I feel so rejuvenated.  I feel like i FINALLY have my life back.  God has been such an inspiration to me (Thanks Bold!!!).  Two years of addiction, being broke, misery, losing friends and family....OVER!  I did have to go to a doctor and get a prescription for Suboxone.  Maybe it's just me, but I almost feel like I'm switching from one addiction to another.  Although I'm not constantly counting pills and dollars, I'm still taking a pill daily.  I have already tapered myself from 2/day to 1.5/day and felt no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever.  I've heard the withdrawal from Suboxone can be terrible... Is this true.  As in, terrible enough to make you relapse?  The last thing I want to do now is go back to my old self.  I am scared to death that when I finally get down to zero then that familiar withdrawal feeling will hit and I'll be in that same situation.  Can somebody with similar experience please share some knowledge with me?  

Thanks guys.  You all are amazing!

[iamdone]

follow you dr. advise ( if knows what he doing ). Cont. to taper as needed until you get to 2mg a day then you have tp prepare for the stoppage. make sure you have someone who cares there with you and hang on for 4 days maybe 5, after that it should be downhill or up according how you look at it. after two weeks you will look back and say Thank God for the way out. Please stay in touch with someone and get the bendryl, ibuprofen, heating pad, and amodium ready. Good Luck and God Bless

[mchiurazzi]

ok this i sa lil long but ive now been off my suboxone for 10 days and feel pretty much great already, i tried to get off of it once before and did indeed end up relapsing it was simply because i didnt taper enough i jumped at 2mg a day and my withdrawls were still as bad on the 14th day as the 4th day! this time however i took my time taper slowly take you time when you get down to small doses , its very important to be patient and you have to really want to quit and be mentally prepared for it, first i got down to a quarter a pill aday(1/4) for a week or so, then cut that in half(1/8) a day, for another week or so as long as you need, then i cut that in half (1/16th of an 8mg pill) i took that once a day for about a week, then since suboxone has such a long halflife of 37.5hrs i started skippin days did that a few times then i even went as far as to take the 1/16th every three days twice or so so i had as little suboxone in my system as possible. then i stoped the worst of my withdrawls were over in 4-5 days now im on day 10 and i feel like a new person, like i finally have my life back! keep in mind this is just how it worked for me, and everyones differnt, also you can take longer on anyone of the stepsdown in doseage till your comfortable to lower it again. hope this helps if you have any additional questions feel free to ask.

[imsoblonde]

yes there is a wd from suboxone. i was on 12 mg and got tapered down 2 mg a week untill i was at 2 mg. i was stuck at 2 for months because if i didnt take it i would feel achy. i hav gone thru the sub wd a couple of times now. from my experience it lasts for about 7 days..i had insomnia, achy, sweats, and absolutly no energy. the good part is when its over its over and u never hav to go thru it again. and again from my experience the wd did not make me want to use again cuz i figured if i hav gone this far i mite as well finish and b off it completly.

[TysonRed]

One key thing I believe is before you quit you should be tapered down to less than 1mg, preferrably less than .5mgs. I was on sub for 5months, I became just as addicted to it as any other opiate. When I quit I was taking about .25mgs which is just a tiny little piece off of a 2mg tab. I can tell you that in the first month or so you can really taper down easier than if you wait a couple of months and then try and taper, it becomes harder in the end. I was methadone before suboxone and I started at 8mgs of sub daily and it was plenty to keep me from w/d. The one odd thing I found with sub was that I actually felt better when I got down to about 2mgs/daily, it really gave me a boost of energy. In my opinion I would do as much tapering in the beginning as possible, find that lowest effective dose, I see and hear of way too many people being started on higher doses than need be. If you have any questions about suboxone feel free to hit me up, Id be glad to try and help any way I can. Theres quite a few of us ex-suboxone ppl along with a bunch of ppl currently on sub wondering all the same things you are. So just know that there are always people here than you can come to about your questions and concerns that have been in your shoes and will tell you the truth. I personally had a fairly positive experience, somewhat moderate w/d's, not easy at all but not as bad as I was expecting either. So stick around and do your research and talk with others and listen to all the varying opinions about the topic. Take Care.