Jay~~ Oh dear...Sorry about this! The clonidine will get you sleepy,as you know,and he can really hurt himself taking too much. When he bottoms out his B/P he puts stress on his heart.
He's still drinking a lot of beer,as well? Is he involved with a therapist or any recovery care? AA?
Stay strong,okay? If you lose your mind,he's screwed!
V.
He's been up and down all night Sara. Around 4:00 pm, I saw he completely passed out on the couch - nearly in the middle of a sentence. OK, this isn't just beer, so WTH? He's been abusing the clonidine. Taking 4 or 6 a day instead of the prescribed TWO a day. And yes, his blood pressure has been in the tank - low 90's over low 50's. He gave me the bottle and he doesn't get any more clonidine until the bp is at least approaching normal.
Is this not how the trouble began? Self-medicating? Taking more than prescribed? I know better than the doctor? JESUS I'm losing my mind!
How is tonight going Wolf?
Where posted? Sorry, still beer, Gatorade, Tea and water. This will too change. Texas Two Step......one foot, two foot. Hugz.
He put up a post last night. Talk to him as he is struggling and refilled his script.
Who cares what the neighbors see!! They can always close the curtains!!
Keep drinking gatorade or water ONLY. Those are the rules.........sara
My apologies in the response delay, regrettably I havent been able to hang around here as often as I would like or should have, but I received Vicki's message. (Thanks as always Vicki!)
Im in Kuwait right now, on my way out the door to the airport to head back to the US tonight, so Ive got to try and make this short... But I will be sure to check in and post back when I get back home tomorrow.
Sub is a real bear to kick, and unfortunately you are finding out right now just how much this is to be true. The tricky thing about it, which is most often misunderstood is that the degree of withdrawals experience is directly correlated to the severity of your previous active addiction (DOC, Frequency of use, and number of previous attempts to quit)
When we begin sub treatment it pretty much stops withdrawals in their tracks, and while it is true that it has its own set of withdrawals, there are studies in the works to show that the vast majority of what you are feeling now is a rebound withdrawal.
Theres some bad news and some good news here.
The bad news is... you may be in for a few more rough weeks. This is such a personal and individual experience that its hard to guage exactly how long.
I was on sub for 2.5 years at 16mgs. When I jumped off, my final dose was 3mgs, and my withdrawal process peaked at 10 days, layed steady for another week, and then VERY slowly got easier over the course of another 2 weeks. By the 4 week period I was able to sleep in 5-6 hour increments uninterrupted, and only had short bouts of that "Ants under the skin feeling"
About 1.5 months after I was feeling as good as new, so the good news is, it shouldnt get any worse, and most certainly will get better!!! Today I have been off Suboxone for 163 days, and I am loving every minute of it!
The meds that your new doc prescribed will help quite a bit, just be sure to take them as directed.
As far as the alcohol.... indeed it is a bad idea. Your brain is a storm of neuro chemicals all trying to balance themselves out, and adding a Central nervous system depressant into the mix certainly wont make things easier in the long run.
I've gotta jet (Literally) You are doing amazingly well! Hang in there and keep relying on that awesome wife you have there for support. Shes your strongest weapon combined with yourself in your recovery arsenal!!!
I'll be back here later on!
HenryS