Suboxone Detox: Cold Turkey. Getting over Restless Body at Night

Ok, to start of, here's my history:
Was hooked on Vicodin, elevated myself to Methadone (not prescribed), and after 6 years, decided to admit myself into an outpatient Suboxone program, attending group meetings 4 days a week, under 24mg of SubX per day.
After 2yrs, I stopped going to the program, stopped Suboxone and Valium, cold turkey, went through the excruciating withdrawl (withdrawal) symptoms, and was clean for 2yrs.
2 Winters ago, I was re-introduced to Suboxone through a friend, who had a 2mg pill, and shared it with me. Since then, I had access to buying it off the street.

I recently met the girl of my dreams, who has a 6 month old child. I decided I was going to quit Suboxone, for her and the baby. So, as of 5 days ago, I stopped taking my usual 2mg per day, and dropped down to 1mg, and in the last 2 days, I haven't take any. I started feeling the withdrawal symptoms yesterday, right away. It wasn't so bad during the day, except for the fact that I was lazy when it came to daily activities, such as cleaning my room, and getting things done. But, last night, when I was restless and couldn't sit still, I was able to have the energy to go skateboarding at the local skatepark, hoping to help the RLS. Obviously, it didn't help at all.
The part of this detox that I can NOT HANDLE, is the restless, and ESPECIALLY the night-time restlessness. It isn't just Restless Leg Syndrome... It's Restless BODY Syndrome. I followed SOME of the instructions of the Thomas Recipe, buying Immodium (Loperamide tabs, 2mg), Potassium (99mg, 3%DV), and having access to Valium (Diazepam, 5mg). I took about 3 Loperamide tabs, 3 Potassium pills, and 1 Diazepam pill before bed (Drinking a glass of grapefruit juice after). Despite the meds, I could not get to sleep due to RLS, until my girlfriend started massaging my calves, and I fell asleep right away. I woke up about an hour later, and could not get back to sleep. I was almost in tears. I gave-in and took a 1/2mg of suboxone. I took a hot bath, where I remained restless, and lied back down. About an hour and 15 minutes after lying back down, I FINALLY got to sleep. The affective aspects of the Thomas recipe did not work for me, and I CAN NOT handle this restlessness. It has been the reason I have been staying on the Suboxone in the first place. All I want to do is QUIT taking it, but I CAN NOT handle the Withdrawal symptoms. I know about the Thomas recipe, and I know about the 3 day half-life... I know just about everything when it comes to this, but I just CAN NOT quit.

The funny thing is, I love the feeling of being sober, and I love the way my brain is kicking back into gear. Songs have more meaning, I have more inspiration, and everything just means more to me.
I just want to live a normal life again, and if I didn't have the restless body, I would be back to a sober life, no problem. I WANT to quit, SO badly.

What do you think??

[sandstone27]

Hi!  I read through your post and the one thing I wanted to comment on is to avoid the grapefruit juice!  It interacts with a whole host of different medications.  It affects the way your body metabolizes medication and it keeps it in your system longer.  If you google "medication and grapefruit juice interactions", you can get a more in depth picture about which meds are most affected and why it really is something to be careful of.  Best of luck to you!  Sandy

[HenryS354]

Hey bud,

I detoxed off Suboxone 3mg, a year ago... The Restlessness can be killer at times, but no matter how tough we just have to push through it.  Heres some things that helped me...

A good quality CHELATED Magnesium supplement, be sure that the Magnesium is Chelated, as its better absorbed by the body. Your Pharmacist can point you in the right direction here, also taking a calcium supplement in addition will help a little bit with the leg issues, and also work as a synergistic with the magnesium.

Homeopathic "Hylands Restful Legs" can be found in the vitamin aisle of your drug store. Its all natural, and is a sublingual tablet like your sub... This is specifically designed for RLS, and also has a psychologic effect as its taken just like your suboxone.  This stuff did wonders for me!

At night time, soak in a HOT bath, as hot as you can comfortably handle with some epsome salts.  The epsome salts will sooth the muscles, have a calming effect, and yield an extra source of additional magnesium through skin absorbtion.  Take a melatonin supplement to promote sleep, right before this bath, and take the bath in the dark...  The dark room is essential, as our brains produce and process melatonin in dark environments.

A valerian supplement will also help to sooth the nerves.

Last thing, wrapping your legs tightly with ace bandages before bed provides slight compression which mimicks the massage affect.

All these things didnt take the RLS away, but it did noticeably help and make it bearable.

Hang in there bud, as this was the worst part of WD for me as well, I feel your pain man.

Henry

[BossDJ9202]

Henry~
Thanks a lot. I've gone thru these withdrawals before, and for some reason, it was easier to push thru than it is right now. I think my home environment has something to do with it. I have a room-mate- a friend of my mom's, and she's kind of hard to deal with, and baths before bed are kinda hard for me, since my tub is so small, and I'm afraid to wake my room-mate, who's room is right next to the bathroom. Also, I have my girlfriend staying with me, and it's [mentally] hard to be in bed with her while I'm kicking and moving around. As I stated before, I ended up resorting to taking 1/4mg of the 1/2mg sub I have left, which got me to sleep~ but I know that's just gonna make the process last longer. I'll check into the magnesium, and though I'm not really trustful in homeopathic meds, I'll check into that also. I noticed, before I went to bed, and before I woke up with the "kicks" and "punches", my girlfriend massaged my calves, and I fell asleep without even realizing. It might have something to do with the diazepam I took, but it stopped my restlessness for about an hour, until I woke up. Man, I was almost in tears last night because of it. I just want to quit this, for her, and for myself. I need to find a job, since I quit my job about a week ago, but this problem is steering me away from the job search, because of the fear of working while in WD.

SANDSTONE27~
Thanks. I read in another post that the Grapefruit juice helps the Loperamide pass the blood-brain barrier. Now I don't know what to think- but I will stop the grapefruit juice and try it without tonight. In the "Thomas Recipe", it stated that Potassium helps with the Restlessness, but with all these meds, it really isn't making a difference.

THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU! You are very helpful!

[sandstone27]

Hey, Just a quick note to see if you're getting a break from the restless body issues...I had the same problem when I stopped taking Vicodin - but for me, it was my spine. It felt like a bungee cord and the only way I could get any relief at night was to lie on our bedroom floor and stretch my back out and then do push ups to the point of exhaustion.   It helped some, but the only thing that really made the difference was time...after about 4 or 5 days it was nothing more than twinges.  Also, regarding loperamide, it is my understanding that the molecules don't cross the blood brain barrier, unless you're taking huge amounts, which obviously would not be a good thing :)  Well wishes! Sandy

[BossDJ9202]

No, not much of a break. It was pretty bad last night until I took a HOT shower and went back to bed. Today I'm getting the body aches, and the anxious sweating and yawns. As I type to you, I have to sway my legs back and forth. Anyway, The loperamide is helping with most of the stomache issues. Right now, the biggest issues are the restlessness, body pains, and anxiety. Thanks! :)

[BossDJ9202]

5 days now, no SubX... It was hell at first, but I think I'm over that hump. Slept good last night after a hot shower. No RLS... No restlessness... No waking up in the middle of the night... Good mood this morning... Wow, I can't stress enough, how much beauty I'm finding in everything lately. Songs... Real-life scenes... And I still have a half of a 2mg sitting in my bedroom here. I did it. I beat it...
:) x 1,000,000

[BossDJ9202]

I just flushed that last 1mg worth of Suboxone...

:)

[Luckytwice]

Glad to see you are over the hump, I was going to say you just have to find the inner strength to push through, but it seems you have, Congrats! Now you just have to concentrate on getting your endorphins levels back to normal, which is a long slow process. This is where diet helps. Generally, they are at 25^ of normal in about 20 days, and reach near 95-100% of normal in 9 months to a year. So if you feel better now, just think of how much better you are going to feel! You'll feel high on life for a change! people might think you are on something, LoL!

Oh and another thing, be careful with potassium pills, too much potassium isn't a good thing either. It's best to get it from food sources.

The only time my doc puts me on potassium pills is when I'm on a diuretic (water pills), they deplete your potassium.

[sandstone27]

SO GLAD to hear you doing well!   As I said before, I don't know much about suboxone, other than you were on a low dose which probably helped you get through the withdrawals pretty quick, although I'll bet they weren't easy.  If you read some of the threads here, you'll find people who have been on it for months, sometimes years...so EXCELLENT JOB and I'll bet it was hard to flush that last bit of Suboxone, but you did it!!!  CONGRATS on the big DAY 5.. You have alot to be proud of....Well wishes to you!!
Sandy