Withdrawaling from Suboxone

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

I have been taking Suboxone for a year or two, not sure, and got myself to taking around 2 or 3 mg every 3 days (going 2 days with taking nothing, then taking 2 or 3 mg on the 3rd day).  I have been doing that for a couple of months.  I have withdrawn from Suboxone a couple of times, only to go back to it because my withdrawals were just so bad - leg and arm cramps and restlessness to the point of not sleeping for days and days at a time, weakness, nausea, etc..  I tried for 3 or 4 weeks to not go back, but the withdrawals never eased up.  So now, I have no choice but to stop because I lost my connect and cannot afford a suboxone doctor.  

If anyone has any suggestions on how to help at least the leg and arm cramping and restlessness, I would GREATLY appreciate it...  I already take Paxil, so I don't know what to do about the overwhelming depression and lack of desire to do ANYTHING.  I'm completely unsocial, don't want to talk to anyone and don't want to do anything.  I homeschool my daughter, and can NOT feel like this - I will fail her...  

I don't know what to do.  I am on day 3 of not taking any...  Please help me any way you can...  I have no support system, no family, and live in a new area, so no "real" friends...  Just my daughter and I don't want to fail her...

[JVegas50]

I think you are doing pretty well,  If you are able to take 1mg every 3rd day, that is good. You are almost there.  I feel you, I made it to day 4 last week and I wish I just toughed it out. I cant take off of work, so I know what its like to withdraw while u have stuff to do.  As for the Bud, I think that is totally fine.  Some people may feel different, but I had some on day 3 and it made me feel way better. The anxiety subsided and it helped my stomach as well.   Like I said,  if you can break up 1 strip and go 3 days, you are almost there.... be proud of that alone.  You are almost done!! :)

[digger1976]

I sorry you found it so rough again, I do understand how bad it feels. I truly hope your new taper plan works out for you. It might you never know right! Do you plan on getting more through the post or is this it. I hope you can find your route out and be free from this nasty little drug. I wish you all the luck in the world my friend. Never give up trying, your worth the effort, ;)

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

Update:  Last Saturday (week ago), I took about 1mg and felt better.  I had someone from up north send me a strip in the mail that I got on tuesday of last week.  I split that into 4s.  I have taken 2 of the 4 pieces so far.  (one every 3rd day).  I'm due (on the schedule I have given myself) for another piece today, but am trying to wait to take it.  Dunno how long I will.  Don't feel all that bad except for my upset stomach and weird almost out-of-body feeling...  I'm kinda pissed that I didn't just go thru it, since I was already a week in - but, i just couldn't handle schooling, my home life, and the depression about my life...  Grrrr.  

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

Mannn...  I don't know...  I've went 2 weeks with like no hours sleep before, and it never eased up...  I'm so afraid its going to get into that phase of it and I'm not gonna be able to do that for that long and still teach for 6 hours a day...  I dunno how I'ma do it tomorrow.  This is gonna be one of those cases where if I can find ANYONE in the area that has any for sale, I'm buying it and gonna try to ween a lil better - or I'ma hafta just suck it up and do my best and hope I don't go crazy-lady style.  I have a feeling I'ma be relentlessly searching.  Hard to admit, but I have to.

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

Yea, I pretty much went from pills, to heroin, to methadone, to suboxone...  The transition from Methadone to Suboxone was THE worst - mentally; but, the psyical w/ds from the subs r way worse than the mental of methadone - but almost...  I'm having a rough time and don't see me making it that long feeling this bad...  Not with my home life.  Not with my responsibilites of home schooling my kid because I can't send her to the public school here...  Ahhhnnn....  I'ma try tho..   To be honest, I've been taken phentermine in the morning and a half in afternoon sometimes, 5-hours, xans when its bad-bad... Smoking is helping me too...

I never realized that I was gonna go thru all this...  Thought I weened enough.  I am going thru the most desperate feeling right now...  I wish I had someone here.  That I actually trusted.  I hope I make it, but I don't know if I'ma do it.  Cuz everything that is helping a lil right now is gonna run out... and I don't have anyone to lean on...  Just really...  feel so damn desperate.  Just so sad.  I'm so sad.

[digger1976]

I'm sorry to tell you this but if you were taking them for a month or a month and a half straight, then skipping two days, you are probs in for the long haul. You should start to feel better around 2/3 weeks, its hard to guess at it though, everyone is so different when it comes to this drug, i started to feel a little better by 2/3 weeks anyway, the sleep is a big one with this detox, it can take a while to come back, the more you stress about it the worse it gets, you have to just go with it is all. i wish there was a better answer but the truth is there isn't. You could try Clonidine as Justbe1 mentioned I've heard pretty good things about it and it has helped others. RLS, this varies from person to person too, exercise is what got rid off it fast for me, I was never off my exercise bike for the first 2 weeks then it went away. You say you feel worse now than before, you will my friend, my  w/d's didn't kick in fully until the 4th day, then they stayed the same for a week, then its gets a little easier but still not nice for a week or so, then its the waiting game for sleep. I don't want to scare you its just you need to prepare yourself mentally for it, its not nice but does get better, as long as you stay away from pills you will always be getting better, it just takes time. If i were you i would plan on it taking a month and go for it, it will take longer than that granted but once you get through the first month its a whole lot easier, don't throw the towel in after 2 weeks again, its such a waste of time, your so close at that point! Just remember sleep will come when the body needs it and not before, you can do this my friend.

I don't know how the system works over there in regards to recovery/detox centers so i can't help with that. Your situation at home sounds pretty bad, being told your no good all day won't help. can you not sit them down and discuss what it is your going through, i know its hard, but your so worth the effort, please don't give up, everything you mentioned is normal, you just got to keep going is all, wishing the best of everything for you!

[justtbe1]

Hey,  Being as your down in LA I would imagine your an ex-Heroin addict that graduated to Methadone than to subs.  Sounds like me:)  I guess I'm around 48-50 days clean from 120mg a day methadone.  As you know methadone and Subs are probably the strongest, longest acting opiates you can get.  When it takes three days,or six days to start to feel sick you know your in for a long detox.  I just started feeling better a few days ago.  I still get the chills a little and last night I woke up with a wet shirt but I slept from 12-6 which is pretty decent compared to 3 minutes at a time for weeks.  I'm gonna say your looking at a month and a half process.  Your opiate receptors are jacked up.  This time around I went from suboxone back to methadone because with subs I always felt like I was on the verge of going into detox, no matter how high the dose.  When were messing with subs and methadone thats the last stop.  There is no going higher than these two seriously addicting drugs.  So to answer you it's going to be long.  I came of subs in the county jail and I would say I was sick for a good month to 40 days.  I was only taking half a strip a day when that happened.  I must say I didn't think it was as bad as coming off methadone but it was pretty bad.  I lived in the shower and all the guys would get pissed because I steamed up the unit all day.  I probably didn't sleep for three weeks except for a few minutes here and half an hour there but around the 4th week I started to get three hours in and it got better.  Do they have any state treatment centers  you can get in down there?  I'm not sure How LA does treatment but MD can get you into treatment pretty fast.  I'd go to the ER if you can't find someplace to get into just so you can get some clonidine or muscle relaxers because kicking for a month at home,cold turkey, with your kid, and parents telling you your worthless is a depressing situation.  Especially when your probably anything but, your just an opiate addict.  

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

yea, i already did the methadone thing for 2 years, getting off pills and heroin.  It got me off that shiz, but didn't do much for getting my life back together.  Got on suboxone to get off the methadone.  Got the subs thru a doctor and he was able to ween me down to the point that when I jumped off, i had little to no withdrawals.   Was clean then for almost a year before I met someone who dangled pills in my face all the time as a means to have control over me and have me need him.  So...  went full circle...  This time, didn't have the money for a sub doctor, so was buying from same guy that dangled the drugs...  He recently passed away, and now I have no connect - hence, using what I had left to ween as good as I could... and here I am...  Feeling like poop on a stick!

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

I actually got on suboxone after being on methadone for two years - it was an awful transition.  Methadone is good for a lot of people, and really helped me get off the dope, but it made me different, even though I thought I was normal...  People still looked at me like I was effed up all the time - plus I got really FAT when I was on it...  Only ate ice cream and cake and stuff.  

I appreciate ur trying to help though - it means a lot to a lonely, hurting girl.

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

please see my post I just did - it answers ur questions...  I could really use any advise and any knowledge on exactly what u think I might be lookin at length-wise...  I just know in the past, I went almost 2 weeks or so without taking any and the symptoms never got better, it actually felt like they were gettng worse every day because of the lack of sleep probably - they never felt like they were getting better - that experience is what scares me.  After 2 weeks, I finally found some subs and went back to my routine because I couldn't take it.  I was like, crazy.  I can't deal with this for weeks, possibly months, I will seriously wanna shoot myself (figuritively speaking of course).  Ahhhh, someone sell me some!!!!!!!

[SuboxoneWithdrawaling]

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and advise - it all means so much to me, especially since I have zero support.

To answer you digger, I was skipping two days, then taking a third for about a month or maybe a month and a half - sometimes of course, taking a full half, but then still skipping the 2 days...  Last night, I didn't get any sleep at all, 15 mins here and there throughout the night, but probably not more than a couple hours put together.  I am feeling all kinds of emotional and crying alot, which I just do NOT do - ever, usually a soldier...  The sweats and chills have gotten way worse today - my body is covered in goosebumps every second, but i'm sweaty with freezing hands.  I'm nauseous as hell.  wanna smoke cigs, but can't do it - which is prolly good - however, i do want to smoke bud, cuz it makes my belly feel better - but i know that's not good either.  but, i don't care at the moment - stopping smoking weed doesn't hurt and I'm not mentally addicted to it.  I don't just get RLS, it goes into my arms as well - it feels like I just can't stretch my legs enough or my arms.  I want to tie each arm and each leg to a friggin machine and have it pull on them 24-7, so I don't have to keep moving around.  My back is killing me, which hasn't hurt in years.  

I live with my parents who feel it necessary to tell me what a worthless loser I am and how "abnormal" I am and how I'm disgusting, etc. etc. etc.  Never caring if my daughter is in earshot (she is 12 yo by the way)...  We've only been back here for 3 months, since I was laid off...

But I digress, I don't know how to get thru this...  I just feel like I want to find someone in Slidell who has some to sell, and just try to ween better, trying to get down to maybe 1mg or so every couple days...  I would MUCH rather do that then deal with it being this bad...  I had no idea... I soooo thought I weened good enough...

well, that was long...  thanks y'all for being here - cuz I don't have anyone else...  I don't want my daughter to know that her Mom was/is a junkie.

[digger1976]

If you could answer a couple of questions for me, we're you taking them everyday at the end or where you still skipping days?

How are you feeling on day three, are you getting any sleep, how bad are the sweats and how bad is the RLS?

I'm just trying to get a feel for how far in you are, it's just if you were only taking them every three days or so, your w/d process shouldn't last half as long as most people's coming of Subs. I truly hope not anyway!

Well done on breaking free and well done on 3 days, even if its a little forced its still a way out, right! I jumped off Subs at 4mgs and I'm sitting here just short of 4 months clean, so it is possible. What got me through it was exercise, force feeding myself and drinking loads of water. If you can exercise it helps so much with the RLS so please try do as much as possible. Hot baths, music, movies and YouTube help too. There isn't a magic answer for such detoxes, you just have to ride it out, it does and will get better for you, I promise. Ask your daughter to help you for a couple of weeks then you can get right back to the teaching, I'm sure if she is as bright as you she will catch up, ;)

Wish you all the best in everything my friend, keep it up!

[tryingtochange]

I can't say that I would recommend going the methadone route. That is some really bad stuff. I wish I knew what to say, it makes it so much harder having your daughter there and no one to help you out while you go through the withdrawals. I don't know how old your daughter is but if old enough maybe she could help a little while you go through hell for a while. One thing to remember is that the withdrawals are temporary and do go away. Think about how much better it will be for yourself and your daughter once your clean.
P.S. Feel free to go and read all my posts when I went cold turkey. It was bad for a while but as of today I'm three years clean! God luck, keep posting and you and your daughter will be in my prayers :)

[funkystuff]

If I were in your shoes I'd find a methadone clinic, the other post I wrote was for kicking, but after reading your entire post I saw that you're with your daughter and I know I couldn't deal with that situation while withdrawing no matter how much chemical assistance I had on hand.
  Better to get on methadone,which feels great by the way, work with the clinic to tapper your dose down and go from there