How long for suboxone taper??

[bolpak]

Has anybody EVER come off suboxone after being a long term addict?? I was on pills for 12 yrs and suboxone for 5.  Now I would love to be free but every time I try,  the withdraw is too much to handle.  Thanks Bolpak

[danners]

WOW! I have never heard of anyone being on Suboxone for more than a couple months....It is not meant for long term use at all because of how hard it would be to come off of. Buprinorphine (one of the drugs in Suboxone) is very Physically addicting....Gosh I'm in shock for how long you have been on it...there might be a lawsuit worth looking into...I don't know how close you are with your Doc...but you should have never been put on it for that long. I fear you may just have to go through with withdrawals no matter what if you want to get off of Suboxone....no matter what there will be withdrawals. You might even look into rapid detox. That is when you are put to sleep through the worst of the withdrawals. While you are asleep they will pump you full of Narcan which is a drug that totally relieves your body of any Opiates....this makes you very sick but you will be asleep and not even notice it.Rapid detox is something they are doing more and more because of how well it works. i would definitely mention it to your doctor....if he won't allow it...mention the lawsuit and I guarantee he'll do anything you want. That is rediculous. I have been involved in these type of forums for a long time and I'm a med student, and I have never heard of anyone being on Suboxone for as long as you have been on it....I wish you the best...Good luck, peace and love!
                                     -Danners

[SunnyOne802]

You must have been one of the first people to go Suboxone in this country?

The only way to come off it now is a very slow taper. GL.

[marcatj]

yes.  people HAVE been on it for long-term maintenance and if tapered correctly (slowly) you can come off of it with very minimal withdrawals.

talk to your doc about it.  if you don't feel like what he/she is saying is "right," try another doctor.

you definitely can slowly taper and come off, and be ok.

don't be discouraged!!!  you absolutely can do this.  and consider some counceling or meetings too, so you can STAY off everything.

Sub has helped alot of people.  sounds like it's helped you too.  start a taper plan and you will make it...

good luck to you.  you will be fine... :-)

[worried878]

I have not taken it but do know I have read several posts about people who have stayed on it for a long term due to relapsing and such....slow taper is how I have seen people quit on here....if u want to get off of it you can...your doctor can help you...stay positive and keep posting

[fishmeal]

Going from say, 24mgs to 12 is much easier than going from 8 to 4 and so on.  The hardest jump for most is from 2 to 0.  People will get all the way down to 1mg every other day and still have trouble with the last little jump to off.  Since you've been on for so long, plan and stick to a 1 year taper, with the lower doses lasting longer exponentially, (like say 2mgs for a month than 1mg for two months).  It's hard but can be done.  

Also, many people coming off suboxone have had success with LDN, (low dose naltrexone), at night before bedtime.  It is supposed to help with sleep created endorphines, supposedly up to 300 percent more.  Doses are aroung 3 to 5mgs a night.  My wife was taking it for fibromyalgia and had success.  She is out of it and complaining of increased pain.  Many doctors are unaware of this new dose.  You can Goggle it.

[ILoveLukey]

I have done much reading and research on people on Sub...as I am myself. Just so happens that I am NOT a med student, but have intervened with many people who were on Sub  and have  heard many experiences from people on it. It sure does get a bad rap from some. But I also have read many success stories. Seems that the key is to do a very very slow taper. Which I  myself plan to do. I plan on getting to the point where I cut slivers off with a razor blade. Many sucess stories of people that have done this and were totally successful. Alot of people were trying to jump of at 2 mg.....that doesn't work. Too much of a jump.  So anyway, I don't know if any of this info will help you because as I said,I AM NOT A MED STUDENT but just wanted to make you aware that it is possible if done this way.

[ILoveLukey]

Thanks for the encouragement to all of us who are trying to turn our lives around.  Unfortunately for me I am not a med student... which apparently qualifies one to divvy out info about Suboxone with no actual experience. I see you are encouraging people that have had a bad experience with Subs to sue their doctors.  Have you ever thought of just trying to help them by encouraging them to adjust there doses to where they are comfortable and get counseling as opposed to encouraging them to sue their doctors?  It is apparent that alot of doctors that have gotten the license to prescribe Subs do not really know what they are doing. They only have to take an 8 hour class to become certified.I realize that you have been thru alot but just because your are pre-med does not make you an expert on addiction. Especially when you tell people that they do not belong here because they are not in the recovery stage and now telling people to sue....what is your reason for being here and more importantly your plan to help people on this forum?

[wait2long]

i would like to know, see, or read where it states suboxone is for short term use only...?
suboxone can be used for what the individuals needs are..nowhere have i read short term only...never.  just curious....

[ILoveLukey]

Ditto

[tamtam326]

Rapid detox is a good idea.....if u can afford it. It is so expensive and they make it so hard for people who dont have insurance to get it done but yet they dog addicts. the drugs are easier to get than the help, trust me i know. I go an hr away everyday to my clinic and pay 91 buks aweek to stay clean wen i can go 2 miles and get oxy, which is easier??? it took me 2 months on the waiting list to get on the methadone and that was hard. Why is it so hard  and expensive to get help and soooo easy to get the dope? Rapid detox is a great idea for bolpak but can ya afford it? i think my friends went through it and it was like 500 to 700 apiece and hrs away.

[catchiec]

havn't heard back from you yet?

[louise65]

hi iwas on long term suboxone and then switched to subutex cause it comes in very low doses and allows you to wean off more gently. big, however the withdrawals did seem never ending and were hard to cope with but valium and clonidine helped. i would make sure you are in a very good spot mentally and physically. i did it at what was not a good time for me and unfortunatly i couldnt cope and have relapsed but having said that you can do it just take your time and get lots of support in place. wish you luck let me know how you go, louise

[bolpak]

I really think one of the big things 2nd. only to the withdraws is the fact that suboxone makes you feel as if you never taken opiates,  Normal again.  Thats another big factor,  Will I feel this normal when I finally come off sub?  I just dont know..  The fact i;ve been on it for 5yrs,  I dont want to feel      you know     not normal.. And the sub. really takes care of that..  Some website forums ive read says the success rate  of coming off may be as low as 20%!!! For people that have been on it for more than a year..  All the people i've gotten into my program have failed and some people I knew at the program have all relapsed.. Whats an addict to do???????
                                            bolpak

[louise65]

i know what you mean,but i do think you can get back to feeling normal and well again, my docs said residual low level withdrawals can last around 6 weeks but not full on for that long.its a pretty scarey prospect when youve been on it that long so my main advice would be take it slow. i coped really well initially coming from 24mgs down to 12 in a matter of weeks but found it got much tougher when down to a small dose def need to take the last bit slow. youve been on it for years so dont try and get off too quick i reckon. good luck its do able, unfortunatly i didnt make it either but will try again when my circumstances are better,take care louise

[Needhelp236]

I will not go into details because I have trust issues and I don't know anyone here. (I would like to), but I don't.  I just came on this website from google and don't know anyone.

Back in Oct. 2004, I was put on this med.(Suboxone) because I had my neck fractured back in 2003, still have bulged discs and was kept on pain mang. for way too long.  When they realized, that my injuries were not going to be fixed by surgery because damage to the bone structure, they ruled me at maximum medical improvement and said I was totally disabled and dismissed me as a patient. The problem was, after all the pain mang. Injections, medication for over a year and a half, they said there was nothing more they could do for me.  But during that time, they had me on Duragesic patches, 4 10mg Percs a day and 3 somas a day.  Then all of a sudden, they said sorry, we can't help you anymore and said your at maximum medical improvement, and said goodbye.  The only problem, like many people, I never was on all this ****, never took more than prescribed, but they got me dependent on meds.  I was never an addict(even though now I know what people who abuse these medicines go through and empathize with them). That was never my history. I was a victim of the doctors treating me. They had me on all this stuff, but never thought about weaning me off.  So, I went to another doctor who put me on suboxone.  That was almost 5 years ago.  I without the help of any of any doctors, have weaned myself off of the suboxone over all this time from starting at 20mg down to now 1mg.

It has been a very rough road and not only have I suffered through it, so has all my family, because I never took any medicine like this all my life.
I am now at 1mg, and I am scared to death on how I am going to get off this **** after all these years.  Any advice that anyone can give me on how to get off these last 1mg, I would be very gratefull for.

From scared to death...

[louise65]

i changed to subutex for the last bit, it comes in 0.4mg tabs so its not such a jump, it worked well. good luck

[Needhelp236]

I moved 1000 miles away from the doctor who perscribed this medication.  I was being treated as a pain