I need advice on how to get off suboxone

[trying2cope]

I am a 40 year old woman who has spent my entire life seeing dr.s and being prescribed medicine to "make me better". I have been in treatment for pill addiction (opiates & benzos) and then started drinking because I thought I "wasn't an alcoholic", in treatment for alcohol after a DUI and ended up on pain pills again after breaking a bone and not telling the doctor my story. I dont drink any more and started taking subozone (8mg 3X day) in March. I want off. I'm no loger "chasing" drugs, now I just go to my monthly appointment. This is no different than active addiction, just no good feeling. I weigh less than 100lbs and cant put on weight & am stressed out and unhealty mentally & physically. I searced the internet to see if I could find others' stories of suboxone & realized very quickly the sooner I get off the easier it will be. I don't know if I should discuss with my doctor or do this on my own. I recently just started asking him when I could get off and he told me not to even think about it because of my relapse history. Input from others would be greatly appreciated!

[GoingToMakeIt]

I would first see if the Dr would help you taper.
Have you looked at suboxone.com? or http://naatb.org?

[cattalina]

If you have a long relapse history, you may want to talk to an addiction counselor about coming off the suboxone.  I am on it as well, after being incapable of getting clean on my own for years, and have been clean now for over a year.  One of the purposes of suboxone is to help give people like us the time to mend emotional issues and change lifestyles so that we can maintain recovery on our own.  If you have been involved with aftercare (counseling, meetings, support network) and feel that you can handle what comes with 4 months off of drugs... then maybe you should come off of sub.  But as you already know, what you're going through right now has likely more to do with early recovery than the sub itself.  You will find many different opinions of suboxone and it's aspects, but this decision needs to be made by you and you alone regardless of other people's experiences.  Unfortunately, many doctors prescribing sub to people are not fully educated on the med itself and addiction, so you may be better off finding a counselor/doctor that specializes in addiction to join you and your sub doctor in making an educated decision about when to come off of it.  For me my body has more or less told me when I needed to taper and it's worked well for me, but everyone is different.  Weigh your risks and rewards with a counselor and your loved ones, and make a decision based on what is best for you in the long run.  Remember that everyone reacts differently to suboxone treatment and tapering, so your experience may not mirror someone else's.  You have to truly want to be clean to stay clean, there is no pill that will "make you better".  Some meds may help the process, but ultimately you have to make yourself better.  Good luck to you - keep posting!