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Help with Suboxone Taper
Hello,
I was on Oxycodone for 12 years for legitimate pain that I still have, but I've made the decision that I'm done with them. I'm sick of the pharmacy fights for on-time (not early, never) refills, the government crackdown making it harder and harder for those of us that don't abuse, and so on. I asked my doctor for Suboxone. He didn't like it, but he is able to prescribe it and did. It has prevented any Oxycodone withdrawal. It doesn't do anything for the pain really and I'm just going to find some way to cope with it. I am taking about 6 to 7 mg (I cut strips off the 8mg film) per day. I have been taking this for two weeks now, so I'm not very far in and hope I can taper from this without the physical issues kicking my butt like the other certainly did when trying to stop it. Any help would be appreciated on how to do this right to avoid deblitating withdrawals because I can't do that either - I have to live daily life, pay the bills, etc. Sure would really appreciate some help. Again, only help with tapering and WDs. The pain I will have to find some way to address on my own. I refuse to go back to pills.
I was on Oxycodone for 12 years for legitimate pain that I still have, but I've made the decision that I'm done with them. I'm sick of the pharmacy fights for on-time (not early, never) refills, the government crackdown making it harder and harder for those of us that don't abuse, and so on. I asked my doctor for Suboxone. He didn't like it, but he is able to prescribe it and did. It has prevented any Oxycodone withdrawal. It doesn't do anything for the pain really and I'm just going to find some way to cope with it. I am taking about 6 to 7 mg (I cut strips off the 8mg film) per day. I have been taking this for two weeks now, so I'm not very far in and hope I can taper from this without the physical issues kicking my butt like the other certainly did when trying to stop it. Any help would be appreciated on how to do this right to avoid deblitating withdrawals because I can't do that either - I have to live daily life, pay the bills, etc. Sure would really appreciate some help. Again, only help with tapering and WDs. The pain I will have to find some way to address on my own. I refuse to go back to pills.
I didn't stop to think about the legality of providing answers to that question, but it does make sense. I do apologize for putting anyone on the spot, so I'll withdraw the request for advice for a taper plan and keep it generally focused.
Vicki, the "electrical storm" I refer to is pain. Not excruciating (it can be, but very rare) - just constant and annoying. I was in a bad accident - broke my neck in two places and my back in four, among other things. This resulted some serious nerve damage that causes that. The Suboxone is the only thing that has ever dealt with that.
BanMethadone, you bring up some very interesting points that I've been considering. If you were to ask me any time over the past several years if I were an addict, I would have said no, absolutely not. I did get that "woozy rush" feeling long ago when I first started taking, and the doctor said it would pass, which it did. After that, he would up my dose when the pain would start to get out of hand again. Other than when I first began taking it, I NEVER received another "rush" or other feeling from it, just pain relief. However, I would have to take it regularly even on the days (which were few for a while) that I didn't really need it because I would go into withdrawal if I didn't. I just don't know where I fell on that line between expected physical dependence and addiction. I'm hurting as I type this, and earlier couldn't really do much. I'm trying to find coping mechanisms away from opiate pain medication. I know if I were also dealing with the "zips" and "zaps" below the waist along with this at the moment I would cave - all of it together it just too much. I would stay on the Suboxone to deal with at least that, but these horror stories I've read about getting off of it are truly frightening. But then we all know that those who do just fine with it and don't have a horror story to tell very rarely bother coming online to forums like this to tell people about it. They just move on. So I don't know how accurate or how common it is. It's very confusing. Also confusing is trying to figure out whether I ever became unknowingly addicted. I always followed instructions, never overtook, never "lost" anything. I'm just tired of being a slave to medicine. Friends tell me it's silly because we wouldn't call a diabetic an "insulin addict" - if the medicine is needed, it's needed. I don't know though - there just has to be another way for this. There has to be. That's no life. I don't want to be a slave to Suboxone either, but at least the looks from the pharmacy are different, the doctor doesn't agree with stopping pain meds but admits he prefers this as well if possible. But man, these stories. Maybe I just need to hunker down and get ready for an on-off life - active when able if other methods help and just not active when not able if that's not working. Maybe even that beats being tied to this, ESPECIALLY if it's the monster to stop if you ever get to a point that the pain is not an issue anymore and you don't need it.
Vicki, the "electrical storm" I refer to is pain. Not excruciating (it can be, but very rare) - just constant and annoying. I was in a bad accident - broke my neck in two places and my back in four, among other things. This resulted some serious nerve damage that causes that. The Suboxone is the only thing that has ever dealt with that.
BanMethadone, you bring up some very interesting points that I've been considering. If you were to ask me any time over the past several years if I were an addict, I would have said no, absolutely not. I did get that "woozy rush" feeling long ago when I first started taking, and the doctor said it would pass, which it did. After that, he would up my dose when the pain would start to get out of hand again. Other than when I first began taking it, I NEVER received another "rush" or other feeling from it, just pain relief. However, I would have to take it regularly even on the days (which were few for a while) that I didn't really need it because I would go into withdrawal if I didn't. I just don't know where I fell on that line between expected physical dependence and addiction. I'm hurting as I type this, and earlier couldn't really do much. I'm trying to find coping mechanisms away from opiate pain medication. I know if I were also dealing with the "zips" and "zaps" below the waist along with this at the moment I would cave - all of it together it just too much. I would stay on the Suboxone to deal with at least that, but these horror stories I've read about getting off of it are truly frightening. But then we all know that those who do just fine with it and don't have a horror story to tell very rarely bother coming online to forums like this to tell people about it. They just move on. So I don't know how accurate or how common it is. It's very confusing. Also confusing is trying to figure out whether I ever became unknowingly addicted. I always followed instructions, never overtook, never "lost" anything. I'm just tired of being a slave to medicine. Friends tell me it's silly because we wouldn't call a diabetic an "insulin addict" - if the medicine is needed, it's needed. I don't know though - there just has to be another way for this. There has to be. That's no life. I don't want to be a slave to Suboxone either, but at least the looks from the pharmacy are different, the doctor doesn't agree with stopping pain meds but admits he prefers this as well if possible. But man, these stories. Maybe I just need to hunker down and get ready for an on-off life - active when able if other methods help and just not active when not able if that's not working. Maybe even that beats being tied to this, ESPECIALLY if it's the monster to stop if you ever get to a point that the pain is not an issue anymore and you don't need it.
it's illegal for anyone to give out any sort of inclination as to what you should do when it comes to cutting back on any meds, unfortunately. the best option i would suggest for ya, is to call a pharmacist and/or doctor that is fimiliar with your situation. hope all is well.
Hi Snap:
Welcome, and I am glad you've decided to walk away from the opiates. I'm glad to hear you say you refuse to go back.. that's a start, but by no means the last and final word. Unless ofc, you are one of those rare people who can do it on sheer will power. I haven't met anyone like that yet. For most, it takes much more support and alternative tools to be successful. There are so many more reasons to do it besides the ones you have cited where money and laws are concerned. These drugs are very damaging and should not be used long term, because there are very significant consequences which don't revolve around money or hassles with the pharmacy. It's about the quality of your own life, your own mental, physical, and spiritual well being. You may not see this until you are fully detoxed and through the worst of it, but I hope you do see the value in what you are doing.
I don't know much about suboxone, but I know a lot about having a 12yr (and then some) opiate addiction. I wouldn't know whether or not to recommend subs, but I do know that it's also hard to get off of.
The paradox of pain medicine is that it relieves pain, but it also inhibits your body's own natural systems for doing so, among SO many another incredibly damaging consequences for staying on opiate pain medicines long term. It's like a trick. You are circumventing your body's own natural systems, and eventually the price must be paid. I know you have chronic pain, and unfortunately you've effectively impaired your body's own natural pain killing mechanisms by introducing these opiates into your body long term. In other words, you feel pain and discomfort way more intensely now than you would have if you hadn't entered into long term opiate use. The good news is that you can, in time, recoup your losses. You can use many things like exercise (to the extent you can perform it), proper nutrition, nutritional supplements, and other things like therapy and meditation in order to rebuild your mind and your body's ability to cope with pain. I"m not suggesting anything is going to be like magic, but that it will improve in time.
Two things you have to do and that is to accept that you can't really take opiates for pain. You may not think of yourself as "an abuser" but have no doubt that you are addicted and habituated. You don't repeat an action every day for 12 years, and especially not something as powerfully changing as introducing strong opiates into your system, without becoming addicted. Your body, your brain, and your mind are all accustomed to the use of opiates and yes, even someone like you will need to utilize therapies and support groups in order to fight those urges to begin using again.
I wouldn't recommend suboxone, but if that's the route you take, I say go in with a plan for success. Reach out for support, because what you are trying to do isn't easy even for people in the best of circumstances. Don't do it alone, and above all, keep your positive reasons for doing this firmly in your mind. Stay positive and think about what good will come from your being clean.
Thanks for your post and I am pulling for you.
Welcome, and I am glad you've decided to walk away from the opiates. I'm glad to hear you say you refuse to go back.. that's a start, but by no means the last and final word. Unless ofc, you are one of those rare people who can do it on sheer will power. I haven't met anyone like that yet. For most, it takes much more support and alternative tools to be successful. There are so many more reasons to do it besides the ones you have cited where money and laws are concerned. These drugs are very damaging and should not be used long term, because there are very significant consequences which don't revolve around money or hassles with the pharmacy. It's about the quality of your own life, your own mental, physical, and spiritual well being. You may not see this until you are fully detoxed and through the worst of it, but I hope you do see the value in what you are doing.
I don't know much about suboxone, but I know a lot about having a 12yr (and then some) opiate addiction. I wouldn't know whether or not to recommend subs, but I do know that it's also hard to get off of.
The paradox of pain medicine is that it relieves pain, but it also inhibits your body's own natural systems for doing so, among SO many another incredibly damaging consequences for staying on opiate pain medicines long term. It's like a trick. You are circumventing your body's own natural systems, and eventually the price must be paid. I know you have chronic pain, and unfortunately you've effectively impaired your body's own natural pain killing mechanisms by introducing these opiates into your body long term. In other words, you feel pain and discomfort way more intensely now than you would have if you hadn't entered into long term opiate use. The good news is that you can, in time, recoup your losses. You can use many things like exercise (to the extent you can perform it), proper nutrition, nutritional supplements, and other things like therapy and meditation in order to rebuild your mind and your body's ability to cope with pain. I"m not suggesting anything is going to be like magic, but that it will improve in time.
Two things you have to do and that is to accept that you can't really take opiates for pain. You may not think of yourself as "an abuser" but have no doubt that you are addicted and habituated. You don't repeat an action every day for 12 years, and especially not something as powerfully changing as introducing strong opiates into your system, without becoming addicted. Your body, your brain, and your mind are all accustomed to the use of opiates and yes, even someone like you will need to utilize therapies and support groups in order to fight those urges to begin using again.
I wouldn't recommend suboxone, but if that's the route you take, I say go in with a plan for success. Reach out for support, because what you are trying to do isn't easy even for people in the best of circumstances. Don't do it alone, and above all, keep your positive reasons for doing this firmly in your mind. Stay positive and think about what good will come from your being clean.
Thanks for your post and I am pulling for you.
Keep reading as much as you can from reliable sources. SUBOXONE is an opioid medication and is addicting. Also, you don't need much; a little goes a long way.
You haven't been taking it for very long so I'd start tapering right now and get off of it.
Electrical storm? Is that a pain thing or RLS? I'm not sure what you mean by that term...
Two years is way too long to take this med. If you were to stay on it for that length of time just remember: You were warned!
Listen, talk to us here and we can help you through wd's and advise you how to treat symptoms of withdrawal.
You haven't been taking it for very long so I'd start tapering right now and get off of it.
Electrical storm? Is that a pain thing or RLS? I'm not sure what you mean by that term...
Two years is way too long to take this med. If you were to stay on it for that length of time just remember: You were warned!
Listen, talk to us here and we can help you through wd's and advise you how to treat symptoms of withdrawal.
Well, I do have another question. The Suboxone does actually do something no other medicine - pain medicine or otherwise - has EVER done. It stops what I call the "lightning storm" below my waist - electric bolts of lightning shooting down to my feet from my neck and back. It helps this stop in the arms as well. It's tempting to keep taking for at least that benefit while doing what I can for the pain. But I've read some pretty scary things about Suboxone online. Say I were to continue taking this and in a couple of years had a surgery that helped a lot and didn't need this anymore. From what I've read, if you've taken Suboxone that long, then it's worse than anything else when trying to stop. I don't know much to believe that, but that's the one thing that has me wanting to stop even this and just deal with everything the best that I can.
Hi there- Unfortunately we can't give you a specific taper plan. It's against the forum's guidelines. We can tell you that cutting a small amount of sub over a period of time is the way. Going slowly is the best; getting down to a very small amount before you stop completely...
Tapering will certainly cut the severity of wd's but you will still experience some degree of discomfort; there's no getting around it but I'm sure you can handle it. Just keep a good attitude, stay hydrated, eat properly, and rest as much as you can while getting some physical exercise every day. Good luck!
Tapering will certainly cut the severity of wd's but you will still experience some degree of discomfort; there's no getting around it but I'm sure you can handle it. Just keep a good attitude, stay hydrated, eat properly, and rest as much as you can while getting some physical exercise every day. Good luck!
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