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How do get off Suboxone?

Hi, I have been on 16mg of Suboxone for over 5 years after abusing Oxycontin for less than 2 years.  My mood is content, but I am a shell of a person.  I do not work and I never leave my home.  I get up in the afternoon and go on my laptop until I go to bed around 4am, and then I repeat the same thing the next day.  I am extremely constipated and have no energy.  I know I need to get off Suboxone, but I don't feel strong enough to and the more time that goes by, the weaker I get.  There was only 1 time that I was ready to ween myself off Suboxone.  It was after being on it for 6 months and a psychiatrist had put me on an anti-depressant.  I mentioned to my doctor, that was prescribing the Subs, that I was ready to ween down and he said I shouldn't think about that now.  So here I am, 5 years later.  I get frustrated to why Suboxone affects me so much because I know plenty of other people who take it who can work and function properly.  I used to be a very hard-working, family oriented person and now I don't work, hardly every see my family, and lost touch with most of my friends.  But still, none of this motivates me enough to even go one day without Suboxone.  I've called a few rehab centers, but they only offer like a 5 day detoxification, which makes no sense for the long term nature of Suboxone.  Does anybody have any suggestions or is anyone in a similar situation?

I'd like to make a note, though.  I am not condemning Suboxone.  It stopped my life from spiraling out of control and I know I wouldn't be in this situation if I got some kind of co-therapy when I initially started taking Suboxone.  I am blaming myself and the doctor who only cared about my urine samples every month I saw him.  (Sometimes, I would have to stay in his office bathroom all day until I could produce a sample because the Suboxone also causes extreme urinary retention for me, even though the doctor didn't think that was possible.)  I have a new doctor now who prescribes the Suboxone and thinks everything in my life is going great because I don't know what to tell him.
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Avatar universal
I have been on sub for almost 4 years now but i didnt think that i as addicted for the first couple of years because i didnt have to have it like that. Now I have to have it everyday. I did try to get off of it about a year and a half ago. For two months, i felt depressed, had no energy, couldnt work nor could i do anything that i liked to do. i couldnt seem to smile nor laugh. i was not myself. It is very hard to come off of subs but there are still ppl that say that they came off of them and been off of them for a long time and still do not feel the same. Doctors do not kno all of the side effects or the long term effects of this drug. I am a strong willed person but this drug has a hold on me and my husband. I strongly believe that these suboxones are just a money trap for the government to get more money. Please do not get discouraged. Detoxication can be achieved but we need to be strong and just keep looking for more answers that can help us down this long hard road that we are looking at. This is not something that i am very proud of but i feel that the more ppl that talk about this the more that this world is going to notice that is a problem. I talked to an er doctor once that told me that subs do not cause withdrawal symptoms and i was looking for drugs. That really hurt me bc i was looking for help to get off of these things and couldnt get it unless i told them i was suicidal and thats bull. The longest i was offered for rehab was 7 days in peninsula thats it. That is not long enough to actually come off of these mentally or physcally how ever ppl want to describe it. i have heard ppl say oh its in your head and ur thinking about it too much and then there are those ppl who kno what im going thru like you. we will make it thru this, just have to get the help that we need and trust me that is coming soon because these doctors are starting to realize what exactly this is doing to ppl and it cant go on much longer. this is just like methadone, remember? They took that away and gave suboxones. So sooner or later they are going to give ppl like us the help that we need buddy. You are not alone. It makes me constipated as well, although i have had a problem before the subs it got worse after use. I just kno that this is not the only way out that is out there, there is hope and i am not going to give up looking for that help. Dont give up hope, there is always help out there and a better life. Keep up the good work man dont let ppl get u down with bad comments or negative feedback. there will always be those ppl out there who dont understand and will put u down for being an addict but honestly everyone is. There are plenty of other things that are normal daily life things that ppl are addicted to but dont think its an addiction but take it away from them and tell them to just get over it and deal without it. See how much they like it. STAY POSITIVE!!
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Avatar universal
hi everyone, well about two years ago I was introduced to opiates without ever taking a drug in my life needless to say I loved them! I was addicted to them for  about 10 months and then my boyfriend and I we were clean for 7 months... and returned to doing them again not as bad for the last 10 months i use opiates for 4 to 6 days then take a sub for the nest 4 to 6 and so on. were not prescribed subs from a dr just get them from a friend. i dont want to become dependent on neither again, we struggled with energy and we cant find our selves kicking the subs, im scared an i just want to be straight and enjoy normal things in life im finding it difficult to get back to things because i dont want to go to work low on energy i find myself not even being able to get dressed or ready for the day without atleast one of them any suggestions anyone?
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1235186 tn?1656987798
Keep tapering down. You can get off the subs. Are you getting counseling and or attending support groups? Go to the top of this page and "post a question" start your own thread, this is an old one.
You will get support and encouragement
Keep the faith...,
There is always hope...
Debbie
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i would just like to say that you are 100 percent right about doctors prescribing too much. i will be totally honest when i say that in reality 4 mgs of subs would make it so i was "ok" i wasnt sick the only thing that people who are getting on them to get off other opiates should realize that they are not going to get the high they we getting from the opiate but to really open their mind and actualy notice that they are not sick. the stuff if used correctly is a miracle to us. robert have you or do you know anyone who would have info  on shooting subutex? i just got out of rehab two weeks ago and am off the subs completely and it was the hardest detox ive ever done. but i was shooting up to 4 8mg pills a day which was pointless because i know you only get so high on subs and i was doing it everyday for a year. i have some things im scared about. but anyway the doctor in there tapered me in a week after doing it that severly for a year and he stared me the first day at 16 mg all at once in the morning and i was blown away because i wasnt even do that on the street i was so mad at his regimen. i thought i was dying. it didnt hit me till like the 4th day off them because of the half life in them. but if you know anyone who has experience shooting them and is now clean please let me know.
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Avatar universal
hi  Robert.  Could you tell me how to get off suboxone?  I have weened down to less than a quarter of an 8mg pill a day. Its the completely stopping that is getting me.  I still have withdrawls when i dont take suboxone.  The withdrawls are far more mild than the opiate withdrawls but they are still there.  I recently have had people tell me the withdrawls are in my head. I don't see how i am creating it in my head, but maybe i am..  I just want it to end.  
Helpful - 0
5657206 tn?1371786515
Wow, I am literally in exactly the same position as you are or were since your post is old. I've been to rehab once to get off it and it was rough but I managed to do it and when I got out I eventually relapsed weeks later. But Suboxone effects me in the exact same manor as yourself and I pretty much do exactly the same as you except with going on my comp all day I also play video games all day.

I recently forced myself through 20 weeks of GED prep courses so I can take and pass my GED test. That is probably my most note worthy accomplishment within the past 5-6 years of being of Suboxone and it really drags me down that it's like that because I used to have many hobbies and dreams of my future that after 5 months of being on Suboxone diminished.

Suboxone is a great short term drug but for me the long term just does not agree with my mind and body.
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