Suboxone Dependence

[drjohn1969]

by drjohn1969, 23 minutes ago
To: Anybody with Suboxone Knowlege
I have been on suboxone daily for almost 2 yrs. now.
I have had severe back and shoulder pain most of my adult life. I have gone through the gamit of Oxy,Methadone,and various other opiate pain killers.Since I was 17 yrs.old I have been taking these various precribed drugs and I am 54 yrs. old now. I curently take 12 mgs. a day of suboxone and as long as I take them as precribed.It works for my pain.Can anyone tell me how long and the sevarity of the withdrawals to expect if I try to kick.As it is very hard for me to gradually wean myself off them.
                    Thanks
                                    John L.    

[Rufuspdx]

Hello, I have been on suboxone since June 2006, I went to rehab then for my addiction to prescription opiates. I have tapered myself from the prescribed 8mg, 2 a day,  down to roughly 4 mg a day to make my prescription last longer. ( I've been doing this for about 14 months)
I have to travel out of state to Los Angeles to get the prescription ( I am from Oregon). By law my prescriber has to see me a minimum of 2 times a year. ( I moved from Los Angeles in 2010 that's why I have the dr there) as many of you know obtaining the prescription can be quite expensive.
I travel to LA because my doctor doesn't charge me, she genuinely wants to help. Anyway I am at a loss as to how I can get off this. I tried to see a doctor here in Oregon , but he wanted nothing to do with me after he found out I was on sub ( I thought being honest and direct &up front was the way to go...  Silly me) I was diagnosed with having bursitis in my shoulder, now it's making a loud crunchy sound & freezing up on me when I move it, on top of having a deep aching pain. I am afraid it's actually a torn rotator cuff but to no avail does this doc here care, i am a complaining drug addict in his eyes. I went off topic, my apologies
I am wondering what steps to take in order to stop the suboxone, how to be seen by a doctor who won't automatically assume I am pill seeking. The Oregon PDMD is both a blessing & a curse. I only have the suboxone on file now, I haven't been doc shopping other then seeing this new dr for my arm one time. I thank you.

Rufus in Portland

[flmagi]

Welcome to the forum. If you were to taper down about 1 mg per week, Hopefully you won't feel the effects of the reduction or withdrawels to much. It would take 12 weeks to get down to zero, but you should be able to do it somewhat comfortably. Good luck and let us know how your doing. Keep posting.

[worried878]

Good luck and let us know how you do...keep posting...just curious...why did you decide to get off of it?

[DENNI16]

forgot to write, i could not get a straight answer from anyone about w/d because everyone is so different.  but the company said 7 days to 6 weeks comforting huh?

peace out

[DENNI16]

i have been taking sub for 5 weeks and i started to ween right away.  i went down only a little 2mgs at a time.  w/d lasted about 3 days to regulate to the knew dose.  but if y6ou ween it will be sooooooooooooooooo much easy when you jump off.  i am 4 days with out sub know. physical was not to bad but mental is killing me.  get a sponsor, the worst part is this lack of energy.  i think the longer you are on it the worse it is.
sorry.  but you can do it.

good luck and God bless

[GoingToMakeIt]

I would recommend tapering, though. even though you said it would be hard. Talk it over with your Dr. A slow taper over a long time is doable.

[tret24]

it will be similar to methadone withdrawals as far as the length of the withdrawals, but it will definitely will be a lot milder than methadone withdrawal. If you and your doctor figure out a tapering schedule you probably wont even feel like you are withdrawling. Probably some minor discomfort for a few weeks, but thats it and youre free from everything. The higher the dose the harder the withdrawals will be, but you are on a mild dose, so it shouldnt be too bad, no where near as bad as oxy, H, or methadone withdrawals thats for sure