Suboxone withdrawals, is the worse over?

[skychica]

Hi there.....just a quick background.  I suffered from a compression fracture in my lower back last May and was put on Tramadol (Ultram) as I did not want a narcotic pain medication.  I was reassured by my doc that Ultram was not a narcotic and I would not suffer withdrawals when stopping.  Within a few weeks, I became very tolerant to the medication and was taking 10 - 12 50mg tabs per day.  In July my back was feeling much better and I decided that Aleve would do the trick and I stopped cold turkey.  I had HORRIBLE withdrawals and within a few days became severely depressed.  I could not find anyone to buy that all of this was caused from the Tramadol.  Finally my family doc decided to put me back on the Tramadol and slowly wean me off.  Within 45 minutes of taking the med again, I felt fine!  

My fiance started doing research and found out about Suboxone.  I decided this seemed like a better option and the new doc reluctantly started me on 8mg daily.  Within 2 days, I went to 4mg with not problems.  By the end of the week, I was at 2mg with no problems at all....  Out of fear, I stayed at 1mg for a few months and in December I weaned to .5mg and most recently to .5mg every 3-4 days.  

I took my last dose 5 days ago and felt find until last night.  It was not bad at all in comparison to what I experienced with Tramadol.  I felt a bit lethargic yesterday but even after taking 1mg of Clonidine and two 50mg trazadone tabs, I felt too anxious to sleep.  Although annoying, it was very tolerable.  My fear is that this is just the beginning of experiencing horrible withdrawals again.  Today I feel almost fine other than the lack of energy, which makes me hopeful that it isn't going to get much worse.  I suppose I am looking for reassurance that this is the case.  

I apologize for the long post, but I am very much looking forward to the advice/support of those that can empathize with my fear and concerns.

Thanks in advance!

[skychica]

Thanks all for your support and advice!  I am happy to report that it is approaching midnight and I am feeling completely fine other than a few aches and pains.

Worried, I have never abused drugs prior to Tramadol but I seem to be very sensitive to opiods.  A few years ago I was given one rx of Hydrocodone, took is less than prescribed and had horrible withdrawals as well.  I will admit that when I started the Tramadol I had just went through a nasty divorce and was a single mom to 3-year-old twin boys.  For the first time in a very long time, my depression had completely went away so I continued taking it for the AD effect.  I then continued to take it out of fear of the withdrawals.  I do feel like I exhibited addictive behavior however my doc did not agree since I seemed so eager to wean off of the Suboxone.  Regardless, I will never travel down that road again!  

Thanks again all!

[worried878]

at 5 days i would think what u felt today would be very close to the worst of it...since sub has a long half life it is not unusual for wds to be delayed to 3 days....5 days is stretching it to start feeling wds so maybe it was just a bad day in the neighborhood..everyone is different so opefully all will be well very soon..like avisg said, it is good u got off the sub and it is unusual to prescribe sub for tram wd due to the huge diff in strengths narcotic wise..trams have that AD quality that makes them sooooo hard to quit for most verses the narcotic value of the drug which is minimal..the combo can make it very additing

Did you have any type of addiction before the tramadol u used for a few weeks?

[avisg]

Its hard to tell some people start wd sooner then others with sub .I am very suprized your doctor put you on sub for tramadol wd most dont .It is so much stronger of a med.hopefully this is the worst of what you are going to feel ....
avis

[GA Guy]

I did a taper very similar to yours and I had slight withdrawals starting on day 3. With your dosages, even with the long half life of Sub, you should be finished with most of the physical withdrawals by 10 days. Keep in mind that it seems like every person is different when it comes to Sub withdrawals. I've seen some who jumped at 4mg with no withdrawals, and some that taper down to .5mg and had severe withdrawals. Like you, anxiety was the main withdrawal symptom for me.

[cathy5841]

hi, sorry it looks like your post got lost in the shuffle.  i have never taken sub, many here have and will see this soon.  i have learned from members here that sub has a very long half life which means it stays in the system a long time...most ppl dont feel the w/ds for about 3 days, it stays in your system that long.  there are many of our members stories about sub in the health pages to the right...hope you are through the worst, if not remember its worth it to get your life back.  keep posting it helps...