off percs and on subs

[nurseycookie]

Off heavy perc usage the past 10 months.Have been on suboxine( which is giving great pain relief from my PF which started this whole addiction process.)
Has anyone been able to stop Suboxine therapy?

[weaver71]

Nursegirl is right on. The suboxone/subutex FAQs at the bottom of this page has a lot of great info. I trust that info. I did a variation of the fast detox taper on that page, and had very mild detox, considering I was coming off methadone. Of the long term sub users I've known, those who taper very slow have a much easier time of it, but there are always some symptoms of withdrawal. The thing about subs detox is not the severity of withdrawal, but the length of time it lingers. Glad to hear your off the Percs and are ready to get off the subs. I am a firm believer in forming a solid plan while you are clear and motivated, educate yourself, tell a friend or loved one, your doctor or pastor, write it down, and just stick to it. If you are having doubts talk to the one you told, read your taper plan, and post on this forum. You will not be disappointed. Good luck and keep us posted.

[nursegirl6572]

There's a lot of info on Suboxone on this forum, if you browse around, you'll find a few days worth of reading (lol).

From my experience (I worked briefly in a Sub clinic), the most successful approach is a VERY slow and deliberate taper, especially towards the end (before jumping).  Just communicate with your Sub doc that you want to be tapered slowly.

I think it's also helpful for people to enter into Sub treatment with a realistic outlook.  It's not realistic to think that there will be NO discomfort, and NO w/d.  The doc I worked with at the clinic would often say, "You have to pay the piper SOMETIME".  She's right.  Her opinion was that once people were stabilized on the sub, a lot of them just assumed they would come off with no w/d at all.  Luckily for her pts, she cleared up their misconceptions for them.

From what I saw, the people that were jumping off, or in the end part of their taper (where they were literally taking a small piece), had some mild aches, some mild leg cramping, and some tummy issues, trouble sleeping, and some anxiety.  That seemed to be the norm.  There wasn't the full blown sweating/chills, shaking, diarrhea every 10 minutes kind of thing.  So, the severity was decreased a bit.

Everyone is different of course.  Just don't be in a huge hurry.  Also, be sure you have plans for after care in place.  Once you're off the sub, you may struggle with the emotional aspect of not having something in those receptors.  That's when people are prone to relapse.

Good luck.