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suboxone withdrawl
I have been taking three 8mg pills of suboxone for about 3 years now and I am at the point now where I don't want to be a prisoner to this stuff anymore. I have stopped taking three 8mg pills and I cut back to one 8mg pill per day four days ago and so far it hasn't been very bad but I guess what I'm affraid of is that withdrawl is going to hit me hard soon due to the fact I had been taking such a large dose for such a long time. What should I do next to get off the suboxone as fast as possible with the least ammount of withdrawl possible? If anyone has any input I would greatly appriciate your help. Thank you , Dan
Thank you everyone! Its very nice to know that I'm not alone and thank you for not leaving me hanging
Hey Dan,
Heres the thing that makes sub withdrawals so unique.... With most opiates you will find that peoples withdrawals will differ, but to some degree be relatively the same. With sub, detox is almost different for everyone.
The number one thing that I can suggest is, dont worry about the severity of your withdrawals. The anxiety that creates alone will exasperate the moderate withdrawal you are having now. Unlike full agonists, suboxone can be often easily tapered with huge decreases due to its high binding affinity to the mu receptors. Which is most likely why you are having an easy time with a 16mg decrease.
My personal opinion is this... You are currently at 8mgs and doing ok. Being that you are 4 days into this, ride it out, see what happens. If it gets too uncomfortable, you can always add a bit to your dose. After 4 days your tolerance has been lowered, so you certainly wouldnt have to go back to 24mgs! So even if you have to bump up a bit and take it slower, you are still ahead of the game!
As far as tapering lower.... Thats different for everyone. After two years on sub, I couldnt see myself trying to shave off little pieces of a crumbling pill, so I jumped at 3mgs. While it wasnt pleasant, the withdrawal was totally manageable. I was able to get up, shower, and go about my daily activities the entire time through detox. Of course I wasnt running marathons or such, I did take it easy, but it certainly wasnt like coming off the full agonists where I just couldnt get out of bed, or layed on the bathroom floor.
Your mind is a powerful thing (If it wasnt we wouldnt be here on this forum) Keep a positive attitude and embrace whatever withdrawals come your way... its a rite of passage so to speak. Just remember that this is the last time you will ever have to go through this... if you want to.
Just hang in there bud, and keep posting. You are doing great!
Henry
Heres the thing that makes sub withdrawals so unique.... With most opiates you will find that peoples withdrawals will differ, but to some degree be relatively the same. With sub, detox is almost different for everyone.
The number one thing that I can suggest is, dont worry about the severity of your withdrawals. The anxiety that creates alone will exasperate the moderate withdrawal you are having now. Unlike full agonists, suboxone can be often easily tapered with huge decreases due to its high binding affinity to the mu receptors. Which is most likely why you are having an easy time with a 16mg decrease.
My personal opinion is this... You are currently at 8mgs and doing ok. Being that you are 4 days into this, ride it out, see what happens. If it gets too uncomfortable, you can always add a bit to your dose. After 4 days your tolerance has been lowered, so you certainly wouldnt have to go back to 24mgs! So even if you have to bump up a bit and take it slower, you are still ahead of the game!
As far as tapering lower.... Thats different for everyone. After two years on sub, I couldnt see myself trying to shave off little pieces of a crumbling pill, so I jumped at 3mgs. While it wasnt pleasant, the withdrawal was totally manageable. I was able to get up, shower, and go about my daily activities the entire time through detox. Of course I wasnt running marathons or such, I did take it easy, but it certainly wasnt like coming off the full agonists where I just couldnt get out of bed, or layed on the bathroom floor.
Your mind is a powerful thing (If it wasnt we wouldnt be here on this forum) Keep a positive attitude and embrace whatever withdrawals come your way... its a rite of passage so to speak. Just remember that this is the last time you will ever have to go through this... if you want to.
Just hang in there bud, and keep posting. You are doing great!
Henry
No not at all. You should definitely still taper and don't top at 2mgs. Taper all the way down to like .5mgs or lower if you can.
Hey there!
Just like rlucas, I have gone off subs a couple of times. I just went back on them 2 days ago, after my (new and better) doctor discussed in detail what was going on in my life and, without going into detail, I'm back on them (along with therapy starting Wed) as more of a preventative. ...Anyway... The last time I went off them, it was due to my old doc's office screwing up the paperwork with my insurance and I was only then given the choice of either going off them or paying cash..I was at a point where I was ready in my eyes to go off them anyway. Since the doc I was seeing never gave me a taper plan, I did my own kind of tapering. Since you have what sounds to me like a decent doc, and any doc who rx's this medication has to be knowledgeable about addiction and tapering and such, you should definitely get a specific taper plan from him/her. To give you some hope, too, since I tapered (too quickly actually, but couldn't afford too many subs) off of them I didn't have any wds. Physically I was fine, most likely because of the taper, but also because I knew what hardcore cold turkey Vicodin wds were and they weren't anywhere near each other at all as far as my experience goes. Mentally, I was fine too, because I was ready. It sounds like you're ready, too. I know you said you were in therapy, and I would highly suggest staying in that program while you taper and afterwards too, just to make sure you don't slip. So there's hope that if you taper you may not experience bad wds, if any :) Good luck to you, and keep posting here for support in a lot of ways. There's so many great people here that can help you and relate to you, and you may offer inspiration to those just starting out..best of luck to you, congrats on being clean so long too!!
Just like rlucas, I have gone off subs a couple of times. I just went back on them 2 days ago, after my (new and better) doctor discussed in detail what was going on in my life and, without going into detail, I'm back on them (along with therapy starting Wed) as more of a preventative. ...Anyway... The last time I went off them, it was due to my old doc's office screwing up the paperwork with my insurance and I was only then given the choice of either going off them or paying cash..I was at a point where I was ready in my eyes to go off them anyway. Since the doc I was seeing never gave me a taper plan, I did my own kind of tapering. Since you have what sounds to me like a decent doc, and any doc who rx's this medication has to be knowledgeable about addiction and tapering and such, you should definitely get a specific taper plan from him/her. To give you some hope, too, since I tapered (too quickly actually, but couldn't afford too many subs) off of them I didn't have any wds. Physically I was fine, most likely because of the taper, but also because I knew what hardcore cold turkey Vicodin wds were and they weren't anywhere near each other at all as far as my experience goes. Mentally, I was fine too, because I was ready. It sounds like you're ready, too. I know you said you were in therapy, and I would highly suggest staying in that program while you taper and afterwards too, just to make sure you don't slip. So there's hope that if you taper you may not experience bad wds, if any :) Good luck to you, and keep posting here for support in a lot of ways. There's so many great people here that can help you and relate to you, and you may offer inspiration to those just starting out..best of luck to you, congrats on being clean so long too!!
So basicly I'm going to suffer the same ammount weather I would stop at 8mgs or 2mg?
I have has to withdraw from suboxone a couple of times in the last 2 years. Tapering down on suboxone doesn't really give you the same effect similar to tapering down of oxycontin per se. It is such a strong opiate that it gives relatively the same effect in lower doses.
If you are at 8mgs a day, you could easily be down to 2 mgs in about two weeks if you setup a good taper schedule.
Just know that when you go completely off, it's just as bad withdrawing from any other opiate unfortunately. And like I said, since it is such a strong opiate, tapering doesn't really achieve the same goal. Just some stuff I learned from my experience.
If you are at 8mgs a day, you could easily be down to 2 mgs in about two weeks if you setup a good taper schedule.
Just know that when you go completely off, it's just as bad withdrawing from any other opiate unfortunately. And like I said, since it is such a strong opiate, tapering doesn't really achieve the same goal. Just some stuff I learned from my experience.
Ok I will try to get in to see my dr first thing monday morning. I just hope he really knows what is best. After all he is the one who put me on such a high dose and hasn't talked to me about tappering down at all so it makes me wonder. I'm not trying to bad mouth him in any way I really do like him as a person. Thank you for your time I appriciate it.
Like I said, it is probably due to the fact that Suboxone has a long half life. I really suggest that you speak with your doctor and get on a proper taper schedule. that was a huge jump and if the withdrawal kicks in, it will kick in hard. At least if you taper it won't hit you all at once. I hate to see that you come this far and not make it, know what I mean? So since you did come this far and you are feeling good, get off them the right way. You don't want any stumbling blocks in your path.
Yes I have had several forms of theropy ect and I really feel that I am ready an I don't see myself having any problems useing again. For the 1st time in my life I don't think about drugs and I have felt I've been ready for some time now. I don't unserstand it either how I haven't been affected by cutting down from such a high dose but with in the last few hours I have been starting to feel worse.
Hi Dan & Welcome,
24 mg is a fairly high dose for a 3 year period. And I can't believe that dropping down to 8 mg overnight hasn't effected you. It may be the half-life that is warding off the withdrawal.
If you don't mind me asking, did you do therapy while on the program? Do you feel that you have things in order enough to come off and not return to whatever your choice of drug was before? If so, You need to let your prescribing doctor know that you are ready and he/she will set you up on a proper schedule.
Good luck and hang around here for support while you are tapering off. We can help you with home remedies that have worked for us.
24 mg is a fairly high dose for a 3 year period. And I can't believe that dropping down to 8 mg overnight hasn't effected you. It may be the half-life that is warding off the withdrawal.
If you don't mind me asking, did you do therapy while on the program? Do you feel that you have things in order enough to come off and not return to whatever your choice of drug was before? If so, You need to let your prescribing doctor know that you are ready and he/she will set you up on a proper schedule.
Good luck and hang around here for support while you are tapering off. We can help you with home remedies that have worked for us.
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