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Posted: September 13, 2013, 8:17 PM
Thank you to everyone for sharing your stories. Here is mine, I hope it helps someone somewhere someday.
I was addicted to OxyContin for 7 years. 3 years ago I became fed up with myself and sought treatment. My suboxone doctor prescribed me 8 mg per day split into 2 doses (4mg in the am, 4 in the pm). I was on that dose for 2 and a half years while I struggled to get my life back. I am finally in a good place. I haven't touched drugs (besides subs) or alcohol in almost 3 years. I feel happy, emotionally and mentally healthy, and stable for the first time in my life. I yearn for a completely drug-free life. 6 months ago I started weaning myslef off the subs very slowly. I went from 4mg twice a day to 2mg three times a day (6mg) and stabilized on that for a few months. Then went to 1.5mg three times a day for a few weeks. Then 1mg, .5mg, and so on. I am currently taking .25mg three times a day (.75mg per day; I have the 2mg strips). It is surprisingly difficult to cut down further. I thought that once I got down this low it would be easier. I still have mild withhdrawal symptoms... Some Anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. My plan is to cut down again in another week to .125mg 3 times daily, then only take it twice a day, then once a day, then jump off. I'm hoping to be completely off by Christmas. I really want to start a family so wanting a baby is my main motivation and it keeps me focused through the withdrawal. My best advice is to have a goal, go slow, and keep focused. You can do it. I am a big wuss when it comes to pain and withdrawal so that is why I am going so slow. But it seems to be working. If I can do it, anyone can. Good luck to you!! Stay strong! | ||
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Posted: September 21, 2013, 4:06 AM
I was on perks for years. Perk 30s. I got a 180 a month plus i would by 50 or more a month on top of my script. But i guess i was lucky cuz i have quit three times than fell off the wagon. This last time i quit im going three months strong and ive gotton threw withdrawls with suboxone everytime. I only take suboxone for a week and wing down from 2 four mg stripes a day to crumbs by my 7th day. The mental part of wanting to sniff pills is the hardest part tor me to beat. Like i said its been 3 months and my stomach dont hurt. But i didnt start s***ing right for almost two months. But other than that you can beat it in a week. Just taper off the same as you would do it ina year. In hospitals they wing you off with morphine and lower your dose down til they know u can leqve with mild withdrawls. I feel the quick outes safer cuz everyone i know that has gone to doc for subs. Well there still on em and probably always will be. G
Good luck. | ||
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Posted: October 7, 2013, 12:27 PM
Never Look Back, you haven't posted since 2011, but I hope you can see this reply somehow. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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Posts: 2
Joined: October 9, 2013
Posted: October 9, 2013, 12:31 PM
Hi my special wonderful friends , I am new to this forum, but not to Subutex or Suboxone,,,I started my journey with this drug way tango,,(along time ago, 2003. B4 they knew anything about long term use,,I was one of the first to be prescribed the sublingual tablets,)After countless surgeries , I ruptured my femoral artery and lived to tell, My horse flipped over on top of me,,,I am a retired stunt woman, actress, model, Live on my ranch in costal So Cali ,,I am naltrexone intolerant so I take subutex in full form,,Can' one taper off of this drug compleatly? No,,,,Not unless you have at least a year of your life to waist,,,I often refer to it as hotel California ,,you can check out but never leave ,,I was on 4 Mgs x3 per day,,I now am on 2 Mgs x1 time per day,,I am pretty much in a state of detox most of the time,,I have made many attempts to get off this drug,,I have gone through a mastectomy with no pain. Medication, no Demerol after coming to, I don't recommend this to anyone , never again,I face several more surgeries that will require the use of pain meds,,So I have decided to stay on subutex a few more years,,they don't make enough pain medication for me,,,I have battled addiction for 15 years,,I was taking a Norco snack by the time I realized I was in trouble , There is no easy way to get off of Subutex,,,Unlike Vicodin , Norco other drugs,not easy but far easier than subutex,,,,Had I known I was going to be a prisoner to this drug I would have never started it,,,I was going through my pain meds to fast not being able to refill, or being looked at like a junkie by the idiot at the front desk at the pharmacy ,( lets see him rupture a femoral artery face amputation and break his neck back, pelvis, knee,have all those surgeries and live through it)))) I did once get off of subutex for one month , only to be rushed into surgery to get back on opioid drugs,,I had an aneurism and suroma hematoma in my left breast, the one they did the reconstruction on,,, ,,All my hard work gone ,, It was the most hellish month of my life,,All I did was sleep, and throw up from both ends,my eyes watering,, sneezing, skin crawling, brain popping,legs not twitching but (((flailing,))) day 30 was as bad as day 12,,This was after tapering down over 4 months to less than 1 mg per day,,I was taking an eye dropper crushing 1mg splitting it in half, then half again,,mixing it with water putting it under my tong, I had some muscle relaxers for when it was intolerable , lots of Motrin , ammonium , getting into the bath tub was like poring scalding hot water on me while being drug through glass,,To be honest , although I was angry about needing medication,I felt normal just min after my first pain shot,,Its no way to live,,Just say no, don't get on it, stay as far away from subutex or Suboxone as you can,,,,fight it out through traditional detox,,do what ever it takes but stay away,,it only makes things worse,,
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Posted: October 9, 2013, 3:18 PM
I everyone, it's nice to see the Positivity as it's important to remain positive in order to meet this challenge. I've been on suboxone for 9 years and I finally feel it's time to wean. I'm tired of the back and forth issues with insurance that I've had over the years and I feel like a prisoner to this stuff... That's not to say that it didn't serve its purpose because it has in so many ways. Since being on it I went to school and graduated and I'm currently working in the career of my studies. Again though I'm having insurance issues so I'm weaning myself. The last doctors visit was Sep 27 th. I told the doc that I needed to wean because I wouldn't be able to continue seeing him unless I could work something out before my next appt. I started off at 12mg., went down to 8 then to 4 now if I had to guess I'd say I'm taking .5 to 1 a day. I say "guess" because I'm on the films and I literally break tiny pieces off and make it thru the day and if need be I take another tiny piece at bedtime. If the piece I took the previous day doesn't "hold" me I start to feel chills, sweats, anxiety and stomach cramping. Not to the point where it's unbearable but enough to be uncomfortable. I don't know if my symptoms are partly due to Peri menopause and PMS. Anyway, I'm trying to get to the point where I'm ready to take the "jump". I've been on these "pieces" for about 2 weeks and I still have about 70 films left. I definitely DO NOT want to have to the end of my supply and still not be able to stop because that's it. Please keep these posts coming because I need them, especially since I'm not under a doctors care right now. In reality, is there anyone out there who has comfortably weaned off of this stuff? I've already heard the horror stories... I need the "good" ones now. Thanks
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Posted: October 15, 2013, 3:05 AM
Depending on how much you take, I would say to maybe chop the pills in half and say for instance, you're taking 2 pills a day...cut it to about 1 1/2 a day for a few days, then get rid of the 1/2 and get down to 1....and so on.
That will probably help. I'm not very educated on what methadone is or what it does, but I think with any prescription drug, minimizing your intake slowly, will help withdrawals. -------------------- Drug Rehab Treatment 
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Posted: October 21, 2013, 8:49 PM
I have been on suboxone for over 2 years. I am starting the weaning process and am so scared. I went from 8mg to 4mg. I am not sure where to go from here. The posts will be very helpful I am sure . I have gone through major w/d s and am so so afraid. Thanks to all that have shared.
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Posted: November 2, 2013, 1:20 AM
Hi there
Withdrawals are pretty much different for everyone because we all wired differently. I did taper down over a 2 week period of being on 8mg per day on and off for a year. There is no easy way out. Being on the subs is just as bad as the heroine so you will feel withdrawals like the actual drug withdrawals. Sneezing chills slight fever and then the worst will be the mood swings etc. If you have a loving family and a belief in your heavenly father anything is possible. It won't last forever 6 weeks max. God bless Cindy | ||
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Posted: November 5, 2013, 12:42 PM
carmel - I can relate to what you are saying. I have been on suboxone for years now and I too get fed up with problems with insurance and crap. It is getting to be a real headache to stay on the subs, but, I haven't mustered up enough courage to take the jump into the weaning process yet. I would like to hear positive stories about successful weaning from suboxone too!
-------------------- rayray13 My story - I am an opiate addict on Addicts-anon.com | ||
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Posted: December 3, 2013, 8:57 PM
I am taking 6 mg of sub and i really want to get off this as I soon will be driving a big rig,
I want to jump off but I know i cant. are the withdrawals really as bad as they say. | ||
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Posted: December 29, 2013, 9:36 PM
I am new here so hello everyone. To the person trying to taper off sub. Yes it is possible to taper off sub if it is cheating you from living a happy life. Sub is no joke it is the real deal so if you got off methadone using sub you need to drop down to 2mg for a month then 1mg for a few weeks then you stop cold.. If you are trying to get around the pain of withdrawal forget it because you will suffer. It is nothing like coming off of methadone but it has a 28 hour half life so that means it will take at least one month before it is out of your system. So plan on maybe taking off work or going into detox. Believe me this s*** is no joke it will f*** you up.
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Posted: December 30, 2013, 2:14 PM
I have read posts from this site, but this is the first time posting myself. I have been scared to death to wean off of the subs because of my experience with opiate w/d's--horrible. Plus the fact that I had 2 of my kids at home and felt embarrassed, ashamed, stupid, like a low-life. What kind of mother does this? I realized that I am just a human being, when I was into my addiction I was always in a good mood---I think---but now was a witch to be around--and they knew why. They were supportive for a while then developed an attitude mostly w/their father reminding them that mom is a drug addict. (he doesn't bother to tell them that I turned to whatever altering substance I could find when I was trying to work full time and getting through the anxiety of the physical and mental abuse I suffered from him for >10 years. Sorry this is so long. Anyway, I want to be off the sub, but kind of forced to now because this huge discount program I had ($100/month) expires tomorrow! I have been taking it down each week. Today I started with 3 mg for the next 4 days, then 3.5 for 5 days---I have a little road map that I hope to be able to go by. The comment made about going through the flu or an illness totally changed my thinking!! Thank you so much! That is true---you can't do much but sit around and eat chicken soup--I will treat this the same way, God willing it will not last long. I am out of work and need to be hitting the pavement, but cannot do anything when I am in this condition. I want so bad to be free of this concrete ball tied to my ankle. I'm ashamed that I allowed all of this time in my life to be taken by all this mess. I felt that there was no way out. I always feel that way--then I look in the mirror and hate what I see--feels like I am just a weakling with no power at all. I want my life back.
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Posted: February 27, 2014, 9:48 PM
Ginamariea73@gmail.comwow im on 13 mgs a day the strips and im scared to death,been on suboxone for 2.5 yrs now and i just want to taper down and get off,SAFELY,PLEASE HELP
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Posted: February 28, 2014, 10:20 AM
I actually have an odd story. I just found out I am pregnant about a month and a half ago and I needed to get off dope asap. So I moved back home to my parents took two subx with me. only two! I started with a half and went two days. then took 1/4 waited about a day and a half. then took a little teeny tinyyy piece. I got scared, panic stricken even when I woke up with chills, sneezing, watery eyes, and my normal senses were telling me I was starting into withdrawal symptoms. So i upped my dose again to a half... this time i went the full 2 days again on nothing but the half. then took 1/4 again and back down to a little crumb. I held out as long as I could about a day and a half or so and noticed the chills and things and runny nose were really all that transpired. no puking, no body ache, nothing I couldnt tolerate.
It mainly a mental thing. because I noticed that when I was busy i didnt really notice it, but when i would lay down to sleep thats all my mind would wander to. sleeping was hard the first night or two. but i am now 5 days off suboxone. i feel alot better, minus the fact that the second i got clean i caught a cold... which i havent had since before i started doing dope.. so its possible to wien. you just have to have the mind set to deal with those last couple tiny symptoms for two days or so. its not impossible. just a little mind boggling at first. dont let your body/mind trick you into thinking your going into withdrawls. just keep busy, keep your mind off it. | ||
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Posted: March 4, 2014, 6:08 AM
No, it's not impossible to wean off suboxone, and really if it's done properly it is not that bad.
People are finding out now that there is a lot of negative stuff being posted about Suboxone, and that there is a pissing match going on between methadone providers and Suboxone providers, clinics, providers, pharmaceutical companies or whatever. It seems to be a lot of the negative postings about Suboxone is related to these battles, perhaps paid internet trolls? Investors?? Bored Idiots? I don't know, But Suboxone is a life saver for sure. I have successfully weaned off of Suboxone not once but twice. Twice because I was stupid enough to relapse because I wanted to get high, not because of cravings or discomfort, but simply because I wanted to get high so I started using again. But I also wanted to stop again so my Dr. put me back on Suboxone. Both times I weaned off were pretty painless and pretty easy. The Suboxone didn't get me high so basically they just kept me from feeling ill and helped me to function normally. Each time I was on Sub I took them for a few years and every few moths I would just lower the dose like all the other successful people above have stated. You have to be in therapy, most drug addicts have underlying issues such as depression or anxiety and if you want to get clean you have to address these issues also. Most people start abusing these prescription drugs and H because it makes them feel good, which means you probably were not feeling to good to begin with. at least that was my problem. Anyways, I'll wrap this up for now by saying that yeah when you first get on the Sub treatment it's scary and the fact you will someday want to wean off is scary too, but over time it gets easier and easier to the point where I just started forgetting to take my suboxone and my prescription ended up expiring a year later without me even using what was left on it. It's no where near as bad as some of these people say and even the people who wean off quickly say it isn't that bad. The people badmouthing this form of treatment must have some serious underlying issues, or like I said, they are part of this campaign to put fear into the people that are considering Suboxone to get off the dope. I'm just a regular guy, play in metal bands and over 20 years of abusing drugs and I'm clean today, and Suboxone and my Dr. helped me get to this point, so f*** all these a******* that are ruining your plans for the future. If I can do it, anybody can. If anyone has questions, problems, etc. I'll be happy to help you out michiganmetal@gmail.com | ||
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Posted: March 21, 2014, 2:25 PM
Hi All!
I am currently detoxing from Suboxone. I was a pill popper for 4 years. Got on Vics for a back condition. I would take whatever percs, vics, oxy's anything I could get my hands on. I had multiple Rx's going at once for awhile, which is actually what prompted me to get off of them. It was not by choice initially it was due to the pharmacy's finding out and calling me out on it. It was a horrible first week of WD's. I went to my reg. Dr. and we discussed rehab. I then went to an outpatient therapy close to where i work and they signed me up for a program. I started the next day! I got on the suboxone went through my classes, and am now seeing a psychiatrist steadily. I decided I wanted to go ahead and start the taper off suboxone after only being on the Subs for 5 months. I just know that I am ready for this. Anyway I was taking 16 MG a day and am now down to .25 mg. I have felt fine so far! No realy WD's A little bit of anxiety and some restleness at night, but my psych doc gave me somethign for the sleep and anxiety so it's been ok. The point of my post is, I really want to make the JUMP soon. But every morning when I am getting ready for work I don't feel so great and wind up taking my little crumb of .25 mg to get through the work day. Will I really feel that bad if I JUMP now? Thanks so much guys!!!! :) | ||
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Posted: March 30, 2014, 7:08 AM
my son is on this bad. how can I help him he wont work and got a 4 year old son. I have tried to talk to him about it he will get mad and wont come around. he wont try to get help can any one tell me how to do this? thanks
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Posted: May 13, 2014, 2:46 AM
Hello, this is my first post. And my first experience with tapering off subutex. I've been on for 10 months at 24 mgs. I started in tapering off myself at the last week in April 2014. It is now May 14 and I am down to 4 mgs. I was able to just down easy at the beginning because I was on such a high dose. I'm now feeling slight withdrawl but, as someone said, that meaning I could go to work. If I had a job. I am a stay at home person, with 4 dogs and too elderly men I take care of and I am able to stay up all day and do the work I need to do with slight resistance from withdrawls. I will be done in 3 weeks because I am going to stay at four for about 5 days the go to 2 for about 5 days and then 1 for 5 days then a half of one for a hopefully just a few days. I feel very clean today. I feel almost as I should. Clean, I can function, my head is clear and not spacey. So, hope this helps someone. Stay strong and whip that dragons butt! Be proud of how far you have come and don't let anything control you anymore.
Take care of yourself. | ||
Posts: 2
Joined: May 16, 2014
Posted: May 16, 2014, 3:38 PM
Yes, this is my first post also....Just joined today. To answer your question, yes, very much so, it is to "taper" or "wean" yourself off of Suboxone. I have done it in the past when I was out of the country, due to the fact I could not find any....and at this moment I am "weaning" myself again, but this time it is taking more effort on my part, and I am feeling the with drawls at times, and it is very scary when all of a sudden at my place of employment, I start feeling the beginning of them....now that is scary!!! But yes, it is very much possible to get yourself off the drug. And I do have to say that "SUBOXONE" is a miracle drug!!! It saved my life all around in a nut shell. What a great way to get off of Oxy's (synthetic heroin). I am happy once again, compared to being down and out on 200-300 mgs. of Oxy daily!!!! I can think again and talk again and associate with others again, and without them being scared of me, or trying to understand what words I was trying to say out of my mouth. That was no life, and it was being an idiot....Thank you God for helping me!!!!
This post has been edited by hankypanky on May 16, 2014, 4:20 PM | ||
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Posts: 2
Joined: May 16, 2014
Posted: May 16, 2014, 3:49 PM
Hello coalhogg, Wow, sorry to hear about your son. When you claim "he is on it bad", do you mean he is on Suboxone? Or opiates? In other words, if he is on Suboxone bad, how many mgs is he taking or how many pills or films? And what reactions come from him? If he takes a lot of Suboxone, it is not going to make him so called "high" or "higher". Yes, there is an effect to the drug, and people receive a sense of being "high", but usually in the form of "heightened awareness", and/or energy, and sometimes clear/positive/enthusiasm thought or actions thereof.... I am just trying to see what you see......Take care....
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