Suboxone Withdrawal
Suboxone is typically used to help addicts detox from opiate drugs such as painkillers or heroin. It is a partial synthetic opiate that is designed to take away the detox symptoms that usually come from withdrawal. Most people who have tried it agree that it works pretty good for this. Some people take the drug over the long term in order to stay off of other opiate drugs and/or heroin. In this way it can be used as a maintenance drug to help people stay clean. The drug is pretty expensive though and some people do not want to take it forever, so they might one day try to stop using it altogether.
If you are going through Suboxone withdrawal then here are some suggestions for you. The best idea is for you to taper off of the Suboxone in very slow increments so that your body does not experience heavy withdrawal symptoms.
For example, in a drug rehab center, they typically use Suboxone in order to detox addicts from opiate based drugs. What they will do in many cases is to eventually put the patient on a taper schedule, so that they get a decreasing amount of the medication every day. In the vast majority of cases, this taper dose works fine and the addict may experience only slight discomfort as the dose is decreased every day. Generally, the dose drops by 2 milligrams per day.
Now if this is not working for you and is producing severe withdrawal symptoms, then you might want to continue with the taper but just slow it down. You can do this by carefully cutting the pills and dropping the dose by 1 milligram per day instead of 2. That way you are tapering off more slowly and you are also extending the time that you are doing the taper by double the amount of days.
Eventually you have to take the last pill and be done with it, if your intention is really to get off of the Suboxone completely. If you have been taking Suboxone as a maintenance pill for a long time, then this is going to be hard no matter what, and no matter how much you taper down. The bottom line is that you are going to have to go through some level of discomfort and simply tough it out. If you taper down as slowly as possible and you are still miserable, then you have a simple choice. Go back on the medication or tough it out and get through the withdrawal.
Elisa Says:
do you have any idea how long after stopping suboxone will I return to “normal”.each time I quit I ended up on oxys or suboxone after about 2 months,because of depression,exhaustion and adhedonism.
Patrick Says:
Hi there Elisa
If you stop taking Suboxone and all other opiates as well and stay completely clean from all of it, then your body should get normal fairly quickly. Now there will be an acute withdrawal that will be over within a week, and then there is “post acute withdrawal syndrome” which can last a lot longer (up to several months or longer) that is not really about your physical dependency so much. This might be what you are experiencing, or it might be that you have some health issues. Either way, you might consult a doctor to help you treat those issues without using opiates. You might also consult with other recovering opiate addicts to see how they deal with these issues in long term recovery.
Good luck!
Joe Bird Says:
Hey !!!
I just want to say that We People and specially americans love to seek comfort everywhere. Part of your comfort is your addiction because pills makes you easy going and lazyii attitude . What I want to say is that we need to start asking yourself DO YOU WANT TO BE SHARP , HEALTHY , ENERGETIC AND READY FOR SUCCESS ????
OR
YOU WANT TO BE ALL THE TIME IN SAFE PLACE WERE NOTHING HAPPEN BESIDES YOUR ADDICTION KILLING YOU AND MAKES YOU UGLIER AND UGLIER IN SIDE AND ON THE OUT SIDE ???
ASK YOUR SELF AND THAN WRIGHT YOUR ANSWER ON THE PAPER or WALL OR RECORD YOURSELF. SO EVERY MORNIG YOU WAKEUP and you will READ YOUR ANSWER AND will THINK WHO YOU ARRRRRRRR. I KNOW THAT YOU are HUMAN WITH NEEDS AND SOMETHING TO GIVE AND WITH HARSH LIFE GOING ON BUT ONLY FIGHT AND FIGHT will take you to winning position. Start to think about the winning NOT LOOSING but WINNING WINNING and try to see your self on the winning position were you standing on the !st Place and everyone is happy because of YOU WON THE RACE TO BETER FUTURE. AT the end a just want to say that MOTIVATION and ACTION is important because without motivating there is no action.
FIRST , IF YOU want to do your things ,START TO PLAN and MOTIVATE YOUR SELF and than ACT , RUN , SCREAM or Kill your self but ALWAYS REMEMBER to PLAN YOUR SUCCESS without that THIS IS WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW – IN DEEP DEEP BLACK WHOLE without ledder or rope or anybody to whom you would reach so they could help you to get out. The last thing is simple if you stay clean for month just don t look back and don t let anyone to remind you about not nice times you have been threw. You will be fresh as carrot picked from the ground because your body will clean you automatically but it will hurt a little. Last sentence I will tell you why you got withdrawals and how simply get them to minimum.
Patrick Says:
Thank you for your insight there, Joe Bird! I appreciate your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to drop by and share again, anytime.
Sean Says:
I know what your going through. I was dependent on subs for over a year as a result of a oxy addiction.. It’s been about 12 days since I took a sub… Granted the first week was complete hell! Now I am able to walk around with ease but I still have discomfort in my muscles. Not 100% yet obviously because of my fatigue and discomfort but my will is still strong.. Trust me if I can do it, anyone can! Slowly but surely I can feel my body healing and feeling better… A light is slowly getting brighter in this dark hole that consumed me years ago due to addiction…if your tired of being chemically dependent then it’s time for u to take CONTROL of your life… My prayers are with u and everyone else who is suffering from this vicious cycle! -Sean
Patrick Says:
@ Sean – awesome stuff….I know of at least one other person who has gotten off of Suboxone successfully and is still clean today. That said, it is definitely not a magic pill. Good job in getting off of it. Everything is a process.