Some Suggestions for Getting through 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.
photo credit: nicolasnova
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.
It is probably worth it for most people to try and go through with this last little bit and get completely free of the chemical. Won’t it be nice to not have to rely on a pill in order to feel normal? You can get back to that point if you are willing to go through some level of discomfort. Otherwise you will continue to have to depend on an expensive medication in order to just feel normal in your life. Freedom is a wonderful thing.
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I have recently relapased into 30mg oxy’s for the past 6-8 months now…I wanted to stop so my buddy gave me a couple of his suboxone n8 which are 8 mg suboxones…I stopped the 30′s for more than 24hrs and took about 1.5-2mg suboxen that evening.I felt fine…next day took another 1.5 at. Workthis past monday…then a small sliver on ties….and taking a smaller dose since then leading to today….so total 4-5 days ..wat myquestion. Is…will I expieriance withdrawel symptoms from either or?…thank you for your help in advance…..Danny
@ Danny – It sounds like you are just about out of the woods already! I would tough it out from here, drink lots of fluids, get lots of rest, and don’t put any stress on yourself if you can help it.
Don’t think that withdrawal is going to be terrible. Your’s sounds very mild so far, and it might be almost over. Keep going with it. Take less meds, or no meds at all. You are almost there.
@ patrick…thank you….since the day I stopped the abuse with the 30′s and started the very mild doses of suboxone…I have felt fantastic…and by fantastic..I don’t mean high…like…”normal” again in a sense…I was just hoping the tiny doeses of suboxen I took over the past couple days isn’t going to make withdrawel even worse than coming off the 30′s…cause I keep hearing horror stories about coming off suboxone..so I was wondering if I am goo.g to go thru suboxone withdrawal providing the information in my first post….Regards..Danny
danny i think you will feel minimal withdrawals if any at all, most horror stories are from long term sub use. Early on in my addiction i went on subs for a short period of time and came off and felt nothing, then i relapsed, stayed on long term and when i came off that, is when i felt the long drawn out withdrawals people spoke of. But everyone is different so i cant tell you for sure but my guess is you will be ok if you get off soon.
i just was reading my old post from 14 days off subs and felt like inputing some more. ITs now day 33 off subs and just wow im feelin great, id say 98%. Things have certainly changed for me since i last posted 17 days ago, my life is really gettin better. Anyone struggling i truly believe this whole addiction thing is a spiritual problem and should be treated like that. THINGS ARE GREAT right now im more happy then ive been in a long time, LOVE U ALL TAKE CARE GOOD LUCK!
i have been back and forth with perc 10′s and fentenyl patches for about 5mths and now im trying the subs ive been on subs for about 3 days and my doses are a fourth of the sub once or twice a day. i feel fine and it seems to be working. my question is where do i go from here? typical opiate withdrawl peaks around the second or third day well im on the third day now. so do i quit the subs to or stay on them a few more days and then quit? i really want to be off all of it and will do whatever i have to do to do so. im not under medical care the subs are sold on the street and that is how i obtain them. any advice wouuld be greatly appreciateed. thanx
Best advice is to consult a doc about how to taper off the medication.
Most tapers drop by 2 milligrams per day that I have seen, though that may vary.
So like 12 mg today, then 10 mg total tomorrow, then 8 mg the next day, etc.
All the way down to 2 mg then the next day take 1 mg, then you are done.
But I would urge you to ask a doctor….
Good luck.
Goin thru the sub wd really bad. It’s been 5 days and am ready to pack it in. I wanna be free of all meds but this sux bad. Any suggestions?
I am in the same boat as a few of you, very confused lol. I took subs for one month to get off a nasty oxy/xanax habit (stopped both at same time lol). I tapered down to .5mg every other day for the last week. I am on day 6 now with only very mild RLS and diarrhea, and immodium does the job for that. What I wonder is why have I felt so OK. Is it going to get worse by day 7-10? The strange thing is here on day 6 is the first day I started feeling strange (depressed, tired, anxious). Could it be the extra long half-life of suboxone coupled with a slow metabolism?. I hope im in the clear, but am scared its gonna get worse lol. All in all though, I stopped once Cold Turkey off 6-7 30mg roxys a day. That was hell, this is nothing compared to that.
i have been taking saboxin for a little over a month now. (everyday) and i want to stop cold turkey, ami going to go through withdrawl symptoms?
@ AJ – yeah you will likely have some physical withdrawal symptoms. These can be minimized greatly by weening yourself down slowly from the drug. Ask your doc to suggest a taper schedule for you. If no doc, then I would reduce by 2 milligrams per DAY.
Good luck.
all i have to say is i have been on suboxone for four years and i wish i never did, if someone told me before hand to only take it for a short period of time i would of appreciated that, i am down to 1 mg, and i am not gona let some pill take over my llife, we only live once and u have to do something bout it now, may god have mercey for we are just humans.
I was always scared of pills hec I was even scared to take too many Tylenol at once, I had a surgery for a tummy tuck back in 04′ and it was extremely painful so at first I cautiously started taking the Pain Killers I had been prescribed, by the way it AMAZES me how doctors hand out pain killers like skittles Any how as we all know you start out with a few and then a little more and a little more before we know it this “Monster” has us in it’s Grip! I’m a very independent person and i’m sure like most of you do not like to be controlled, by having to stress where your going to get your next set of pills, or the cost $$$$ of the fear and anxiety that your running low, I hated it. I’ve never done or even tried any other drug for that fact and hated that I was being treated as if I was doing every drug under the sun. So long story short, a friend told me of the “wonder drug” that keeps you from with drawls, hey I’m only human to of hoped that this were true. Any how I went through an out patient clinic to get on Suboxone I told myself I would get on it for a week at the most and then take myself off, Of course that didn’t happen, so after being on it for 3 yrs. and having a baby on it by the way seeing him having to go through the withdrawals for almost a month was horrible! Mind you sense I started suboxone 3 yrs. ago I had been “clean” from everything. even after going through 8 root canals, a Breast Augmentation. Not one pain killer in those three yrs. so by this I thought I was “clean” but let me tell you after watching my son go through living hell I decided I’m not clean, I don’t want to have to wake up and take any pill, I don’t want to have to go to a Dr. once a month to drill me on if i’m using or giving me UA’s, Or when i’m in pain be treated any differently and not give me the care I need because they think i’ll abuse my prescription! I hated it all!! Ok ok so I know I’m bouncing from place to place but there is just so much to tell so your just going to have to bare with me, by the way Through my breast aug. surgery I FELT everything, every cut, every little stitch and I was awake, talk about a LIVING HELL! Ok so here is my opinion and no i’m not a doctor just a human who has went through the experiences, Suboxone is a great short term treatment, but but leave it up to your own body to know when your done, not a Doctor… I did that and three yrs. I found them wanting to up my doses, On We know ourselves. ok so heres a medical outlook on my little story, Was on Suboxone for 3 yrs. started off at 8mg then 12mg to 16mg then hey guess what they up’ed me to 20mg of course thankfully I wasn’t taking the whole amount because it would make me so sleepy and having children I just couldn’t have that well I’d say within the last 2 months I’d take my 12mg through out the day like usual but it just wasn’t cutting it it seemed like, little to mention the whole time i’ve been on sub. I’ve always gotten heat flashes and would get bad anxiety, so these last past few months I thought hey maybe I wasn’t taking enough, so the 12 mg. I was taking I’d add a little more and a little more so I’d say within the last month I was on 24mg/a day none of the heat flashing or bad anxiety had calmed down. So recently 2 family members of mine had died from Heroin overdoses both around my same age. So among st all the other hell this pill has put me through I decided 3 yrs. of my life + the 1 yr. that I was addicted to pain killers was enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I went cold turkey off of 24mg a day the first 3 days weren’t too bad just the heat flashing and the anxiety but hey I was already going through that anyway, but by day 5 it hit me! and from reading many things from then net its because of the long half life suboxone has so reverse, on thursday night around 10:00 was my last little bit of sub. to total in 24 mg. for that day, so by Sat. morning at 1:00 am I now had 12 mg, Sun morning at 4:00 am I now had 6 mg , Mon morning @ 7:00 am 3 mg and on tuesday morning at 10:00 am I was at Omg ( Of course all this I ASSUME, by reading up on sub. that is has a half life of 37 hr.s and it drops by half every 37 hrs. assuming you don’t add on any more to your current dose) All I do know for sure is that through the weekend I felt okay but once that tuesday hit me man did it really hit me, So i’m now on Saturday which is day 8 I’m still having problems with the hot flashes, & im not having restless leg synm. more like restless arm synm. lol although its no joke it is annoying and my bones are achey I don’t have to much of an appetite, as for diarrhea I’m a very constipated person so I must say (the diarrhea part is a bit of a blessing) lol I haven’t been able to sleep to well and haven’t had much energy, but I will say this I think that day 5 & 6 were the Worst and 7 & 8 have been better but not great, amongst all this I had to have two teeth pulled but hey where theres a will there is a Way, I haven’t been ME in such a long time, I’m super excited to be “Clean all the way” To all the people who are in my shoes now, or are wanting a way out from underneath Sub. Good luck & you guys are in my prayers, It isn’t an easy road & it may be a long one but it IS WORTH IT, there are many of us who die trying so for the rest of of us, let us not let them of died in vein, lets kick this damn thing! It’s easy to get addicted, and hard as hell to get un-addicted but damn is it so worth it! God bless us all, were only human and were all fighting our own demons but at least were still here to tell the tale! Rest in Peace to all the Ones who Died Before they got help or while trying,
Hey everyone. 2 years of mainly hydro’s (peaked at about 200mg/day then 2 years of subs starting at 16mg/day tapered over the last month. Please anyone reading DO NOT do a 2mg/day sub taper. Its insanity. If you can afford it taper over 6mo. Even tapering over 6mo if you have been on LT sub you may have a tough time. I was curled up, RLS, very little sleep. Day 4 my goal for the whole day was to take a shower and it took everything I had to stand for 10min. I don’t want to scare anyone but remember suboxone is an opiate, albeit a partial agonist. Remember you’re not only coming off the subs but also coming off all the opiates you did. Check out the suboxdoc on utube. Very informative. Good luck.
I’ve been on Subutex for several years now (in the Uk) I am now on a tapering off program and have come from 16mg to 3.2mg in a short time.It is now that I’m starting to sufferr and have found that valium has stopped the withdrawals for me and I’m able to sleep.I’m doing it slowly as I’ve been on them for so long and heroin for many many years before that.I now have a nice supportive girlfriend who I stay with in the very beautiful land of Scotland which I feel is the best place for me to take the plunge and get clean.The key is to fill the gap that will be left behind once the crutch has been removed.I did some voluntary work and ended up in Bristol presenting and producing radio shows which helped me reach out and acted like a diary.I’m a firm believer that a person can make the detox experience much worse in their own heads and highly recommend some form of positive distraction preferably something that will benefit others in a positive way also call it Karma or whatever you want give it a name.
I’ve not got to the point where I’m ready to give up altogether but hope my preparation has helped and will make my journey as painless and quick as possible.At the moment my counsellor is prescribing me 6 weeks worth at a time so I can come up to scotland to do the next stage of my reduction in the serenity of the highlands with a warm and understanding partner who is willing to support me through this journey.
Thak goodness for the british National health service who provide all my medication free and the benefit system who pay me more than enough to live on otherwise I would not be able to undertake any of this.
I feel for all of you in the states who have to pay rip off prices to the most corrupt drug dealers in the world who do it in suits as respectable drug companies.Talk about wolves in sheeps clothing.
Good luck to all who are having toendure this hell and I wish a pain free escape from the prison without walls that the state has allowed(and on many occasions encourged)and a future of painless freedom.Also I hope some of our experiences can be used to help others nas well as ouselves by maybe getting jobs in the field instead of textbook experts playing around with the damaged souls of many people full of so much magic and self worth that just needs tapping into
Maf
uk
I’ve been on Suboxone since about October 20th, 2010. I’m currently at a dose of 14 mg/day. What I noticed with Suboxone is that it has a very pronounced energetic antidepressant effect for about the first 5 months and then after that, this effect wears off and the Suboxone does little more than kill cravings and keep me from getting sick. I mean I think it’s an absolute godsend that it keeps cravings and dope-sickness away, but that extra bit of energy and mood elevation was a big help in recovery for some reason. It gave me the drive to want to stick with recovery and to enjoy recovery. Downsides aside (i.e. cost, side-effects), Suboxone has kept me in a recovery mindset and has kept me clean since October. Before that time, I was mainlining anywhere from 60-300 mg of oxy a day. Looking back on that, I really, REALLY can’t believe that I survived. When I’d go on a binge, I’d be shooting up so much that my injection sites seemed to shut down and not want to register anymore. I hit rock bottom hard, but it was Suboxone that helped pull me out of that path to inevitable destruction.
wed 20th @ 9am was my last dose of suboxone. i was at 1/8th of a 2mg strip twice a day. morning and night for the greater part of a year and a half. 9am wednesday was also my last night of peaceful sleep. for me i would prefer the three day hell of w/d from H than this insane nightmare leaving me feeling like no end is in sight. sleep is where your body gets work done spiritually, physically and mentally. getting 1 1/2 to 2 hrs per night for 8 days has left me depressed, lethargic, and hopeless. you will see people saying melatonin, benadryl, xanax, nyquil and valerian root. i have tried all of these and they have done nothing. maybe tack an extra half hour on the nights i try an aid. but you do not get that for free; each one does something to your system that you will notice in this extra sensitive time. be it grogginess, bad tastes or headaches for the next whole day. only thing i have yet to try are clonidine (got the script but told it’s not for sleep), tryptophan, seroquel and ambien. hard to imagine they would be effective.
so this is paying the piper. if you were told that long term sub maintenance would keep you off your drug of choice without the recreation but be just as hard, if not harder to kick, would you still have taken it long term? if you are about to start maintenance on this moronically overpowerful overprescribed cash cow of a drug for big pharma be prepared. note that most people stabilize during induction at a dose no more than 6mg. it breaks my heart to hear that people have been given 24 to 32 mgs per day. this stuff is bizarrely powerful, has a 37 hr half life and if you take it long term “permanently” changes your body chemistry. it should be handled with extreme caution. but instead is used to enslave addicts to a life of their legal little miracle drug with their little saber imprint. bottom line, it is still an opiate. take it for early acute withdrawals and make sure you find a doc who understands you should not be on it for more than 21 days at most. please.
a friend of mine was at 24 mgs a day. checked into a clinic in thailand to get off of them a year later. he was told that the dose was way to high. for two weeks they stabilized him with ms contin and a variety of other drugs for stabilization. he was given opiates for a sub detox. and was successful and has been since. given this, and my current state, i would recommend people find an environment that knows what they are doing. can stabilize you with something nearer your drug of choice. it will be much gentler if done properly.
sorry for the bitter edge. i am in a fragile state. i wish everyone going through this luck and just hang tight. we are told the body will repair itself but ask yourself what kind of damage have you already done. can you be positive you will return to normal? for me, a this stage, it is not looking up. but it is something i am willing to stick with out of a sliver of a chance i might lay down one night and sleep 6hrs again. that is all i really want.
Hey there, nearly 6 years on suboxone/ subutex. Didn’t taper have been 3 days without and omg I am miserable. I want to do this for my 3 babies. I got so mad at my doctor because I couldn’t afford it anymore so I just stopped going to him. Wishing so bad right now that I didn’t. I have 3 kids to take care of I can’t just lay in bed and let the feeling pass. I am not sure what to do as I can’t afford to go back to the dr. I have no health ins. Any suggestions on what I can do. I hate relying on this shit but man it has saved my life. I was on 8mg/2mg daily.
I’m now on day 5 of subutex withdrawal. Apart from feeling cold and sweaty and lethargic i’m actually ok (and at work). I was only on a tiny dose (0.25-0.50) per day, but would be tempted to smoke crack and sniff the subbie to stop cravings, thus preventing me from getting any lower.
I have been taking some zopiclone and low doses of diazepam to sleep.
Each day is getting better.
Apart from that i’m knocking back Lucozade, Redbull and lots of sweeties (Chewits and Curlywurly’s… Proper English sweeties, none of that Hershey rubbish!)
Tonight, a bottle of wine is calling and I will take a break from the sleeping tabs.
Yay! 127 hours opiate free!
just want to say i am nearing day 30 and i am still alive. after my post ^ up there, you can tell i was in a bad place. if you are going through this and you find this website. power through the first 14 days any way you can. it will feel like a year. you will be counting minutes and then hours, finally days. believe me it will not be easy. but if i can do it so can anyone else. i am by no means in the clear but i started sleeping again around day 14. all the other little bullshit i can handle. it was the sleep that was getting to me. good luck and godspeed.
patrick,
While your article is helpful and of great importance to those looking to get off Heroin(I would NOT recommend taking suboxone if you have painkiller(aside from heavy Oxycontin abuse), which unfortunately, this money hungry pharm companies never ever mentioned when this miracle drug came out.
I had a major painkiller addiction. I have been on suboxone now for five years, taking less than.5 a day(each morning a sliver)
The reality and harsh one for anyone on it long term is that whether taking clonidine which I take, Diazepam which I also take, or any other aids that so call help ease withdrawals, you’re in for a ride.
I’m not saying there are those who have high tolerance of pain that can’t handle weaning off taking these meds.
What I am sayinig is don’t listen to doctors. Even the best, have unfortunately been extremely u neducated when it comes to this unique drug.
When a pharmacist tells you they know jack SH__ about sub tapering, or what helps, and tells you to go ask your doctor, you know suboxone is not something that anyone knows much about, the lnog term effects, and whether it should be used as a maintenance drug.
I can’t speak for those who prefer staying on this perhaps for life, as it does prevent cravings, and the one thing about sub versus other opiates is that because of the ceiling effect suboxone has(unless you inject it, which would either lead to overdosing, or major withdrawals, hence another thing these stupoid a
Been really helpful reading everyones responses. i am currently on day 4 without suboxone. i was hooked on roxys for almost a year(at one point taking 60mgs) and then was introduced to suboxone by a friend. ive been taking it for maybe a little over 3 months with doses ranging from 2-8 mgs a day. Its my fourth day of withdrawals and i feel like they are just getting worse. today i decided to take a 5mg oxycodone before bed thinking it would help relieve the symptoms and i can sleep. Is this a good idea? cause i just want to troop out these next few days but from reading everything online and people talking about weeks of withdrawal symptoms from quiting cold turkey im a bit scared. but still willing to go on. any advice/help/attention would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve been a long time suboxone user and I’ve had enough., I stopped taking it Wednesday morning and by Sunday morning feeling really tired and stomach pains, it is now Tuesday afternoon and all I can say is OMG this sucks please make the pain go away. The only reason I haven’t taken one yet is because of all the “comments” posted. So Thanks guys I now it will get better………:)
I am compelled to cheer YOU ON. I was addicted to painkillers, then was in the “Suboxone Trap” for 3.5 yrs. Does that make sense? 1 yr getting higher, baby, and 3.5 years in maintenance? It was stupid. I had finally had enough of paying some doctor over $100 per month to “check-in”, then $6.00 per pill of Suboxone. I don’t have health insurance so it was well over $300 a month for 3.5 years! Stupid.
Anywho, I took my last 1 mg of Sbxne on Sunday, Aug 28th. The first 4-5 days were really sh**ty across the board. When you go through WDs you sure feel dumb for allowing yourself to be in this spot. However, now I feel pretty much back to my ‘normal’ self, except my sleep is suffering. I lay down at midnight, then wake at 1:00 a.m., can’t sleep until 3:00 a.m., then sleep 4 hours. Sucks. That is the hardest part in the separation from the pills. I don’t want to get started taking Ambien, or Xanax, or alcohol, in order to sleep. I feel that is just starting another ‘monster’.
YOU CAN QUIT Sbxne. The first 4-5 days are the hardest. Just get through them. Once you are on day 7-8 things really start looking up, you’ll feel better, realize the hardest is behind you. Pray to Heavenly Father, we need the mercy. I pray for all that read this blog and have posted on this blog. Lord knows this isn’t easy or fun. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on ridding the ‘shaky arm’ feeling, or ‘fidgety feelin’ while trying to sleep, I’m all ears. Good luck, and God Bless!!
Hello, never done this before but really need to vent!!!
I used oxy 80s for about 4 years. By the end I was snorting about 18 a day which I now realize is a crazy amount. Withdraw about killed me. My arms and legs felt like pins and needles for over a month. It was unreal how hellish it was. There is no way to describe it. So my doc told me about this ” miracle” drug syboxone. At first I thought I felt great! The absence of pain felt like a high! About a month in though I realized I had become a zombie. I was mimicking human reactions without ever feeling anything. Docs tried every med known to man, ( one of which put me in the hospital, seriquil) never realizing it was the subs all along. If they block your feel good receptors from the drug then your natural feel good stuff can’t reach them either.
Anyway, I was on subs almost 4 years!!! Thus is a death sentence!! Withdraw was under doctors care which I guess was better than alone but it was even worse and much much longer than detox from the real thing!!!!
I took my last sub march 1st. September 1st should have marked 6 months clean…. Still haven’t felt right, still trying to shake it….
So I got acsess to morphine 30s. Figured I wanted just one more day to rememberwhat feelinggood was…. Genius!! I ended up using fairly heavily for about a month
My family all think I just got over the hump and got better. Everyone keeps telling ne how fun I am and how great I’m doing…. Breaks my heart. I have run out of pills now. I’m at the 48 hour mark with no pills. I’m dying!!! Having to fake the flu.
Trying to find the strength to not get more…. I’m an idiot.
Subs are the devil!!! Be very careful with them! also brush teeth after you take one. The rot your teeth. No one told me that and now my teeth are f**ked!
Someone just shoot me!!!!
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