You missed the point of my post entirely. Yeah, doing it my way WASN'T the way to go about it - that was my whole entire point of that post, I never said otherwise - and is WHY I RELAPSED. The whole point of me telling that story is because it's a perfect illustration of what happened when I took it for too long. What did I say about what happened when I had it done under medical supervision? Did you even read my whole post? Obviously not, because I'm pretty sure I said that I made it through the withdrawals with VERY little withdrawals or discomfort after doing a two week taper. I did fine in rehab. I did fine for a short while after rehab. My mistake was not finding something to replace the void that the drugs left, like going back to school right away or whatever, and hanging around people who were still using. You really need to go reread my post and understand the point I was trying to make... because you're arguing with me using my own argument. Which was this: that simply assuming or telling someone "You should be on Suboxone or Methadone for at least a year" is a mistake and can deter someone from getting clean, and that no one should do that UNLESS A DOCTOR DECIDES THEY NEED IT. I also said that Suboxone/Methadone CAN be used for a year or more, people can stay on it for their whole life if they need to, just that it's
not recommended. If you can't understand why that is, then you need to do some research on Suboxone and Methadone. How does it make sense that you're telling me I'm wrong... by using an argument that basically repeats exactly what I said, word for word? I don't get it.
And FYI, since some people in here clearly don't know, the reason it's not recommended to simply decide "I need to be on Suboxone or Methadone for a year or more" right away is because that is replacing one addiction/drug dependency for another. There is no way around it. If you take Suboxone longer than a few weeks, you're already dependent on it. It doesn't take that long. Many people, and many threads in here, will attest to that. There are plenty of horror stories out there about Suboxone and Methadone withdrawal; look them up.
Are you really going to tell me that 2-3 weeks on Suboxone or Methadone isn't enough time to pick up some new hobbies and find a good outpatient program, NA meetings, counselling, other type of support system, start looking for a job, and get the ball rolling to get your life back on track? Because I wasn't aware that it took that long to ditch your old friends and find a new place to hang out. Maybe for people with social anxiety issues, sure. Or for people who really just can't stay clean, no matter what they do. Those are the types of people who are better of staying on Suboxone or Methadone for long periods of time. It does NOT take six months to a year to start getting your life together.
Seriously... are you REALLY telling me that the ONLY way a person can stay clean is by getting addicted to another type of opioid? Really? I can't even wrap my head around that lol you have to be kidding me right now. Let me tell you something about Suboxone, my dear. I have been down the "uneducated patient" road. I have taken Suboxone for the amount of time that you seem to thing is "mandatory"... longer, actually. 2 years to be exact. Want to know how long it took me to ditch my old habits and get back into the swing of things (i.e. get enrolled in school and pick up some new hobbies)? One week. That's it. And REBUILDING MY LIFE is what kept me from using for those two years, far more than the Suboxone did. What actually caused me to use again was the Suboxone. Both of my relapses have been because I was on Suboxone for far too long and couldn't stand the withdrawals (first time was under medical supervision, the second time wasn't.)
So yes, I do know what I'm talking about. I just really can't wrap my head around the fact that some people actually believe the ONLY way to get clean is by getting addicted to another drug that's in the same class of drugs that ruined their lives in the first place... I want to know where the logic in that is.
But hey, OP - if you want to hate your life again a year down the road and end up having the same exact problems you're having now - only it will be legal because a doctor is prescribing the drug to you instead of a drug dealer - be my guest and listen to DooMMooD. After being on it for that long, I can guarantee you that getting off of it will be no easier than getting off of dope. Except instead of five days of withdrawal, you'll have a few weeks of it to look forward to. And if you're lucky, you won't end up like I did the first time around, when I was uneducated about how addictive a drug it is and simply listened to everything my doctor said. I ended up losing my job and dropping out of school because of that shit - after a year of taking it I started getting so unmotivated and depressed about everything. After many attempts at getting through the Sub withdrawals and failing, I felt so hopeless about my addiction that I quite literally gave up on life altogether. Suboxone ruined my life in all aspects - financially, physically, emotionally, spiritually - far more than heroin or any other opiate did. Fuck, I wouldn't even BE a junkie right now if it weren't for Suboxone. I only went on it because I thought that the hydrocodone withdrawals were unbearable (LOL... that is such a joke to me now) and I went and cried to my doctor about it on, like, the third day of withdrawals... not even knowing that if I had just held on for a day or two longer, I would have been good to go and I wouldn't still be caught up in this nightmare.
The first time I tried IV heroin was partly because I was kicking from Suboxone, and it was offered to me, and out of desperation, I said yes. I'm not saying Suboxone is to blame entirely. It was a stupid mistake and a stupid decision on my part. But I never would have done it had the withdrawals not been so bad. The thought of using dope never even crossed my mind when I was kicking hydros. Suboxone isn't something to fuck around with. Seriously, PLEASE do your research before you make any decisions. There are plenty of horror stories similar to mine out there, some worse, some not as bad, but believe me... they're out there.
Just a side note: I know more people who have kicked heroin successfully than people who have kicked a long-term Suboxone dependency/addiction successfully. The evidence of this is all over the internet too. Seriously, just go to any Suboxone website out there. I used to visit those sites every one of the million times I was about to try kicking again, looking for any advice or suggestions or ray of hope. You're going to be very discouraged by what you see, just like I was. Just saying.
And if you do decide to listen to DooM, and blindly listen to what a doctor tells you to do without doing your own research first, and you end up going on Suboxone and staying on it... I'd love for you to report back here in a year and let us know how your brand new addiction is going
I'm not attacking you btw, OP. I'm just a little pissed off that there are people on this earth who genuinely believe the only way to get clean is by replacing one addiction with another one, and who believe you should never do your own research and simply do what your doctor tells you... since your doctor knows your addiction and your mindset and your goals in life better than you do...
Anyone else wants to talk about this, feel free to PM me. I need to leave this thread before my head explodes from reading too much ignorance.