Desperate Is it better/easier to detox off of Oxycodone or Bupe?

[Masemase]

Thanks in advance for your help and everyone’s posts that are encouraging and informative.

My fight with opiates has been for almost a decade, starting and stopping then starting again like many here. In fact my first post here was in 2011 when I was starting an inpatient bupe study, which helped me taper off of Suboxone the first time successfully.

I started taking oxycodone again a year later, switched to bupe again a few years after that, then got off of bupe again last year with some outpatient help before starting on the oxycodone again.

I am ready to stop, finally, once and for all, and I have the support of a GF this time, which I feel will be instrumental to my success. I am currently taking between 10mg and 20mg of oxycodone per day, which is not a particularly huge habit, but considering it has been for over a decade now, it is certainly one that is ingrained.

I have a good amount of Suboxone leftover from last year, and my plan was to flush my oxycodone, switch to bupe, and then do a relatively quick taper off of that (maybe 14 days). However, I have done a bunch more reading this go-round, and it seems like maybe the detox from bupe is worse than going off of oxycodone directly, given that the half-life is so much longer.

One thing that is important to me is the ability to continue with my life rather than having to be out of commission for a week or so, which I feel the bupe allows me to do. That said, now that I have someone “in the loop” I feel like making the jump direct from the percs cold turkey might be the way to go, even if it means being a zombie for 5-7 days.

In all likelihood I’ll probably be reaching out for professional help, even though my experience with that has been mixed at best and unhelpful at worst; I have found that these forums are typically more knowledgable and helpful than anything.

So my question is: what is your thoughts on detoxing directly off of an oxycodone dose of 15mg versus transitioning to then tapering off of bupe?

Again, thanks so much in advance.

 

[Joey]

Sheer numbers. Oxycodone has about a 4.5 - 5.6 hour half life vs Buprenorphines 38 average (ranging from 25-70 hours), so the amount of time you will spend detoxing once you've tapered off is about equivalently longer. Lets say oxy is a solid 5 and bupe is 25 at the lowest, its 5x longer and possibly much more. I'm not sure that the total withdrawal time is actually so straightforward like tit for tat on that math but halflife does effect your withdrawal time significantly.

I would still say that it isn't a bad idea to go on bupe though. I successfully got off of heroin with methadone a couple years back. I got to a methadone dose that was sufficient, and after awhile (some ups and downs along the way) I successfully cold turkeyed methadone after lowering it several times to 20mg/day from 50.

The structure of going on these things and being in contact with an addictions doctor and the pharmacy on a regular basis can add some motivation and structure to your day and keep you in check. You can't abuse your bupe or methadone really but a self administered oxy taper or cold turkey alone could lead to a cycle of on / off binging and such for awhile. People do quit all the time, on their own or with professional help. It's up to you to decide what scenario fits your needs the best and go from there.

Its a longwinded bitch to get off things like bupe in the end, but I think along the way there you'll find better support with a professional. Otherwise, there's lots of ways to taper down if not just cold turkey. 10-20mg a day isn't too heavy a habit, but definitely check out the forums for all the options. There's a lot of members here that are much more well versed than I am self tapering, detoxing meds for cold turkey, supplements, etc.

 

[Bamafan11]

I’m new here but not so much to opioid addiction and the terrible WD’s. Over 20 years I’ve struggled with opioids and thought there was nothing that could possibly be worse until I signed up for the Suboxone clinic and stayed for 2 years. I was down to a 1/4 of an 8 mg strip per day and felt I’d have no problem dropping off completely. Boy was I wrong! I think personally I went for 3 months plus before I even started to feel better. For me personally I’d much rather come off the oxy & have a tough few weeks vs a tough several months with sub’s. No professional would ever agree but what helped me the most was using adderall for a couple months. At least you can get up and have a little energy to do something still feel like hammered hell but at least I could get outta bed. Best of luck friend you can do it. It’s not going to be easy but it’s definitely worth it!

 

[Joey]

I’m new here but not so much to opioid addiction and the terrible WD’s. Over 20 years I’ve struggled with opioids and thought there was nothing that could possibly be worse until I signed up for the Suboxone clinic and stayed for 2 years. I was down to a 1/4 of an 8 mg strip per day and felt I’d have no problem dropping off completely. Boy was I wrong! I think personally I went for 3 months plus before I even started to feel better. For me personally I’d much rather come off the oxy & have a tough few weeks vs a tough several months with sub’s. No professional would ever agree but what helped me the most was using adderall for a couple months. At least you can get up and have a little energy to do something still feel like hammered hell but at least I could get outta bed. Best of luck friend you can do it. It’s not going to be easy but it’s definitely worth it!

Got to admit when I got off of methadone I did use some crystal coasting through that. I don't actually know how bad I felt it, except for me it was about a week later I was sober and I wasnt even in withdrawal. I might have been a lucky case though because I know for a fact that people have gone on to feel like hell for over a month coming off of methadone. I imagine bupe is pretty similar.

 

[Masemase]

I’m new here but not so much to opioid addiction and the terrible WD’s. Over 20 years I’ve struggled with opioids and thought there was nothing that could possibly be worse until I signed up for the Suboxone clinic and stayed for 2 years. I was down to a 1/4 of an 8 mg strip per day and felt I’d have no problem dropping off completely. Boy was I wrong! I think personally I went for 3 months plus before I even started to feel better. For me personally I’d much rather come off the oxy & have a tough few weeks vs a tough several months with sub’s. No professional would ever agree but what helped me the most was using adderall for a couple months. At least you can get up and have a little energy to do something still feel like hammered hell but at least I could get outta bed. Best of luck friend you can do it. It’s not going to be easy but it’s definitely worth it!

Thanks so much - I appreciate it!

 

[KraziLadi]

I posted on your other thread as well, but wanted to mention .. my psych did rx adderall when I tapered off benzos and it helped immensely. Taking it now as I taper as well. Imo it really helped w the depression, but I also spin around in circles all day without it so