WannaB4EvrClean
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2017
- Messages
- 2
Hello, I am assisting my goldfish with a suboxone taper plan and am hoping to get feedback from others who have been successful with their own suboxone departures, and also from others who may possess helpful theories and ideas. First, can I say, I am always confused if it's spelled withdraw or withdrawl... but don't want to lose this page so please don't judge me for using the incorrect spelling.
Background:
Goldie began using opiates in 2012 for an injury to her back, but by 2013 the fish's opiate of choice was the heroin/fentanyl concoction... as a side note, Goldie thanks God for every day that she is alive, others have not been so lucky. God has been merciful to Goldie... September of 2015 Goldie decided to get off of heroin and found a dealer of suboxone. Goldie had hoped to only consume suboxone for 3-7 days, but the inner addict in her craved the onset of energy that she sometimes felt from the subs, so she continued to consume them. Sometimes she would take a lot (8mg) and other times she would take a little (2mg), but Goldie has taken suboxone every day since September 2015. Goldie remembers the day she experienced a feeling she had not felt in a long time, she felt the sunshine, and she felt normal. For anyone who has ever experienced the darkness, you know this feeling is significant and represents healing; Goldie believes that only through prolonged use of suboxone was she able to get to that point. Goldie was even hospitalized at one point and when the doctor offered her narcotics to take home, she refused them. As a matter of fact, had Goldie wanted to, she could have relapsed at any time; she had cut ties with all of the other junkie fishies years ago, but there was one whom, due to relation, she could not cut ties with. Before he died a few months ago, she could have used him to help her relapse, but she never even considered it, she only tried to help him.
Almost a year ago, Goldie came to a place in her life where she knew she could not continue purchasing suboxone illegally and went to a doctor for help; she told the doctor it had been exactly 1 year since she had used heroin, that she had tapered down to 4mg of suboxone and wanted to be free of the need for drugs to function but that her insurance would be running out in just a couple of months. The doctor expressed surprise that Goldie was so well informed about suboxone (secretly, Goldie recognized that she was better educated about suboxone than the doctor). The doctor agreed to help Goldie complete her taper, but suggested Goldie go slow and recommended a prescription for 2mg suboxone strips, twice a day. However, when Goldie picked up her prescription it was for 8mg strips twice a day. This brought out Goldies inner addict, and instead of calling her doctor and asking that her doctor correct the prescription, Goldie took the suboxone as prescribed on the bottle. This made Goldie's tolerance go back up (Goldie believes the doctor did this on purpose, as it was a new clinic with few patients and the opioid epidemic is critical whre she lives... thus creating potential for doctors/clinics/pharmaceutical companies to make lots of money) ). Eventually Goldie's insurance ran out and she had to start purchasing the suboxone off of the streets again.
Currently:
In a few months Goldie will be clean from heroin for 2 years, but Goldie knows she can do better. Suboxone is still a temptation of Goldies and she wants to be forever clean ...and she doesn't want to continue any illegal activities.
Currently she is taking 3.5mg a day. This is still a powerful amount so she hopes to taper more. However, tapering is difficult for Goldie; tapering at higher doses has always been easier than tapering at lower doses; she knows this is because the lower she gets in her taper that the amount of residual suboxone remaining on her receptors becomes lower making her more susceptible to withdraw.
She has long considered tapering then skipping days, but has had so much difficulty with the tapering alone, that when it comes to skipping days she just can't seem to do it, not without taking a benzo, which she definitely doens't want to get addicted to.
Goldie keeps a chart that she uses to input her daily doses. Column 1 is the date, column 2 is the dose (mg) and column 3 represents the amount of suboxone in Goldies body. Column 3's formula:
(yesterday's mg/1.75)+today's mg
The formula was divided by 2 instead of 1.75, but Goldie is not so sure her metabolism is sheding half in 24 hours so she dropped it down to 1.75.
This chart has proved to be tremendously helpful for Goldie. It keeps her proactive in her taper and gives her a sense of control. It also gives her a visual representation; she finds it very helpful.
She is now exploring other ideas, one being Kratom. Any sign of restless legs will cause her to relapse. Although she accepts that there will be some unpleasantness, she refuses to be subjected to full blown withdrawl. She knows from her extensive research that if she uses kratom for 7-10 days it will most likely take away the withdrawals, but hopes to receive some educated and/or experienced suggestions for kratom usage. She has noticed a lot of people continue using the kratom long term, replacing it for the suboxone - this is not an option for Goldie as she does not want to have a dependence on any substance.
Last night she researched water flushing and considered it an option, however she is considering the following thought and would love to hear other fish's thoughts on the idea:
Water will not flush suboxone from the brain's receptors, but it will speed up metabolism. A faster metabolism will knock suboxone off the receptors. Now you have empty receptors which puts you in withdrawl,
will light/moderate exercise replace the suboxone on the receptors with dopamine? If she decides to try this method when should she start? If she did it now then wouldn't she end up using more suboxone to make up for what's been flushed out?
Or
Should she start the water flush now -7ish days- and use kratom -toss and wash method (think that's the terminology) during those 7ish days... so if she did that, the water would speed up her metabolism, the metabolism would knock off the suboxone, the kratom would replace the suboxone - but would the water also knock off the kratom? Should she incorporate Imodium?
Goldie wants to be responsible with whichever method she uses. The first attempt she made proved to her that the opioid epidemic is a well oiled, money making machine... i.e. the suboxone doctor's are legalized drug pushers (this may not be true everywhere, but where she lives it is a fact).
It should be noted that tapering has caused Goldies blood pressure to sky rocket... poor fish...
Goldie is hoping for educated responses and would prefer to not have to read those nasty, negative, ignorant opinions she frequently sees when reading these types of threads. Goldie has spent the last 2 years researching these subjects, so anyone who responds should also be knowledgeable about them.
Goldie wants to include a "thank you" in advance to everyone who trys to help her through this. It is her hope that if we can develop a successful plan, others will also be able to successfully break away from the grip of suboxone, as it appears that there is not a "one size fits all" method to the suboxone exit strategy.
Background:
Goldie began using opiates in 2012 for an injury to her back, but by 2013 the fish's opiate of choice was the heroin/fentanyl concoction... as a side note, Goldie thanks God for every day that she is alive, others have not been so lucky. God has been merciful to Goldie... September of 2015 Goldie decided to get off of heroin and found a dealer of suboxone. Goldie had hoped to only consume suboxone for 3-7 days, but the inner addict in her craved the onset of energy that she sometimes felt from the subs, so she continued to consume them. Sometimes she would take a lot (8mg) and other times she would take a little (2mg), but Goldie has taken suboxone every day since September 2015. Goldie remembers the day she experienced a feeling she had not felt in a long time, she felt the sunshine, and she felt normal. For anyone who has ever experienced the darkness, you know this feeling is significant and represents healing; Goldie believes that only through prolonged use of suboxone was she able to get to that point. Goldie was even hospitalized at one point and when the doctor offered her narcotics to take home, she refused them. As a matter of fact, had Goldie wanted to, she could have relapsed at any time; she had cut ties with all of the other junkie fishies years ago, but there was one whom, due to relation, she could not cut ties with. Before he died a few months ago, she could have used him to help her relapse, but she never even considered it, she only tried to help him.
Almost a year ago, Goldie came to a place in her life where she knew she could not continue purchasing suboxone illegally and went to a doctor for help; she told the doctor it had been exactly 1 year since she had used heroin, that she had tapered down to 4mg of suboxone and wanted to be free of the need for drugs to function but that her insurance would be running out in just a couple of months. The doctor expressed surprise that Goldie was so well informed about suboxone (secretly, Goldie recognized that she was better educated about suboxone than the doctor). The doctor agreed to help Goldie complete her taper, but suggested Goldie go slow and recommended a prescription for 2mg suboxone strips, twice a day. However, when Goldie picked up her prescription it was for 8mg strips twice a day. This brought out Goldies inner addict, and instead of calling her doctor and asking that her doctor correct the prescription, Goldie took the suboxone as prescribed on the bottle. This made Goldie's tolerance go back up (Goldie believes the doctor did this on purpose, as it was a new clinic with few patients and the opioid epidemic is critical whre she lives... thus creating potential for doctors/clinics/pharmaceutical companies to make lots of money) ). Eventually Goldie's insurance ran out and she had to start purchasing the suboxone off of the streets again.
Currently:
In a few months Goldie will be clean from heroin for 2 years, but Goldie knows she can do better. Suboxone is still a temptation of Goldies and she wants to be forever clean ...and she doesn't want to continue any illegal activities.
Currently she is taking 3.5mg a day. This is still a powerful amount so she hopes to taper more. However, tapering is difficult for Goldie; tapering at higher doses has always been easier than tapering at lower doses; she knows this is because the lower she gets in her taper that the amount of residual suboxone remaining on her receptors becomes lower making her more susceptible to withdraw.
She has long considered tapering then skipping days, but has had so much difficulty with the tapering alone, that when it comes to skipping days she just can't seem to do it, not without taking a benzo, which she definitely doens't want to get addicted to.
Goldie keeps a chart that she uses to input her daily doses. Column 1 is the date, column 2 is the dose (mg) and column 3 represents the amount of suboxone in Goldies body. Column 3's formula:
(yesterday's mg/1.75)+today's mg
The formula was divided by 2 instead of 1.75, but Goldie is not so sure her metabolism is sheding half in 24 hours so she dropped it down to 1.75.
This chart has proved to be tremendously helpful for Goldie. It keeps her proactive in her taper and gives her a sense of control. It also gives her a visual representation; she finds it very helpful.
She is now exploring other ideas, one being Kratom. Any sign of restless legs will cause her to relapse. Although she accepts that there will be some unpleasantness, she refuses to be subjected to full blown withdrawl. She knows from her extensive research that if she uses kratom for 7-10 days it will most likely take away the withdrawals, but hopes to receive some educated and/or experienced suggestions for kratom usage. She has noticed a lot of people continue using the kratom long term, replacing it for the suboxone - this is not an option for Goldie as she does not want to have a dependence on any substance.
Last night she researched water flushing and considered it an option, however she is considering the following thought and would love to hear other fish's thoughts on the idea:
Water will not flush suboxone from the brain's receptors, but it will speed up metabolism. A faster metabolism will knock suboxone off the receptors. Now you have empty receptors which puts you in withdrawl,
will light/moderate exercise replace the suboxone on the receptors with dopamine? If she decides to try this method when should she start? If she did it now then wouldn't she end up using more suboxone to make up for what's been flushed out?
Or
Should she start the water flush now -7ish days- and use kratom -toss and wash method (think that's the terminology) during those 7ish days... so if she did that, the water would speed up her metabolism, the metabolism would knock off the suboxone, the kratom would replace the suboxone - but would the water also knock off the kratom? Should she incorporate Imodium?
Goldie wants to be responsible with whichever method she uses. The first attempt she made proved to her that the opioid epidemic is a well oiled, money making machine... i.e. the suboxone doctor's are legalized drug pushers (this may not be true everywhere, but where she lives it is a fact).
It should be noted that tapering has caused Goldies blood pressure to sky rocket... poor fish...
Goldie is hoping for educated responses and would prefer to not have to read those nasty, negative, ignorant opinions she frequently sees when reading these types of threads. Goldie has spent the last 2 years researching these subjects, so anyone who responds should also be knowledgeable about them.
Goldie wants to include a "thank you" in advance to everyone who trys to help her through this. It is her hope that if we can develop a successful plan, others will also be able to successfully break away from the grip of suboxone, as it appears that there is not a "one size fits all" method to the suboxone exit strategy.
