Bupe Suboxone W/D Questions

[test2a]

I was on 1-2mg of sub for 5 years. Over the past 2 months I tapered down to .1 mg/day. Then stopped 3 days ago. I was on .1mg for 6 days and a felt mildy sick for the the last 4 days of the .1mg.

So I have had no sub for the past 3 days and I do not feel much worse than before I stopped. Each night before bed for the past 3 days I have taken 4 - 2mg Immodium and 1 - 50mg Tramadol. This seems to make the restless leg portion of W/D bearable enough so that I can get 4 hours of sleep or so per night. My question is are the Tramadol and Immodium just going to prolong the W/D to the point where I am going to have taper off of them and go thru this all over again or do you think they are ok to continue using to offset the symptoms for the next 3-4 days. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

[Nether Animal]

Yes they are going to prolong it, albeit not as intense. You are still using opioids; this is why you don't feel much worse than before you stopped.

 

[Prescottdave]

Your body will quickly become dependent on the tramadol. Tramadol has the ability at a 50 mg dose to almost cover up WD's from stopping 100 mcg or so of bupe. The tram should only be used for a couple days max. Then when you stop the tramadol you will likely have to go through another set of ACUTE WD's. If it was me I would taper to 25 mg tram, 2 mg lope for 2 days and then DC the meds at that dose. To get better you will have to stop all opiates even ones that are partial agonists or do not cross the BBB.

I had to find another medication to cover up some of the WD's after stopping sub. This can include clonidine. If your taking tramadol to get over WD's you should be adding clonidine to your arsenal under the care of a medical professional. People forget just how helpful this medication can be.

 

[Zerwas]

^This. I also suggest to stop using Tramadol and these middle Lope doses. You tapered as far as it gets and should theoretically only experience a mild-medium withdrawal which will probably take a while due to the 5 years of use.
But if you get used to the Lope and Tram, you have to WD from them again which is just contraproductive. Especially Tramadols serotonergic effects don't do any good in the long run.
Try non-opioid comfort med like the mentioned Clonidine, Gabapentin/Lyrica and maybe a few Benzos for max 3 days.
Good luck!

 

[Invisible Helper]

I doubt the lope even if you took 20 mgs would do anything at that point the tramadol will hold you back but not much in my mind

 

[Keif' Richards]

I think you're right to worry, as you always want to take cross-tolerance into account when you're trying to medicate your withdrawal. With that in mind, I don't feel like the doses that you're using of Loperamide and Tramadol is unreasonable. I don't think it's enough to reverse your withdrawal to the beginning, like using strong Opioids might do. Truthfully, even if the small doses are going to prolong the withdrawal a little bit, it could be worth it in favor of getting a good night's rest through the process. Lack of sleep is a real hit to morale when I'm sick.

A Doctor would probably advise you to take that much Loperamide anyway. It's probably enough to keep the diarrhea (sp) in check, but not much else. Most of us are well aware of the potential Loperamide has for "abuse", some taking hundreds of milligrams at a time. These people are definitely setting themselves back and then some, as high-dose use of this drug often leads to a drastically increased tolerance.

Tramadol is comparatively pretty week and 50mg is a small dose, so I wouldn't worry. It could be somehow related to the Serotonergic effects that your Restless Legs is cured, but if it works it works and you're making progress. Wait for the right time then find a way to taper down the Tramadol if you feel it's necessary for you.