7yr suboxone use tapering off

[Mommabear1727]

Ive been taking suboxone since october of 2010. I have made so many amazing changes in my lifestyle and i feel as if im mentally ready to do a rapid detox. Ive tried slowly tapering and i honestly feel like i would have greater success by doing a short term rapid taper. The mth of dec thru the 3rd of january i was taking 16mgs daily. The past 4 days i have taken 8mgs daily and as of now i have little physical discomfort but im sure the long shelf life of the subs has alot to do with that. My plan is taking 8mgs for 4 more days then cutting that in half for a wk until im down to 2mg. Once im at 2mgs id like to cut in 3 day increments. Not gonna lie, im scared shitless. Im not scared of relapse bc theres no way that id ever go back to my old lifestyle. Im scared of withdrawals and im scared that if im not successful that this medicine will control my life forever. I just want normalcy.

 

[tuck3838]

I started opiate use at 12 daily use at 14 along with pretty much any other drug that was around but opiates were daily got on suboxone at 16 and im now 24 iv been off of all opiates since dec 12th and the 12th was my second to last day in rehab when you get through the the initial withdrawl there is going to be the paws and thats wear im at now. I just have a complete lack of energy and no motivation to do anything. Im not gunna let that stop me tho i want to get high like you wouldnt believe but like you said i cant have opioids control my life anymore good luck to you man .... i deff recomend clonadine and a heavy sleep med and a muscle relaxer and some gabapentin and a good taper it will help with the intial acute withdrawl

 

[Alldonewithit]

I highly advise not doing what you're about to do. Get yourself comfortable at 8mg a day first. Then do a 25% decrease every 4 days until you get to .25mg. At this point you take .25 for 4 days, then skip a day. Dose, Skip 2 days. Do this until you get to 4 skip days, then take your final dose. This will probably take 2 months, but it will be a more comfy 2 months than what you are about to do.

 

[tuck3838]

Yea for sure dont cone off that high off a dose it will hurt like hell

 

[Jabberwocky]

I imagine the OP is beginning to notice the discomfort from this kind of dose reduction scheme.

For someone who has been using a high dose of buprenorphine for more than have a decade, the only way to effectively and comfortably get off it tapering + comfort meds. Without a proper taper (say, 1-2 years of tapering slowly once a week) the acute withdrawal will be far more intense and drag out a lot longer. Even with comfort meds it will still be really uncomfortable and drawn out.

Tapering and comfort meds, while a big commitment, is far less painful and maximizes the average person's chances for success in early recovery. It can get frustrating sometimes, but the waiting really pays off in the end (and even before then, as lower dosages of buprenorphine seem to work better, so hanging around 2mg or less for a while as you finish your taper will help you feel less fucked up from the dose reductions that would otherwise be more severe at that point had the taper been faster).

 

[uncomfortablynumb9]

I have been on sub for 3 years, mostly on 8mg was easy to get down to 4,then got down to 3 easily. Probably because my ceiling was around three. Since then I've been reducing by. 25 about every 8 days. I never thought I could get under 3mg. Right now I have sussessfully been stable on 2.0 Next will be 1.75 Even with this schedule it will take months. I went on Lexapro to help with the overwhelming anxiety that would creep up constantly. Each time I reduce by. 25 I take clonapin for 3 days... so far it has been working extremely well. This is my 4th attempt and this time it is working so far. Before, I could not get under 3mg. So to be a whole 1mg lower is encouraging. For others.... Tyr the. 25 method, seems to be a very good way so far. Any questions or if I can help someone let me know, as the first few times I failed terribly and with the help of a few things it seems to be going really well.

 

[LopLover]

I've been on Sub for about 10 years and have to either get off now or switch doctors, as my provider is retiring. I tapered with little or no discomfort from 8 mg daily to 4 to 2 to 1 over a period of about 3 years. It was getting lower than that where it was difficult. I got down to 1/4 of a 2mg strip, or 1/2 mg, per week, taken once every other day and managed to get reasonably comfortable, then the next drop, to 1/4 mg per week, I hit a wall. I went into pretty severe withdrawals that seemed to never end. So I went back up and have been taking 1/2 mg per week, for several months.

My issue is that I'm more or less terminally ill. I have advanced lung disease that is aggravated by any other disease process going on in my body, including withdrawal. Also, with so little time left, it seems unfair to force me to spend the rest of my life in withdrawals, and I went as far as three weeks completely Sub-and other opiate-free without the w/d getting any better. I even tried switching to kratom on the theory that it was short-acting and when the time came to kick it, it should only be a few days, but it didn't work that way. The point is, that if you really want to be successful, and stay clean after you get off Sub, it's really worth it to taper slowly.

I was amazed at what a couple of days of withdrawals did to me--turned me right back into a fiending junkie, ready to do whatever to get well. Fortunately since I've moved back to my home town I've stayed far away from drug users I used to know, and haven't sought out any new ones. So it made it impossible to get anything very quickly, and I was able to contact my regular doctor and get my dose increased before I used anything else. Now I have to tell my primary that if I won't script me with it, I have to switch doctors, which sucks, but I can't take the chance of having to try to find a doctor later when my old prescriber retired for good. So if you want long-term results, taper slowly. And if you get down there and it doesn't feel right to get off it, stop your taper and think about it for a while. There's no magic to getting off Sub and being "opioid-free" if you're going to just relapse down the road. I believe there are certain people who should probably stay on it for life, and I'm one of those people.

 

[Stargazer]

Hey Loplover! I agree- why should you suffer with so much going on. I admire your strength. You did really well.

I just started subs 12 days ago. All the threads about the nightmare of getting off of them scare me.

But...

I feel subs are a better idea than using IV h at this time. My life is a wreck. I'm just beginning the "digging myself out" process. I'm praying not to lose my apartment. I'm at that stage. .

mommabear- take your time. I believe you did the right thing for you. You've regained be your life. ,

I'm hoping to do the same. That's the plan.

 

[tathra]

getting down to 2-4mg can happen pretty quick no matter how much you're taking. step it down 2-4mg every couple days, or once a week, lowering your dose just enough and just quick enough that you dont really feel wd, the exact amounts will vary from person to person; some people can rapidly drop from 8mg to 2mg within a week. its once you get to 2mg and below that the tapering starts getting difficult.

once it starts getting difficult, typically around 2-4mg/day, you want to step it down .25-.5mg once every 2-4 weeks, just enough that you dont really feel discomfort and giving yourself enough time to adjust to the new dose before lowering it further. then once you get down to .13-.25mg/day you skip to every other day or every 3rd day for a bit, and then a period of only taking a tiny bit when you start feeling the wd. tapering on long-lasting meds is a long process.