Hello, this isn't my first post, I have been struggling to get off of suboxone for quite some time now. I'm just looking for something positive about leaving suboxone...I am down to .5mg and I am scared out of my wits of being sober. It's been a long time. I've had suboxone through everything in my life for the last 8 years. I fear I do not know how to live without it...I just need something positive to put my mind to when it comes to being 100% sober. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks
John, you sound pretty motivated to quit. That's the most important thing. One thing to remember is that your basic personality hasn't been changed by the Sub. All it's doing at a low dose is keeping you from going into w/ds, as Tathra already said. So anything you handled in your life on Sub you can handle without it. That said, the trick is getting through the withdrawal, which seems to last forever when you're in it. You already are down to a pretty low dose. Do you plan on dropping lower or jumping off from your current dose? Either way you are probably going to have several weeks of withdrawals. They aren't as severe as ones from methadone or heroin, but they are long-lasting. Everyone has a different experience, from no kick at all to "the worst ever!" Average seems to be several weeks of being pretty uncomfortable, about like days 5 and 6 from heroin or Oxy, except those days last into 3 weeks or so.
A couple of things that will help a lot: Exercise and nutrition, both healthy foods and supplements. Exercise is the ONLY way your brain can learn to make endorphins again. That's one thing about being on opiates for a long time, including Sub; because the drug takes over the job of making the chemicals that make us feel good, it takes a long time, even after the first stage of withdrawal is finally over, to feel decent again because our brains have forgotten how to make the neurotransmitters that help us to feel OK. Even light exercise, like cardio, or lifting light weights or yoga, helps. I'm not an expert on supplements; some of the mods are, and can help you with ones that are helpful. Also there are a number of medications that are helpful, but I'll leave that for someone more experienced than me.
My experience has been that what was worst, besides the depression and anxiety, was the muscle cramps and restless legs. I didn't have many digestive symptoms or sinus ones, runny noses, etc. Those restless legs were really awful, though. There are plenty of prescription muscle relaxers that can help, also herbals and OTC's. The insomnia, like always from any kind of withdrawal, also sucks. I've been using melatonin, since no doctor in this town will give me benzoes, for some reason. If you can get some Xanax, Valium or Ambien, short-term, it will help. Just don't get caught up in those, because the kick from them is worse, and dangerous as well.
Don't worry about what life without Sub is going to be like, because once you get over the kick, it really isn't much different. Like I said, it doesn't change you much, except maybe to keep you very slightly sedated--my experience--but at a low dose, like you're on, it doesn't even do that. Most people prefer sobriety in the long run!
