Sub taper and withdrawal story

[Damoxy]

I would like to share my experience with sub withdrawal and how easy it was in the hope of well, giving hope.
Long story short, was on Oxy and heroin.
Started sub at 6mg soon tapered down to 2-4mg for 2 years. I then made the decision to do it. So cut 0.4 a month till off. Each cut got a little harder but only really lack of energy and a bit of anxiety which small amounts of diazepam helped. Then it came to the jump. Like all addicts I was scared. Silly of me. I had many relapses but just kept waiting for the storm. It never came. No loss of appetite, maybe some loose bowel movements,odd sneeze,yawn and the lingering energy loss. I am in no way putting anyone elses struggles down I just wish I did it sooner. Lethargy still a slight problem but I was so surprised how easy I found it. Just taper correctly and be disciplined. I wish anyone the best of luck. Too many horror stories and not enough success stories. Also come to terms you may always be an addict just not an active one. Don't let your guard down. Good luck

 

[hikfromstik]

I'm glad it worked for you .The tapering is very hard for some . It's kinda of catch 22 thing . Some can swing it and some cant . Congratulations on being off bupe .

 

[cj]

Glad it worked out well. I think a good taper can make all the difference. I jumped at 2mg and it was the worst experience of my life.

 

[Bolosob]

Could you explain the "cut 0.4 a month"? I have been on Subutex 8 mg for 5 yrs. I have tapered down to 1.5 mg a day (3/4 of a 2mg pill). I plan to stay at this dose for 2-3 weeks and then go to 1 mg, do 2-3 weeks and then go to .5, 2-3 weeks then .25, 2-3 weeks and then .25 every 2nd or 3rd day as needed. I may substitute for a very low dose of Tramadol at some point <100 mg a day. When I went to 2 mg, at about the 3rd night I had restless legs and just took an extra .2 mg of sub and that was enough. Didn't need the boost again but I know I can try this trick again if needed. Felt lethargic yesterday after dropping to 1.5. You have to be ready and never want to go through this again. I have zero cravings for opiates. No way will I put myself through this again. I have an extra 90 8mg pills of subutex now! Guess they will end up in the toilet eventually.

 

[Damoxy]

That sounds a good plan. Hope it worked

You are hopefully on your way off. I was expecting the worst and it never came. A bit of lethargy but that's it. A good walk sorts that.
To explain the 0.4 cut, I was on 2mg for ages. I'm in England and can get the 0.4mg tablets. So each month dropped to 1.6,1.2,0.8,0.4 and off.
A word of advice. Get rid of all your subs. I had a few left and relapsed but ended up making the last 0.4 last me 4 days. Felt zero wds I hope you have done it. It would be nice to know how you did?

 

[Bolosob]

Damoxy. Thanks for clarifying. I am now taking 1mg of suboxone in the morning (half of a 2 mg strip) and one 100mg tramadol in the afternoon. Been doing that for a week now with no issues. I'll next drop to either .5 mg sub and 100 mg of tramadol or just two 100 mg tab. Should be done in 2 months or less. I can now see my pupils!

 

[Zeke85]

hello I am new to this thread and have a concern that maybe you guys can help with. I am an oxycodone addict and have went through withdrawal many times before but decided to give suboxone a try this time and get clean so went to nearby clinic and got put on sub 16mg/day a week ago. Wasn?t doing so well so far so when I was supposed to take my sub yesterday I took 30mg of oxy instead then about 4 hrs later had my sub dose in my mouth dissolving under my tongue when I came across a discussion about PW and thought holy shit am I headed that way and immediately spit my sub dose out and counties to read. It?s 1:00pm the next day and not feeling so well but I been worse so is it safe to take my sub? Should I wait? If so for how long? I?m just a little scared right now and slightly confused? Please give me some help.

 

[Feathermcnastyyy]

Hoping someone may help me with this question I can?t seem to find it anywhere..... I cold turkey subs 4 days ago, detox has been not so bad until today, wondering if I took just a pinch of Suboxone if it will restart my withdrawal all over again?

 

[Beenbetter]

I did the skip days thing when kicked em the last time.
Then I skipped two days. Then I skipped three etc. it worked, but like a good addict I went back. Hate myself for these decisions.

 

[OpiateInfadel]

Feather...in my personal experiences, it always eased my WDs and just became part of the taper. My WDs always started around day 4 or 5 anyway. I really struggled with my Suboxone and just could and can not take it as prescribed (not saying that you have this problem) so I tried stopping several times over the years, always without much success. Sorry sidetracked... for some it restarts their addiction to subs, and for some it just eases their WDs making it easier to continue their taper to sobriety

 

[Bolosob]

WIsh I had replied sooner. No, it won't start it all over. You should have tapered but a tiny bit of sub can do wonders and it may be the last you have to take. If you cold turkeyed from 2mg, you might take 1/10 that amount. Give it an hour before taking any more.

 

[Bolosob]

If you had been taking only oxy and then took a sub without waiting for w/d symptoms it could cause precipitated w/d. However, you were already on Sub and you then took oxy. The oxy wouldn't have done anything for you anyway since you had so much sub in your system that all the receptors were occupied and couldn't take the oxy. In any case, in your case, there would be no precipitated w/d. Oxy won't work for you until you have cleared most of the sub from your system which at 16 mg dose would take at least 2 weeks.

 

[ladyhlove]

^^2 weeks? Naw bro. You can generally feel a full agonist about 12 hours, even after 16mg. Trust me. Maybe not 100%...but by 3 days you will def feel it at 100% again.

 

[ladyhlove]

But you are correct, taking the sub after the oxy wouldn't have caused PWD if you had taken your subs within 2-3 days.

 

[Bolosob]

Update: I continued this taper so that I dropped every 3 weeks. Went from 1.5 to 1mg a day with 100mg tramadol added. Did this for 3 weeks then jumped off the subs to 350mg of tramadol a day. After one week I went to 300mg tramadol per day and stayed on this dose for 3 weeks. Then, a month clear of suboxone I began my Tramadol taper. After doing some research I decided to lower my dose by approx 10% every 2 days. So I went from 300 mg to 275 mg (I could only cut the 100 mg Tramadol tablet into quarters). Etc... Now I am at 150 mg of tramadol per day. I'll go down by 12.5 mg every two days. I was able to do this by getting 50 mg Tramadol tablets and cutting them in quarters. I will be done in less than 2 weeks. The whole experience has been difficult. Last week I thought I was going crazy and made an emergency appt to see my Psychiatrist who prescribed me clonidine and hydroxyzine pamoate. Both help with some of the withdrawal symptoms but make me sleepy. At 150 mg Tramadol per day I am feeling much better and this should all be behind me soon. Best of luck to anyone who is tapering. I hope my experience can help someone.

 

[Bolosob]

Update: I am now 8 days clean from all opiates. The tramadol taper was difficult but once I got to one 12.5 mg dose per day, I stayed on that only 2 days and then nothing. Still feel slight withdrawal flu-like symptoms but better each day.

 

[thedawn]

I was on subs, first 24mg, then 16, then 8mg for five years.
The doses were way too high.
I went down to 2mg, then used kratom for awhile when withdrawing.
It's a horror story, I don't wish bupe w/d's on anyone.
It's doable though, I did smoke a bit of tar after being off subs for a month, cuz I could.
It's fucked up the way opiates rewire your thought process.
I was just never in the right state of mind for anything.
Oh well, best of luck to all of us. Peace.