Bupe Advice on last stage of taper

[Flaga121]

So I've come to the hardest part of every taper, going to nothing at all. I spent a little over a year of my life with an ramping opiate addiction, the moment I started to actually care about the direction of my life again I was able to move to Bupe (though, not through a doctor). Over the next year I build a steady Bupe addiction before deciding it was time to start a taper. My taper was moving along slowly until about 4 months ago when my supply became intermittent (I always promised myself if I had to hunt for the drugs, I would quit, and I meant to keep that promise.) When my supplier decided to head to rehab for a nasty Phamy opiate addiction I bought 5 8mg suboxone sublingual strips and started cutting my dose quickly.

I thought I had two strips left, but either I lost track of how many I had done at some point, or one is so well hidden from myself I will never find it. Either way is alright with me, I panicked at first admittedly, but I'm ready. My last dose was .025 at 9:00pm last night. I am going to use my last strip, but my plan is to allow things to get bad first. I feel I can stabilize on one .025 dose each day. I work as a mental health professional, so hiding my withdrawal is very important to me (I am not an addiction specialist mind you, but I work with many). I hear somethings about Kratom managing symptoms, if this is true what is everyones preferred preparation (money is not an issue).

I am already under 1mg daily and know I will catch some flack for not going cold turkey. I can take it, I've quit subs multiple times before (during college, always fell back of course, but can handle the withdrawal) I would just really prefer not to lose my job cleaning up my life.

I smoke Cannabis daily, and have no intention of quitting, I enjoy it and have smoked for years without seeing my "use ramp up" which is the way I define an addiction. I am looking for sleep aid suggestions, nothing that inhibits Gaba receptors (I don't even drink.)

Thanks.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Anything under 1mg is a good dose to come off. Obviously the lower the better. I like .25 or .125mg's for a hop off dose.

At that level, the withdrawals really wont be that bad, save for just generally being uncomfortable. You're right to be concerned about the sleep issue, as that's almost always a symptom and can last for quite a while. The obvious things that help are benzos, sleep aids like seroquel, etc. But, you have to be careful if you go the benzo route not to end up dependent on those.

 

[Flaga121]

I would rather not sleep then take Benzos personally. Thats a no-go class of drugs for me.

Seroquel has never worked for withdrawal in the past for me personally, not sure why.

Thank you, it's always nice to hear support that my taper is low enough at this point.

 

[Sorce]

i used a kratom taper to finally get off of bupe/loperamide. it worked for me, im now 10 days off of all opiates. i still feel shitty from time to time in waves but overall i am through it.

 

[Flaga121]

Congratulations sir, must be a good feeling knowing the worst is over.

 

[BlueHues]

^If you can get stabilized on .25mg, you'll be right in position to jump off, be proud for how far you've come with it already, it's not easy...

Kratom is another opioid that can cause physical dependence, so is loperamide. I've never used either, because I'm afraid my dependence would just be transferred to them.

I'd go the loperamide route myself, but whatever you go with, make sure you're dosing lower than the equivalent of your last bupe dose...otherwise, you'll be going backwards!

 

[Flaga121]

Thanks so much for the kind words, it's a nice contrast to what I'm used to hearing about this topic. I'm aware of the risk and intend to keep it very low dose and only right before bed. If it holds me as well or better I will stop. I just want a more mild sleep aid without switching did Classes. More or less a way to go below my sub dose.

 

[Sorce]

everyone experiences withdrawal differently, but for me 1mg/day suboxone withdrawals were pretty bad. .25 will probably be much easier but you will still want "something" i couldnt even stop taking 2mg of loperamide per day (after months of abstinence from all other opiates) because the withdrawals were still pretty bad (for me). the only withdrawals i was able to "tough it out" through were those from low doses of kratom, but like other people have mentioned, you can get stuck on that if you don't have control. I am just glad to be finally done with needing something to feel normal every day. The PAWS after 10 days is still pretty rough but i find that sex and spending time with my girlfriend make me totally forget about needing anything at all. good luck to you.

 

[Flaga121]

Also the issue isn't addiction in the abstract its addiction to a controlled pharmaceutical that causes me problems. If i trade it for a mild Kratom hair so be it. At my worst I took about 2mg of subs a day. And I've never used needles. I self medicate but lack the tendency to self destruct generally speaking.

 

[deidara]

I haven't withdrawn from suboxone (yet) but I used Kratom to help me come off heroin and it helped a lot. You have to eat a lot of it thought, I believe like 3-8 grams, so it is best to put it in capsules. If you want a mild sleep aid I would try melatonin or benadryl. Good luck

 

[dwamn]

zyprexa mixed with trazadone is a pretty good knockout combo and neither are addicting

 

[Flaga121]

Legally avaliable without a prescription is key. If i rebuild connects in that world it won't end with sleep Aids lol. I like Kratom because I can use online sourcing. I'm an active drug user but my connections are not in the Pharmy world these days.

And using backchannels for Grey market pharms is a great way to lose the license I spent 4 years of post grad work becoming qualified for.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

but whatever you go with, make sure you're dosing lower than the equivalent of your last bupe dose...otherwise, you'll be going backwards!

^^

This.

Many people don't realize this, and they think that just switching to another drug like lope or kratom, whatever, is enough.. but if you're taking a higher equivalent dose of what you were on before, it's actually hurting you and making you go backwards.

 

[Flaga121]

I understand the concept quite well, I almost took the addiction counselor route in school but was deterred by my own issues. I took enough classes in the topic to understand a taper even if I'm complicating it by changing substance. If i dont feel worse each day I'm not doing it right (at least until I'm clean for a bit of course). Still, thank you.

What's shocking me is how good music sounds while I'm withdrawing. Never realized how much richness of sound opiods cost me. I'm a bit of an audiophile so this is huge for me.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

I totally agree. I know many other people that feel the same way. Music sounds amazing when in withdrawal/clean and without your brain being clouded by opiates. It's a huge difference. When I'm dope sick, listening to music 24/7 is one of the main things that gets me through it.

 

[Flaga121]

^^

I totally agree. I know many other people that feel the same way. Music sounds amazing when in withdrawal/clean and without your brain being clouded by opiates. It's a huge difference. When I'm dope sick, listening to music 24/7 is one of the main things that gets me through it.

I look forward to the next time I do K, I feel like without the opiod cloud it'll be even more amazing to listen to music in a dark room, slightly dissociated. I know this is the wrong sentiment overall, but K and opiates are very different drugs in my life. Opiates have caused me problems from the day I first tried them, while dissociative have been a seldom used "party" drug I use for major live shows (mostly The Disco Biscuits). I don't drink, but replace it socially with Cannabis, and for major parties either LSD, K, Mushies, or (VERY seldom, max once a year) good quality, tested ecstasy.

The only drug class I've had addictive tendencies with are opiates, but those tendencies have been enough to make up for my solid control when it comes to other substance. I really have no desire to live "clean", what I want is to live without a daily addiction. Though, once clean opiates are GONE from my life in every way, period.

 

[Flaga121]

Waking up without reaching for a dose is so hard.