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Bupe Best way to taper down?

Thanks a lot. Its all clear now. After searching and reading a lot about tapering, there is one useful conclusion. The best way to reduce the dose is not to cut more than 25%. After doing that stay at least a week on it before cutting down again. I managed to get to 4 mg and next week l'll go down to 3mg. If everything is good the week after that l will be at 2mg and that's the end of my journey. I am staying on it for life. Hopefully it'll work and I won't develop tolerance? 🤔
ps. Just one more question. When on 2mg, is it better to take it at once or 1+1?
 
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Good job! I would caution against dropping from 2mg to nothing all at once. Bupe saturates the receptors at about 2mg, so dropping down to 2mg from any dose is not that hard. But going below 2mg becomes much harder. Additioanlly, the lower your dose, the larger a percentage drop every milligram is. When you were at 8mg, a 2mg drop was 25%. At 4mg, it's 50%, a MUCH larger drop. My guess will be that even if you drop from 2mg to 1mg all at once, it's going to be far more difficult than any of your previous drops, or even than it would have been to drop from 8mg to 2mg all at once.

You can try dropping to 1mg from 2mg, but if it becomes to the point that you're in danger of relapsing or you just can't handle it, don't beat yourself up, and instead try dropping by 20%, or 10%. Which would be 1.8mg (if 10%) or 1.6mg (if 20%). Then wait until you feel normalized, and drop another 10% (I'd recommend 10%, not 20%, for each drop). So if you're taking 1.8mg, another 10% would put you at 1.62mg. After you feel normal, drop another 10%, which would be about 1.46mg. Continue with this pattern until you get down very low, like 0.1mg. Yes, it's going to take quite a while, but it will give you the greatest chance of success because you will avoid having bad withdrawals. From a super low dose, you will still have withdrawals when you jump off, but they should be much easier to deal with than jumping off at 2mg, or 1mg. Remember, that for pain to non-opiate addicts, the dose prescribed is 0.1 to 0.3mg. 2mg is far too much for an opiate naive person... the drug fully saturates the mu opiate receptors at 2mg. It is not at all a low dose, it just might seem that way when doctors prescribe 8-24mg per day for opiate addicts. That really is overkill... the biggest reason for those huge doses, considering it doesn't become more effective at high dosages due to receptor saturation, is because it takes much longer to wear off and therefore eliminates interdose withdrawal, and blocks any other opioids from being able to be felt for much longer.

I'm on bupe myself right now, sadly. I had 5 years clean after 10 years of intense opiate addiction, from 2014 to 2019, and unfortunately relapsed when my dad was dying. And I've been struggling since. I tried to quit many times since then and was tired of the daily rollercoaster and spending so much money, and got on bupe. It was a good decision but I am scared about trying to get off. I'm on 12mg a day right now. I'm just riding on that dose for the next few months as I go through a very intense period at work, but my plan is to do the 10% drop per day that I described above. I know it will take me a long time to get down to where I jump off, but I also know it will give me the greatest chance of success. I plan to drop down to 2mg pretty rapidly, but from there I am going to go very slowly, because I have tried dropping quickly from 2mg before and it did not go well.

One other thing, if you have the films/strips, you won't be able to dose with that level of precision. I made sure to request the pills when I went on it, so that I could crush them up and use my milligram scale to weigh out my doses with great accuracy, when the time comes to taper down. I explained to my prescribed that that was why I wanted them, and they agreed that was a good idea and obliged me. The strips can be cut, but once you get a small enough piece, you lose the ability to really be able to attach it to your cheek/tongue effectively. And it's also hard to cut them accurately below 1mg.
Thanks so much for taking the time to compose such an informative and detailed post! And thanks again for the cautious encouragement, it's truly the best kind when it comes to something as serious as this. Interesting, I actually just finished my pre-medical requisites and it amazes me how inconsistent the medical opinions are regarding the dose where buprenorphine completely saturates your opioid receptors. Some say 8mg, some say more like 2mg. I think you are onto something though. I have been somewhat surprised with the level of ease(thus far, knock on wood) with which I have tapered to 2mg. Today is my 1st day at 2mg and so far so good, but considering buprenorphine's long half-life I'm expecting tomorrow and the following few days to be somewhat uncomfortable. I too have considered that as I continue to drop 2mg doses, I have gone from a rate of dropping 25% to 33% and now today I dropped 50% of my dose. Don't get me wrong, this process is intimidating. I too was told by a Dr. that dropping to 2mg is generally viewed as "the easy part". And that they make 2mg pills for the reason of being able to drop from 2mg in easier to measure increments. I currently have 5.75 8mg tablets.... that's 23 days of medication were I to choose to stay on 2mg for an extended period, which could happen, I'm taking this one day at a time and appreciate all of the support. -Trey.
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to compose such an informative and detailed post! And thanks again for the cautious encouragement, it's truly the best kind when it comes to something as serious as this. Interesting, I actually just finished my pre-medical requisites and it amazes me how inconsistent the medical opinions are regarding the dose where buprenorphine completely saturates your opioid receptors. Some say 8mg, some say more like 2mg. I think you are onto something though. I have been somewhat surprised with the level of ease(thus far, knock on wood) with which I have tapered to 2mg. Today is my 1st day at 2mg and so far so good, but considering buprenorphine's long half-life I'm expecting tomorrow and the following few days to be somewhat uncomfortable. I too have considered that as I continue to drop 2mg doses, I have gone from a rate of dropping 25% to 33% and now today I dropped 50% of my dose. Don't get me wrong, this process is intimidating. I too was told by a Dr. that dropping to 2mg is generally viewed as "the easy part". And that they make 2mg pills for the reason of being able to drop from 2mg in easier to measure increments. I currently have 5.75 8mg tablets.... that's 23 days of medication were I to choose to stay on 2mg for an extended period, which could happen, I'm taking this one day at a time and appreciate all of the support. -Trey.
If I may? I've got exactly the same experience this week. Going from 4 to 2 had some side effects. In my case insomnia. So I switched back to 3mg. So far, so good. When I get comfortable with this dose I will tapper it to 2mg. I don't know your situation but I am not in a hurry. Better to take some time and do it properly then to suffer. Just my humble opinion. Good luck mate! ✌️
 
Just another update for y'all. Today is day 2 at 2mg for me. 3 days ago I was on 4mg. I feel markedly less sedated at 2mg than I did at 4mg. It's kind of hard to describe. It's like I got so used to my energy levels being depressed on Suboxone that I stopped noticing it. I Am having consistant bowel movements again. I have so far experienced little to no withdrawal symptoms at this drop. Maybe a little headache and trouble getting to sleep last night honestly. But other than that, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and going about my daily routine with success thus far. I will let you all know how it goes from here, and again thank you all for any support, and/or constructive criticism. -Trey
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to compose such an informative and detailed post! And thanks again for the cautious encouragement, it's truly the best kind when it comes to something as serious as this. Interesting, I actually just finished my pre-medical requisites and it amazes me how inconsistent the medical opinions are regarding the dose where buprenorphine completely saturates your opioid receptors. Some say 8mg, some say more like 2mg. I think you are onto something though. I have been somewhat surprised with the level of ease(thus far, knock on wood) with which I have tapered to 2mg. Today is my 1st day at 2mg and so far so good, but considering buprenorphine's long half-life I'm expecting tomorrow and the following few days to be somewhat uncomfortable. I too have considered that as I continue to drop 2mg doses, I have gone from a rate of dropping 25% to 33% and now today I dropped 50% of my dose. Don't get me wrong, this process is intimidating. I too was told by a Dr. that dropping to 2mg is generally viewed as "the easy part". And that they make 2mg pills for the reason of being able to drop from 2mg in easier to measure increments. I currently have 5.75 8mg tablets.... that's 23 days of medication were I to choose to stay on 2mg for an extended period, which could happen, I'm taking this one day at a time and appreciate all of the support. -Trey.

I think it probably is affected by tolerance, too... I have been on 12mg a day (6mg in the morning and 6mg at night), not even sure why except it makes me feel comfortable and I'm in a very intense period at work right now. I know if I only take 2mg, I have some discomfort. Whereas when I had no tolerance (other than my opioid permatolerance from 20 years of mostly on opiates), I actually felt better on 2mg than when I took more.

Just another update for y'all. Today is day 2 at 2mg for me. 3 days ago I was on 4mg. I feel markedly less sedated at 2mg than I did at 4mg. It's kind of hard to describe. It's like I got so used to my energy levels being depressed on Suboxone that I stopped noticing it. I Am having consistant bowel movements again. I have so far experienced little to no withdrawal symptoms at this drop. Maybe a little headache and trouble getting to sleep last night honestly. But other than that, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and going about my daily routine with success thus far. I will let you all know how it goes from here, and again thank you all for any support, and/or constructive criticism. -Trey

Good job, keep it up! Is that all you have? How long have you been on it? If you can't get more, you might try a more rapid taper than I suggested, but try to do it steadily so you don't end up jumping off at 1mg... it really will be quite difficult unless you're quite a lot lower than that, I think. The lower the dose you're taking, the less shitty it will be for you when you finally jump off.

Somehow I don't seem to have trouble with bowel movements anymore, even at 12mg. I sure used to, but it's like my body got used to it and now I go regularly with no trouble even at 12mg a day. What really helps me is psyllium husk powder every morning. I take a tablespoon with my breakfast protein shake and I'm never constipated. It works wonders. I used to always be dreading every third day when I would squeeze out what felt like sharp bricks... there was bleeding, and then pain for the next 2 days, and just when it was starting to feel better... more bricks.
 
So today is my 4th day on 2mg of buprenorphine. I had a drug dream last night about shooting fentanyl which was unsettling. I was also pretty nauseous before I took my dose this morning but it has since subsided, it's a rainy day and I took a half a mg of clonazepam w/ my sub this morning. I'm having some coffee and feel like myself. Things are peaceful in my home and I'm in a good state of mind. I want to stay on 2mg for 2 weeks total(another 10 days.) Then try to go down to 1mg. I'll let you guys know how everything goes and thanks again to all of you for your support and constructive criticism.
 
So today is my 4th day on 2mg of buprenorphine. I had a drug dream last night about shooting fentanyl which was unsettling. I was also pretty nauseous before I took my dose this morning but it has since subsided, it's a rainy day and I took a half a mg of clonazepam w/ my sub this morning. I'm having some coffee and feel like myself. Things are peaceful in my home and I'm in a good state of mind. I want to stay on 2mg for 2 weeks total(another 10 days.) Then try to go down to 1mg. I'll let you guys know how everything goes and thanks again to all of you for your support and constructive criticism.
It's nice to hear that you're doing well. Just keep up the good work and be patient. Hopefully I'll be at 2mg too in a few days time. I was afraid to jump from 4 to 2 so I am taking 3mg at the moment. So far, so good. I read somewhere that you should never cut more than 25% so I am sticking with that rule. All the best mate! ✌️
 
Can someone tell me what the lowest dosage of Suboxone is that can be prescribed? actually, what I want to know is, is a .5mg strip the same size as the 8 mg strip? Or close? I have a ton of 8 mg strips, but I'm going to have to very precisely measure and slice them with a scalpel on a cutting board or something, to get the small doses that I need when I finally get to that point. The clinic I went to shut down because the doctor retired. So that's why I can't just get a script for a lower dosage.
 
Can someone tell me what the lowest dosage of Suboxone is that can be prescribed? actually, what I want to know is, is a .5mg strip the same size as the 8 mg strip? Or close? I have a ton of 8 mg strips, but I'm going to have to very precisely measure and slice them with a scalpel on a cutting board or something, to get the small doses that I need when I finally get to that point. The clinic I went to shut down because the doctor retired. So that's why I can't just get a script for a lower dosage.
I believe the lowest dose of Suboxone that is commonly prescribed is the 2mg/0.5mg Buprenorphine/Naloxone combination which comes as both pills and as strips.
 
Anyone ever tried taking 2 doses less than 1 hour apart? Any side effects, what's the feeling...? 🤔
 
My most recent stint with suboxone, I was taking 16mg /day and went down by 2mg/week up until I was down to just 4mg. Then I went down by 1mg/week until I was completely off. Didn't have a single withdrawal symptom at any point.
 
Today is my 8th day at 2mg. I'm content at 2mg, but want to get completely off. Most to all of the side effects I was experiencing at higher doses have subsided, I have way more energy and I have consistant bowel movements and I feel like I have adjusted well to a short plateau at 2mg. I don't sleep as well but I wouldn't say I'm having trouble sleeping either. I have a little trouble getting to sleep but once I'm there I sleep pretty well most nights. My old injuries from skateboarding bother me a little more than they did before but it's so far been totally bearable. I really want to go down from 2mg to 1.5mg to 1mg to 0.5mg and then just go cold turkey and take it on the chin. I feel like I'm ready but I'm in no rush and have plenty of time. Thanks to everyone for sharing their own experiences and for providing any comments or constructive criticism. I hope everyone is doing well. -Trey
 
Congratulations mate! My path was similar to yours and it's my second day on 2 mg (started at 16). My tapering was slower and since I jumped from 16 to 8 the rest was 0.5mg per week. Also no side effects and bowel movements and sex drive returned to normal. I am done as I intend to stay on this dose for life. It still helps tremendously with my depression and chronic headache. I wish you all the best and just be patient. According to many people that last part (from 2 to 0) is the hardest. If 50% doesn't work, try 25%. Cheers! ✌️
 
Today is my 8th day at 2mg. I'm content at 2mg, but want to get completely off. Most to all of the side effects I was experiencing at higher doses have subsided, I have way more energy and I have consistant bowel movements and I feel like I have adjusted well to a short plateau at 2mg. I don't sleep as well but I wouldn't say I'm having trouble sleeping either. I have a little trouble getting to sleep but once I'm there I sleep pretty well most nights. My old injuries from skateboarding bother me a little more than they did before but it's so far been totally bearable. I really want to go down from 2mg to 1.5mg to 1mg to 0.5mg and then just go cold turkey and take it on the chin. I feel like I'm ready but I'm in no rush and have plenty of time. Thanks to everyone for sharing their own experiences and for providing any comments or constructive criticism. I hope everyone is doing well.
Ok Treytoraid. Good job.

Like Xorcoth said, don't even think about going from 2 to 0. Not even 1 to 0....even 0.5 per day to 0 would be rougher than I used to prefer.

Keep working down until you are taking a piece of the strip so tiny that you dong even know what the dose is (0.1 mg or less even?) Then start skipping days or going longer than 24 hrs. Like dose every 36 hrs.

Then when you're taking that tiny piece if bupe strip you basically need tweezers to handle and place on your buccal area...then you stop and it will be rough for about 1.5 weeks. You won't be vomiting and all that but you can expect not to sleep for days on end and be extremely restless and feel like lead weights

When u get down so low you will be very tempted to abuse the bupe at a high dose to get high. Doing this one time will ruin all your progress...it's not worth it you'll never get off if you fall into that trap.

And Treydoraid. Skateboarding is the devil!! That is what really got me slamming oxy 30s when they were dirt cheap. I had a herniated disc and a job that required standing all day and bending down and leaning forward over tables.

Kids really underestimate the permanent damage they do to themselves with that sport. Luckily many years of misery later a back surgery repaired my back and it truly recovered.
 
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Ok Treytoraid. Good job.

Like Xorcoth said, don't even think about going from 2 to 0. Not even 1 to 0....even 0.5 per day to 0 would be rougher than I used to prefer.

Keep working down until you are taking a piece of the strip so tiny that you dong even know what the dose is (0.1 mg or less even?) Then start skipping days or going longer than 24 hrs. Like dose every 36 hrs.

Then when you're taking that tiny piece if bupe strip you basically need tweezers to handle and place on your buccal area...then you stop and it will be rough for about 1.5 weeks. You won't be vomiting and all that but you can expect not to sleep for days on end and be extremely restless and feel like lead weights

When u get down so low you will be very tempted to abuse the bupe at a high dose to get high. Doing this one time will ruin all your progress...it's not worth it you'll never get off if you fall into that trap.

And Treydoraid. Skateboarding is the devil!! That is what really got me slamming oxy 30s when they were dirt cheap. I had a herniated disc and a job that required standing all day and bending down and leaning forward over tables.

Kids really underestimate the permanent damage they do to themselves with that sport. Luckily many years of misery later a back surgery repaired my back and it truly recovered.
Today is my first day at 1.5 mg. I sure as all hell am not going to abuse my remaining buprenorphine tablets. I only have 4 of them left anyway(2 of which are strips, not tablets. Yeah I feel you on the pain from skateboarding leading you down a path of opiate abuse. It's like as askateboarder you're always slamming. And even if you don't currently have a script, someone at the session does. Next thing you know you take a slam and your boy calls you over with his hand out and a couple vicoden or percocet in it just for you. I had a Dr. In college who would write me percocet every couple of weekends because I'm a vert skater and I was constantly slamming on my lead hip(my right hip, I'm goofy footed). I would walk in covered in bruises and she'd send me away with a script and a bunch of "awww you poor thing" statements. I tore my left Accio Clavicular joint in my L shoulder when I was 23. I broke my ankle the 1st time when I was 21 (Left ankle) I broke my Talus in my left ankle when I was 26. I broke my Tibia in my left ankle a second time when I was 27. Then I had my right hip completely collapse in the summer of 2021. I had a laproscopic repair on my pelvic/femoral joint and I have been diagnosed with both Degenerative arthritis in both hips, and something called SHS (Snapping-Hip-Syndrome) where basically there is so little cartilage between my femur and my pelvis that when I walk the end of my femur frequently grinds against my pelvis causing a distinct, loud, and painful snapping sound. Skateboarding may be the devil, and my soul may be sold. But Idk where I'd be without skateboarding and I just love it too much to let it go.
 
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Oh and By the way @LucidSDreamr, I'm 30 years old, so yeah, to some people I'm definitely a "kid". But Actually I'm usually the old man at the session these days lmao. So you used to skate LucidSDreamer? or still do maybe? DM me.
 
By the way I wanted to share this added bit. Yesterday I traded 2 of my 8mg/2mg bupe/naloxone combination Suboxone pills to a friend for 2 of her 8/2mg suboxone strips. Here is my reasoning for making this exchange. In my personal experience, cutting an 8mg Suboxone tablet in half with a pill cutter, while requiring precision and patience, is indeed possible, cutting the half of a suboxone pill into quarters with a pill cutter, while more difficult, is also possible; but, once you have a suboxone tablet split into 2mg quarters it's really hard to accurately cut it into smaller doses, and just not worth the effort; however with 8 mg strips, once I have them split into 2mg quarters, its pretty easy to cut them further into 0.5mg 16ths as long as you use very fine scissors or fingernail clippers.
 
But Idk where I'd be without skateboarding and I just love it too much to let it go.
I don't know about how your mind works but attaching my identity to certain hobbies has fueled my addiction and destroyed my life, in the sense that when I truly do lose that hobby (ie age out of skating due to injuries) you go to a very dark place because you lost something you attached your whole self worth and meaning to exist for....then it's time for drugs to numb that loss.

This trait has benefitted me in being successful academically and in carreer...but even you could say I overdid that and destroyed myself by going to hard in that arena.

I'm really working on trying to let things go that I loved because I've had to let a lot go and it really feeds the addiction
 
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By the way I wanted to share this added bit. Yesterday I traded 2 of my 8mg/2mg bupe/naloxone combination Suboxone pills to a friend for 2 of her 8/2mg suboxone strips. Here is my reasoning for making this exchange. In my personal experience, cutting an 8mg Suboxone tablet in half with a pill cutter, while requiring precision and patience, is indeed possible, cutting the half of a suboxone pill into quarters with a pill cutter, while more difficult, is also possible; but, once you have a suboxone tablet split into 2mg quarters it's really hard to accurately cut it into smaller doses, and just not worth the effort; however with 8 mg strips, once I have them split into 2mg quarters, its pretty easy to cut them further into 0.5mg 16ths as long as you use very fine scissors or fingernail clippers.
I agree with this. The strips seem to be way better for tapering down and getting the most out of low doses
 
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