Opioids 2 weeks after 6mg cold turkey suboxone withdrawal..feeling terrrible need help

[opiatekrzy]

bupe withdrawl (acute withdrawl) lasts anywehre from 3-5 weeks, my doctor said, due to it being long acting opioid, after that u have to go thru PAWS (post acute withdrawl) that can be insomnia, restless le syndrome, etc, making you feel like it acute..its hard as hell to get off bupe

 

[Znegative]

My experience with Buprenorphine withdrawal is that the worst is over by the second or third week, and from then on things go uphill pretty fast. You still have to deal with Post Acute Withdrawal Symptoms, but if you think you're at a place in your recovery where you can use healthier coping skills to deal with it rather than run out and cop, I might urge you to try and stick it out. I would definitely use a bit of loperamide (not too much as it is an opiate too), and maybe some small dosages of Gabapentin/Pregabalin and DXM-that combination has helped me get through it in the past. It's not going to be a great time, but you're closer to being free from dependance now, so if you think getting of suboxone is what you want to do, and you don't feel like falling back into the hell that got you on suboxone in the first place, than go for it!

 

[Tommyboy]

^ Yea, for me I was back to around 80% shortly after the 2 week mark. Like the OP, I didn't get a chance to taper down and was actually at a higher dose than that when I stopped cold turkey.

A handy trick: You can type [noparse]blah blah blah[/noparse] to show your text inside those tags exactly as typed. For example what would normally show as (95%) because %) displays as the emoticon %), with the noparse tags added displays as (95%). If you're like me and too lazy to type out the tags you can just put a space between the % and the ) like (95% ) though.

crestfallen - If you've already gone 2 weeks with no Suboxone I would stick it out. Check out The Opioid Withdrawal Megathread for some tips on things you can take or do to ease withdrawal symptoms and check out The Dark Side for emotional support and tips on how to cope with cravings etc. You've been really strong to make it this far, things should start improving pretty soon hopefully

An easier way around it may be to click 'go advanced' and in the additional options section click the box that says 'disable smiles in text.'

On another note, the OP started this thread in October so I'm sure they figured out their answer one way or another.

 

[opiatekrzy]

its the PAWS (Post acute withdrawl) that is the kicker here you guys, that causes us to relapse and go back on subs or use, PAWS can cause uncomfrtable symptoms (anxiety, restless leg, muscle tension, insomnia, confusion)

 

[BlueDust]

Fighting fire with fire

I have a thought for thought. I've been taking Suboxone for almost 2 years now, dabbling a lil with other opiates on occasion. Whenever I've gone without the subs, By the second day I am feeling the withdrawals and severe depression. I've have read on more than one occasion that sub withdrawals last what, 3x as long as any thing else, well, thought time. To reduce withdrawal time, can't you just go back to oxy's for a week, or at least until the suboxone is out of your system, then just withdrawal of the oxy's for 3 days to a week, instead of subs for 3 months? I'd be very interested in everyones thoughts on that one

 

[McFeces]

I've been on and off opiates for a long time now, quitting at least 4 times now. 3 of them I just took subs for three days n stopped. THIS ACTUALLY WORKED FOR ME WITHOUT HARDLY ANY SYMPTOMS (except for my mental weakness and lack of self control getting me hooked all over again). I also have a very high tolerance to opiates so it wasn't just easy for me because I only ate a few vics a day or some shit.The ONE time I quit cold turkey was over 4th of July weekend and I had to be active at work and with family with no subs anywhere around so I had to find a successful remedy to tolerate the bullshit. First and most importantly go to your local head shop and stock up on valerian root and leaves! This helped me soooooo much it's ridiculous! The pills are remotely expensive (2 for 15 at my local store) but well worth it. I would eat three of the expensive ones a day and a few of the leaf tablets as well. I ate 5-htp a few days prior to help build up serotonin and continued with it for another week. I smoked TONS of pot the entire time which helped with the sleep, anxiety and the aches n muscle spasms,make sure to keep a bowl packed next to your bed for those middle of the night aches, stirs n RLS. And lastly benzos, I couldn't get my hands on anything other than valium at the time but 50mgs plus the weed guaranteed me at least a good 6-7 hours of sleep each night! I haven't tried this method with subs yet, being on day 4 and hoping to not eat anymore, but I would assume if this worked for opiate withdrawals which feel-to me at least- very similar to sub w/ds then i'd bet it'd at least help some.

 

[ScarecrowPANA]

PAWS is definitely something to be aware of, I'm extremely experienced about dealing with withdrawl as i have been through it countless times, im looking to take the step of getting off suboxone within a year from today, but im really worried about the PAWS.. I might try to get myself back on a benzodiazepine as i should be anyways i just dont like being tolerant to it, as it will just get me back into another w/d cycle....

What you can do...

-Immodium works for diahreah and I am pretty sure i also heard that it somehow works on your opiate receptors as well at high doses. Im not 100% sure about that but i remember reading it on a prior drug forum i helped moderate...

-Any anti anxiety like ativan, xanax, kolonopin, valium etc is my main kicker and want for a withdrawl... It's not gonna make you function but it will ease the pain the most as far as any medication otc/prescription as far as trying to get some relief it works best... If I was REALLY bad, i would take a large amount of xanax or kolonopin anwhere from 2-4 mg's of xanax, or 2-4 mgs of kolonopin and then i would take very miniscule amounts/sips of an 80 proof liquor to try an activate a stronger relief for the GABA... I strongly disagree with trying to drink your withdrawal away, i have tried it once and it has made it so much worse and never tried it again.

-for sleep, besides the benzodiazepines, melatonin over the counter is a great additive to it all.. if you take benzo's and melatonin on top of it, it will help produce a more restful re energizing sleep and help you sleep on top of that as well, also AMBIEN is a nice additive as well... but of course mixing all these medications and possibly taking small amounts of alcohol to help the benzo high, try to practice extreme caution as all those medications mixed up in your system can become dangerous.

-benadryl is great, it helps the sinus issues and nausea without a doubt.. i never set my self up for withdrawal without stocking up on benadryl..

-dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in night time cough syrup is a help as well

-if you can somehow get your hands on a prescription medication called clonodine, which is a high blood pressure medication it is said to help cope with the pains as well, i used to be given it when i was alot younger as a sleep aid.

-simply eating healthy foods like fruits or vegetables high in nutrients and vitamins can really help, keeping anything down without throwing it up, every little bit helps, easpecially hydration as you sweat so much, proper dehydration will literally add to your symptoms times 2 if u get too dehydrated over a period of days of withdrawal

-stay away from any uppers as you probably already know, even caffeine in coffe and pop might make it worse for you as it did for me but everyones body is different, most of these things im posting work for everyone but im also giving you my personal experiences.

-stay away from unhealthy foods as bad diet will make you even more fatigued than you already are... food is energy, good food that is...

-take vitamins and healthy supplements if you can keep food in your stomach, try not to take these or any of the other medications on an empty stomach as it may cause some nausea



Godspeed to you my friend, I would like you to know your not in this struggle alone and the whole ordeal is of epidemic proportions and I wish the best for anyone who has fallen victim to any type of opiate addiction... It is unbearably easy to become so submissive and helpless at times... KEEP STRONG AND POSITIVE that has seemed to help me mentally in the past as far as beating myself up and getting depressed about the situation... getting youself down will get you nowhere but in a worse situation.. GOOD LUCK!

if i can remember anything else, ill bookmark this and come back to it for you, i know how much i appreciated posts like these that truely gave me some peace of mind and relief, dont be a ghost here, ill try to help you anyway i can, cheers.

 

[Swain]

I have a thought for thought. I've been taking Suboxone for almost 2 years now, dabbling a lil with other opiates on occasion. Whenever I've gone without the subs, By the second day I am feeling the withdrawals and severe depression. I've have read on more than one occasion that sub withdrawals last what, 3x as long as any thing else, well, thought time. To reduce withdrawal time, can't you just go back to oxy's for a week, or at least until the suboxone is out of your system, then just withdrawal of the oxy's for 3 days to a week, instead of subs for 3 months? I'd be very interested in everyones thoughts on that one

If yoube been on sub 2 years you will need to go on a short acting full agonist for much longer than a week. You will need to be on it for the durating it would take you to detox from sub, MINIMUM. If ou went on oxy for 4-8 weeks THEN detoxed youd have a quicker withdrawal.

I am sorry though man what fantasy land do you live in that any opiate withdrawal is 3 days? LOL. Unless you just started using and sniff one bag a day for like 2 months, dont expect 3 days ever. Your kidding your self. Where do people get this shit.

I've been on and off opiates for a long time now, quitting at least 4 times now. 3 of them I just took subs for three days n stopped. THIS ACTUALLY WORKED FOR ME WITHOUT HARDLY ANY SYMPTOMS

I was shooting dope for a 4-5 years bridigng the gap with bupe, went on methadone 80mg daily for a year at which point i was chipping and when id use i was doing larger amounts compared to what I do now, 5-10bag shots., Then I switched from 80mg mdone to 12mg bupe and tapered down to 1mg daily over the course of a few months. Stayed at 1mg for id say a year (while chipping a few days a week typically).

Then I went straight to shooting just dope and coke every day straight for 6 months recently. Not crazy amounts.. I would only do 10-15 bags of dope a day and one gram of coke a day give or take.. typically split into 5-10 shots. I went to rehab recently, and after having gone about 7 years straight with no sobriety from opiates, I was srprised how quick I detoxed. On top of that, 2 weeks before I went in I came into a few thousand dollars and binged extra hard on dope and coke.

When I went into detox They had me on bupe for 5 days (day 1-4mg, then 8mg, 4mg, 2mg, 2mg) then I cut off. By day 12 in detox I was feeling id say like 80%. Even by day 9 I was eatng good and feeling sociable. For what it was, I am glad I detoxed off a short acting full agonist vs long partial. By the time I got out of rehab at day 30 I had basically no symptoms side from RLS and the triple sneeze and yawn bullshit. For so many years detox terrified me. It blew my mind how easy it was compared to how I had imagined.

I kid you not, when I switched from methadone to suboxone it took about 12 days to feel OK. I will never take a long acting opiate for a long time again. I had never used it for detox like 5 days.. Always to maintain. It worked well for a short thing.

When all was said and done, I stayed clean for 30 days after rehab, used dope and coke 2 days, then clean 3 weeks, used 3 days, and for the past few weeks I have been using 2 days a week and staying clean the rest. I am not phyiscally dependant and only use 10bags of dope and 2 dubs of coke per day when I use, but after 2 days I ALWAYS get withdrawals again. By day 3 I feel better again.

I dont plan on getting backon mdone or bupe. And I often want to ultimately stay clean, espeically when im sick, but then I feel ok and a few days or weeks go by and I give into the urge to use. So I am still addicted een though it may not be physical. Clearly ive been on a downward spiral since rehab. I want to stay clean but I guess I am just not there yet.

I have considered doing vivitrol and was very close the other day. but a large part of me doesnt want to. Ah the joy of addiction

 

[jaybo2020]

Crestfallen,

Firstly, congrats on your moxy and will power, that have thus far brought you to the point you're currently at. You should be extremely proud of yourself for yourself, and all of those around you. I myself am in a similar predicament, but with subtle differences, and was wondering if I could bounce a few things off of you, and anyone else out there who has legit advice on the subject matter.

Now a little background info on myself and my situation. I'm a 34 yr old male, father of three, and started my addiction years ago with 20 MG's of Vic's and a couple of beers. Before I knew it I found myself at a pill mill every month being prescribed 240 mg of OC, praying the doctor wouldn't pick today to call in sick. So I proceeded in this manner for about another 2 yrs, and eventually told myself enough was enough. I finished my remaining oc's and went to a suboxone clinic. They started me at 16mg a day. I eventually weened myself down to about 1 mg/day, but just couldn't stay there. Something didn't feel right. Needless to say, I'm back up to between 6 and 8 mg/day, and have been for over 2 yrs now. I promised my wife I would get off of this stuff (primarily because of the financial burden, and sexual side effects), and I don't make promises lightly.

So......My conundrum is this.... I jumped off from between 6 & 8mg almost 120 hrs ago to the minute(that's 5 full days). Shouldn't I be feeling some kind of withdrawals by now? I mean literally, not figuratively life has just kept going on. I should howevever mention that I took 2 wks vacation from work to get this done. But wtf? Nothing? I'm also a pilot in my spare time, and I've logged another 4 flight hrs during my "withdrawals". Is something strange going on here or am I just in for a big, big surprise? Any honest answers, questions, comments or concerns, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^^

How long were you on suboxone for at that dose?

 

[crestfallen]

I just checked back on this thread and I wanted to thank all who answered.

Jaybo2020- I didn't start to feel the suboxone withdrawal until day 7 I think. Because of the super long half-life, taking it everyday makes it build up in your system so you actually had more than 8mgs of bupe in your body. That's why it takes a while to start feeling withdrawal. You should be well into w/d by now so just soldier through it man. Loperamide helped me a lot, as do benzos if you are lucky enough to have them available. Overall, the w/d process lasted around a month and peaked by 2 1/2 weeks for me. Just remember no matter how shitty you feel, you will GET THROUGH IT, I promise. Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[mareseatoats]

I don't know everything, but I do know that some people who are dependent on something like suboxone-or any other opioid or opiate-feel like they are Living their life to it's potential. Take someone off of drugs forever-and that is how you get a very mentally ill, unhappy, Anchora patient. (Not all users of course).

 

[jrob]

Crestfallen,

Firstly, congrats on your moxy and will power, that have thus far brought you to the point you're currently at. You should be extremely proud of yourself for yourself, and all of those around you. I myself am in a similar predicament, but with subtle differences, and was wondering if I could bounce a few things off of you, and anyone else out there who has legit advice on the subject matter.

Now a little background info on myself and my situation. I'm a 34 yr old male, father of three, and started my addiction years ago with 20 MG's of Vic's and a couple of beers. Before I knew it I found myself at a pill mill every month being prescribed 240 mg of OC, praying the doctor wouldn't pick today to call in sick. So I proceeded in this manner for about another 2 yrs, and eventually told myself enough was enough. I finished my remaining oc's and went to a suboxone clinic. They started me at 16mg a day. I eventually weened myself down to about 1 mg/day, but just couldn't stay there. Something didn't feel right. Needless to say, I'm back up to between 6 and 8 mg/day, and have been for over 2 yrs now. I promised my wife I would get off of this stuff (primarily because of the financial burden, and sexual side effects), and I don't make promises lightly.

So......My conundrum is this.... I jumped off from between 6 & 8mg almost 120 hrs ago to the minute(that's 5 full days). Shouldn't I be feeling some kind of withdrawals by now? I mean literally, not figuratively life has just kept going on. I should howevever mention that I took 2 wks vacation from work to get this done. But wtf? Nothing? I'm also a pilot in my spare time, and I've logged another 4 flight hrs during my "withdrawals". Is something strange going on here or am I just in for a big, big surprise? Any honest answers, questions, comments or concerns, would be greatly appreciated.

Went cold turkey on subs which I was on for 5 years and the first 5 days were normal, I am now off 2 weeks and still having withdrawels, hope to be better in another week, this is some bad stuff to get off, but I am going to stick it out ,believe me you have not started feeling bad yet but you will soon and for a while, good luck and keep strong, God bless

 

[cj]

Went cold turkey on subs which I was on for 5 years and the first 5 days were normal, I am now off 2 weeks and still having withdrawels, hope to be better in another week, this is some bad stuff to get off, but I am going to stick it out ,believe me you have not started feeling bad yet but you will soon and for a while, good luck and keep strong, God bless

I had the same experience as you. Took 5 days for withdrawals to start.na week for them 2 peak. Now 3 weeks later I am still slightly sick back and legs hurt, can't sleep, always cold. I was on 2mg a day for 5 years so it may not be as bad for you. This has been he hardest thing I have ever done. I recommend getting some Imodium lowish doses will help some of the symptoms without prolonging withdrawal.

 

[Carl Landrover]

^
It sounds like a minor thing, but one of the reasons I really decided to get stabilized on subs is because I got so tired of being cold all the time. I always had to walk around with a blanket over my shoulders, two pairs of pants, two shirts, two pairs of socks. Changing clothes really sucked. Was almost always goosebumped and it would just feel gross when I'd sweat but would be cold.

Good luck with everything there. I would never even want to jump off 1mg.

 

[Kaye24trynabattle]

i was self medicating with subutex for the last 9 months...always around 2mg a day, im a snorter so thats how i was taking it...but in my eyes i felt this was a good tool to get clean and way better for my body than snorting 8-pills a day containing a shit load of tylenol that are in the percs and tabs when i couldnt find straight oxys...anywho, i did like 3 days of tappering which only helped my w/ds kick in sooner which is what i wanted...but i basically jumped from 2mg a day..today is day 16 of w/ds and day 17 since ive been clean off the tex! i have been using tram and kratom and klons as a tool to help ease these awful w/ds..i know there alot of diff opinions on using these things to get through the w/d but if you have self control and only use these as tools to get you through then you can do it! im proof...i have takin such low doses of kratom(which is legal and you can get at your local headshops) some people cant believe its even helping and only took the tram for less than a week. now as far as the klons go i have severe anxiety and one of the worst parts of this w/d has been the debilitating anxiety and restlessness of my body and not sleeping! so they do help mellow me out..i have had to still work a full time job going through this so going cold turkey just wasnt an option for me.. Good luck to anyone trying to fight the battle of opiate dependence and then using subs to get off those and then realizing holy shit these w/ds suck too and last forever!!!!!! they really dont last forever but the time period is way longer than anything ive ever came off of! anyway we are all here because we want this monkey off our backs and this is what ive been doing to get that s.o.b off my shit lol...anyway day 16 i have cut the kratom dose in half and have a few days off and am going to go lower and lower until i feel like a human again! what im getting at is yes the w/ds are better after 2 weeks but for me are still there but obviously getting better.. also muscle relaxers helped me sleep because the reason for me not sleeping were due to my restless body at night in my muscles and it was the only thing that helped me sleep.... anyone who goes this route and uses control with it must know that you will still feel the w/ds they just wont be so intense and for me this was crucial since i still hafta work! best of luck to everyone!

 

[mahi]

Jaybo
Coming of years of Sub use at 6-8mg is real hard. You stated you couldn't do 1mg a day what makes you think you can jump from 6-8mg. You need to get reasonable. If I where you I would create a quick taper program, maybe 2 weeks. Write it out and get down to .125mg and then skip a day, dose and skip then quit. Pick a weekend to stop but consider the half-life so stop on Tues or Weds. Ask your wife to hold the Subs, she may get off your back being involved in the process. Also, start to exercise, take nightly walks with the wife, it will help with sleep. Start taking Vitamins, drinking more water or Gatorade, stay busy because boredom makes it worse. People often fail by setting unrealistic goals, you would not try to run a 10 mile race next week if you never ran or trained. You would start to train and give yourself time and this is no different. If you did succeed in your jump great but anyone on here with Sub experience will tell you jumping from such a dose at over 2 years is almost impossible to do on your own. Outside of jail or inpatient detox most if not all would fail

 

[likeakite]

I took subutex (12mg, usually snorted them) for 6 years and quit CT ~7months ago. I took 2 months for physical withdrawal to subside. It does get better by week 4. Just hold on, don't use the gabapentin, the withdrawal from it is 1000x times worse than subutex (it will help though). Weed is the best imo for opiate withdrawal if you can't get benzos.

No Gabapentin withdrawal is not 1000 times worse. Take Gabapentin for withdrawal.