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Bupe at home withdrawal from longterm suboxone use

gonnastopitall224

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Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
15
I had been addicted to I've drug use for years then found suboxone when I became pregnant in 2009. After the baby I went back to opiate use and after a while of the run around got tired of the game and went to methadone for a year n a half. I lost my teeth and a part of myself when I took methadone it wasn't for me! I down dosed n switched to auboxone through an iop program. Well that didn't last more than 6 mos as they require complete Abstinence and I was and am not ready to stop smoking cannabis. Well now I need to free myself!! I have been taking anywhere from 2-6 MG's of aubozone for over a year, intravenously, and as of today it has been 24 hours since my last dose. Has anybody been here before. Any suggestions or ideas? My mom is supporting me all they this but this has got to be it. I am done!!! I want a normal life with my baby who is now 3 will b 4 in a month and I feel like I've missed it all.. I do have a knock off immodium, Tylenol, knock off robotussin(wal-tussin) and a anti acid. As well as a few clonazepam in my arsenal to help me thru what I'm expecting and by now am only experiencing agitation(probably from not having my dose today) a little anxiety(I've taken 2' of clonazepam this am about 6 hrs ago) any kind of help would be very much appreciated!! Ty
 
I HIGHLY suggest you seek legitimate medical help for this because otherwise you should prepare for a very intense withdrawal if you are coming off that much buprenorphine, especially if you were injecting it.
I would suggest tapering (slowly decreasing your dosage until it is low enough for withdrawals to be much less severe) but if you are unable to do that just, again, be VERY PREPARED for an INTENSE withdrawal.
 
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Ahh, the misspelling threw me off, OP, were you referring to being on 2-6mgs of bupeprenorphine (suboxone) IV per day?

I also agree that it would probably be much better to reduce your intake gradually and taper down rather than just go cold turkey unless there is some reason that you absolutely cannot. You arent feeling much in the way of withdrawals yet (assuming it is bupe you are taking) because it has such a long half life that it will take a bit for the worse symptoms to kick in.

My husband was once given Butrans patches which is bupe that is in a transdermal patch for back pain. He hated taking any type of pain medication and rarely ever did so they were able to talk him into the patch by telling him that it was something new (which was true for here in the US at the time as far as bupe in a patch) and that it was "different" than narcotics. So they convinced him. After about 3months of using it he decided he didnt want to take it anymore for whatever reason. He had been taking LESS than .5mg (yes, less than half of a mg per day) of bupe a day, transdermally for just a few months. This is a guy who rarely ever complains or exhibits symptoms of pain or illness...he usually just toughs it all out and keeps right on trucking. I did not tell him that he might experience withdrawals as since he was on such a low dose I did not think that the effects would be that significant and figured it would be better if he was not expecting the worse. He was absolutely miserable with horrible withdrawals for quite awhile..he thought he had the worse case of the flu in his life..and that he was possibly dying. After days of no sleep he finally did fall asleep for periods of time of an hour or so out of pure exhaustion and I felt terrible as I would watch him in his sleep never stop moving or moaning or groaning...it was terrible.

Anyways, I do not say any of that to discourage or worry you, I think it is awesome that you have made that decision. I just think you would be a lot more successful and less miserable if you were able to taper down. Also, do you have someone to help out with your 3 year old during the next week or so? Coming from someone who has experience withdrawals with small children, I can tell you for me personally it was almost impossible to do by myself. I dont know that the above poster who said be prepared for possible hospitalization is correct..but it will definitely not be a walk in the park. The lower dose that you can jump from to nothing, the better.

I wish you all the luck in the world. If you need advice or encouragement or just to BS please let us know.
 
Hi there, OP. I've done a 12 mg to 12 microgram drop (a fuckup with my doctor-he wrote the wrong dosage), and it was extremely unpleasant, for sure. I'd been using for around a year by that point - and was in withdrawals for 3 weeks until I got my script sorted out. Expect RLS, insomnia, an all over feeling of agitation, and of course the old opiate aches and pains. Tbh I found bupe WD to be far less unpleasant than full agonists; there was no sense of rock-bottom depression. But unlike, say, morphine or heroin, the withdrawal process can last quite a bit longer - it can carry on for up to a couple months at the worst. If you think you can ride it out, I've heard Imodium can help. If you use the clonozapam for the full duration of the detox, you will pick up a benzo habit and that's not what you need.

IMHO the best thing you could possibly do in this situation, as dirzted pointed out, is to contact a drug treatment provider, and get yourself a taper if you really want to stop, and it sounds like you do . A cold turkey bupe detox is not pleasant - it really may be a good idea to seek some type of medical help here.
 
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hi everybody

ive been on methadone since march 2013 and badly want off. im tired of driving thirty min. one way to the clinic and have a job oppurtunity that will take me out of town. im taking 25 mg daily. i took what i would like to be my last dose this morning. i have a 25 mg take home dose and would like to use that during the withdrawal. i know im in for a bad two weeks. any advice ?
 
good luck gonnastop ! im about to attempt my own withdrawl nightmare but im coming off of methadone.
 
Coming off of 2-6mg's of IV suboxone is crazy. That is a very very high dose. Even detoxing off that dose sublingually is crazy, let alone IV. If you plan on cold turkey stopping now you're going to be in for a hellish experience.

You need to ween down to a much much lower dose, and stop IV'ing it.
 
If you can't get any more suboxone then you can do a taper using the Imodium (loperamide) if you wish. At a high enough dose it will take away pretty much all of the withdrawal symptoms, but since it is an opioid you will need to taper down from it otherwise it will just prolong the withdrawals at the same intensity and duration that you would experience from just stopping the sub. If you taper though the withdrawals won't be as bad when you finally jump off.

If you decide to use the lope wait until you are sick (this is the best way to get by on the lowest dose possible) and take around 20mg and increase your dose by 2mg as needed until you are no longer sick. Once you find a dose that stabilizes you then try reducing by 2mg a day until you are down to like 12mg, then reduce by 1mg a day until you are off of it.

Otherwise you better buckle up and prepare for a week of intense withdrawals followed by a week of moderate withdrawals followed by a few more weeks of light withdrawals which should finally subside after about a month or so. The benzos may help you get a bit of sleep the first week but I know for me I didn't sleep a wink for the first week of suboxone withdrawals even with Xanax.
 
I gotta say I'm amazed at all the responses and support!! Thank u! Let me clarify, I was using iv sublingual strips. 2mg am and 2mg pm with an extra 2mg when I had a little extra $. It has now been about 65+/- hours since my last 2mg Iv dose, my nose is runny, def feeling the all over agitation and racing thoughts! I haven't experienced a "craving" per say as I'm still very committed. On top of everything I landed a job today and will start wed am and Thurs am for orientation. Any suggestions for getting thru those 2, 8 hour first impressions shifts? I did see the u tube video with the Jewish guy and am trying to go by his method. Right now I'm also feeling very emotional and I suppose u could say RLS as my leg and toes r moving nonstop. TBH I'm scared! But grateful for this forum. I know I can I know I will I know I feel bad. I just keep squinting towards that light at the end of the tunnel....
 
Ahh, the misspelling threw me off, OP, were you referring to being on 2-6mgs of bupeprenorphine (suboxone) IV per day?

I also agree that it would probably be much better to reduce your intake gradually and taper down rather than just go cold turkey unless there is some reason that you absolutely cannot. You arent feeling much in the way of withdrawals yet (assuming it is bupe you are taking) because it has such a long half life that it will take a bit for the worse symptoms to kick in.

My husband was once given Butrans patches which is bupe that is in a transdermal patch for back pain. He hated taking any type of pain medication and rarely ever did so they were able to talk him into the patch by telling him that it was something new (which was true for here in the US at the time as far as bupe in a patch) and that it was "different" than narcotics. So they convinced him. After about 3months of using it he decided he didnt want to take it anymore for whatever reason. He had been taking LESS than .5mg (yes, less than half of a mg per day) of bupe a day, transdermally for just a few months. This is a guy who rarely ever complains or exhibits symptoms of pain or illness...he usually just toughs it all out and keeps right on trucking. I did not tell him that he might experience withdrawals as since he was on such a low dose I did not think that the effects would be that significant and figured it would be better if he was not expecting the worse. He was absolutely miserable with horrible withdrawals for quite awhile..he thought he had the worse case of the flu in his life..and that he was possibly dying. After days of no sleep he finally did fall asleep for periods of time of an hour or so out of pure exhaustion and I felt terrible as I would watch him in his sleep never stop moving or moaning or groaning...it was terrible.

Anyways, I do not say any of that to discourage or worry you, I think it is awesome that you have made that decision. I just think you would be a lot more successful and less miserable if you were able to taper down. Also, do you have someone to help out with your 3 year old during the next week or so? Coming from someone who has experience withdrawals with small children, I can tell you for me personally it was almost impossible to do by myself. I dont know that the above poster who said be prepared for possible hospitalization is correct..but it will definitely not be a walk in the park. The lower dose that you can jump from to nothing, the better.

I wish you all the luck in the world. If you need advice or encouragement or just to BS please let us know.
Wow your story made me feel like I was right there watching him with you-cringing at the thought of that long drawn out pain. Does he feel now like he did before he even started bupe-or are there still residual effects happening?
 
Hi, This is my first post under this name, I've been an active member since Jan 2002 and a lurker for the past years, sorry if I'm hijacking the thread but this is really interesting for me, I was on exactly tose patches (well German made, but been on them for 4years+) I used them for IBS & a Hiatal Hernia as well as for Manteinance after a 5year+ Oxy/H/Any Strong Agonist Habit....well ai've been on the patch on doses from 60mcg/h (3 20mg/20mcg per hour patches) so that was 1,44mg in 24 hours, I also performed extractions and used them sublingually so there were times I was getting more than 2-3Mgs a day, no suboxone tablets or any kind of sublingual bupe here, well I think all that sublingual use fucked me up as I have terrible IBS/Chronic Diarrheah though my last intestine results came fine and dandy I have something in my vesicular region (possibly Impacted fecal matter, and unless I took my bupe before going to sleep I have to spend 3-8 hours in the bathroom after waking up, that and the fact I was dependent on Bupe and with my obligations couldn't get off it and getting in the states without insurance was becoming an expensive hassle so taht's the main reason why I moved to South America and work at Finances from Home when I had a good job I really in the Medical Field and had settled down with a more mature-chill life and a wife (though things didn't end up that well, but that's another story and funny enough it didn't made me relapse) up in NYC....anyways fast forward about 8months and I've tapered from the same patches your hubby was wearing (the 5mg ones that release 5mcg/hour or 120mcg/24 hours) I sorta rushed went from 980mcg/24hr to 120/mcg hr in about 6weeks, and have been clean of Bupe for 16 Days now (since December 22 2013) I can get any benzo available in the country I reside, and I'm scripted Clonazepam,Diazepam,Pregabaline,Zolpidem And An Acquaintance is gonna get me some Clonidine from the states soon since it's not available here and I still feel like my head and legs are gonna pop.

Well I basically have 2 questions, I know my stomach problems/IBS don't have much to do with WD's but can they be making them worse even after 15 days? I've been taking Loperamide every couple of days now in the 2nd week (2' 4mg max on the first week, though it didn't hold me completely but being constipated feels worse) well tomorrow I have loads of work to do that needs face to face meetings, I didn't want to take buprenorphine even though I stockpiled just in case! cause taken at night it's the only thing it holds my stomach...well I got Tramadol today, and here stems my second question.

I'm suffering terrible insomnia and in 6hours I gotta meet an important person about a big business that would net me a couple months minimum wage, I took 300mg Tramadol 10 hours ago, and after 15days without opines for the first time in years it's giving me an ok buzz....nothing great but I'm feeling "normal" though insomniac but not tired, might be the SNRI/SSRI effect and about two hours ago I took 50mg diazepam, 150mg Pregabaline, 1,5 mg clonazepam half an hour later 200mg cimetidine and 45 mins later (a few mins ago) 12mg bromazepam 5mg alprazolam and 10mg Zolpidem (I have a monster benzo tolerance), I smoked a Dance World Joint but I.m still insomniac....I have Moby Dick but don't wanna smoke a Sativa Dominant strain, it's 5am and I really need my sleep, I took 6mg of loperamide to be able to work tomorrow, but I was wondering if the Tramadol has anything to do with me being insomniac but not uncomfortable, and also I'm worried I might have reseted my WD's with the Tramadol intake...In rehab in the past detoxing from way stronger stuff I got Poppy Pods and Hydrocodone Smuggled and it didn't set me back that much, but I was in a closed environment...I still have 700mg of Tramadol that I might take with a friend 250 each on Friday and then save the 200mg for like 3weeks after that, I wanna know if I'm really setting back the WD's and if the agony is gonna start again, I know people use trams for WD's and to maintain when it's the only thing they can get, but I'm really looking forward to stop daily use, and this time I really want it! even if it's prescribed daily use! anyways I'll be going thru a surgery in a few months so I might be back, but at least I want to have my tolerance low for that fentanyl anesthesia...

Sorry fir the rant and lack of paragraphs, also I haven't done coke in ages due to my IBS but this business contact says she's got some Peruvian Fish Scale (and I've seen her and seen her do it and it seems top notch, I won't disclose my location but getting awesome coke here is easier than getting good weed, well not for me cause I love weed and don't care much about coke, but for everybody else it's that way) and since we've been doing really good in biz last month and the year has just started and yesterday and today we are gonna be doing very good if all goes as planned and know that due to my IBS I don't drink alcohol but an odd Bloody Mary with immodium or a couple of beers with antiacids she wanted me to have some with her tomorrow and wanted trams, I told her not to mix coke and trams, I'm gonna take loperamide (haven't done coke in years, and haven't done coke without an opioid in decades) I was wondering if doing coke 24hours after doing Tramadol after 15datpys in bupe WD's is "safe" (I won't do more than a third of a gram in a 4-6hour period), and well the thing abiut the trams resetting my really hard 15day bupe WD's would suck...I was never a big fan of trams, especially after having the good stuff but it's been a while and they got me Hugh and took many of the symptoms (allergies, hot/cold flashes, lethargy with insomnia....now it's being hyper and insomniac) away...I still have to get the Clonidine compounded and here DXm only comes in syrup I can't stomach...was wondering about using it as a wd aid, I used it in the past and it help, on New Years I did LSD and 25I-NBOMe with loperamide and it felt great but my old homie made me go to a bar befor my NYE dinner and didn't stop buying me drinks so I ended up paying due to the booze, but ten psychs helped....well if gram in moderation (once very 10-15 days fora max 45-50 day period) then I might consider it as that way I could make 2 business and one pleasure trip (to Uruguay nonetheless, though I'll have to bring my own weed it seems from what I've been hearing from people, it's gonna take 6 months for the system to be implanted and for a Gringo like me it's asking for being ripped off, whilst the customs are a joke and anyways I won't take more than an eight and the cops there don't care) but then again if the ocassional Tramadol (it's SSRI/SNRI properties work great for meeting with customers I never met in real life, and would take a shitload of lope and benzos to get it done on a half assed way the way I am now) but if it's gonna hold me back in my recovery I'm open to any plans....keep in mind it's summer here (110 degrees, no joke) and that in less than 3months I'm going thru surgery with full anesthesia and even though I have no problem telling my anesthesiologist and doc if I partaked in more opines when I left the patch 15days ago I want to know what to expect and how long will the PAWS/lethargy/antisocial mood will last when I'm off opines and if tehrE was an SSRI/SNRI I could take that could mimick Tramadol (yeah I can Get MDMA and methylene, but was thinking something I could ask a doctor) well so sorry for the ramble, this is my first post and want to know what to expect, especially after tomorrow whe the Tramadol will be gone of my body and I'll prolly won't be able to say no to the celebratory coke line...well I have much more things I'd like to ask but I think this is more than enough, thanks a lot all you bluelighters, even on my lurking days you were always there for me....well another J of Dance World and let's see if I can sleep....on the upside I'm dreaming again, I thought it was the pot and benzos not letting me remember my dreams but it was the bupe, we'll see with the Tramadol, I hope I haven't fucked up using it on my 16th day of bupe wd. Thanks a lot once again!,
 
Woke up to day 3 feel like complete a$$!! legs jumping, completely agitated and ready to strangle just about anybody who walks thru my door. Sleep didn't come too easily. Even with klonodine on board. I'm wondering if knock off immodium is working the same it has same active ingredient, also brand x tagamet is all I can afford... I'm also taking the Walgreen version of robotussin... *side comment RLS is worse when ur cat won't stop attacking them* I don't want to gain another dependence so should I cut out the lope? Seems kinda pointless if I'm gonna have to endure more WD from something I'm trying to get thru WD with (damn where was that genius philosophy when I was first getting on suboxone??) One more thing... and please don't call me crazy... I'm seeing things... things I know aren't there like black marbles gliding across the floor n ceiling n like figures out of the corners of my eyes but when I look its gone. I even took my glasses off because I don't want to see them... it scares me to think I'm going crazy. Is there any chance of a lasting mental issue.. not that there's room for any I already(before WD) suffer from PTSD bipolar severe depression and borderline personality disorder... ya I'm a. Hott mess! But I won't and can't give up!!
 
Woke up to day 3 feel like complete a$$!! legs jumping, completely agitated and ready to strangle just about anybody who walks thru my door. Sleep didn't come too easily. Even with klonodine on board. I'm wondering if knock off immodium is working the same it has same active ingredient, also brand x tagamet is all I can afford... I'm also taking the Walgreen version of robotussin... *side comment RLS is worse when ur cat won't stop attacking them* I don't want to gain another dependence so should I cut out the lope? Seems kinda pointless if I'm gonna have to endure more WD from something I'm trying to get thru WD with (damn where was that genius philosophy when I was first getting on suboxone??) One more thing... and please don't call me crazy... I'm seeing things... things I know aren't there like black marbles gliding across the floor n ceiling n like figures out of the corners of my eyes but when I look its gone. I even took my glasses off because I don't want to see them... it scares me to think I'm going crazy. Is there any chance of a lasting mental issue.. not that there's room for any I already(before WD) suffer from PTSD bipolar severe depression and borderline personality disorder... ya I'm a. Hott mess! But I won't and can't give up!!




Yeah the unfortunate part of subs w/d is definitely the length of them..........similar in length to Methadone just not as intense. I don't think you will get w/d from Immodium but it is still technically giving your body an opiate. For sleep I would try your hardest to be outside or in a gym getting active then maybe take a small amt of Klonopin late at night. I know the worst part for me in sub w/d is/was not being able to eat so I think getting a protein powder and some fresh fruit to make shakes with is ideal. (Frozen Blueberries + banana + protein powder + milk) If you're daring u can also try diff. veggie ones like carrot + apple. Weed could also help nicely for appetite. If you can find a nice high quality medical strains I've found those to be the only thing that will give me the munchies when I have cannabis tollerance.

I've been on bupe way too long myself after previously being on a yr of Methadone and I'm planning my next jump from bupe. Already down to 1 mg/day. GL getting through it!
 
Thanks SAMCRO! I have been smoking some good bud which got me through a carnation breakfast drink n bread with nutella. Eating is def not the first thing on my mind w/o a little assistance! I will take ur advise to heart tho, forcefully I might add as I start a physically strenuous job tomorrow. Still not sure whether I should take 1 mg of subutex in the am? Last dose of immodium n lope was at 3pm today so maybe without the narcan I won't has PW? Idk well see I hope I don't f$#% myself...
 
Got thru day one of work n it went alright even on day for of WD. I did take a little extra lope just to offset the crappy feeling... now I'm gonna try to get some sleep up n at em at 4am. Now I'm starting to think what is life gonna be like after 10 yrs note on then off of drugs or some crutch... kinda intimidating... any advice/suggestions???
 
Nice one getting through work while in early detox -.stressful thing to do IME. It sounds like the lope is helping to offset the symptoms; how effective would you say they were at doing that? I Respect what your doing btw

Only suggestion really is maybe considering Britlofex; it's supposed to really help with WD's, though I've heard tiredness can be a big problem with this.
 
For how long can I take lope safely? I'm seeing my gastroenterologist today due to my IBS and other shit and the anesthetist that will put me to sleep will be there and he's gonna give me a date for a colonoscopy, he knows about my tolerance but not that I'm withdrawing (day 18), should I tell him or will my tolerance for the Fentanyl that they will use to anesthetize me will just make me have a better time (can't believe I'm saying that about an invasive surgical procedure) and have more of that euphoric nod when I wake up?

Back to bupe w/d's I'm still having to shit a lot (pardon my French) but so I did whilst wearing the patch at 980mcg and 1.44mg a day, it only constipated me if taken extracted sublingually at night....I try to take lope every couple of days and sometimes just 1mg, but for it to work 8 gotta take 6mg+ before I go to sleep , and I only did 3-4 times for work, today I got some compounded Clonidine, which dose do you recomed for W/D's and at which time, I took 0,05mg at 10:45 am with 1mg sublingual clonazepam and 10mg diazepam and I smoked a fat J of Lemon Kush with some tobacco whilst taking a huge shit....now I feel normal though I can feel my hiatal hernia hurting and mocking me saying you'll be in the bathroom for 3hours soon.... Well Ihave a much better perspective today, have to go to do work related shit inside a car soon and I think I'm gonna have to take lope (~6mg or literally I'll shit my pants), for how long have you people taken lope for WD's and did you stopped cold turkey or got a worse case of the runs when you quit?

Thanks of any replies, will take cimetidine and 2mg alprazolam and 300mg Pregabaline 45mins later...I haven't taken any more tramadol since day 16 but how bad would taking a 200mg dose on saturday/Sunday (week 3 without bupe) would be? Would It be getting back to square one wd wise? Cause I don't feel I screwed up that badly with my bupe wd after taking the 300mg Tramadol, though I was told I was reseting the withdrawals...I mean mentally I feel "normal" good some days not so great other days, I'm more social, I'm working harder, I remember my dreams though I smoke a lot of weed and take any benzo and z drug I can get scripted from Alprazolam to Zolpidem (but have been for almost 15years now) sleep less at night and nap unexpectedly during the day...my legs fucking hurt though, I try to walk a couple miles every time I feel fine and I bike when I feel fine as well, but the restless legs are killing me, cimetidine with lyrics helps to some point but unless I smoke weed on top it doesn't do that much and then it lasts 30mins, will the Clonidine help? It's summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere and temperature be ~35 degrees Celsius, sometimes more near 40deegres, more than the normal temperature of the human body (36 degrees Celsius), I've been warned not to go out of my ACed apt. If I take Clonidine opinion this weather, I also been told told not to drive for 6hours after taking it, I know it makes your pressure go up and in this heat wave (wish I was up there in the NE with that Cold Wave, I'm sure many of you would like to trade)....what's your experience with Clonidine and heat, or aids for wding in summer, it's day 18 should I be feeling physically normal and is the Clonidine overkill? It sure helped me years ago but I don't remember that much....thanks a lot for any replies! Would using bismuth cream (Pepto) for tapering off lope work, or with my IBS it just really doesn't matter?


Sorry for all the questions, I feel kinda rushed and I'm not writing from my computer and my stomach burns on the inside so this is the better I could write, hope I get some replies, thanks a lot!
 
If you can't get any more suboxone then you can do a taper using the Imodium (loperamide) if you wish. At a high enough dose it will take away pretty much all of the withdrawal symptoms, but since it is an opioid you will need to taper down from it otherwise it will just prolong the withdrawals at the same intensity and duration that you would experience from just stopping the sub. If you taper though the withdrawals won't be as bad when you finally jump off.

If you decide to use the lope wait until you are sick (this is the best way to get by on the lowest dose possible) and take around 20mg and increase your dose by 2mg as needed until you are no longer sick. Once you find a dose that stabilizes you then try reducing by 2mg a day until you are down to like 12mg, then reduce by 1mg a day until you are off of it.

Otherwise you better buckle up and prepare for a week of intense withdrawals followed by a week of moderate withdrawals followed by a few more weeks of light withdrawals which should finally subside after about a month or so. The benzos may help you get a bit of sleep the first week but I know for me I didn't sleep a wink for the first week of suboxone withdrawals even with Xanax.

That's actually a big question I was wondering about: can I take lope while reducing from bupe for when the reduction starts getting uncomfortable? (For me, that's usually round the 4 mg mark). Tramadol' helped me with this in the past, but it would be useful to know if I can also use lope while there's still bupe in my system.
 
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