Bupe Buprenorphine Withdrawals

[smokeymcpot42088]

WSB15, Congratulations on your success. Your story gives me great deals of hope.

Im about to drop from 1mg to .5 to .25 and hopefully off completely at the end of the month, next month if not this one.

Sounds like you suffered mild withdrawls for a few days.

You said the w/d was pretty bad, but looking back, honestly....

Was it nearly as intense as coming cold off 160 mg a day oxy habit?

I always get cold sweats, hot flashes, RLS, unable to sleep more than a couple hours, loose stool.
for less intense w/d

more intense w/d would be like puking all the time and not being able to leave bed ever, drenched in sweat, not like with hot cold flashes, like completely drenched........gag on all liquid, cant eat so you start dry heaving.

ya know, theres a couple of intensity levels of withdrawl

 

[WSB15]

WSB15, Congratulations on your success. Your story gives me great deals of hope.

Im about to drop from 1mg to .5 to .25 and hopefully off completely at the end of the month, next month if not this one.

Sounds like you suffered mild withdrawls for a few days.

You said the w/d was pretty bad, but looking back, honestly....

Was it nearly as intense as coming cold off 160 mg a day oxy habit?

I always get cold sweats, hot flashes, RLS, unable to sleep more than a couple hours, loose stool.
for less intense w/d

more intense w/d would be like puking all the time and not being able to leave bed ever, drenched in sweat, not like with hot cold flashes, like completely drenched........gag on all liquid, cant eat so you start dry heaving.

ya know, theres a couple of intensity levels of withdrawl

It's not as intense as coming off that much Oxy...I just don't want people thinking Suboxone is some miracle drug that gives you a get out of jail free card. You gotta pay the piper. Although really my withdrawals weren't that much physically worse even when I had been on oxy & other opiates. They were just psychologically harder because of the cravings and knowing you can take a pill and feel better.

I was hoping I'd be able to get off Suboxone without missing any work, but I couldn't sleep for the first several days, my nose was so runny that I got a sore throat so bad I lost my voice for a few days, and I couldn't eat anything but milkshakes and sprite. Yesterday all I ate was ice cream and potato chips. Today I've had a sandwich, so each day I feel better.


All in all I can't recommend tapering slow and low enough. Go from 1 mg to 0.5 mg, wait at least 2 weeks to adjust, then go down to .25 mg. I should probably point out that as soon as I got my last script for 4 pills I was taking more than .25...about .40 mg per day on average, and snorting them rather than taking them sublingually.

 

[MaddTime]

To WSB15, did your doc give you anything at all for dealing with the withdrawals? And also, you didn't really say if you missed work or not. If you did, how much did you miss. I've been thinking, when I finally kick bupe, and say I get 1 week to pick off work, should I pick the first week of W/D or the second?

 

[KnowBudz]

The lower end of the dose range is reported to be the toughest part to get through. I believe there is a lot of misunderstanding about the whole withdrawal process. Suboxone seems to be often blamed as though it somehow creates or worsens withdrawal symptoms. However, a lot of the literature points to the drugs taken prior to ORT as the real culprits. Assuming ORT patients are addicts prior to treatment, the brain changes wrought through years of opiate abuse, while they *may* be reversed (partially or fully) with time in treatment, this happens in varying degrees among patients.

 

[MaddTime]

The lower end of the dose range is reported to be the toughest part to get through. I believe there is a lot of misunderstanding about the whole withdrawal process. Suboxone seems to be often blamed as though it somehow creates or worsens withdrawal symptoms. However, a lot of the literature points to the drugs taken prior to ORT as the real culprits. Assuming ORT patients are addicts prior to treatment, the brain changes wrought through years of opiate abuse, while they *may* be reversed (partially or fully) with time in treatment, this happens in varying degrees among patients.

^^What sorts of brain changes are you talking about? I am genuinely interested. And there is no question about suboxone causing withdrawal. It isn't the prior opiate causing W/D it's the bupe. The physical dependence is transferred from the prior drug to bupe.

What i want to know is, why should I stay in bupe therapy when it could cause just as bad of WD (according to some reports) as if I were on any regular opoid. In other words, what makes bupe better for maintanence than a full-agonist if it will cause similar withdrawals? The only thing I can think of is stability. On the other hand if I were to start again on full agonists, I could at least get a buzz...

 

[WSB15]

To WSB15, did your doc give you anything at all for dealing with the withdrawals? And also, you didn't really say if you missed work or not. If you did, how much did you miss. I've been thinking, when I finally kick bupe, and say I get 1 week to pick off work, should I pick the first week of W/D or the second?

No, my doctor didn't give me shit. I didn't even ask. She's a goddamned retard who told me that a 1 mg dose was merely placebo. She gave me a crazy look when I wanted to taper down lower than 1 mg (I've kicked 1 mg Suboxone, this was WAY easier). So I didn't bother asking her for clonidine or anything else, she would probably look at me confused and ask why I wanted blood pressure meds. I did get a few Xanax's and Ambiens (no thanks to the doc), but the Ambiens didn't do shit for the insomnia. Benzos are great for opiate w/d, though.

I missed 4 days and had a day off after that. I could have dragged my ass into work considering I have a desk job. If you have a manual labor type job, you might need a whole week. My energy is coming back but today I still got pretty tired after just 10 minutes of lifting.

Definitely pick the first week of w/d. I didn't start feeling much w/d until about 36 hours after my last dose. Its been like 8 days or so now and I'm not in withdrawal anymore--now its like a mild cold and I feel a bit drained, improving daily. When I kicked 1 mg, I had sleep problems for a month so bad that I had to take Ambien, Trazodone, AND clonidine just to get light sleep. So i can't say how glad I am that I went down to 0.25, it makes it so much easier and seems to shorten the w/d time. Everyone's different, but if your kick is like mine, I don't think you'll need more than a week tops off work.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

She's a goddamned retard who told me that a 1 mg dose was merely placebo. She gave me a crazy look when I wanted to taper down lower than 1 mg

What a moronic doctor. Buprenex (ampules of buprenorphine) are 0.324mg/mL. 1mg of buprenorphine is actually a moderate/large sized dose for someone without a tolerance.

Everyone's different, but if your kick is like mine, I don't think you'll need more than a week tops off work.

This is good to know, thanks WSB!

^^What sorts of brain changes are you talking about? I am genuinely interested.

Up-regulation of mu-opioid receptors.

 

[Partykid12]

I'm lucky that my doctor pretty much allows me to go at my own pace with the taper so I think I will go to 1mg for 3 weeks, .75 for 2 weeks, .5 for 3 weeks, .25 for 2 weeks, .25 every other day for two weeks and then hopefully be done with it with minor w/d. The doctor will prescribe diazepam if I want but I do not want to get on that so maybe I'll just take them every now and then during that week that I'm off. Also, he will give me Trazadone for sleep and Clonidine for most of the other stuff. I just don't want to be at work while hating life.

Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences WSB.

 

[i are spectre]

someone said they used tramadol to get off bupe. ive heard numerous times its dangerous to use tramadol when wd from an opiate. anyone have info on this (as far as bupe only i mean)? i have a script for trams, id rather get off trams than bupe from what i have read by the other guy i just mentioned up there somewhere...

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I'm lucky that my doctor pretty much allows me to go at my own pace with the taper so I think I will go to 1mg for 3 weeks, .75 for 2 weeks, .5 for 3 weeks, .25 for 2 weeks, .25 every other day for two weeks and then hopefully be done with it with minor w/d. The doctor will prescribe diazepam if I want but I do not want to get on that so maybe I'll just take them every now and then during that week that I'm off. Also, he will give me Trazadone for sleep and Clonidine for most of the other stuff. I just don't want to be at work while hating life.

Thanks for posting your thoughts and experiences WSB.

A small amount of diazepam, or perhaps temazepam, could really help the buprenorphine comedown in my opinion. I'm glad you don't want to be tolerant on them though, so it probably would be easier just to do your taper and leave it at that.

I personally find temazepam doesn't leave me groggy in the morning but trazadone does. If trazadone works for you then that's good. Either way your taper sounds like a good idea.

 

[milliontrillion]

weight gain from stopping subs?

has anyone experienced dramatic weight gain from stopping subs?

was on suboxone for bit over 6 months, was on methadone for about a year and a half before that. tapered down my sub dose to 1mg and stopped about 3 weeks ago.

the wds were horrible and relentless for the first week. and now not only do i still have some lingering wd symptoms but i've put on 3kg!

the whole time i was on methadone and then suboxone my weight stayed exactly the same no matter what i ate or did. now bam - fat. don't think it could be coincidence.

also, does anyone know if its true that suboxone damages your thyroid and adrenal glands/systems? and if anything can be done to fix it?

 

[therastamonsays]

it seems like noone has a straight answer. i was using heroin for like 4 years got on bupe back in September. they gave me 24mg a day however i mainly only realy took 16 mg. i noticed that i would go sometimes like maybe 3 days without taking it no problem. i wanted my body to be healthy and get of anything i need to depend on. so i stopped i maybe took 4 mg every 3 days. i know i should have tapered better but i just was sick of it all. now its been one week and 3 days. last week i had really bad body pains that's finally gone. my appetite sucks, and im all cold and sweaty esp my hands they are clammy as shit. this doesnt feel as terrible as heroin withdraw to me but its still not comfortable.

but this gross sweaty feeling is realy fucking irritating. any word as to how much longer i should be expecting this.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I can't gain weight, and I'm at < 1mg per day. I'm trying to eat as much food as possible and I think I actually lost a few pounds this week.

Everyone's experience is different, can't really tell you.

Try to stay active and exercise cardio and/or muscular semi regularly (long distance walking > long distance running), as being overweight but active is healthier than being not overweight but sedentary.

 

[ro0ga]

suboxone WD is a walk in the park (relatively) compared to oc's. You're withdrawing from a partial agonist, not a full agonist, so that makes it easy. Suboxone has a stupid long half life, so the detox period will be slow and not nearly as intense. If you've weaned yourself to 0.5 mg and you're doing fine with that...then you're in the clear bro. Maybe some light symptoms, but my guess is that you'll be able to function and go about your day just fine. I've seen people go cold turkey from 8 mg suboxone to nothing after a significant oxy problem, and they said it was very manageable.

A little loperamide to keep around is a good idea if you experience diarrhea, but don't take the loperamide hoping for a buzz. I think these people claiming by taking a truckload of loperamide and getting a mini-buzz are full of shit, or experiencing primarily a placebo effect.

Benzo's are a good tool for insomnia, and NSAIDS are surprisingly effective too. Just be careful though...you're going to the middle east, they're going to check the fuck out of your bags. be crafty with whatever drugs you decide to bring or hopefully have a legit script for them. getting caught at the airport with illegal drugs, um, sucks.

 

[oldhead]

This thread is almost 3 years old. I'm sure the OP is back from his overseas adventure.

What my friend did and never missed a day of work: He weaned down to .25 every other day and then bought 20 5mg percocet (man I remember when I would take 3 5mg percs and 3 beers and a little weed and was so fine) and did 3 a day until all gone. He had trouble sleeping but weed helped and he was slower for a few weeks but all in all he thought he was very pleased that the withdrawals were not so bad.

 

[brutus]

First of all, congrats on trying to quit. Bupe withdrawals aren't a walk in the park in my experience, but aren't horrible.

Expect a week of physical symptoms to go away, just watch out for PAWS. And stay the hell away from drugs in the middle east, unless you like prison/torture.

 

[therastamonsays]

alright i stopped cold turkey basically. it'll be two weeks tomorrow. my body has stopped aching the only issues are still body temperature, clammy hands, and decreased appetite marijuana has helped me at least force myself to eat. im hoping i dont have much longer of this to go.

 

[opiaddict]

bupe withdrawals

My own experience with bupe withdrawals is that it does suck and lasts long. I was arreasted and put in jail. Prior to my arrest I was taking 16 mgs and it nearly killed me. I didn't know any better, but once the nurse lookes at me, she said I didn't look well at all. So I explained that I was on subutex. Of course the County can't afford to give that to inmates. So the Jail Doc hooked me up with 3 10mg valium per day and clonidine. The clonidine (catapress) lowered my BP to 60/40. So I denied that drug thereafter. Even though I was given the three valium 10mgs/ day, I was hating life. No sleep, sweats, and a smell exuding from my pores. My only relief was you know, masturbating every five seconds. I have heard that is a normal come down off opiate reaction, not that I'm a horny cat, it just releases the endorphines you need.

 

[i are spectre]

people who taper fast will have severe withdrawals if they've been on bupe for years. you have to taper very slow. if you wanna taper fast, you need lots of diazepam and tramadol, in my experience. tons of both. i was doing it daily for less than a week and ive been feeling withdrawal symptoms for 4 days now! but those are gone immediately when i take 20 or 30mg of diazepam with the recommended max dose of tramadol a day, maybe a little more. so in conlusion, id say you've got 2 weeks to a month of wd if you've been using daily and you taper pretty quick, from what ive read here and guess on the half life data, my brain, etc. answer: diazepam and tramadol. that's my best advice. perhaps clonazepam.

 

[bagochina]

in bupe w.d now, sucks but it aint shit compared to smack. I just klonopin'd up and at the highest on the horrible dope dial w/ds would be a 3. I have been on bupe for something like 8 years. Its hard and annoying and I dont know what I would do if I had a spoon of dope in front of me its soooooooo easy for me to give in. Ehh its been 5-6 days still sluggish and just random bouts of restless muscles even ontop of the klonopin. I need to end this. No stomache discomfort and I can sleep w/ sleeping pills, and showers dont hurt!! So thats good.

Peace,
Sseedless