Curious about my Suboxone W/Ds

[matt.strummer]

I had been a heavy opiate user before (200 - 250mg IV daily of Oxycodone), went through treatment and was released in July of '10. Afterwards, I admit I relapsed on only a few 30mg Roxis. I would snort them maybe once every other day to maintain not feeling pillsick until someone could get me Suboxone - that started around late-Sept./early-Oct. of 2010.

Recently, I've made the conscious decision to take myself off of Suboxone, as I had been taking it since late September/early October of 2010. I honestly would burn through the 8mg tabs at first usually within 4 -5 days, but since early December I have been working on slowing and lowering my dosage - basically, getting to the point where I was snorting crumbs. I prefer to snort Sub - IDK, I just enjoy it.

For the past 4 -5 days I had been taking maybe .5mgs of crumbs that I had leftover from my last 8mg tab. The last .5mg (if that even) of sub I snorted was at 6a.m. Sunday (01/09/11). Well, now that today is here I feel fine, but what should I expect in the next days to come?

I don't feel achey, sweaty, have the runs, or any usual withdrawl symptons I have had before. I also have 3 2mg bars that I have just to be prepared for the anxiety, etc. Could anyone enlighten me on if I am in the clear from withdrawls? Or will I be going through some mild Hell in the next days or even next weeks?

Thank you so much for any input, guys! I haven't been able to find any posts relating to what I'm going through.

EDIT: If this belongs in another sub-forum, please let me know or move it.

 

[Tommyboy]

The good news it that you were on a low dose.

For me, my suboxone withdrawal symptoms did not start until close to 3 days after my last dose, so close to 72hrs. So withdrawal has not likely began for you. Insomnia was my main symptom, along with no appetite and diarrhea.

 

[matt.strummer]

The good news it that you were on a low dose.

For me, my suboxone withdrawal symptoms did not start until close to 3 days after my last dose, so close to 72hrs. So withdrawal has not likely began for you. Insomnia was my main symptom, along with no appetite and diarrhea.

How long were you in W/Ds for after they had begun?

Appetite hasn't been a problem yet either, nor diarrhea. I have melatonin for insomnia as I take it regularly. I had read that since my dose was so small that it wouldn't be until 24 - 36 hours after that until W/Ds hit. I'm right at hour 36, so I'll continue to document how I feel into the night and in the morning.

I know W/Ds are to expected even in small doses, but what would the duration of these W/Ds be?

 

[Tommyboy]

I did a very fast taper from a 8-16mg a day dose, so the intensity of our withdrawals probably won't be the same. However, the general consensus seems to be that even with low doses, the withdrawal still drags out longer than other opiates. For me, it was pretty bad for 5 days, whereas with other opiates it was 2-3 days.

 

[Bojangles69]

Well .5mg seems a little steep for me I wouldn't have stopped at that point (if not getting sick is the goal, some people prefer to get it over with).

The slope of the entire taper and how long you were at x dose is what really determines how bad the wds will be. But ideally you should consider going back on the sub if by day 3 or 4 you're hurting. But when you go back don't take .5mg, take .25mg this time.
If you need to make it easy, dissolve a whole 8mg sub pill in 16ml of 100 proof smirnoffs. Every 1/2ml will have exactly .25mg. Put the alcohol under your tounge and it will move faster into your blood that way.
But ideally sometimes you just need to "test" where your body is at. Wait till tommorow and see how you feel. But don't push yourself too hard if you don't like how you feel you don't like how you feel. By day 3 you should have a good idea of how bad the wds will be. I notice most people who get down to around .25mg, and stay there for 2-3 weeks have minimal to no wds at all. Other people who had bigger habits, and tapered faster, may have to stay at that dose for 3-4 weeks.
But the fact is the wds really shouldn't be bad at all if you get real low, and stay there. Lots of people work with "crumbs" but its not something I advocate. You really only have a guess to how many mgs you're dealing with. And wds coming off .20mg can be very different than coming off .4 or .5mg crumbs.
Just try to get to day 3, and if you feel shitty like I said just take another .25mg. Something cool with sub is you towards the end you really don't need to take it everyday. I had also started spacing out my doses and not a lot of people do that. Which is another reason for the variation in wds.
Something I do want to mention though its the emotional wds, anxiety, and depression although minimized usually still surface in PAWs. And it takes PAWs 6-8 days to actually kick in. When I stopped sub I was fine and felt great till day 7 on the nose. At that point I sank into a bad depression, became extremely apathetic, and my anxiety levels went through the roof. So don't think you're in the clear till after a week or 2 have passed.
If you do get PAWs, and its bad, DO NOT go back to taking large doses. Theres many different ways to handle paws. I've seen some members take adderal and it works great to keep your mood elevated so your opiate receptors can adjust. Other members like me are "allergic" to stims lol. But even a 50mg dose of tram or taking some kanna leaf can help with paws. Just never go in reverse because thats what I did and I hate myself for it today.
I went through 3 months of tapering, faught through 23 days of paws hell just so I could go back to using. I didn't have to relapse, I could have just took like .10mg of sub to make the PAWs a bit more bearable than tried stopping again. So w/e you do, never go back to high doses like I did. I would have been far out of the woods by now if I just stuck to the plan, and now I'm going through the entire process again. Doing it once its hard enough, relapsing so you can do it all over again from scratch its a serious mind fuck.
Good luck either way!