hydrocodone withdrawals, help please!

[tunit]

So I've been taking hydrocodone for 4 years now. The first year was just off and on but the last 3 years have been pretty much everyday. The 2nd year was my worst, topping out at 20 lorcets a day. However, the last 2 years I have tapered down to taking my prescribed amount...3-4 a day and with the occasional party day if you know what I mean. It's been 2 years since I've gone a day without them and I've hit a problem where I can't get the money to go to my doctor so today is my last dose. I've been down to 2 a day knowing this day was coming for the last 2 weeks and I've decided to try to come off of them. They are controlling my life and I need to get it back. Now my question is am I still going to get horrible withdrawls since I've been taking a fairly average dose of 3 a day, and now 2 for the last 2 weeks?

Also, my main question...I had a buddy give me 2 8mg strips of suboxone and I'm cosidering dividing that up and taking it over the next 6 days. I was thinking a half of a strip after 24hrs of my last 2 hydros, then another half 24hrs later, then do a forth of a stip for the last 4 days. Will this help with my withdrawls or will it just worsen things? Or would anyone recommend a better dosage?

I'd appreciate any suggestions or advice. I'm really freaking out and I'm a little scared of a what I will be going thru the next week or so. I'm a waiter who has no choice but to work, so for anyone who is a server you know I will need to be on my "A" game while at work. Thanks in advance yall!

 

[tunit]

Thanks for the advise bro. I wasn't too sure if it would help my situation or not and the last thing I wanted to do was make things worse you know. So I'm gonna try to go without them. I just took my last 2 hydros today so wish me luck. I went out and got a few supplements to help me with the next week or 2. I got some imodium, an antihistamine, L-Tyrosine, a multi-mineral supplement (zinc, copper, magnesium, potassium), as well as some tribulus to help with testosterone and energy. I forgot the B-6...do you think that matters for the L-Tyrosine? Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I know my addiction wasn't near as bad as some others that I've seen, but it was still a daily part of my life to function and feel good and make it through my day. It was always an end of the day thing for me, like after work or after my workouts on my days off to take the edge off and have a good night. But I'm still pretty worried as to how this week is going to look for me, I've got the next 3 days off to just kind of lay around and not do anything. Then I'm a double shift on day 4, then off on day 5, then I work 2 more double shifts in a row day 6 and 7. I'm really ready to get my life back as I feel this has had me completely under control and holding me back from good jobs so I could go to my doctor during the week, because that's when they are open unfortunately. Not to mention since I don't have insurance it's an expensive habit.

 

[Tommyboy]

I agree that you should take a lot lower suboxone dose than initially planned. 0.5mg would be about equal to you current dosage of 2 lorcets a day, but should last a lot longer in respect to keeping the withdrawals away. Try 0.5mg and see if you can take it every other day. Your biggest issue is the amount of time that you were on the drug for, not the dosage, so I recommend taking a low dose of suboxone either everyday or every other day for a little while so that you can begin to function without a full opioid in your system.

Wait until you are in withdrawals before dosing the suboxone, waiting a minimum of 18 hours to dose, but ideally 24+ hours. The longer you wait the more relief it will provide, and you should not have to worry about precipitated withdrawals if you wait over 18 hours to dose (you may be fine to dose after as little as 12 hours, but I wouldn't chance it).

If you start out of 0.5mg of suboxone and lower down to 0.25mg before stopping you would be on it for a while before finishing the 16mgs, so perhaps you should only use 1 8mg strip to detox. I would max out at 2 weeks of suboxone use for the detox as long as you stay at the low doses mentioned.

If you are having trouble dosing that low then you can try liquid dosing. Cut the strip into 1/4s and dissolve one 1/4 with a known amount of water. An oral syringe can be bought OTC at any pharmacy and you can draw up a certain amount of units to dissolve the 2mgs, and divide it up further so that you can determine the dosage, and you can drop the solution under your tongue and allow it to absorb that way.

 

[BiggDirty01]

If you've been using for 3-4 years almost every day then you need to understand how much the psychological component will come into play if your intention is to abstain from using for good. You really should consider looking into some kind of support group, outpatient treatment or even seeing a doctor who specializes in addiction/pain management medicine.

 

[thurston]

I've had about the same habit, a little more. .5-1mg of sub will hold u. 2-4mg will make u high as shit. If u only take a small amount of sub u won't go into precipitated wd. The hydro wd will not be too bad the worst is over after day 3. Taking 1mg of sub then 1.5 days later .5mg will make wd minimal.