Off Suboxone cold turkey/extremely rapid taper

[dannyboy88]

So for the past year I've been on subs and for the first six months I was on 8mg...then went down to 4 then 2 then back up to for and for the past two months I've been on 4mg with the occasional dip to 2mg.....the past week Ive skipped a day and done 4mg the day before yesterday....now I have maybe 4mg left and split them into 1mg chunks....If I skip another day tomorrow making that two days since my last dose....and take 1mg (if possible) every 1-2 days will I still experience horrible withdrawals or will the rapid taper be less of a pain because Ive skipped days and lessened the amount.

Going from 6 months of 4mg once a day to 4mg every other day then 1 mg every other day in a week/week and a half period seems like I will still get hit pretty hard.....any thoughts?

 

[effie]

Going to scoot this over to Other Drugs as they cover this topic well

BDD > OD

 

[carrion Doll]

Honestly I think you will still have a hard time. I tapered all the way down to .25mg/day for two months before I jumped the first time and it was pretty uncomfortable. But then again I am a HUGE baby about wd's. I am day two into my second try at getting off, so far not too bad. But I did some small doses of hydromorph for 9 days then went back on the subs for 4 before going off of everything. I am hoping that 1 week off, even though I went back on for those 4 days (.25mg/day again) will make it a bit easier but maybe that is wishful thinking. But back on your subject, I have seen people have quite a hard time even with a slow taper down to a very low dose. Like going down 25% from 1 mg every two weeks til they get to .25/mg, then skipping days at .25/mg and then jump off and still report that they have serious sleep issues and discomforts.

 

[cire113]

withdrawals don't even really start full till day 4 or 5...

its gonna suck regardless..

.25 isn't bad at all.. it sucks but is nothing compared to 1mg>

 

[MidwestCaveman]

I have been on subs for 3 years. Been trying to get off subs for 2.5 years. It seems not to matter much if I try to jump at 2mg or .5 mg its still horrible. Ime it doesnt seem to matter if you taper. I made it 3 months last time and I still was having bad wds.
I guess what im saying is just jump and ride it out. Its not easy.
Im not trying to scare you. But the sub taper is over rated. Its hell no matter what.
UNLESS you have been on it for 2 weeks or less. Thats all you should ver take subs for is 2 weeks.
Boy does it seem like a god send when you first start taking it.
3 years later ive lost my script for it and still have to hunt down my meds on the street and pay
crazy money for them. I might of been clean from oxy for three years, but now im a slave to the suboxone

 

[FrizzleFry]

Hey DannyBoy,

I concur with everyone else, it's going to be a little rough for you with that rapid a jump. I've recently reduced from a relatively small starting dose of approx 4mg down to less than .25mg per day and still feel like shit. I suggest tapering as best you can and letting yourself work down to .125mg per day (1/16th of a pill/strip), stabilize at .125mg and then jump. You're faced with two choices in this: Deal with some withdrawal symptoms for a few weeks during this taper, which will certainly be crappy, but not completely debilitating. Or, jump of completely at 1mg or even .5mg and do the full Shake-Rattle-And-Roll for 14 days.

One thing I have found, which I didn't believe it was possible until I tried it myself is high doses (15mg(+)) of loperamide (Immodium). Google or search in BL for "loperamide" or "loperamide taper."

This isn't the pain-free, withdrawal free solution we all seem to look for, but there IS some relief to be found with this method which may help you along as you kick. Sadly, we all have to "pay the piper", so to speak. I've found this out on more than a few dozen occasions.

Whatever route you choose, know that you're not alone in your suffering. It always seems to feel that way, especially at 3:00am when doing the 'Shake Rattle and Roll' - but it's not the case. There are many of us out here going through the same thing you are, and in some cases, all we have is each other. So... you're not alone. I wish you the best.

 

[dannyboy88]

I know its playing w fire but I have high self control at this point but what about using the smallest possible dose of oxy to help in the worst of times? would it easier/quicker to just get on a low dose of oxygen and painfully rapid taper off that? I did that once and it pretty much worked *I think*.....would dosing small amounts of oxy help through the worst of the sub wd?

 

[dannyboy88]

So I dosed 2 mg maybe 5 days ago...skipped a day...took 1 mg two days later...then 1~.75mg last night then was maybe feeling a bit of the withdrawals come on so I ended up buying a bottle of 200 count loperamide 2mg tabs...I took 180mg and right now, 2 hours later my body feels a little like goop and my mind feels a bit stoned....but no anxiety and my skeleton doesn't want to burst out of my body and dance off down the street so I think lope may actually be a good thing.....I know its only been about 24 hours since my last sub dose....but at my rapid taper I believe the wd comes sooner than 36 at a certain point......So for now I am going to stick with loperamide and save my 4 oxy 30s for if it gets real bad....I know the worst is to come so well see how loperamide and kratom work....

Also I am going to my family in florida on the 20th and have to be tip top so any other suggestions on what to do from now until then would be great...full body cleanser? exercise? kratom and lope? tiny doses of oxy to elevate WD/sleep?

 

[Jrhguitarist1]

I feel for ya I've said in one of my threads that the sub wd's could have ranked 1 or 2 on my chart of the worst I've had but you've tapered quite a bit hopefully with a lot of the advice from the other guys here it went easy for you. Can't believe in this day and age with all the new meds and tech that opiates have been around since the invention of medicine that we haven't come out with a non opiate opiate replacement that doesn't come with worse withdraw than the drug your getting off. And I think sub doc's should have to make you fully aware that getting off the subs will be ten times harder than the oxy or heroin or whatever you drug of choice was. Sub withdraw is hard but if I can do it so can anyone else cause im no tuff guy and I did it. From 4mils a day to cold turkey from skipping appointment got cut off and it was hell but it can be done.