Be careful. Bupe withdrawal is no joke. I would prefer a full agonist withdrawal to a bupe withdrawal any day of the week.
As it goes you will eventually have to pay the piper my friend. You will have withdrawals no matter what you do. Minimizing them is good, mitigating them is good. Personally I would try to lay hands on some diazepam, l-tyrosine, and l-theanine. Magnesium helps quite a bit too. The diazepam will help with the mental aspects of the withdrawal, and when used sparingly will help with sleep quite a bit. I slept maybe a few hours interspersed with periods of wakefulness after a month after detoxing. This is going to be a hurdle to overcome.
If you don't mind me asking how big was your original habit and how long were you take Bupes for? You are one of the only people I've read saying that a week on Bupe will lead to withdrawal from them that is in anyway different to any other longer half life opiate, in fact most suggest that 10 -14 days should be ok as long as you are moving down to very low doses before a week is up. I appreciate that all I am doing is switching to a safer, more even and less easily abused substance.
BUT whatever it is, it is an opiate and simply fills the gap heroin left. I am expecting withdrawal and it to be more extended but that's the point. Why a partial agonist would create WD's that were worse I do not quite understand and from a medical perspective it makes no sense. The only thing about these longer half life opiates is just that, they take longer to metabolise etc.
My original habit was fairly small by some standards and for just a few months. I'm not trying to ignore the inevitable but the more info I have about what I am likely to expect the better. So far I've tapered from 2mg down to 0.5mg and so far so good. I'll remain here for a day or two and jump down a level again and see how the WD's feel.
I do have some Diazepam but will only use if I must as it comes with its own risks and I've had to taper off Diazepam once before and I don't want to do that again. Zopiclone is similar to benzos but is better for sleep and also tends to sedate too much to be something you'd want to use in the day. It also makes everything taste like shit so again you tend to avoid for recreational purposes lol.
So far I've found Bupe is good because:
1) It doesn't get me wasted so there is no reward
2) It would block any heroin use so I am not tempted to use (not that I want to anyway).
3) It seems to have dealt with all my cravings
4) I am quite clear headed on it (most of the time).
5) It is giving me time to get out of that hamster wheel of using
If I get to a week and find I have to maintain at .5mg every other day and very very slowly taper from there then so be it. My sponsor at NA has been through it, he has seen numerous others use this technique and with a lot of success. That's why I don't recognise what you are saying about you having such a tough time on Bupe. I've heard Methadone is much harder to get off and Bupe is preferred for short term users and those on smaller habits like me.
I look forward to your input.