Suboxone advice

[outoftown]

Hi all - Previously I was taking 90mg of oxycodone a day (IR - 30mg 3 times per day...that schedule went on for about a year...for the 6 months prior to that I was taking about 40-60mg a day of oxycodone). So total of about 18 months.

One week ago I went on suboxone with the assistance of a doctor. (all of my drug usage has been under the care of a doctor). This doctor seems to know what he's talking about and I like and trust him. He seemed to want to start me on a really high dose of suboxone (in my opinion). He wanted me to take 2 - 2 1/4 8mg pills a day to start. Since I researched this ahead of time...I did not go that high. I took 1 8mg pill when I was in withdrawal on day 1. Thats all I took the entire day. Day 2 and 3 I took 1 1/4 of the 8mg pills (so 10 mg...8mg in the am...2mg in the pm...doctor knows all of this). Day 4, 5 and 6 I went back down to 8mg (4mg in the am and 4mg in the pm) and today so far I've taken the 4mg in the am. I have felt fine through all of this. Day 2 and 3, I had some anxiety and was fairly depressed. I got over that and the last 4 days I have felt good. The doctor is planning on tapering me down to 6mg next week...then 4mg the following week...2mg the week after that...then 1mg, .5mg and .25mg each week. Then stopping. He's continued to insist I will be able to do this and get off suboxone at that time (total of 7 weeks on suboxone) without any or very minimal withdraw.

So my question is...do I trust this? My instincts trust him and I don't trust people very often. I like this site because you get a wide variety of people that have "real world" experience in this and have gone through all this. Like I said - he seems to be a good doctor (first one I've found in a long time). With my drug history...is this possible...will I be able to follow this 7 week taper plan and stop the suboxone at that time with minimal or no withdrawal?

 

[outoftown]

Oh and I've been toying with the idea of tapering down on my own. Its been a week and I have felt fine. I've thought about dropping down to 6mg today...4mg by friday or saturday and speeding the process up so that i'm off suboxone within a total of 3-4 weeks. Good idea? bad idea?

 

[Beachcat]

I have no experience with Suboxone, but from what I have gathered on this site in the past, that sounds like a sensible tapering schedule...it sounds like your doctor may know what he/she is doing...unless you have good reason, I would try to stick to the schedule unless you have a good reaon not to....sometimes trying to taper off to fast can cause you to panic and go back to a higher dose when you don't really need to....good luck with your taper, I hope it works well for you.

Oh, one question....why were you on the oxy in the first place...have your underlying pain issues been addressed? That is the one thing I can foresee being an obstacle...

 

[outoftown]

Thanks! that makes me feel better!

yes, I was on it for severe neck pain and no that issue has not been resolved. However, the suboxone doctor is also a pain doctor and is putting together a non-medication pain treatment plan for me that will be centered around accupuncture (which has worked for me in the past). I foresee the pain as being a potential issue as well...after so many months of taking the oxy, I got sorta addicted to it, not just for treating pain. I'm trying to address that to by talking regular to a counselor that specializes in that. trying to cover all my bases to be successful in being done with narcotic pain meds forever.

 

[Beachcat]

I am in the same boat and am currently tapering off ms Contin after getting up to 120 mgs of morphine and maybe 300 mgs of oxycodone a day for back pain and migraines.... My pain is still there but as a relatively young person and mother I could see that this was not a sustainable "habit" in the long term, even though it was all underwritten by my doctor.

I dropped too fast on my taper recently and had absolutely torturous leg pain for almost two weeks, this is why I can advocate a much more gradual decrease...if I could have gotten my hands on any opiate pain killer legitimately, I would have, which would have set me back....now that I am used to half the dose I am so proud that I stuck it through and half cut my use in half, but I will be begging my doc not to be so severe with the next drop in dose....

Your approach with acupuncture and the support of a therapist is very sensible and will most likely end with you being successful in weaning yourself off of opiates. The one other thing I would mention is having the support of your family....I have been honest with my spouse and other family members so they know that I may be withdrawing, etc....

One thing I am worried about for myself is dealing with ongoing pain issues...my doctor basically said, yep, you are going to hurt, but I have come to realize that what I was taking was the equivalent of if I had cancer or some sort of disease like that...anyway, now I am projecting myself onto you, but just saying that it might be a good idea to have some sort of back up plan in place if the pain is still there....

 

[outoftown]

Thats great that you were able to cut your dose so much. I'm sure it was tough and as you said, next decrease could be less dramatic. But you should be proud...I know its not an easy thing to do. I tried tapering my dose of oxy from 90mg to 60mg a few times...unsuccessfully. Yep...its not a sustainable habit. I have a serious neck injury that can't be "fixed" and I'm 34. What was I going to do? stay on and keep increasing my oxy for the rest of my life? I woke up every morning in slight withdrawal for the last 8 months as it was. I thought the same way you did...I had to do something to stop this train.

In many ways we are in the same situation. I know for the rest of my life, I'm going to hurt. It ruined my career path and affects my life daily. I'm taking a different approach now. Accupuncture worked in the past for me, I just couldnt afford it...of course, oxy cost me next to nothing. But now the accupuncture is covered by insurance...along with other methods of pain management that are non-narcotic. Like you, I'm sure the pain will be there...I just have to deal with it physically and mentally and be prepared. Its been nearly 2 years, so i'm sure I've forgotten the daily pain struggles.

thank you for your support and encouraging words! My family is aware fully of my situation...I've been completely honest with them. I'm going to trust the doctor and taper off the suboxone slowly...he's told me several times that if I follow that taper, I wont have any (or minimal) withdrawal. I'm banking on that.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

That taper plan actually sounds really good to me Often when people are on Suboxone for a short time like that and taper off at around that rate they get only minimal withdrawal symptoms. It's more when people have been taking it for a very long time that tapering gets difficult and the withdrawals get bad. Everyone is different of course, though. Why not try that taper? If it gets too hard at some point, slow the taper down. Your doctor sounds like they would be amenable to this. Just make sure you work on any mental addiction you may have and the reasons why you were on Oxy in the first place (Like have you found other ways to deal with your pain? Have you been/will you be doing other things to try to heal your neck (the acupuncture, etc)? If you were also using the Oxy to cope with anxiety/depression/etc, have you been working on those things and learned other coping methods for any pain and mental issues that may come up? Do you have a good support system? etc). Because for most people the mental aspects are the hardest (trouble mentally handling pain, feeling depressed, etc) and what lead them to give up on their taper or go back to the original drug. You might feel a bit anxious and depressed, so if that happens you need to remember that is part of the withdrawals and you can handle it. Learn how to cope with any cravings you get without compulsively acting on them. You seem like you have a good attitude. I have a neck injury as well and am doing the same thing as you, choosing not to be on opioids for the rest of my life and trying to deal with the pain in other ways. I don't think you should have severe physical withdrawal symptoms and it sounds like you have a decent doctor at least, which is a huge help. Best of luck to you

 

[outoftown]

Yea I decided to go with this taper method. I'd only be on suboxone for 6 or 7 weeks and I really trust this doctor. Thanks!

I think you hit the nail on the head though for me to be successful in staying away from oxy. Dealing with the pain and having an affective pain management plan...and dealing with my anxiety/depression. I'm trying to actively work on both of those areas right now as I'm tapering on suboxone. You're right...when you have serious levels of daily pain...while being depressed...well, thats what lead to the regular oxy use that started nearly 2 years ago.

Thank you for the encouragement! I appreciate the responses...made me feel a lot better to trust myself in trusting this doctor. Best wishes to you!