I totally agree with you on the Kratom thing and you're right that the half life is going to make it easier, but I guess I've just spent all morning reading horror stories about how strong and addictive 7OH is and it's got me feeling like I've cheated and made no progress this past week. I'm absolutely determined to make sure that I do not substitute one for the other and if nothing else I hope my post will give anyone pause before attempting to take shortcuts with something like 7OH. Also, your situation is an interesting one with you having taken the shot as opposed to tapering (which is what I did down to 1mg). I don't know much about the sublocade shot at all. Is it intended to be a one and done solution?
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H&R Moderators: streaM Freak
Suboxone is so hard to get off. But I finally did. Here’s how
- Thread starter AlexPK
- Start date
There’s horror stories from moms about their kids and food coloring. Everyone has a problem with something. But kratom has NOTHING on bupe. Perhaps you could move from 7OH tabs to gummies if you’re worried? Not as strong, and still does the job.
Not trying to minimize the risks of kratom. But compared to bupe, I don’t think there’s much to consider.
And I tried tapering off subs first. Got down to 1-2mg before switching to the shot. The shot likely made it easier to move to kratom. But the key is making it through that 2-4 weeks of bupe withdrawals. That’s what was most important to me, and sounds like the same for you.
You’re absolutely switching subs for kratom. But the kratom taper should be much easier. There’s no shortcut to ending this madness. But I’d much rather that be kratom than subs personally.
On the shot, the luckiest have made it one and done with no withdrawals. I don’t think it’s the standard though. You could get lucky, but you’ve read my story. It made it so I could be on a low dose of kratom gummies for about a month. When I went off everything though, I had awful PAWS. So I went back to kratom at a little higher dose to eliminate. And that’s where I’m at now.
While I have to take kratom to avoid withdrawals right now, I no longer use it to get high in the slightest. I actually feel gross if some gummies are accidentally too strong. I want to be done with it all. But I’m trying to take the win that I’m dealing with kratom issues now and not subs.
Thanks I really appreciate the encouragement. If I taper my dose of 7OH gradually over the next week or so and then switch to powder for another week hopefully I can avoid any major rebound effects like I had this morning. It probably takes more than a week or two to become majorly dependent on kratom or 7OH anyway.
Love to hear it. My sub days are over. Thank God I’m past the point where there is any reason for them ever again.
But I do need to start working on my kratom taper soon. Not going to be legal for much longer. Guess they’d rather just have a bunch of sub zombies and addicts. No need to get started on that though haha.
Good luck, my friend. 6 days is big. You could be halfway through the worst of it. Keep it up!
DeathIndustrial88
Bluelighter
I remember when I first got on subs (legally anyway), my doctor straight up told me that if I ever wanted to come off of it, they recommend tapering for years & then 6 months of inpatient treatment where they can give me comfort meds & monitor me. So something tells me she has a very good idea just how bad suboxone withdrawal can be.
Suboxone & maintenance in general should never be given or recommended to people looking to get off of opioids & should be reserved for those who do not want to or cannot quit opioids.
I disagree with some here that PAWS can't have physical components to it. I think PAWS could make a person feel randomly tired, achy, sore or just uncomfortable in general. But I'm guessing this is probably hard to quantify since there's no way to prove that the discomfort you're feeling months or years later after quitting opioids is absolutely related to that.
But if using opioids can dis-regulate your endogenous opioid system & rewire your brain & if these things can take years to correct or heal themselves, then I'd think it would be very possible to feel physically uncomfortable from PAWS as well & not just mental.
I used some tramadol the other day, only had 5 pills, which was enough for 1 day of using it. And when it kicked in, all of my body pain & depression just dissipated. And my mind felt like it "woke up" from some kind of ancient slumber & I felt more alive & more normal than I have in years. No idea why. But I felt this same "brain awakening" feeling about 2 years ago when I got to use some heroin after not having any for almost 5 years. Something about tramadol & heroin just makes me feel so comfortable, confident & alive that it's almost impossible to try & just "forget" that feeling when I go back into my depressed mental slumber that I've been living in ever since I had to quit tramadol & heroin back in 2019/2020.
I do think some people can eventually move beyond PAWS & find other ways to deal with their discomfort or depression, but I think it's highly individual for everyone.
I think if you're some one who struggles with severe mental health problems or pain problems (or both), it's gonna be much harder than for some one who doesn't have all those problems.
Cause for a depressed person in pain, they're basically being told to quit something that helps them.
Sounds like you're doing well though OP!
Suboxone & maintenance in general should never be given or recommended to people looking to get off of opioids & should be reserved for those who do not want to or cannot quit opioids.
I disagree with some here that PAWS can't have physical components to it. I think PAWS could make a person feel randomly tired, achy, sore or just uncomfortable in general. But I'm guessing this is probably hard to quantify since there's no way to prove that the discomfort you're feeling months or years later after quitting opioids is absolutely related to that.
But if using opioids can dis-regulate your endogenous opioid system & rewire your brain & if these things can take years to correct or heal themselves, then I'd think it would be very possible to feel physically uncomfortable from PAWS as well & not just mental.
I used some tramadol the other day, only had 5 pills, which was enough for 1 day of using it. And when it kicked in, all of my body pain & depression just dissipated. And my mind felt like it "woke up" from some kind of ancient slumber & I felt more alive & more normal than I have in years. No idea why. But I felt this same "brain awakening" feeling about 2 years ago when I got to use some heroin after not having any for almost 5 years. Something about tramadol & heroin just makes me feel so comfortable, confident & alive that it's almost impossible to try & just "forget" that feeling when I go back into my depressed mental slumber that I've been living in ever since I had to quit tramadol & heroin back in 2019/2020.
I do think some people can eventually move beyond PAWS & find other ways to deal with their discomfort or depression, but I think it's highly individual for everyone.
I think if you're some one who struggles with severe mental health problems or pain problems (or both), it's gonna be much harder than for some one who doesn't have all those problems.
Cause for a depressed person in pain, they're basically being told to quit something that helps them.
Sounds like you're doing well though OP!
All makes sense. And I totally understand what you mean about your brain/body just turning on when you finally give your brain what it’s been begging for. So sorry that your journey has been such a rough one. As tough as mine has been, I feel like I’m coming out of it in pretty decent shape compared to most.
But for those still watching, I have absolutely not gone back to bupe or the fun kind of opioids. Just kratom maintenance at doses that do not get me high. Hopefully I’ll be done with that in the next few months too. According to RFK, I probably won’t have much of a choice anyway.
By the way. I've quit subs every year for the past 4 years. I'm ashamed to say that the longest I've made it is 1 month. The primary reason for this is that I quit once a year ahead of my annual doctor check up so that I don't have substance use disorder on my official record. I can't get into the exact reasons why, but I've never been prescribed or had any official treatment. I've battled these demons entirely on my own. This time however, I'm doing this because I want to, not because I have to. My life has been so good this year and sub has almost certainly held me back from being my best self. I've also made sure to fully dispose of any and all sub that I had stashed, something I also failed to do in prior years. Last year for example, I made it a full month and went out drinking to celebrate the accomplishment with one of my friends. The next day I was hungover and in a vulnerable state when I found a small piece of sub that I had stashed and forgotten about. I broke down and took it. I've never felt so good and so absolutely dreadful at the same time. It's crazy how this stuff can hijack all reason and self control. Now another year has passed and I've made a lot of progress in my professional life, but I know deep down I cannot move forward and achieve what I want to achieve in world while carrying this big ugly monkey on my back. Another Issue I've had staying off the bupe has been my unwillingness to share my struggles with anyone at all. Even my closest friends and family have no idea what Ive been dealing with all this time (5 years). I've always believed that this is a battle I must fight alone, but after years of being halted in my tracks so close to the finish line, I realize now that the shame of coming clean is far less than the shame of continuing this cycle. I'm seriously considering just coming clean to at least my mom and maybe accepting some professional help, assuming that I can do so anonymously.
DeathIndustrial88
Bluelighter
Hope you're hanging in there, OP!
Thanks for checking in. Suboxone free still. Don’t even THINK about it I’m so far removed. I am still on the non euphoric dose of kratom which I’d like to eliminate at some point, but I’m not rushing on that. The longer I ride steady with the low dose of kratom now, the further removed I am from every other substance. I’ll have to pay the piper at some point though. Appreciate ya!
DeathIndustrial88
Bluelighter
Awesome, that's amazing man! Congratulations on your hard work & perseverance!
Sounds like you're in the clear & made it out better than some one on subs long term would. That's great that you don't even think about it.
Glad you're doing well! Yeah that kratom will probably be a walk in the park for you once you're ready! There's also no shame in truly needing or wanting to take some kind of medicine to keep to keep yourself grounded, so take your time! You've got this!
Cheers!
notsmokeymcpot42088
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2025
- Messages
- 4,211
Congrats man -- that is a big accomplishment! I've kicked habits I have been told 'go to the ER immediately at your dose' --- yet that last mg or two of bupe is still a b*tch
getcolor728
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2025
- Messages
- 76
Ive got hppd too do you still use drugs with it? If so which ones?
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2009
- Messages
- 5,049
I smoke weed, I use Kratom leaf. I will take an occasional mushroom trip. I mean, I don’t do a lot of drugs anymore. I guess what I was trying to say, though don’t let HPPD get you down unless it’s really affecting your life. I get it, I think everyone has tinnitus too cause there’s no such thing as perfect silence and everyone has a visual things going on behind their eyelids. There’s no such thing as total total darkness. I call that the static of the physical plane. There is silence behind the static.
I did do DMT once and was propelled into a plane of total total silence and darkness, the silence of space.
But as soon as I came down, all the static came back.But the topic of this thread, oddly enough, I’ve never had Suboxone. Years ago I ended up on methadone a few times, but I don’t recall Suboxone being around. However, getting off of Suboxone, the person has to be a warrior. Awesome.
getcolor728
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2025
- Messages
- 76
Congrats on getting of methadone. How has tripping on shrooms been after hppd? Did it make visuals way worse?I smoke weed, I use Kratom leaf. I will take an occasional mushroom trip. I mean, I don’t do a lot of drugs anymore. I guess what I was trying to say, though don’t let HPPD get you down unless it’s really affecting your life. I get it, I think everyone has tinnitus too cause there’s no such thing as perfect silence and everyone has a visual things going on behind their eyelids. There’s no such thing as total total darkness. I call that the static of the physical plane. There is silence behind the static.
I did do DMT once and was propelled into a plane of total total silence and darkness, the silence of space.
But the topic of this thread, oddly enough, I’ve never had Suboxone. Years ago I ended up on methadone a few times, but I don’t recall Suboxone being around. However, getting off of Suboxone, the person has to be a warrior. Awesome.