I usually just come to BlueLight forums and read... I've noticed though that there is so much mis-information about suboxone. For you guys that want to use suboxone and truly get cleaned and off all opioids, which eventually includes the suboxone itself, the best method is to truly wait as long as you possibly can, but when starting your initial dose, start @ a low dose. I see all these Suboxone clinics / doctors starting people off @ 12 mg 2 x daily, or 16 mg 2 x daily, etc.. and I just don't get it! I think people should start @ anywhere from 1.5 mg to 4 mg 2 x daily on the first day, if the 1.5 mg dose has you feeling better in 30 to 60 mins, then do no more, if it doesn't, then just increase by another 0.5 to 1.0 mg and wait again, I see no reason why more than 4 mg 2 x daily is needed.
Then most clinics have went from the standard 8 weeks to 16 weeks program to 6 to 14 months .. Wow, really? The shorter amount of time you take Suboxone, the easier it is to jump off of it. I have used Suboxone for as little as 5 days before jumping off without any withdrawals afterwards, the longest I ever used it was 10 days. I usually take 3 mg x 2 daily for the first two days, then 3rd day 2 mg 2 x daily, 4th day 1.5 mg 2 x daily, 5th day 1.0 mg x daily, the 6th and 7th days 0.75 mg 2 x daily, 8th day 0.5 mg once and then I stop, I keep a few 0.5 mg pieces just incase I do feel bad, but I never have needed to do that but one time. If I can start an initial dose lower than 3 mg 2 x daily, then the process is shorter. I always take 1.5 mg as my initial dose, then wait and see how I feel, if I can feel better using only 1.5 mg, then that's what I use 2 x daily for the first two days and taper down quicker.
Suboxone was designed to "get people free of opioids/opiates" .. it was not designed as a maintenance drug and if you start at high doses and taper extremely slow over several months, it's going to be more difficult to stop / jump off. My x-wife's brother started taking Suboxone 16 mg strips 2 x daily over 3 years ago and has been @ that dose level ever since I first talked him into tapering down last Dec 2015. He was so scared to do it too.. he was thinking he was going to suffer major withdrawals if he went to 12 mg 2 x daily. I explained to him how Sub works, it's long half life, etc.. and I told him he shouldn't even notice. He was @ 12 mg 2 x daily for a week, now he's going to 8 mg 2 x daily and I plan on helping him get off asap without suffering. Suboxone clinics and medication is expensive, these clinics are just making money off people just like a street dealer would. It's sad really.
I know if I can do it, anyone can. I was taking up to 450 mg of oxy a day sometimes, but usually I averaged 180 mg to 240 mg daily. I know everyone is different, some people may need to taper more slowly, but if you truly want off opioids, do yourself a favor, stay @ the lowest dose you can initially and taper as quickly as you can without suffering, it's your best chance!
I've seen some studies that were performed with 20 people addicted to heroin and they performed a 3 to 5 day Suboxone detox, I can find the links later if someone wants them, but what they did in this study was on day one initiate the patients with a high dose of 16 mg 2 x daily on day one, after that they did HUGE tapers and on day 2 had the patients on 2 mg 2 x daily, day 3 they dosed them with 1 mg 2 x daily and then that was it.. of the 20 patients, 18 successfully stopped with little to no WD, one patient had moderate WD and was given an additional 2 days with 1 mg 2 x daily, then 1 mg 1 x daily, the 20th person was disqualified because @ the 36 hr mark he started feeling minor to moderate WD symptoms and took 1 dose of heroin, but he then successfully quit after that. The 5 day method was basically initiated the same way, but just extended the length of time by 2 additional days and jumped them off @ slightly lower doses (either 0.5 mg or 0.75 mg) and 100% of the patients successfully jumped with little to no withdrawal.
I've experimented with Suboxone a few times to see what works the best and I can tell you, the quicker you get off, the easier it will be. Fear of WD is probably the biggest reason people do not use short term use. Don't be, I am sure most of you've experienced cold turkey WD's whether it was willingly or because you couldn't get your DOC, if you have dealt with that, then you can do this easily. Long term use of Suboxone has never been officially studied and the longer people stay on it, those people suffer additional symptoms in addition to normal opioid type WD, they usually have extreme depression, anxiety, low energy, etc..
It's also easier for me because my metabolism is slightly faster, If I stop sub before my body is ready, it lets me know within 24 hrs, so at the 24 hr mark if I am okay, then I've got it beat!
Then most clinics have went from the standard 8 weeks to 16 weeks program to 6 to 14 months .. Wow, really? The shorter amount of time you take Suboxone, the easier it is to jump off of it. I have used Suboxone for as little as 5 days before jumping off without any withdrawals afterwards, the longest I ever used it was 10 days. I usually take 3 mg x 2 daily for the first two days, then 3rd day 2 mg 2 x daily, 4th day 1.5 mg 2 x daily, 5th day 1.0 mg x daily, the 6th and 7th days 0.75 mg 2 x daily, 8th day 0.5 mg once and then I stop, I keep a few 0.5 mg pieces just incase I do feel bad, but I never have needed to do that but one time. If I can start an initial dose lower than 3 mg 2 x daily, then the process is shorter. I always take 1.5 mg as my initial dose, then wait and see how I feel, if I can feel better using only 1.5 mg, then that's what I use 2 x daily for the first two days and taper down quicker.
Suboxone was designed to "get people free of opioids/opiates" .. it was not designed as a maintenance drug and if you start at high doses and taper extremely slow over several months, it's going to be more difficult to stop / jump off. My x-wife's brother started taking Suboxone 16 mg strips 2 x daily over 3 years ago and has been @ that dose level ever since I first talked him into tapering down last Dec 2015. He was so scared to do it too.. he was thinking he was going to suffer major withdrawals if he went to 12 mg 2 x daily. I explained to him how Sub works, it's long half life, etc.. and I told him he shouldn't even notice. He was @ 12 mg 2 x daily for a week, now he's going to 8 mg 2 x daily and I plan on helping him get off asap without suffering. Suboxone clinics and medication is expensive, these clinics are just making money off people just like a street dealer would. It's sad really.
I know if I can do it, anyone can. I was taking up to 450 mg of oxy a day sometimes, but usually I averaged 180 mg to 240 mg daily. I know everyone is different, some people may need to taper more slowly, but if you truly want off opioids, do yourself a favor, stay @ the lowest dose you can initially and taper as quickly as you can without suffering, it's your best chance!
I've seen some studies that were performed with 20 people addicted to heroin and they performed a 3 to 5 day Suboxone detox, I can find the links later if someone wants them, but what they did in this study was on day one initiate the patients with a high dose of 16 mg 2 x daily on day one, after that they did HUGE tapers and on day 2 had the patients on 2 mg 2 x daily, day 3 they dosed them with 1 mg 2 x daily and then that was it.. of the 20 patients, 18 successfully stopped with little to no WD, one patient had moderate WD and was given an additional 2 days with 1 mg 2 x daily, then 1 mg 1 x daily, the 20th person was disqualified because @ the 36 hr mark he started feeling minor to moderate WD symptoms and took 1 dose of heroin, but he then successfully quit after that. The 5 day method was basically initiated the same way, but just extended the length of time by 2 additional days and jumped them off @ slightly lower doses (either 0.5 mg or 0.75 mg) and 100% of the patients successfully jumped with little to no withdrawal.
I've experimented with Suboxone a few times to see what works the best and I can tell you, the quicker you get off, the easier it will be. Fear of WD is probably the biggest reason people do not use short term use. Don't be, I am sure most of you've experienced cold turkey WD's whether it was willingly or because you couldn't get your DOC, if you have dealt with that, then you can do this easily. Long term use of Suboxone has never been officially studied and the longer people stay on it, those people suffer additional symptoms in addition to normal opioid type WD, they usually have extreme depression, anxiety, low energy, etc..
It's also easier for me because my metabolism is slightly faster, If I stop sub before my body is ready, it lets me know within 24 hrs, so at the 24 hr mark if I am okay, then I've got it beat!
