Time to get Sober, but im scared of SUBOXONE withdrawal

[Herraisland]

SWIM has been on Suboxone for 9months takin daily 4mg sometimes lower, sometimes higher. Now SWIM wants to quit. He so scared of withdrawals, SWIM has experienced it before with oxycontin wich he took for 2 years before starting suboxone. Swim is a bodybuilder and knows he wont be able to lift while he is on Withdrawal. SWIM has heard Suboxone Withdrawal is much longer than oxycontin withdrawal. He heard Suboxone withdrawal can last to 5 weeks! and he cant get off work while he quits. Now he has heard that Gabapentin and Lyrica works wonder on withdrawal symphtoms. Is it true? how long does he have to fight for to be normal again? Thanks for reading and answering, it really means to swim.

 

[VitamaN]

Hi. I have never taken Sub or Done , but Swim is an opiate addict and can testify that lyrica , though expensive as all fock, does mask symptoms very well. Gabapentin has its uses but is weak in comparison to its parent drug Lyrica which are both classified as anti convulsion drugs with a huge list of off-label prescription methods . Gabapentin also has a terrible bio-availability so if you have to choose, I'd recommend Lyrica . Swim started small, which anyone would recommend to someone who has no experience with it. Don't pop more than 300 mgs on the first go. Please keep in mind that the thing about withdrawal is you have to go through it... some stuff might help but you'll still feel discomfort and that's part of the battle. Addicts HATE discomfort . As I said, I have no XP with sub, butswim suffered from intense opiate w/d and can testify that Lyrica does help. How long you'll need it? I dunno . Swim popped it for a week in high doses. Swim took Lyrica in the morning, and a benzo at night or maybe clonidine for sleep.

 

[Herraisland]

Hi. I have never taken Sub or Done , but Swim is an opiate addict and can testify that lyrica , though expensive as all fock, does mask symptoms very well. Gabapentin has its uses but is weak in comparison to its parent drug Lyrica which are both classified as anti convulsion drugs with a huge list of off-label prescription methods . Gabapentin also has a terrible bio-availability so if you have to choose, I'd recommend Lyrica . Swim started small, which anyone would recommend to someone who has no experience with it. Don't pop more than 300 mgs on the first go. Please keep in mind that the thing about withdrawal is you have to go through it... some stuff might help but you'll still feel discomfort and that's part of the battle. Addicts HATE discomfort . As I said, I have no XP with sub, butswim suffered from intense opiate w/d and can testify that Lyrica does help. How long you'll need it? I dunno . Swim popped it for a week in high doses. Swim took Lyrica in the morning, and a benzo at night or maybe clonidine for sleep.

thanks my man.. That is true that addicts hate discomfort. i just want to feel able to go through my day. sure i will feel bad, but not as bad without lyrica. atleast i can maybe go train and be with my loving girlfriend I personally think its important to feel discomort so late i will know its not worth it to go back to these drugs. thank you for your answer. really means alot to me. thinking about dosing 600mgs split in two. 1 in morning, 1 in evening. and taper of after week or so. thanks again. have a nice day.

 

[rhun]

First off, no SWIMMING guys. It's not allowed here because it really doesn't offer any legal protection and its annoying to read.

In response to your questions, do you have a legal prescription for the Subs? If so, I would go to your doctor and ask him to set up a taper for you. He can also prescribe non addictive medication to help with withdrawal. If you're getting your subs off the street, you can still find a doctor certified to prescribe them and he can get you a legal script and help you taper off.

If a doctor isn't an option, you can taper on your own. But you need to realize that buprenorphine (the active ingredient in Suboxone/Subutex) is a VERY potent opioid (snythetic opiate) even though it's a partial agonist unlike oxycodone and most opiates/opioids which are full agonist. If you're not sure what this all means, let me know and I'll explain further. But because buprenorphine is so strong, you need to taper down to a very small dose in order to have minimal withdrawal symptoms.

The Suboxone brand strips are the easiest to split up into small doses. If you can only get pills, you can crush them and divide them into even size piles to make small doses (so divide a 2mg pill into 4 even piles to create .5 mg doses). You're going to want to drop your dose once a week and I would go from 2mg to 1.5 then 1mg then .75 then .50 then .25 then 0. If you get major discomfort from the withdrawal then stay at your current dose for longer before dropping it.

The hardest part for most people is getting below 2mg. Take your time. Yes, the withdrawal symptoms last longer. That is because buprenorphine lasts much longer than a shorting acting opioid like oxycontin. The withdrawal symptoms will be MUCH milder though. Make sure you take vitamins, eat healthy, and exercise daily.

My previous buprenorphine doctor uses Seroquel to get his patients off with minimal discomfort. It will help you sleep through most of it and takes away anxiety. I used either Seroquel XR or by itself or Seroquel IR to sleep at night and Remeron for anxiety during the day when I was detoxing off heroin as well as when tapering down my buprenorphine. A muscle relaxer can help with physical discomfort as well.

Do not use medication that is addictive like benzodiazepines or can be abused like Soma. Gabapentin is totally useless for myself and everyone I know. Lyrica works better but no doctor is going to write you a script for it unless you have legitimate nerve pain and maybe not even then because it potentials opiates and you have a history of addiction.

On top of a taper plan and minimizing withdrawal symptoms with correct medication, you really need to set up a recovery plan if you really want to get off and stay off. In order to maintain sobriety and address the issues that lead to your addiction so you can lead a happy healthy life you need to be in active recovery. Outpatient treatment, AA or NA, Life Ring, counseling, or whatever works for you.

Best of luck! Let me know if you have any more questions.

Edit: wanted to add that this idea that addicts need to suffer through withdrawal is completely outdated and has a very low success rate of keeping addicts clean. You do NOT have to suffer needlessly.

 

[xburtonchic]

I agree with what rhun said... you need to taper. Jumping off at 4mg is just too much. Get as low as you possibly can before you jump.

And yes, buprenorphine withdrawals are milder but they will last much longer than your original OOC. I'm the kind of person that would rather feel more intense discomfort for a shorter period of time than to be uncomfortable for weeks on end. But that's just me. In my experience, buprenorphine withdrawals are weird. I'll get one symptom that will show up one week, and then the next week, I get a brand new symptom, and the original symptom either disappears entirely or sticks around for a while longer. Bupe withdrawals seem to come in waves/phases/cycles more than anything. They're weird. I don't like them. But again, that's just me haha.

Good luck, you can do this!

 

[Herraisland]

thanks guys its my second time when i use this account. didnt know about the swim thing. sorry for that. but im at the phase of tapering down. trying to get lower then 2mg, pretty hard, but im going to make it.

 

[rhun]

thanks guys its my second time when i use this account. didnt know about the swim thing. sorry for that. but im at the phase of tapering down. trying to get lower then 2mg, pretty hard, but im going to make it.

No problem, I know many other forums allow and even encourage it. Did you get a chance to read my whole post? There's a lot of ways to make your taper painless. And tapering slowly in small increments is really important.

Also, if you could answer the questions in my post (whether you have a doctor, etc) so I can better understand your situation

 

[Herraisland]

No problem, I know many other forums allow and even encourage it. Did you get a chance to read my whole post? There's a lot of ways to make your taper painless. And tapering slowly in small increments is really important.

Also, if you could answer the questions in my post (whether you have a doctor, etc) so I can better understand your situation

didnt see it :O but im going to look for it. thank you.

Wow its hard to get lower than 2mg per day. i know its possible, but its hard...

 

[rhun]

didnt see it :O but im going to look for it. thank you.

Wow its hard to get lower than 2mg per day. i know its possible, but its hard...

Yeah, I forget the exact reasoning behind it, but when you go below 2mg it's hardest for your body to adjust to. Just take it nice and slow... when you first get on buprenorphine it takes a full 7 days for it to reach peak levels. So you really want to wait a week between decreases. Longer if you're really uncomfortable.

Better to do it slow and succeed than do it too fast and not only be miserable but be at risk for relapse. And Seroquel can really help with anxiety during the day and sleeping at night when you're most uncomfortable (assuming you dose in the am).

Keep us posted!

 

[Herraisland]

Thank you rhun, thanks for taking your time to help me. tomorrow im going to try 1.5mg per day, for week. I am having a stressed month so i hope i can make the taper down this month

 

[rhun]

Thank you rhun, thanks for taking your time to help me. tomorrow im going to try 1.5mg per day, for week. I am having a stressed month so i hope i can make the taper down this month

It's really not too bad if you take it slow. And I've noticed if you get up and do stuff you feel better. Feel free to message me if you need anything or just wanna talk about your taper. You can do this.

 

[Herraisland]

It's really not too bad if you take it slow. And I've noticed if you get up and do stuff you feel better. Feel free to message me if you need anything or just wanna talk about your taper. You can do this.

thanks boss

 

[HalleyHeroine]

In my experience, sub withdrawals aren't as intense as short acting opiates, but they do last longer. It's not a bad trade off really. It just depends on if you are a "pull the bandaid off slow" or "...off fast" type of person. Gabapentin helped me a lot during withdrawals but it does have some cons 1- it doesn't work for everyone, 2- sometimes it requires really high dosages to work, which always makes me nervous to a degree.

You have to go through withdrawals either way and since you are already on subs and will have to endure them longer, give yourself a break and taper down further to minimize symptoms. There's no sense in making yourself go through harsh and long withdrawals when they can be mild.

What made you decide to get on suboxone? Just curious... I did the first time I tried to get clean but when I relapsed, I didn't want to go through long w/ds again, so I just went cold turkey.

 

[Herraisland]

In my experience, sub withdrawals aren't as intense as short acting opiates, but they do last longer. It's not a bad trade off really. It just depends on if you are a "pull the bandaid off slow" or "...off fast" type of person. Gabapentin helped me a lot during withdrawals but it does have some cons 1- it doesn't work for everyone, 2- sometimes it requires really high dosages to work, which always makes me nervous to a degree.

You have to go through withdrawals either way and since you are already on subs and will have to endure them longer, give yourself a break and taper down further to minimize symptoms. There's no sense in making yourself go through harsh and long withdrawals when they can be mild.

What made you decide to get on suboxone? Just curious... I did the first time I tried to get clean but when I relapsed, I didn't want to go through long w/ds again, so I just went cold turkey.

Hey, thanks for answering.

I used to snort oxycontin. did almost 80-160mg per day for 2 years or little less. I lost the girl that i was so in love with(took me 2 years to go over her), friends and got myself in a huge debt. got tired of being like a junky. doing missions everyday to get money to buy oxy's, otherwise i would get sick. I tried many times to quit cold turkey, i made it twice. but i always relapsed. Then i got introduced to suboxone because i was not gonna go cold turkey ever again. I did terrible mistake.... i stayed to long on them. almost 10 months later im still taken them and i really want to quit. i just want to be normal again, i want to focus on my sport and girlfriend and other hobbies, without being have to worry about suboxone. I have just heard so much horror story's that suboxone is far worse then oxy's WD. I had to wait for 6-7 days for the oxy WD to go away, im being told that it takes 3-6 weeks for suboxone WD ro go away. How am i going to make it. I got a important job, wich i cant leave for even 1 day. so its pretty difficult for me..

 

[cj]

The longer you taper the better. I jumped at 1mg and it was fucking brutal. I made it like 60 days and was still feeling shitty. So much so that I ended up back on suboxone.

 

[Herraisland]

The longer you taper the better. I jumped at 1mg and it was fucking brutal. I made it like 60 days and was still feeling shitty. So much so that I ended up back on suboxone.

what?.... you were in WD for 2months after 1mg suboxone? you sure it wasnt something else to? 8weeks is to long 8)

 

[VitamaN]

thanks my man.. That is true that addicts hate discomfort. i just want to feel able to go through my day. sure i will feel bad, but not as bad without lyrica. atleast i can maybe go train and be with my loving girlfriend I personally think its important to feel discomort so late i will know its not worth it to go back to these drugs. thank you for your answer. really means alot to me. thinking about dosing 600mgs split in two. 1 in morning, 1 in evening. and taper of after week or so. thanks again. have a nice day.

You are welcome bud best of luck

 

[VitamaN]

Oh , did I annoy you? Because I've been a member of this site for like 5 mins and I don't play exactly by your rules? Pretentious . I gave good advice bish.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

It can certainly last longer than 5 weeks.

You'll be able to lift while coming off of it; even if you can't do much at first, or have to lower the weight. It will actually really help how you feel to keep active when coming off.

 

[Herraisland]

Oh , did I annoy you? Because I've been a member of this site for like 5 mins and I don't play exactly by your rules? Pretentious . I gave good advice bish.

hey vitamaN, no u didnt annoy me? Never said that. still thanks again for good advice :O