How Long After You Stop Suboxone Do You Have Withdrawal Symptoms?

My 63y/o mother survived chemo and radiation for throat cancer but was unable to stop the morphine 15mg twice a day without horrible withdrawal symptoms. Her MD put her on Suboxone 8mg/2mg once a day in June. She even took half the strip on most days and the doctor was very pleased and anticipated that she would be able to stop altogether in November. She unfortunately had a stroke 14 days ago and has been in the hospital. The first 7 days she was confused from the stroke but now she is weak and forgetful but is no longer disoriented. She told me tonight that she thought she needed her Suboxone. She said she thought she was going thru withdrawal. I was floored. She is not having any outward signs of withdrawal: no back/stomach pain, no nausea/vomiting, no sweating or tremors. Isn't 14 days long enough for the Suboxone to be completely out of your system and for withdrawal symptoms to have come and gone??? Any answers will be greatly appreciated.

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REPORT

If she has been taking it for a long period of time, then no, 2 weeks may not be long enough for all of the withdrawal symptoms to have subsided.

It may take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks, in some people, depending on their body's reaction to stopping the medication.

Learn more Suboxone details here.

Is the hospital aware that she was on it? If so, they should be able to help her with any withdrawal symptoms she's experiencing.

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Thanks for your reply! They are aware she was on it and they put her on Xanax 0.25mg at 8am and at 2pm and 0.5 mg at 10pm. Since she started taking it she is a whole new person! She said she feels 100% better. Her anxiety is completely gone!

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I have never posted a comment, i just felt maybe i can help. I see a lot of people suffering. I am one of us. Everyone who takes subs willllll sufffffer when coming off. Dont fool yourself its not a solution. Just another problem bigger than most previouse problems. The only way it could help iis to tapper off in a few weeks. Never take enough to enjoy. Just enough to stop the widrawl s. i am an expert,regretfully. Suboxsone's widrawls are horrible. To suffer less, there are manythings you can do.
Full of confidence that i will not get addicted to anything. Wrong. I have done it all.

Please note: If you are a heavy heroin user, subs will not help mostlikly. Methadone on 30-60 day tapper program is the way to go. You can go to cliniques for about $10 per day. Do not stay longer than 30-60 days or you will be hooked for years if not forever.

Sub can be hell if done more than a few weeks on a decipline tapper off scheduel.
Methadone cliniques are legal drug pushers. Not all. Only the ones that keep you on it forever. I took it to get off opiade addiction (opium) i was on it for 11 years, then decided to stopp no matter what I stopped after three months of hell After i stopped widrawals got me to try vicodins. I thought i was done with it . Three months i locked myself in my bedroom Only to find out vicodines are giving me similar problems.

Obviously we all made huge mistakes by letting things get to this point. The sooner you stop the better off you are. Doctors dont know what we go through ,since they never got to experience what really happens to a person. I have been on a mission for past few months . Went from 8 mg sub to zero a day ago. Lost my job for making this attempt. Could not take it anymore. Now or never is my attitude. Good eating, sleeping with strong sleeping pills , resting, keeping your mind on what you will feel like when you are normal again and can enjoy simple things in life again have proven very helpful to me. Cold turkey is bound to fail . Create a plan and work it. Tapper off and have just on 8 mm sub for when you are going out of your mind. Just take .1 mg or somthing, then back on plan. The body needs time to adjust. Jaccuzi, swiming, walking, listining to spiritual and motivational tapes by the masters, such as deepack chopra, wayne dyer, eckhart toole, james arthur ray( not a master, but his Harmonic wealth pack is excellent. Feed your mind with positive thoughts. Think and focus on what the end results will make you feel. Remember what you focus on is what you attract and experience in your life. I could write forever, i hope this helps you.. Its not what you know, it is what you do that determines your life's direction and experience

I am not going to say good luck. Like luck has anything to do with it. Just start the ending process , work toward feeling fresh and happy again like when you where a kid and needed nothing to boost your mood.

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Hello to all. I recently stopped taking suboxone from 4 mg to 2 mg. It's only been about 7 days now. I feel like crap! Can't sleep, can't get comfortable in bed, body aches and I feel like I'm stuck to fly paper. How long before I start feeling somewhat normal again? Just a note I was only on suboxone for about 3 weeks.Have no cravings for pills just want to have more energy.

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This is quite possibly the most terrible advice I have ever heard. Methadone withdrawals will be terrible, even with a taper. I was an IV H user for 4 years, after I started 8mg on Subutex, I never went back to H. Now I'm off of both. For the record, I was doing 3-4 grams a day. Suboxone and Subutex towards the end, saved my life.

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I've. Been. Taking suboxone 7years when does it. End?

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My thoughts exactly. Nothing wrong w/suboxone for H w/drawls.

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I've been on soboxone for 5 years n decided I did not want to be on it any longer n quit cold turkey! Its been 6 days and I feel great! I feel like I've just began a new life in sobriety again! Right before I stopped taking the subs I prayed to my higher power to give me strength n courage to get through whatever I have to,to gain true sobriety again! I had 5 years sober at one time n being on sobos was the stopping me from getting back there! I feel as if I've been given a new lease on life! I'm not questioning it at all but I'm thanking my higher power for giving me the strength n courage to walk through my fears and accomplishing 6 days clean n sober of all substances! I had 3 months clean but I know say I have 6 days clean! Thank you God!

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Wow! Some people are just clueless. 6 days is not even enough to get it out of your body! The half life of Subs is incredible. I was on it for over 6 years, went into detox ended up staying a total of 13 days. I still yawn, sneeze and sneeze & stil take what my addiction specialist gave me for sleep but I'm stronger everyday now for a total of 20 days! You must eat right, exercise and stay busy. It was never meant to be a life long solution and unfortunately the Doctor I went to didn't care aobut getting me off of it! I'll never take it again cuz I don't need it! Good luck to all!

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I just want to say quick that I was on Suboxone, and I tapered down to something very tiny, like 1/8 of a 2 mg tab, and I started having withdrawals before I even completely tapered off. It was the worst experience of my life. It lasted for over a month, and I thought I was dying, literally. My blood pressure went up (first time ever), I couldn't sleep for several days at one time, my throat closed up on my and I couldn't hardly talk, I couldn't rest, but I couldn't do anything awake either. I would have lost my job if I had been working at the time. NO WAY could I have went to work. I was very fortunate from what I understand. In the end, I discovered many people suffer far worse, for much longer, than what I did. I believe he started me out on 2-8mg/day as well, but it was way too much for me. I quickly worked it down to 2-2mg/day. I have other family members that are taking it, and have been for a long time. I tried to warn them how horrid the withdrawal is, but they pay me no attention. I have one relative I worry that she will never be ABLE to get off of it, because I don't think she could physically handle the withdrawals due to her age and health condition, under the extremity of her opiate addiction has been heavy and for a very long time. So, YES, your mother could be just now experiencing withdrawals, they do not come up right at first because Suboxone has a very long half-life, which is in part what prevents drug-seeking behavior from someone who has become physically dependent or addicted to opiates. Please be her advocate. She will likely need some help getting through the withdrawals. Read and learn which symptoms she may have and find out which ones she's experiencing, so you may help her the best way possible. My heart goes out to her, or to anyone, having to endure this. People in general are not talking about how bad the withdrawals are, and I hear a LOT of people who are still taking it, defend the medicine. While I agree there's a time and a place for it, supervised and for a short period of time, there is a lot of misleading by doctors to their patients regarding the severity of the withdrawals they will still experience. I wish I had just suffered through the initial withdrawals from lortab, because although I felt like I was dying, it would have been a much shorter time frame.

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On day 26 of being clean from suboxone, after being on 6mg per day every day for 8 straight years. Long story short, it got too expensive, and being 50 years old, I knew it was doing brain damage to my neurotransmitters. So I quit cold turkey. It put me in hospital for 4 days. Im over the withdrawls, but the PAWS are bad at night. Restless Leg, and Insomnia, after being clean for 26 days is ridiculous. But the key here is Amino Acids. L-Tyrosine, and L-Tryptophan. Ive only been on them 2 days, so not quite working yet. But Tyrosine helps rebuild the neurotransmitters in your brain, and the Tryptophan helps lift depression, and helps with sleep. Still, only on them for 2 days, I still have PAWS really bad at night. Even 15mg of Melatonin doesnt help. I fear that I have been on Suboxone so long, that my brain can no longer create seratonin. Which is why the insomnia is so bad. But Im giving the amino acids a few weeks to work, and see how it goes

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I have been clean nw from subs I think the worst is over!!! Right??I can't sleep and when I do fall asleep I wake up in a panic attack even if it is like for ten minutes>>> My heart is beating all crazy it feels like and I am sweating and the anxiety is back!!! will I ever get to sleep normal again?

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You can try Benadryl to help you sleep but it's not the best thing...maybe over the counter sleep meds to help you relax more..

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Day 35, and finally, 2 days ago, I finally started feeling 100% normal again. I can sleep now without anything. No more cold sweaty hands. No need to take 3-5 hot showers a day. No more restless leg. Im guessing the 3 amino acids are what did it for me. The L-Tryptophan, L-Tyrosine, and L-methionine. But I read that those would do no good, if you do not have the proper balance of Endorphines. So I found a way to naturally create, and bring back the Endorphines that were ruined or damaged from 8 years of suboxone usage. Certain aroma's such as vanilla extract and Lavender will help to create and bring back proper endorphine levels. That way those neurotransmitters you are rebuilding with the amino acids will have the correct balance of endorphines. Anyways, sorry to get so technical. And I am not sure if PAWS will return on me or not. Im told I could have good days, even good weeks, and then the PAWS will return. Remember I was on suboxone for 8 straight years. Im kind of shocked that Im already feeling perfectly normal again this soon.

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I've been on suboxone 8mg per day for 7 years, after 10 years of methadone for H addiction. I recently got diagnosed with throat cancer and just finished 3 weeks of radiotherapy [after 3 months of chemo]. My cancer docs have no idea about suboxone and subscribe me oxynorm for the pain in my throat. My GP doubled my dose to 16mg of suboxone to counter the pain instead of using the oxynorms. That did absolutely nothing to relieve the pain, so i stopped using the suboxone and now have about 40-50 mg of oxynorm per day which is working fine. I also have 1000ml of methadone in reserve. My plan is to use the oxynorm until my throat is better, switch to methadone for a week or two[decreasing doses] and stop using any form of substitute before i get addicted again. That's the plan anyway. If it fails I'll be no better than before and go back on suboxone with a lesser dose.

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WOW, and I thought I had it bad. You are the first person I have ever seen on the internet that was on suboxone longer than me. I really do not know what to say. Other than I will be praying for you. Im gonna hit day 40 of being totally clean on Christmas. It took 32-33 days before I felt like myself. I have the amino acids to thank, as well as the Valerian Root, I think :) And i can finally sleep. I hope that someday soon you too can be clean, and free of this stuff. One thing, I still have 2 ruptured disks in my lower back, and a 90% torn rotator cuff, yet, I feel 0 pain, and Im not on any meds. Its like when I quit the suboxone, and all the other crap, all the pain went away... Only by the grace of God!!!

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I have been taking 4-6mg of subutex for 5 days now after an attempt to get off pain pills. Will I have withdrawals from the subutex if I stop taking the subutex tomorrow.

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Amy, I,m no doctor but if you been abusing pain pills for a long time I would think if you just stop the subs after 6 days you will feel some wds. Like I said, I,m not a dr. I think it has to do with how much and how long you were abusing the pain meds. You may not feel anything for a few days because subs have such a long half life. After that the wds may kick in. I,ve allways found it best to taper off subs slowly.

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I know that Subtex does not have Naloxone in it, which is a great thing for you. The 2nd great thing for you is that you have only been on Subtex for 5 days. Those 2 things alone are a beautiful thing for you. Yes you will have withdrawls for a few days, but you will never experience PAWS. And you NEVER want to experience PAWS, trust me. It was the worst 32 days of my life and I would rather die than ever go thru that again. You should feel very very lucky, should you decide to stop cold turkey.

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This is my experience as well! 6 yrs on about 150 ml. per day of percs & tabs & now on year 3 of subs. My doc put me on 24 ml. per day strips & on year 3 i'm just now suppose to be taking 20 ml. per day! I had to start downing my dosage on my own about a year ago, i'm was starting to think the doc was trying to keep me on a lifetime plan! For the last 6 months I have been taking roughly 4 ml. every other day & as long as I have them in my pocket (subs) I can handle doing this. Its when I run out that I start feeling terrible. (I support mine & my wife's sub dosage because i could not afford to keep us both going to the doc) This is a drug like any other that one will have to stop on their own! I'm on day 3 of taking nothing now & it is TERRIBLE but I'm going to keep on till its over (I hope) Don't let your Dr's run your life people, most have never felt withdrawal & would love to keep excepting your free money! sooner or later everyone has to just say stop on their own!

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Re: Love You Lord (# 12)

Your doctor could give you medicine for the anxiety which would help you sleep at the same time. It doesn’t have to be another narcotic either.

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Re: Jay Rudd (# 5)

I’ve been through the whole ordeal. Became addicted to pain pills I received from my Dr. He told me it would not hurt me to be on them long term. Boy was he wrong! I had called the number of one of those commercials and a counselor from the methadone clinic. It just happened to be at the same time I was out of pain pills and very sick. So I did that for a few years but recognized it for what it truly was. I went from 30 mg per day to 160mg before I decided to get away from it. I tried one week at home then went into detox. There I was put on three 4mg of suboxone per day. I’m still on it. I do feel like I’m just on another train that will eventually have to end. I mostly only take 4mg twice a day and smoke cannabis at night. I’m wondering if I’m ever gonna be off it all.

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Re: Gabastu72 (# 1121)

Just want to say after I read your message I really hope you were able to kick Subs all together and are in a better place now. Stay positive...

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Re: The truth about suboxone and more (# 3)

Excellent, I totally agree with you. Many people over here are put on large dose a day (8mg etc) and told how easy it is to get off lol. Apparently it's the main med in prisons that people want. I could think of nothing worse. Very depressing. Anyway, great posts.

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Hi James, I'm in Australia for some reason Drs seem to be pushing Epclusa as the new wonder drug that has no side effects. People I know who have been on it disagree, causing many unwanted effects including suicide and depression. Plus it's a total blocker for any pain relief one may need. Don't believe everything you hear. After all, we are still guinea pigs. Cheers

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Re: Krissy (# 8)

Krissy that's how I feel as well! I had five kinds of cancer double mastectomy, countless treatments and surgeries got hooked on percocet for 10 years, then I went to my doctor and he put me on four 8mlg. Suboxones a day. I had a mini stroke a little over a month ago so I decided to get off prescription medicine and just take natural vitamins and homeopathic medications. I tapered myself from 4 subs, then 3, subs then 2, then a half, then a sliver and that was in a two week period. Then I just stopped taking it, and it's been a journey but I feel like the me before the cancers and pills etc. I pray allot, and that helps! So does a positive attitude and not constantly stressing over the situation of detoxing! Everyone is different and I applaud all that are getting off subs! You can do Anything you set your mind to! Good luck and God bless ??

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Re: Joseph (# 6)

There is light at the end of the tunnel. Taper off….there are so many great ways to taper online.

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Re: william (# 4)

I was on suboxen for 5 years. It took 4 months for me to taper off. The tapering schedule that I used took me off in very small increments. The worst part for me was the low energy level that lasted for 1 month after the last tiny bits of subs that I took. I literally did want to move.

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Re: Shannon Turner (# 1110)

Previously was on methadone but I craved opiates everyday. Suboxone has changed my life for the better. They don't want you to stop...money is why.

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Re: Keri (# 1119)

I'm stuck on 2mg a day. If I go below that withdrawal starts. Gone from 24mg a day down to 2mg. If I need to be on it for life, so be it. I've taken opiates for years and now I don't crave them at all.

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