How To Get Off Suboxone Successfully - Step By Step (Page 16)

If you are struggling with getting off Suboxone successfully, you may want to take the time to read this. I have read a ton of hype about Suboxone being impossible to get off. How the withdrawal symptoms carry on for days, even months. Below, I would like to encourage you and let you know that it can be done. I AM LIVING PROOF YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THIS FEAT!!! I have been free of Suboxone and all other drugs and alcohol for 3 months and I have never felt better in my life!!!

THE WAY THAT SUCCESS HAPPENED FOR ME AND CAN HAPPEN FOR YOU:

For months I read Suboxone blog sites in the effort to gather some element of hope that would encourage me to make the “jump” to get off my final 1/8 tab (1mg) of Suboxone. At the point I started reading these blog sites, I had come down from 2.5- 8 mg (total 20 mg) tablets of Suboxone. It was fairly easy to get down to 1/8 tab (1 mg). Don't get me wrong, I had moments of mood swings and depression that would fool me because of the way that the mood swings would creep up on me. I felt bipolar during the final ½ tablet to ¼ tablet and finally to 1/8th tablet before I “Jumped off”: The good news is that earlier dose decreases do not affect you as much as you would think. I went from 2.5 tablets to 2.0 tables per day in one week. I didn't even notice any withdrawal. Then, in just two weeks I had the courage to go down to 1.5 tablets per day…. Still, only slight mood swings. Then, I went down to 1 tablet per day a week later. Then 3 weeks later I went down to ½ tablet per day. Again, at this point only mild mood swings that I could deal with because I was expecting much worse. NOTE: I ALWAYS DIVIDED THE DOSES TO AM / PM DOSES.. IT HELPED.

THE BEGINNING OF THE CHALLENGING PART:

Going from ½ to ¼ tablet per day it started to get a little tougher for the first week in terms of mood swings and a tricky onset of depression. Expect bipolar behavior. Tell your family and whoever is in your life if you can. Let them know that they can pray for you if you or they are believers in God. If you don't believe in God, don't stop reading this posting.. I will get to the Spiritual side of things later in this posting. For now, it is my heart and hope that you will read this method of getting off Suboxone. No punches held though, I will be up front with you, I am personally a believer in the one true God- Jesus Christ. He is the One who encouraged me to get on this website and help you with encouragement, hope and truth about what to expect on this tough, but wonderful journey of getting off Suboxone. The choice to believe in God is yours, but I will say that the prayers of my dad and wife were powerful and effective. There was times when I simply could not pray for myself because I didn't feel sane enough to even pray at times, though I still gave it my best. I brought up the prayers right now for you because the bible tells us in Psalm 145:18-19 "The Lord is near to all who call on Him; all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him. He hears their cry and He saves them". That said, let's begin the final jump shall we.

THE FINAL JUMP FROM 1/8 TABLET:

NOTE REGARDING SUPPLEMENTS: I wish that BEFORE I jumped off at 1/8 tablet, I would have used these endorphin boosting supplements. They can be found at just about any health food store. DLPA 1000 mg twice per day, GABA 500 Mg twice per day, Reloria two capsules twice per day, and 5HTP two capsules per day. I would have been better off to have started these supplements a couple of weeks prior to my final jump, but I strongly believe that they helped the process probably more that I could imagine. I am still on these supplements, now some 3 months off Suboxone. (I am not a doctor, nor am I acting in the role of a doctor, so as always please consult a physician prior to starting these supplements)

When I was on 1/8 tablet for 2 weeks I tried to completely stop taking Suboxone and had such a bad first night that it scared me into staying on 1/8 tablet per day, taken in the morning, for 2 months. The problem now lay in the fact that I was going through withdrawal in the middle of the day and a few times I even chose to drink alcohol in the afternoon. I didn't connect that the withdrawal was actually causing my fiending for drugs and alcohol. Those two months were not good times for me. When I finally came to the conclusion that I might be better off just getting off Suboxone completely, it was time to plan. I work for myself and I could hardly afford to take the time off work for fear that I might lose all my clients. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get off Suboxone and get back to a working state of mind? Drum roll please…. Here is how long it takes to start feeling better….

IT TAKES 6 DAYS BEFORE YOU START FEELING BETTER THAN YOU EVER IMAGINED!!! DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY LIE!!!

What You Can Expect:

Day 1: This morning skipped my morning, and only dose of Suboxone. I worked out pretty hard lifting stretching and lifting light, high repetition weights. Don't forget to push yourself to work out even if you don't feel like it. It is hugely important! That night I took two Benedryl and it didn't work like I hoped it would. I was so miserable, achy body, cramping in my calves, a "drive a person crazy" kind of feeling. At this point I had gotten 2 mg tablets from the Dr. because I told her I needed to be able to cut them down while I weaned myself off of them. So I cut a 2 mg film tablet into ¼ which is .5 mg of Suboxone. In summary, I chickened out the first night. I did sleep after that for about 5 hours. For those of you who still have the 8 mg. tablets, this means that you would have to split one up into 1/16 which is pretty hard to do, but possible if you have good eyes and you don't cheat and take the bigger portion. :)

Day 2: The .5 mg from the night prior made this morning like a fairly normal morning. So I stretch for a long time and then worked out hard. After work out, I felt even better, but by afternoon the withdrawal set in again. Felt like I drank all kinds of coffee but I didn't . I was agitated and twitchy, making my mind and physical body feel terrible. To combat it, I stayed very busy all day with cleaning and yard work in the effort to keep my mind and body occupied. I couldn't focus on God yet…. My mind was too messed up. Yes, a person's mind can be too messed up to “feel” God, but trust me He was there with me. Hind sight I see that He was with me every step of the way. I just couldn't believe that He would let me go through such agony, but He is a God who loved me enough to let me feel the pain enough so that I would remember it. This way I would not go back!! Night came and I became scared that I would give in again, but instead about two hours before bed I took another couple Benedryl and this time it worked a little I slept about 4 hours and was miserable the rest. I recommend taking lots of warm baths or showers when you can't sleep, instead of just lying there.

Day 3: Day 3 and Day 4 are the worst. The greatest advantage you have though is that you are starting to get used to the twitchy, feeling like you are crawling out of your skin feeling. Go ahead and stretch your calves as frequently as you can. Flex them as often as possible. I heard from one doctor that it helps work the withdrawal out of your body. I did manage to get out in the yard and work on Day 3. I waited until I felt my best, then took advantage of the moment and went out and "spazzed out" on yard work as much as I could handle it. I even broke a sweat which lifted me up considerably. I took a couple of Benadryl before I went to bed, but only slept a total of about 2 hours the whole night. I couldn't focus enough to read, nor pray, nor watch a movie. None of that was going to happen, so I would either jump in the bath or shower or even find something to do I could tell that sleep was not an option. The first part of the morning on Day 4 is among the greatest challenges I have ever faced. Glad I did not have much planned, because Day 4 morning was the worst of the whole experience.

Day 4: Morning was awful because I was up the night before almost the whole night. That lack of sleep will mess with your head and try to get you to go back. On this day the middle of the day gave me a few very small ½ glimpses of hope. I felt my first surge of my own endorphins come back. Only a couple ½ hour spurts, but hey it gave me hope to NOT turn back. I figured I went this far, I might as well finish this.!! I thought I was going to sleep well this night, but it didn't happen…. Only 4 hours combined , but hey that was progress from the night before. Remember, baby steps. Celebrate the small victories. Relish them! Stay tuned and hang in there because the reward came to me in Day 5!!

Day 5: I worked out first thing in the morning. I pushed myself to do it. I started with a stretch routine. Then I felt like working out. So, try stretching first, then consider working out. I have in my notes 50/50 written down. This means that half the day I felt bad and half the day actually felt good. Did you hear that?…. I felt good. …. That is right … you can get past this. For half of Day 5 I felt better than I ever felt on Suboxone. It was natural and it was the way that God designed me to feel. My own endorphins made their first appearance and they showed up in fine fashion. The bad parts of this day caused me to want to take a nap, so if you have the liberty to do so, then by all means, indulge in that nap. Nap , nap , nap. Because if you answer the call to the mid day naps you will wake up feeling better each time. Don't worry about the extreme tiredness on day 5 and 6, just become a temporary nap person. Listen to you body and what it wants. God is trying to let you know what you need.

Day 6: Congratulations!! You have made it to the other side. I may have had 2 hours of bad feelings today , but the rest was AWESOME. I was productive, back to work, working out hard etc.

Day 7 and 8:

I am putting day 7 and 8 on here because I did hit some tired spells and down times but only a couple hours each day total. I encourage you to nap when you feel like napping. Also be encourage that it only gets better and better from here on out.

Why I Got Off Suboxone:

Everyone will have their reasons for getting off Suboxone. I can only share with you what my reasons were. If you have read this far then you must be pretty determined for your own reasons.

I started feeling like I was feinding for other drugs when I was on two " 8 mg tablets per day, so I asked my Dr. to increase the dose to 2.5 tablets per day. Two months later I started feinding for other drugs or alcohol again. So I asked my Dr. to up the dose to 3.0 tablets per day. Two months later I started feinding for other drugs, chew, alcohol etc. Are you starting to get the picture? This may not be the case for everyone, but it seemed to be the case for me. The whole purpose of Suboxone in the first place was to decrease these cravings and for a time, Suboxone was effective. It gave me enough time to get it through my head that I didn't want to be a heroin or pill addict anymore and that I wanted to get my life together.

Another reason that I decided to get off Suboxone was that I was also curious if it would feel better to just be on nothing? (Except the supplements that I mentioned above) The outcome that I came to is that I feel way better than I ever have in terms of physical, mental, and Spiritual well being.

THE TESTIMONY:

If you have read this far you may as well keep reading because the best part is yet to come. Remember, I am of the opinion that it was my faith in God that led me down this long and intricate road that I just described above called, "How To Get Off Suboxone " Successfully". God worked in ways that I never would have dreamed. I could have strategized all month long and never came up with the plan, method, or the outcome that God came up with. The Bible says in the book of Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways my ways", says the Lord.

You may not believe in God, or maybe you do, or maybe you know God, but stopped believing. If you are one who is running away or does not believe in God, know this, drugs and alcohol can certainly fog your view of God. It is my opinion that first you must get clean and sober then you have a better chance of making an informed decision as to God's authenticity.

Whether you believe in God or not, you will one day face Him. Either he will be welcoming, or judging you. I have chosen to give Him my life and submit to everything that is written in the Bible. I accept it as truth. The bible says that the Word of God is Living and Active. It also says that every word within it is inspired NOT by man, but by God. I have chosen to believe this and it has changed the way I think. Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

If this part of my testimony and experience sounds too Churchy to you, then at least do yourself a favor, … Ask God to help this "Christian talk" make sense to you. Seriously, have you even told Him that the "Churchy Stuff" makes NO sense to you? Have you even told Him that? Have you bothered to share that with Him? Do you know that He cares and wants to hear that come from your mouth? He wants to hear you humbly express to God that you don't know. Have you opened yourself up to the fact that if you open yourself up to Him that He will begin to show you the "mysteries" of His Word like you never imagined possible? 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land."

If you have read this far then, then I believe that the Spirit of God is calling you…. Listen to it!!! Jesus states that "My sheep hear my voice"

The place where you are if you are reading this is not a comfortable place. I have been right where you are. With all sincerity, I want you to get to where I am. True Joy is in my heart every day that I awake. There is a peace that surpasses all understanding that guides me now. I strongly encourage you to seek God first, because I want to see the peace of God enter your heart and mind.

RELAPSE PREVENTION:

For me, I have found that devoting myself to praying and studying my Bible and reflecting on what God has done and what He promises has been life changing. The Bible says, "Who is going harm you if you are eager to do good" 1 Peter 3:13, It also says, "a prudent man foresees evil and hides himself" Proverbs 27:12

I have a half hour to 45 minutes carved out each morning to spend reading my bible, praying much thanks and reflecting on what the bible is saying. I also listen to J. Vernon McGee on Through The Bible .org the web address is ttb.org. You can't claim to not understand the Bible, because this website WITH AUDIO walks you through the Bible verse by verse in an exciting way. And it is FREE!! If you don't believe the Bible at this point, try listening to the Dr. J. Vernon McGee's audios. There is a new one posted every day. Or check out the archives.

CONCLUSION:

I do hope that you put some thought into all of this. If you can't think straight right now because you have already started your final descent off Suboxone, then wait until you feel good enough to really absorb what I just shared with you through the "Testimony" section of this posting. I am not trying to sell you on anything… I simply care for you because that is what God has put on my heart. I have been through what you are going through and I want to encourage you. I would like to leave you with this scripture:

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

May God Richly Bless Your Life.

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Ok first a response to kkh it's called restful legs at Walmart red box I'm not sure what active ingredients are in it I'm no longer needing it but for sure it is called restful legs

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OHDAN: Ok, thanks. I will see if I can find it online. I am curious as to what the active ingredient would be.

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Ohdan, I'm so glad to hear you're doing so good. Having a support group helps you so much. I think you pretty much have it made. Isn't it a good feeling to get that off your back. I never thought I'd be done with it. I have access to it everyday, but I will never take another one of those as long as I live. I never knew anything could have that much control over you. Keep up the good work and God Bless You.

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Thank you Liz, today is 31 days. I've been felling super good since maybe day 25 and I literally have child like excitement now. I didn't remember the feelings that come with normal life that are stuffed down to avoid having any true feelings on meds or drugs. I'm not busy looking back, I'm looking forward and luckily for me I quit before it completely destroyed my bank account. So I'm in a decent position to move on for a higher power is involved in my story. I was on suboxone for 4 years and here I am in sunny florida living a dream now. Remember my saying, no drug can ever be stronger than any one of us, but you must fight with your mind also. 99.9% of withdrawal is caused by mental panic. I appreciate you all and reach me if needed but for now I must live life. We only get one, don't waste it.

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"99.9% of withdrawal is caused by mental panic." Hahahahaha, lolololololol......I WISH!! Seriously, I'm glad you got though the worst. Stay strong and enjoy the sun!!

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Update: it's me again. 47 days clean and sober life is great and some think it's not a mental deal and that's fine but in my opinion and experience once I made my mind up about being done I did it and all and all it wasn't that bad. Life is worth fighting for. It's hard to see under the influence but after it's a whole new world full of opportunities and excitement. So remember we are all stronger than any drug and 47 days I've been stronger now so I'm doing it. You can too. Join the high on life club. I probably won't do updates for a while but if anyone needs anything let me know. Thank you to everyone that supports my decision and actions along this journey.

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If you search online for insufflating Suboxone, you will find a detailed description of how one person got off using a very sensible system of lowered dosages by dissolving strips in a nasal spray container. He took 6 months to go from 32Mg to zero. Worth a read. This is how I have gone from 24Mg to 2mg.(per week) without ANY trouble ot sleepless nights. I am not substituting Suboxone for any other opiod. Good luck!

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DON: Wow, Don, good for you! So you went down 2 mgs a week? I tried to do that and about 6 weeks in it all caught up with me and I was so sick I couldn't work. I never was able to get below 16 mgs (I was also on the 28-32mg "ceiling").So I am now back on methadone tablets. I have gone from 90mgs down to 75mgs, but I have to go extremely slowly. Hell, w/ Methadone you don't even FEEL the decrease for almost a week. I think because I have been on opioids for over 30 years, and also have other health issues, withdrawal is especially hard on me. I get all ready mentally (the mental part hasn't ever been a big part of it for me) but I get so screwed up PHYSICALLY, I can't function. At least I have gone down the 15mgs on the Methadone, and I will be going down another 5mgs in a couple weeks here. Anyway congrats on that. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous!

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OHDAN: You are awesome! I'm happy you are clean. No PAWS symptoms? PAWS is Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome. You are going along like everything is good, suddenly you are in withdrawal sweats. Or you have a night where all you do is toss and turn and can't sleep. Or your skin starts crawling.... any of the old withdrawal symptoms that appear randomly, just out of the blue. It seems to be more prevalent in those who have been addicted for a long time, or are coming off of a large habit.

When I said what I did about it being or not being "mental", I was at least partly joking. Since I have other health problems, and since I have been addicted for so long, I just meant for me it is more physical than mental. I can get all ready mentally, but the physical stuff really affects me greatly, to the point where I can't even function. So what I meant is that for me, the physical stuff; not sleeping, not being able to eat and therefore being very weak, the pain..... it is what does me in every time. But of course, the physical, the mental...it's all related. I just didn't want you to think I was insulting you. The mental part of it is of course HUGE. Anyway, good job and keep up the good work, OHDAN!

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I am taking 2.5 mg twice a day and every time I try to taper I get the sweats so bad and feel terrible.I want to get off them. Please,can you help me.

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JUDY: You are going to have to go through a little discomfort. That's just how it is. Talk to your doctor, go really slowly, get things to help you with the symptoms. Fortunately you are on a very low dose. 5mgs a day is as low as I have ever heard of. So that is a definitely plus.

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Thank god it's not just me. I hate how I feel on suboxone but don't no how to break down the pills

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Do u feel better on Methodeone then Suboxine? I'm on suboxine and always tired and depressed

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HAIRGIRL: I actually do feel better on the Methadone. I was on the max dose of Subutex for a while, and it STILL wasn't doing the job for me. I was having a lot of cravings. And I was absolutely MISERABLE when I wanted to titrate down. I have been titrating down with the Methadone, very slowly, and it is going ok.

The only thing with Methadone is that you have to not do too much of it. If you are still practicing "drug seeking behavior" and think you are going to get "high" off doing more Methadone than therapeutically necessary, all it will do is, as you said, make you tired and depressed. When I was at the Methadone clinics, they have NO DESIRE for you to be on a low dose or for you to get off of it. They are a business. So they usually give you more than you actually need. I was on 120 mgs. of Methadone, and every day around 2pm, I would get so sleepy, I HAD to take a nap. If I didn't get that nap, I would be a zombie the rest of the day. Now I am on 70mgs (titrating down from 90mgs) and I am doing very well. (I get tablet Methadone from a doctor) The withdrawal symptoms are kept at bay, but I am not needing that "2pm nap".

You may be having a bad reaction to the Naloxone in the Suboxone, but my guess is that you are just on too much. May I ask what dose of Subuxone you are on? You shouldn't be getting tired or sleepy from it, and may just be on too much. Talk to your doctor about going down on your dose, just a little, and see how you feel.

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Update I'm 4.5 months clean and feeling great anyone who is struggling getting off Suboxone just go with the withdrawal symptoms they get bad then they get better so then they can get bad again for about 20 days or so but it's 100% worth going through struggling through it coming out on the other end and you'll feel like a human again you are stronger than any drug

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That is great ohdan. I haven't taken suboxne in years but that was the hardest withdrawal I ever had.... it is definitely worth the struggle though. Congrats to you!!

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Thanks kris and you should post your story on here so everyone knows it's possible the more success stories people see on here the more will power they will gain I find way to many stories on the negative side and we need more positive stories like yours mine and others and to all others remember there is no drug stronger than you dig deep and pull out of this you can and will be successful

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Ohdan -- Actually I did when I was going through my struggles.... I think it was October of 2013...I'll scroll through and see if it's still there. But yes I agree more negative than positive. I've lost too many loved ones from this disease and it's really getting worse. So sad u know

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Do u feel any better off suboxone then on it? Cause I don't wana feel worse then I already do

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After you get done with the withdrawal you feel a thousand times better and feel human again you can start focusing on the future and actually see that you will be able to have one if you put the effort and energy into making one I also lost 40 pounds

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