Using Suboxone To Get Off And Stay Off Opiates

I was prescribed opiate painkillers for 5 years. I gradually became totally addicted to the point that while these drugs ( Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Oxycontin and others) worked well for their intended purpose, the 'good feeling" they gave me became the focal point of my life. The unavoidable physical and psychological dependence eventually led to serious and harmful consequences- damaged or ruined relationships (divorce in my case) with people who were now less important than the drugs. Responsibilities and interests I had fell by the wayside. Although I have a legitimate need for pain relief due to nerve damage caused by disease, the doctor saw that I was abusing the drugs- taking too much and using them to get high- and cut me off. The withdrawal symptoms were horrific. I went to a rehab center and was treated with several drugs including Suboxone. They referred me to a Suboxone licensed doctor for follow up. I don't think I could have stayed off Opiates without a gradually declining regimen of Suboxone. I started at 8mg/day and got down to 2mg/day, but it took several months. I am now finding that it is very difficult to go from 2mg/day to none. Diazepam family tranquilizers help, but they too have addiction potential. I feel like I might have to take the minimal dose of Suboxone supplemented with Xanax indefinitely in order to stay off Opiates. As far as pain relief goes, I have yet to find anything that comes close to the effectiveness of Opiates. I am in almost constant pain and am tempted to go back to them in spite of their destructive side effects and addictive nature. It seems that quality of life will be poor either way.

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I'm on suboxone myself and from what I've heard and read you should taper down even lower than 2mg if you can, maybe to 1mg then a half mg. Take a couple of weeks on each taper to let your body adjust. I'm not a dr. but that's what I'm gonna try. Let us know how your doing.

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Yes, your treating doctor should be helping you continue to taper, as low as possible, before stopping Suboxone. Many people have managed to use it to become completely drug free.

And, no offense, but addiction isn't inevitable for everyone, there are many people who use narcotics long-term and never abuse them or have severe problems stopping.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Suboxone/­

However, since you do have an addiction problem, but also suffer chronic pain, you may want to see a pain management specialist and discuss the possibility of getting a pain pump. It's an IV device that administers a controlled dose of pain medications, at intervals predetermined by your doctor. Thus, there's no way for you to up your dose and abuse it.

Are there any other comments or questions?

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Try tramadol for pain, its the closest thing to opiate relief i have found.

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Please provide the proper dosage for Suboxone to wean off of opiates. I am using 2 mg. I am taking my last film today and started on Tuesday. I am suffering from bad withdrawals, anxiety, etc.. I believe the tapering was too fast.How many days and dosages per days is suggested and/or recommended?

Please provide an answer at your earliest convenience. I have doctors appt in the morning.

Thank you

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I began tapering down until I reached .5mg. (Some people find it necessary to taper down to a little less such as .25mg or less.) It’s quite basic reducing to a very low dose following the Standard Taper Plan that follows. That can be accomplished by a formula. But getting to 0mg can be a little more of a challenge especially for those who come to this forum having been on sub elsewhere for a long time or have experienced some other type of extenuating circumstance.

Standard Taper Plan The standard taper I used and promote is that if you will reduce by 25% of the total daily dose and maintain that dose for a period of four full days while experiencing minimal to no w/d symptoms it’s safe to reduce again by another 25% and expect the same results. If you experience any overwhelming w/d symptoms during the four day period you can take a .25 mg sliver (depending on your existing dose) and the w/d symptoms usually dissipate immediately. If you require slivers to remain stable at any level you should start over the next day trying to put four days together again. This allows for the long half life of buprenorphine which can be up to 72 hours for most people.

After I reached .5mg I began a process of skipping days. I would take a dose one day, then skip one day. Then dose again, and then skip two days. Then dose again, and then skip three days. Then dose again, and then skip four days. After four days clean I was finished. The half life has had time to catch up with itself.

We have found some people, for whatever reason, tend to stress out and suffer anxiety when it comes time to skip days. If that is your experience you can continue the standard 25% taper every four days all the way down to zero in lieu of skipping days if that makes you feel better. Again we are all a little different. The idea is to be successful and the skipping days is not written in stone. That is what worked for me and has worked for most others following this taper plan. But if you need to taper down to nothing instead of skipping days that is certainly a viable and acceptable option.

The reason for sometimes feeling w/d symptoms is the long half life of buprenorphine, the main drug that is in sub and the generic now available. To be very simple it can take days before we experience the w/d symptoms from sub. So this is why we wait for four days to allow for the half life which can easily be up to 72 hours depending on some variables. When we make it four days without symptoms we should be fine reducing again.

It’s not uncommon to have some minor side effects from sub as with almost any medication. There can be some depression, sleep problems, anxiety. So we suggest not taking the sub close to bedtime, get some mild to moderateexercise depending on your physical condition, there are things to do that will help lots of things. But stick with the same principles all the way down as far as you are comfortable. We are here to help at that point.

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Please, please, please: look into Kratom. Kratom is an herb easily available on the internet. It's not addictive like Methadone or Suboxone. One does not need an RX, as it is legal in the US. IT WILL NOT MAKE YOU FEEL HIGH. It can help stop opiate cravings, depression, help get your natural energy back! This stuff is from God, Suboxone is from Big Pharma. Check out numerous reviews of how people have gotten off of the danged opiates (Methadone, Suboxone, oxy, perc, boy, many many chronic pain sufferers, junkies, all in between) and got their life back. Just do your research and make sure it's the real deal. I wish you all the very best, you don't have to throw yourself on the mercy of the pain doctors any more!

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Please, do some research on Kratom. It is a legal plant which has helped and continues to help people get off and stay off opiates. It helps pain, depression, lack of energy. There's story after story of people just like you and me who have turned their life around. You don't have to go through the awful withdrawals and be scared and alone.
There's another way!!!

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Pain sure sucks doesn't. Hydrocodone and Oxycodone are both excellent pain killers in my opinion but they sure do offer that pleasant side effect that becomes oh so important. I too suffer from legitimate chronic pain and have tried several different opiates including Hydro, Oxy, Morphine, and Opana with oxy being the most effective. I suffer from depression/anxiety/ as well so the 'good' feeling was especially enjoyed as it gave me the ability to get up off the couch and live life. If only it weren't for tolerance! That's what sucks is that you can't just be on the same dose forever and be golden. Tolerance leads to a higher dose, more pills for the same effect. Eventually you (or at least me) find yourself exceeding the prescribed amount and running out early. Docs sure don't like that! Eventually it got to the point where I was taking between 8 to 12 Percocet (oxy) 10s a day while being written for four a day. Then I got to the point where I was withdrawing between doses. It eventually progressed to where the effects lasted very short periods of time even at such a high dose (high for me at least). Enough became enough and I ended up by detoxing cold turkey so I can definitely related on the horridness or withdrawal especially compounded with already existing mental problems. So I was off the opiates for a good 6 months or so and tried gabapentin. While it did help with the pain the side effects were rediculeous. Severe memory problems, swelling of extremities, drowsiness. Got sick of that so decided to give opiates a try again. This time we did Norco (hydrocodone) and it seems to be much less intense than the Percocet as far as the high-seeking behavior. Works good on the pain too. It's just that damn tolerance that's the culprit. I'm not sure what to suggest to you as far as trying the opiates again. While my addiction was bad it didn't have any major life altering effects such as you have mentioned. Maybe give the Butrans patch a try if your doc is okay with it and you can afford it as there is no generic. Kinda hard to abuse a patch unless you slap a bunch on at the same time and if pain relief is your goal and not the high this may be a good alternative. It is an opiate (actually the opiate ingredient in Suboxone and Subutex) and it just might work for you. Didn't do any good for me but my body seems to build and retain a high tolerance to any medication, opiate or not, but you might have good luck with it. Good luck to you and I hope you can find a way to get pain relief and quality of life without things spiraling out of control. Hope this helped.

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I'm coming off 30mg oxycodone and went from 20mg to 15mg, then 10mg... How much suboxone should I be taking and for how long?

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I can relate 100% in it mess up they leave us hangin so they had you taking suboxone 8mg once a day?

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Re: Verwon (# 2)
am afraid my Ra Dr might just stop all together but that differently sounds the best ! Thanks Ver

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