Need to get off suboxone

Hi every one,

I started taking percs and vics about 6 years ago for pelvic pain and got hooked. I finally decided it was time to stop so I went for suboxone wich I've read it can be a wonderful tool in getting detoxed.

I have been taking suboxone for 3 weeks, started taking 8mg a day and had the intentions on stoping right away so after 8 days I just stoped. I was feelling ok and thought that that was that; but after 6 days the withdrawal started again, to be honest they weren't to bad, but I got scared and started taking it again. I been taking difrent doses but just about 3-4mg a day from last wednesday till today.

I really need to stop soon. The doctor gave me 15 8mg pills back in Agust 7, and I have about 1 1/2 pill left (today I have only taken about 1mg and I will take another 1 mg later today).
I don't really want to go back to the doctor because he wants me on the pills for the rest of my life or for a very long time. and I just don't want to be on anything anymore.
I've been having some anxiety and stomachache.

Does anyone here can help me with tips on how to do this succesfully? I really appreciate this site and the help that you guys give each other, hopefully you can also help me. Thanks.

I been on sub for 2.5 weeks and to honest how do you think u are gonna make that jump in 3 weeks. Im being honest, you didnt become an addict in 3 weeks. Let yourself heal with the maintence of the medication. Your not taking that much anyway. You are on the medication for a reason. I feel so much better on it and to know I will never take another pill, I will stay on it forthe rest of my life. If you have more question, tomorrow night there is a chat here @ 7:30. There are people with alot more time on them than me so they can answer questions that I am not able to answer yet. Its up to you but if you feel good on em, dont ruin a good thing. Tammy

Hello Mobe,

I'm not sure you realize you posted this twice.

This is the original post you wrote yesterday:

https://suboxone.forumotion.com/t1314-all-members-respond

If you scroll down you'll see your name and post. The reason I bring this up is that you have quite a few responses with good advice for you.

Anyway,
I'll answer you here since this is where you posted today.

You really havent stabilized on one dose and you stopped for a while in between and you don't have enough to taper off properly. I'm not sure how to advice you at this point.

I really wish you'd re-think your plan of stopping so quickly. You've barely begun to heal and work on your recovery.

Go read the other responses, if you havent already, and get some other viewpoints. Mine is there as well.

Tammy,

Thanks for your reply. I am on this medication because I wanted a way to get clean for good. I do not intend to trade one drug for another. Hey if you guys feel comfortble taking it for a long time or for the rest of you lives that is your choice and I respect it. I just wish that I could find a site were the point of all these was getting help to get off all medications. For what I can see most sites are for people that want to stay on it. I am not trying to offend anybody, but I've been reading a lot and even the mediatiors here wish they've taken this drug just for detox and now they can't even get off of it.

I just wanted help from someone that has done it succesfully but until now can't find such person. I don't know may be there isn't anybody like that. Or may be they are just so happy living the real life that they had forgaten about the rest of us who need help.

When I make it thru this I will surely try to help other people who wants to get clean.

Thanks and sorry for the waste of time.

Blue Eyes,

I realized that you guys have answered to my post after I had posted the new one. I was expecting an e-mail letting me know that I had I message. That's why I posted again

We are not trading one drug for another.
We are taking a medication because we have a disease, it's called addiction.

If you had diabetes, and the doctor gave you medication, and it was working great, would you just stop before your diabetes was under control? No. You'd keep taking it until it was under control and you could learn to live with it without the medication.

I am not going to argue the reason all of us are on Suboxone.


Good luck to you,

Mobe,
You know I dont wnna be on this either..but I didnt wanna become a drug either. I dont think I am trading one addiction for the other. I am using this as a maintnce tool until my body is able to function without the suboxene. I have rea many many stories and talked to many many people on and off this site. Not one person recomends you jump off this in 3 weeks. Im going to look at tapering at about 3 months, depending on where I am in life and how strong I am is a big factor. When first started them I was on 2 a day which I never used. Recently, I have only needed 1 day. Of course, there are days I need more but I go with only one. I ha thebiggest uge for a vicodin tonight. I just sat and thought how can I get a buzz for one day. Then Itought, o stupidyour gonna how way almost 3 weeks for a buzz for a few hours??? Not, so I know my body still needs the help. Im afraid if I got off now, Idb back to pills in no time. You are not wasting my time. Just think about what your saying. If your doing fine one a little bit, why not continue the use and follow doctors orders. I dnt wanna chase u off I just wnt you to kow that i thought about jumping off too. I know now if I did, I dont think no I know id go bac to using. But, if it works for you and u are still clean in a month get ahold of me, Id like to hea yor story. Tamy

Well mobe i will try this post again as I initially posted on your original thread that blue referred to above. I agree with most of what blue said over there and I can add to it with some personal experience that I hope you can relate to. I went into rehab hoping to be detoxed from all drugs and be done. Ended up that wasn't possible b/c I had seizures b/c of dehydration and electrolyte imbalances from withdrawals. They put me on a suboxone detox and it worked well at first. But about 5 days after I left the clinic I was in full blown withdrawals. Luckily my old suboxone dr. took me back. As for being on it forever, I think that blue is right and your dr. doesn't want you to feel rushed. People can and do get off suboxone. I'm currently tapering. I started treatment on June 19 of 2011. I started at 32mg. Took that down immediately to the ceiling 24mg, then the next week I went down to 16mg daily. Today 14 months later I take 3 mg a day and I've had very little withdrawal symptoms. While I've been on suboxone, I've taken advantage of the relief it has given me from my obsession with using to work on the real problem me. The combination of suboxone and 12 step groups has saved my life. I could go on forever about the gifts of my recovery. But the simplest way to put it is I'm able to live. I'm able to be the wife, mother, daughter, and friend I was meant to be, and I know that if I had tried to go cold turkey none of this would be the case...If the short term detox with suboxne had succeeded I would have had short term recovery because I wouldn't have had the time to work on the real problem and that's me. With my treatment I have that. I would urge you to stay on suboxone and be treated for an appropriate amount of time based on your situation.

To answer your question about whether to taper or go off period. I don't think it will matter. You don't have enough suboxone for a taper and you will have withdrawals when you run out that will be similar to cold turkey w/d. This is my experience anyway. I'm not a dr and not giving medical advice, but please consider seeking long term treatment. Most of the horror stories, are just that stories. They come from folks who abuse their sub and are kicked out of their program and are bitter and angry because of it. Or they come from folks who are jealous that they never had the opportunity to use it for treatment. That's my experience anyway.

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that maybe you can relate to something I've said. If there is anything I can do to help you, please let me know. I wish you peace, serenity and joy in your recovery journey.

Monica

Moby,
I must now add to the post above, not that anything I will add will change the way you feel. I would like to know what moderators you see here that are trying to get off of sub and can't. The only person who I know that ever posted that was a member named barbararue and she hasn't been here in quiet some time for whatever reason. Second, I would like to know if you didn't read my post on the other thread, I can only assume you didn't because I make it clear I am successfully tapering off at this point. Let me say it again just in case you don't see it above. I AM CURRENTLY TAPERING SUCCESSFULLY. I HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY SINCE I STARTED TREATMENT AND I'VE HAD VERY LITTLE IF ANY WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS DURING MY TAPER. Third, I would like to know where you have come up with all of us want to be on it for the rest of our lives. So not the case. I think most of us have the sense to realize that we have a disease that, like diabetes, can never be cured and that we will have to deal with it in some way for the rest of our lives be it with medication or 12 step groups or whatever. We will NEVER be cured and don't labor under the delusion that we will. Can I ask you something without offending you? Have you ever tried to get off of drugs before or is this your first rodeo? I ask because I have a feeling that you've not been struggling with addiction for very long or you would not feel the way you do. You would feel like most people who are willing to do whatever they have to in order to beat this disease. I would also like to know if you are for real when you say there are no sites for people who don't want to be on suboxone, cause that is an absolutely absurd statement. Try intherooms.com in the NA group...they hate suboxone unless it is used as you describe for detox only. Which it was never designed for just for the record. I almost wonder if you are a troll and just trying to stir up trouble here. I am not substituting one drug for another and neither is anyone else who is using sub properly. I refuse to justify myself any further to some newbie who evidentally doesn't have a clue. I'm not offended by you, in fact, if you're for real, I feel sorry for you because you are completely clueless about the disease you are dealing with and the treatments that are available.

As for your post above about the taper. I will answer it as I did in my post above. You don't have enough to taper, so if you are serious then hold on cause you are in for one hell of a ride. I hope you make it through it. I seriously hope that if you really are struggling with addiction and the decision of whether to treat it or not that you will take a look at the stats I posted above and reconsider your view of maintenace treatment with suboxone. No one here is telling you to stay on it forever and no doctor can make you either. But if you want the best chance at lasting recovery, from my experience both personally and with others who have tried other ways and from reading about various recovery options, suboxone combined with a complete recovery program is your best option to achieve a lasting meaningful recovery.

I will keep you in my prayers...cause you seriously need them. I hope something I've said will change your mind, but I realize it probably won't. You have been seriously misinformed about suboxone treatment and I doubt that anything you read here will influence you as you seem to view us as simply trying to trade one addiction for another. Not sure where you got that view as virtually everyone here has either posted or agreed with someone in a post that suboxone is not a cure...it is a tool to be used in a comprhensive program that treats all aspects of addiction. And if you really feel like you say you do...head on over to the site I mentioned...you're misinformation will fit in perfectly there.

one more thing...you register yesterday with a profile that contains only the bare minimum of info about you, and all of a sudden you are an expert on the moderators of this site and their posts....I think I smell a troll. You sure you ain't from over at intherooms.com. not too much of an expert though as you call them mediators like over there. Yes something is definitely not right about you. I probably won't get a response back, but I will still continue to pray for you and I hope that you can find a meaningful recovery somewhere. And for the record the stats I posted I can back up with sources, but I figured why bother. If you want them just let me know

Monica,

Thank you for your input here.
Like you said, I feel sorry for her. She's in for a rough ride. And statistically speaking, she's headed for a relapse.

I missed the line where she mentioned that "Even the "mediators" cant get off it "
She must mean Barbara, who has not been here since I've been a Moderator.

I don't know where she would have read it's a great tool to detox, because like you said
it was not designed to detox.

I know that today we can face the day in recovery and hold our heads up high as we chose the right path for us !!

Much love my friend,
Blue

and Moby just in case you are serious here is the advice I was given for kicking suboxone or other opiates cold turkey...chain yourself to a radiator for the duration of you withdrawal syndrome. Have someone who cares for you place a slop bucket within reach and bring you water to keep you hydrated. Now if that succeeds and you don't immediately hit the street when you get the handcuffs off seeking your doc, the get to an NA meeting a day for 90 days and surround yourself with recovery and work the program. This gives you a 1%-5% chance of being in recovery at day 365. But I post it just to pass it along in case you are serious so you can't say you weren't helped here. I tried this didn't work for me. I tried sub without NA didn't work either, but the combination has saved my life.

And in regard to what you said that you would surely help people once you get "clean". The best way you can help others is to get yourself well...you can't help someone get out of addiction when you are in active addiction yourself. Recovery is much more than just abstaining from drugs and until you realize that you can't help anyone including yourself. Get serious about recovery and educate yourself about addiction. You may not believe it, but I help people struggling with their recovery every day of my life whether they're taking maintenance medications, abstaining, or just struggling to find their way...know why? Because, unlike you I realize that there are many ways for people to recover from addiction and I don't care how someone is recovering as long as they are. If you're serious about recovery the first thing you have to do is change everything starting with beginning to be honest with those in your life, and hopping off of the pedestal you seem to want to be on. Even if you do manage to succeed at achieving recovery through abstinence, your recovery won't be any more valid than my recovery just because you went cold turkey and I treated my disease with suboxone. Judgement and criticism don't help people recover, empathy and understanding do. And I don't think you have either of those.

Good luck and God bless. Look up addict_jon at itr he supposedly detoxed on sub.

Monica and Blue Eyes,

Wow! good thing is you didn't get offended and that you don't want to offend me. I wonder how your response would be if you wanted to offend somebody.
I am for real and I am not a "troll".
I am a person in the same boat has you are. I am not claiming to be an expert on anything or to be better than anybody. I do not feel my self to be an a pedestal at all.
I've tried to detox many times. And the reason I came to find suboxone is because I am afraid of going thru the same hell I've been before.
Like I said in my post to tammy, I did not mean to offend anybody and I respect you all.
But I am scared and have read so so so many posting of people trying to get off subuxone and not beeing able to, and some others that say that it shouldn't be used for maintance because it is near to imposible to quit, that I was looking for ansewers on how to do it for a short period of time.
Here I am pasting a little pice of a posting by nanamom that may be in my frantic search did not read well: "As of today I have been taking Suboxone for 6 years. I am to start my taper next month. Sometimes I wish I would have been one of those people who just used Suboxone long enough to get over the withdrawals from Methadone as I was a Methadone patient for four years before starting Suboxone. [/color]"

Sadly you guys reacted this way, because belive it or not you did convince me that it is better to heal first. And I actually never saw it in the way that it is like having diabetes and you need to take whatever helps.
Even thou I feel very much rejected now by you guys I decided to ansewer one more time and let you know that I am a person just like you that maybe is very misinformed and that that is way I was looking for answers.
Thank you any ways you did help aaalooooooooooot, I did talk to my husband (wich it was very hard for me, since he had gaven me an ultimatum that if I didn't stop taking pills he would divorce me after 28 years of marrige, and he only gave me a month) also I am trying to go back to my doctor and figure out a new plan, I don't want to jest jump off now I want to take it slow, specially since my husband agreed (I am so relieved)
Again sorry if I offended you guys, did not mean to I just wanted to hear what I wanted to hear.
About not writing more about my self was becouse I figure that most people don't want a read long postings so I just wanted to go to the point. Well no matter now.

Good bye. And Thank you for beeing here and helping stupid people like me.

Didn't intend to make you feel stupid and I wasn't offended. I was only pointing out that by using the word "clean" you infer whether you realize it or not that we are "dirty". Don't like that word. I don't want you to leave the forum if you are seeking help and if we can help you in the way you seek. It's just that I don't know that we can. Suboxone is not designed to be used for detox. It is designed to be used for maintenance treatment...not necessarily for life. Nannamom at no time in the post you quoted said she wished she hadn't got on sub...only that she wondered...and she also didn't say that she couldn't get off...only that she was beginning to try. I can't answer you on how to do it in a short period of time, as it's not designed to be used that way, but if you can find a provider who can help you with that, I would be more than happy to support you along the way. You may have said that you didn't want to offend, but you did offend me. I never said that I was going to take it for the rest of my life or that I was having trouble tapering....my posts said the opposite. I'm glad that something got through to you and I hope and pray that you will give yourself the chance tohave the best odds of staying in recovery possible. I'm proud of you for telling your husband the truth.

I'm glad he agreed. I apologize if what I posted offended you, but I told you my experience way before my posts this morning and then you posted the stuff that was innacurate about us all wanting to stay on it and I got upset. I am sorry that I said you were a troll and I hope you will accept my apology. Please stick around. I promise that we are really good and supportive people, but I needed to tell you the truth about suboxone treatment and try to get through to you that you had been misinformed. I wish I could have found a better way to do it, but honestly the posts I made this morning were made out of concern even if you don't realize it, and I even went to the trouble of sharing what I had been told to do to get off cold turkey eventhough it didn't work for me. All I can say is that I'm sorry. I wish I had read your post above before I posted anything today. I hope you will accept my deepest and sincere apology and allow us to support you through this. If not, I will keep you in my prayers and I am always available if you need me.

My sincerest apologies,
Monica

Mobe,


I am really happy that you are going to continue to seek treatment, and like Monica said, we really do want to help and hope you stick around here.

We really are a great bunch if I do say so myself

So here I am. I want to apologize for the wild start we had. I decided I am sticking around, hope you can handle it .. thank you for real, for some crazy reason I feel that I need to be here.
I have an appointment today at 2:30 with my sub doctor, I will talk to him and this time I will do what he says. This time I am relaxed and happy to seek recovery, and I know that with God's help and yours too I will accomplish it too.
I understand a little more what suboxone is and what it can do for me and for those who have decided to leave the old habits behind.
Thanks again. and wish me luck, better yet.. pray for me that the doctor will take me back.

By the way, my name is Becky.

Becky,
I like the picture of your pups, I assume they're yours but if not they're still cute as hell. I'm sorry you had a rocky start here, but I'm glad that you are sticking around. It's not strange that you feel you need to be here, I think we all feel that way. I work with a lot of sites on the net and this is the only one where I know that the people here genuinely care for me and want the best for me. I don't think you will have a problem with the doctor taking you back. Most doctors who work with addicts know that we are prone to bouts of self doubt and indecisiveness, in fact I believe he will appreciate your honesty and your new found resolve. I'm glad that you have a better understanding of what suboxone is and how it works. There are so many sources of misinformation on the internet, that it's a wonder that anyone ever finds good information. You will be amazed at the changes that will happen in your life, not just from having your physical w/d relieved but from having the mental obsession with using quieted. You will have so much time on your hands, because you won't have to be worrying about doing drugs. You will have freedom to enjoy life and the wonderful things in it. I'm so happy for you. Please keep us posted and let us know what the doctor says. And in the case of the slim chance that he rejects you as a patient, don't give up. There is more than one fish in the sea. I will be praying for you and I'm so proud of you for telling your husband the truth and deciding to seek treatment.

Becky,

I am really happy your going back to your Dr.
Like Monica said, if, for some slim chance he doesnt take you back, there are ways to find you a new Dr. So don't worry.

Lets start new, with a clean slate, deal ?

Fill us in with what happened at the Dr when you can.
Take care and be well,
Blue

I am soooooo happy, my doctor appointment went really well . I am impressed that my doctor was very understanding. He asked if I still wanted to get off suboxone fast or if I wanted to do maintance, I told him that I had change my way of thinkning about it and that I wanted watever was better for me. He said that he was relieved since (just like you guys told me) statistics show that people who just detox relapse really easy. And then he said that he thinks that 4 to 6 six months will be good for me. I can't tell you how I feel, is really like I am starting to live again.....Yeay!!

The avatar picture is of my two girls Kiah and Kiwi the only babies I have left living at home. I have three boys 27, 25 and 24. the two yunger ones are married and the older one comes and goes. I have a 4 month old grand daughther that is the cutes baby ever!! lol

You DID IT !!!!

I'm proud of you. You went to the doctor and you were honest and now your on the road to recovery.
Most importantly your doing it the right way !

What dose are you on? How often do you dose per day?

Your puppies are adorable ! I have a Shih Tzu. Your grand daughter must be your pride and joy she sounds so precious. God Bless her.

Again, welcome! I am so happy things worked out this way !

I am soooo happy for you. It sounds like you have a good doctor and that's important. I'm also happy that you were able to give us another chance. I can't say with words how proud I am of you for being able to do what so many addicts can't. You listened to facts instead of horror stories and gave yourself the best chance at a meaningful recovery. I so look forward to hearing your stories about how your life is changing and how you're growing in your recovery. Thank you so much for accepting my apology and allowing me the privilege of supporting you while you go through this.

I will continue to keep you in my prayers and if there is anything at all I can do to help or any questions you have don't hesitate to ask. That's what we're here for, to support one another and soon you will have an inspirational story to tell the next person who has been scared by the horror stories all over the internet. Addiction is a selfish disease, but we recover together.

Much love my new friend,
Monica

Hi Mobe (Becky)

Wondering how you are doing.

Let us know when you can??


Thanks,
Blue

I really think you made the right decision, before I got on my suboxone maintenance plan I had tried to use it just to detox... I relapsed very quickly after that. One of the best things about subs (in my opinion) is it's ability to reduce or completely take away cravings. If you are a recovering addict cravings can very easily convince you to take that drug again.

good for you!


-eric

Hello Mobe (Becky)

My name is Jasmine and I'll tell you a little by about myself.
I am a 20 year old stay at home mom. I have my son Cooper and my step daughter Zoey. I started using when I was only 14 years old and was in active addiction for over 6 years and through my whole teenage life. I didn't really live like I should hae since I was so worried about pills at such a young age. As I got older my tolerance went up and I switched to stronger pain killers. I ended up on fentanyl patches when it had gotten so bad that I had lost everything.
I have been on suboxone for almost 6 months! Woot! So on the 27th of this month I will be 6 months sober! That's half of a year! Woot!

Anyways. Like Eric said, I did the same thing. I tried to use suboxone for just detox and relapsed just a week after I stopped the suboxone. I definitely think it is a great tool for you to be on while you learn how to stay sober ad prepare yourself for life after suboxone. It's a great tool for that! You can focus on fixing yourself and why you started using in the first place and focus on bettering yourself! All without having to worry about using/relapsing. Just think no more panicking about getting low or running out! You'll always have a prescription and if you don't abuse it, you'll NEVER run out early. I think the best feeling about being on suboxone is not waking up dope sick and not having to worry about running out!

I am glad you decided to get back on te suboxone and stayed on it! I honestly think that's your best option for success! I'm proud of you for making that decision and taking that step toward recovery!

Anyways it's been a while since we've heard from you. Check in with us and let us know how you are doing!