How Long After You Stop Suboxone Do You Have Withdrawal Symptoms? (Page 14)

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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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261

Well after a week of that I took 4 imodium and that helped alot!! I took over the counter sleep aids and made it worse! Hope that helps!

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262

Hi DJ, Desperate is right about the OTC sleep aids. Some of them cause RLS.
Some people have gotten results by taking Immodium.
Theres nothing wrong with taking some comfort meds in my opinion. Can you get a few prescribed sleep aids?
For what its worth Tramadol will help with wds. No more then what directions say on bottle or no more then 150mgs/day. Not sure you want to go down that road.
Theres websites full of posts about people with tramadol addiction.
A walk and hot bath before bed. Don,t lay on the couch all day if you are.
Is there a doctor you can call to see if he could prescribe anything?
Even if you do nothing you will get through this.
Sub wd is just a pain because of its long half life.
Post back and let us know how your doing.

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263

Hi! Have been off suboxone for 3 days. Tried twice before, but had myoclonic seizures. My pain dr called me a liar & troublemaker! Said she has several hundred patients on suboxone & I'm the only one yo complain. Can you imagine that! Anyway, read blog after blog & found that neurontin 300 mg. at least 4x daily & it would help exponentially!!! Luckily I have diabetes (not really lucky) so got sn rx for gabapentin/nrerontin, but only for 100mg 3x daily. Soooo have had to take more than is rx'd but 300 mg 2-3x dairy helps wonderfully! Only I have no idea jow long this is going to go on & you have you have to titrate slowly off it. I won't be going off it as I need it for my diabetic myopothy & my simple partial seizures. My new d.dr should continue with the neurontin. But since being on suboxone for 5 years (pain dr rx'd it for pain& it does not work! ) , jyst how long am I going to have to deal with withdrawals? Anything you have to offer is valuable to me!!! Thanks sooooo much!!!!!

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264

That is hard to say...it depends on how much you where taking. Everyone is different and with your medication your on can not be sure. I know you are looking for a exact day that it will end but so many things play a part in that. To be very honest I would say after 3 wks. The major wds should be gone. I know that seems like forever but please believe me it is not:) PLEASE keep me posted on how you are doing?

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265

Well today is day five & the breakthrough seizures never returned! So am back to 100 mg 3x daily. However the cold & burning came back. So am going to ask my new diabetes Dr if I can get it 4x a day. I had titrated down to almost nothing & had asked my pain dr for helpmin no longer using suboxone & she literally turned on me! Told me she never wanted to see me again! So I asked for the Neurontin from my diabetes Dr & got it. Ask for Gabapentin aka Neurontin. It really works! Am having a much easier time of going through PAWS. Just thought I'd let everyone know. I'll get back with you all very, very soon!

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266

I couldn't agree more with the person who says some people are clueless if they think subs are gonna be out of your system in a few days. I say this because I myself thought God wasn't gonna let me feel any wd this time. I took my last dose 5 days ago and felt nothing for 5 days and them woke up on day 6 sick as a dog. Sub takes a while to leave your system. I have been on 4 mg for about 6 months this time. I hope this doesn't last for months. Last time I was on sub, I jumped off of 24 mgs and it lasted months. Anyones input would be appreciated. God bless us all.

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267

Hi Skylar, Allthough it,s been done 4mgs is still a high dose to be jumping from.
I,m all for comfort meds as long as you don,t get carried away. If you could get a couple of prescription sleeping pills may help but only for a couple nights.
Some folks say immodium helps wds. I havn,t tried that.
I know you don,t want to but exercise helps a lot. Just a walk around block will help.
If all else fails and you really think your gonna relapse you can allways go back on subs and taper slowly to a much lower dose.
You almost got a week in. If I were you I,d rough it out.
Even though you might feel like it your not gonna die and it will end.
Keep posting if you feel like it.
It makes some people feel a little better just telling someone how there feeling.
Good Luck.

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268

That is awesome! I am on day 2 and I still feel ok. A little anxious but ok! I have been taking 2mg of suboxone for about 5 months now and I have to say oxy withdrawal was 90% worse. My higher power will get me thru.

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269

Ive been on Suboxen for 65 days..the first 30 days I was taking 2 mg a day . After the thirty days my job was becoming harder labor and i would up my dose to 4-6 mgs a day.these last 5 days I up my dose to the entire 8mgs before the suboxen i was doing 30mg of oxy and vicoden mixed how ever I got it.these threads and post have peoples opinions after years of use or half years.nothing does it say about just a few months users. I just stopped cold turkey. Took 7 days off of work. Will i be able to be done with the no sleep after 7 days. I can work on acute withdraws , just have to suck it up and get out there. .

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270

I agree methadone is horrible I wouldn't recommend it for treating opiate addiction. I was an H Iv user as well. My fiancé was too for 7 years after many overdoses, jail, rehabs, we just couldn't handle the constant being sick then going to get dope. What ended up happening is o went to jail he went to an all men's rehab. When I got out if jail I was only in there for 2 weeks of hell withdrawal was the worst no sleep, no eating, throwing up. When we both got back to eachother he was completely off dope and on suboxone his father did all kinds of research and decided it was best. So I was put on it too we have been on it now for over 3 years and the first 2 for me was horrific night terrors soo bad. We both have managed to completely turn our life around but because of the night terrors and anxiety from things that happened to me when I was a H user my dr. Put me on xanax now I have 2 addictions this is horrible. I'm funding out that long term suboxone use can really be horrible to detox off. We both recently went from 8 mg to 3 quarters. I have had these sleeping problems for over 3 years now yesterday my dr. Prescribed me restoril to help me fall asleep I took it at 9:30 pm and didn't fall asleep til after 1 am. Now I'm stuck with 2 addictions and suboxone and benzos are the worse to come off of. Last night I was reading about long term suboxone affects and was disgusted the dr. Never once told us how bad the withdrawal could be, or the long term side affects. It takes 4 to 5 months to completely detox off suboxone. So once I wean off the suboxone I will also have to wean off the xanax I'm feeling extremely deceived. I'm also very worried about both of us. Everything we accomplished. Then it said most suboxone patients once off it will feel extremely depresses and the urges to use come back I feel like we are doomed either way.

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271

I had the same experience the first time I came off Subs. With its long half life, I didn't start to feel the worst of the withdrawal until day 5-6.

I would add though, for those people who are putting it off out of fear, that withdrawal from subutex for me wasn't nearly as bad as w/d from oxycodone or morphine. I did it in rehab (which made it easier) but I had been trying to taper off subs for about a year before that and had no success.

Tapering slowly for me was like death by a 1000 cuts. I felt like I was in constant mini withdrawal and was the most miserable I have ever been. In one year I had managed to get down to 4mg per day from 24. During that time I got addicted to a number of other drugs while trying to ease that pain. I was so worried about not being able to sleep that I picked up a Xanax habit and that made me so drowsy that I started a stimulants habit.

Everything that I took to make it easier, just made withdrawal worse. When I went through withdrawal from subutex in rehab, free from all the other stuff, it took about 2 weeks for the worst of it to be over. I know everyone is different but this timeline seemed to be true for the other people who went through the sub w/d too. Of this 2-week period, 3-4 days were particularly painful, particularly when I ate something heavy.

After the worst of it was over, I had a lack of energy and felt very low for a few months. Walking up a few stairs made me out of breath etc.

But, on the flip side, my back pain went away. When I entered rehab, I walked with a limp from pain that all of the painkillers in the world could not touch. It got worse for a few days with w/d and then it went away completely. Opiates can cause a lot of phantom pain.

After it was over, I wished I had done it sooner. Btw, I did it cold turkey from 4mg to get it over with. I never could taper and that promise of pain free withdrawal if I did, never happened.

The long half life of subs and the fact that it is a partial agonist is what makes withdrawal less severe than short acting opiates. It makes withdrawal take a little longer but it is not that much difference in time. The main difference is the delayed onset I.e. instead of starting within 24 hours, it starts after 4-6 days.

If anyone is thinking about getting off it, don't be scared. It will be uncomfortable for a while but probably not nearly as bad as it is in your head. More importantly, have a plan for afterwards. There is a huge danger of overdose when a person relapses after getting clean. There was a 20 year old kid in rehab from a nice middle class family who died 6 months after getting clean. He wanted one last taste and his mom found him on his bedroom floor the next day when he went home to vist for Christmas...

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272

I am withdrawing from Suboxone and would like some advice.

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273

it can take a really long time, everything you read, well most of it wont apply if it is long term pain meds, belive her, give it to her, she is suffering while she is dieing

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274

I been on suboxon for 4 yrs started out taking 24 mgs a day over 4 yrs tapped down to half of 1 mg . I decided I was done didnt get last refill this day 5 its 3am can't sleep sneezing alot can't get convertible the insomnia is horrible feel tired wonder how long this will last . Im 36 yrs old I pray this gets better how long has it took other peaple that been on it for yrs get over withdrawals .

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275

God Bless you. But I heard it may take 6 days or so before you start feeling the wd's coming on. Not trying to bring you down, because, it truly would be a blessing if you stay feeling well. Thats pretty much my plan. To give it to God and pray for the best. Praying for you to make it. God Bless .

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276

Thank you

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277

I've been a user of pain pills for 5yrs and got on suboxone and was taking 24mg a day for another 5 yrs and its really hard to make this transition but I went cold turkey about a week ago and I felt the WD effects in about five days and I was wondering if anyone thinks it would be better to just start taking pain pills again for a month or so and then just try to WD off of them instead bc from what I've read from everyone it would be easier to WD from pain meds than suboxone but any advice would be much appreciated.

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278

I'm on day 18 of Suboxone withdrawal and my symptoms are getting worse. It all depends how long a person has been on Suboxone, and how big her dose is. I have been on opiates for 21 years and 18mg Suboxone/day for one year and I expect another week of withdrawal at least. If your mother is telling you she's going through withdrawal, don't second guess her. Trust me, I've been working in this field for over 21 years and if you take self-willpower from your mother, she'll find another drug to meet her needs. It always has to be her agenda to decide when to stop. Not yours.

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279

hi everyone! i just wanted to let everyone know who is in fear of the w/d from subs not to be! i am right now at day 31 off subs & i jumped at taking 8 to 12mgs a day. yes id say the first 20 to 22 days were the worst for me but most physical w/ds were gone in about 15-16 days for me. the rest for me was & is basically the mental part of it. but right now almost all anxiety is gone, the depression was really bad for me but it seems to be slowly improving! right now my biggest aggravation is the sneezing! yes i am still sneezing my head off! i was on subs for 5 years. ive also detoxed myself off opiates and i do have to say opiate w/d is harder only cause its more intense. sub w/d to me is worse just due tot he fact it is so long drawn out! i still have very low energy but i know its going to take my body time & that im still not 100% better but i can say im about 90% better. and i know i will never go back to taking anything else as ill never forget this long process of detox. i documented it for myself as a reminder also. do not fear the w/d. i found just going with it & letting my body do what it needed to do to heal was better for me mentally & it made me not fear it as i knew it would eventually be over! i done this at home with no comfort meds & having to hide it from my family to! just keep telling yourself you can do this cause you can do this! i really hope this helps some of you epecially the ones in fear to make the jump. ill never regret making that jump now as it has made me stronger & now that im not so foggy headed from the subs im getting my life back to where it shouldve been a long time ago & im doing things i havent done in years! good luck to you all! you can do this!

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280

I have been a user over 20 years and am down to my last 6mg of subutex i want to just stop as the drug services in my area are happy for me to stay on them indefinatly.. Today is my second day, i know its not going to be easy but i really need to do this, any advice

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