How Long After You Stop Suboxone Do You Have Withdrawal Symptoms? (Page 49)

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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I was taking opiates for about two years. I went from one bag a day to 25 bags a day in those two years. Methadone saved my life. I used it for two and a half years and went from 135 mgs. to 5mgs and never went back to go down to the 3 and 1 they suggested. I felt just a little crappy for about 3 days and then was fine. I mean fine. Please do not do suboxone and try a methadone clinic in your area. They will help you taper and make it safe and easy to do and even offer counseling when you are through.

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Courtney: Not going on Suboxone was a great decision for all of the 950 reasons in the posts that preceded yours. Great job on your tapering off of methadone. Stay clean and God bless you. I know how hard it has been and will be. You appear to have the will power required to do it. So proud of your accomplishment.

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Has no body heard of a drug called Naltrexone?It can help greatly.Needs to be taken only when you reach opiate-free state.It is non-addictive.

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Naltrexone puts one in withdrawals if they take narcotics . It's like antibuse for alchoholics

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If you search back in this thread there are several postings on Nalextrone. It is the generic form of VIVITROL and much cheaper. Also it is taken orally instead of the monthly shot. The starting dose is 25mg. It is true you must be free of opiates from your system or you will go into a nasty withdrawal. Suboxone patients are suppose to wait 14 days off Suboxone before they start on Nalextrone. People who have used it and posted have said positive things about it.

My Psyciatrist wrote me a prescription for an oral suspension which I had mixed at a family pharmacy and the cost was under $10 for a months supply whereas the Doctor's office wanted $750 each month for the shot. An added note my Suboxone Doctor ultimately lost his license to practice because of his prescribing of opiates.

I have been off of Suboxone for eighteen months and I am still working at getting back to normal.

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Where do I start..... I had no idea how powerful this one miracle drug suboxone truly is. I battled with addiction for years with opioids on and off more than I can express how I was never one to play with drugs. never thought I'd be saying this. I come from a great home with loving parents. I have a beautiful daughter who is half my age. to be honest she is my reason for life. without her I'd be lost. she's everything that I wish I could be. such a kind soul. my sweet girl. I always kept it under control. I was so good at hiding it from everyone. I had money a beautiful home a new car. we had a great life till I made the biggest mistake of my life and married a narcissistic loser pregnant with our baby boy. I had to make it work for her. needless to say the abuse was enough to make anyone turn to anything that helped. after our son I started pills again. shortly after I left our home with the kids and never went back. my amazing father helped put a roof over our heads down to the food we ate and car I drove. he's a angel and that's a understatement but still I was eating pills like candy to numb my reality. after months of working only to support my habits I came clean and begged for help. my mom looked up everything she could to find out where I was going to go detox and get clean for these precious babies who need me sober and alive. then when I was told about that new drug subs. I could not believe it that was easy. I told my mom about it and we were on board to find a doctor to see if I get some of these amazing strips that take away withdrawals. after about 4 months obviously I went in and that was the start of my new addiction. I'll never forget the exact words he said, Jennifer your addiction is no different than alcoholism. alcoholics will take the pill Antibuse to prevent drinking, you taking suboxone is preventing your opioids addiction and healing your body. some patients need suboxone for the rest of their lives to function like a antibuse patient. it was like music to my ears. it was like I was clean on this drug. like it was ok. I coned my family into believing I was getting better and I was not considered on drugs. yeah right lol. worst thing I've ever done was take that little orange strip. I was feeding every addiction I had. my doctor also gave me a script of adderall. life was so good for about a year. I never thought I needed to get off anything. doctor gave me 2 30 mg adderall daily and 24 mg of suboxone. I was higher than high. I met the most amazing man and fell madly in love. I truly believe he saved me in more ways than one. he connects with me on levels I can't even explain. he is a sober recovering addict himself so about 5 months into us dating I knew I had to choose the love of my life or the drugs. I never thought really about life without drugs so I tried it after many failed attempts and lies to him I knew I was losing. I cut myself back to 2 mg of suboxone. should have been no problem jumping off that. I thought considering the 24 mg wing to 2 mg was more of a mind game but withdrawals was not even a issue till the genius idea of jumping off at 2. we were on his bike. I promised him I was done again but I wanted it more than ever this time of once I wanted to be clear headed and feel alive. being on subs took the life out of me. I was now officially numb. so indent with my father I swear he is a trooper. he never left my side. child or not everyone else would have been long gone and given me the boot. not my old man. he never stops. he's always seen the person I could be in my worst and trust me he's seen the worst of me. my parents knew what I was doing and knew I'd have rough days ahead. my mother said she'd stay with me and help as much as she could. so game on. by day 5 I was in full blown withdrawal and getting worse. I was foul to my family and a mean pure evil. the pain and guilt was overwhelming. it took all I had to walk to the other side of my room. my mother helped with my kids. my daughter watched me lifeless for days. it only gets worse as the days go on. finally on 14 days my mother came over and said there was something, a better way somehow. she called her doctor and a few places for information on my best healthy options. all 7 places and a family friend whom is a md said that I would only get worse and I needed to take a sliver of the strip to hold me over till I was under medical advice. we discussed it for about a hour and shed many tears. I was disappointed in myself and came so far in 15 days I didn't want that poison in my body but I was ill. I was desperate. the let down from failure was something I struggled with so much my mother got me a appointment the next day. so I took the sliver recommended and poof everything was gone in 30 minutes. I was alive so I thought lol. I was lying to my boyfriend knowing I'd let him down as well but without a doubt he knew he always did. I was never able to hide it from him. my mom went with me to the doctor that next morning. I begged this man to help. he looked at me like I was just talking out of my ass. nobody wants to get clean. my mom felt my frustration with this jackoff doctor and piped in with her 5"3 little mama puma claws. she made it clear that I was going to get clean. I wanted to and it was going to be as fast as possible because she knew I could. he was on board. now he said 6 months yeah right guy. I'll never make it 6 months inside this hell. its killing me. I hate it. I'm ready but I wasn't. I tapered down by cutting his recommendations for daily dose in half. I got to .50 a day then knew what I was up against. I was ready again. game on for the final time and now I'm clean. no nothing but vitamin d and a lot of Motrin. I'm in the best place of my life. I'm finally me again and it's wonderful. of course I'm still feeling affected from the 7 years of pills on and off and the 2 years of hell suboxone treatment but I'll take this over that numb lifelong pain any day. my relationship with everyone in my life is so encouraging to stay sober I love it. all the hell I put so many through im blessed they all love me like they do. I'm so clear headed. my father is getting his money finally and my mother is a living women. we haven't been this close in years, like 15. I was so blinded by drugs I never knew how much she loved me. my children are amazing. my daughter is so proud. my brother called to tell me how wonderful it was to finally have his sister back and hear me laugh. life is so beautiful. I'm so happy I have a second chance at it now. so my point to all of this is there is life outside of the suboxone you just have to fight as hard as you would for it against it shame on everyone misdescribing this drug and killing our youth with a pen and paper. misinformed is the least I can say to describe my experience with this drug and thank goodness for my family and my strong will. it's been 28 days today and the last thing I'd ever touch is a sub. I don't think about them by any means. when I do it sometimes like now I'm so thankful I'm free from the hell.

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Jaybopp, I'm glad you are feeling well. I don't want you to think I am negative, I am just telling you the truth. I did not start feeling really bad until day 45. I am at 18 months now and I am still having muscle issues, neurotic issues and back pain. This is common. What isn't common are people making it two years and getting free of Suboxone. This drug is so powerful and stores in the fat unlike other opiods. I think you have a super attitude and support system. This blog especially this thread has fantastic ideas and help.

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How are you now ? Just curious because it's been two weeks now. Hope you're doing well.

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You posted this so long ago, but I hope you are able to reply to me still...I am on day 10 of cold turkey from subs. I was on subs for a little over 4 years. Unfortunately, I didn't always take them right, running out of my prescription early. I will say though, I never took any other opiates. Well, I just got tired of playing the game. I truly believe suboxone saved my life in the beginning; but I was not educated on it at all when I started taking it. Anyways, just a little background for you...again, I'm going on day 10 of no subs. In about a months and a half time, I went from taking 24mg sub a day (3 strips usually) down to 2mgs. That was actually not too hard at all, believe it or not! I jumped off at 2mgs. I would've liked to have gotten down to 1mg and then start to do 'skip a dose days' but, my husband wouldn't pay the $200 it cost for me to see my Doctor (another long story...) and I took a leave of absence from my job to do this taper process, so I didn't have the money to get it through any of my sub connects...well, day 3-5 were absolute hell! And I know ppl look at that and say, 'oh boo hoo, 3 days of hell!' But in Suboxone Withdrawal Time, it felt like a month! At the end of day 6, I started to feel a little human, and finally had enough energy to take a much deserved long, cleansing shower; I came out a new woman! The next day, (day 7) I went to my lil nephews bday party and was actually feeling really good! I had emotions again, and believe it or not, my libido made a sudden appearance lol...I was super attracted to my hubby and just wanted to get it home hahaha...we had a few drinks that night (alcohol was never a problem for me, I drink maybe 1x every 2 months) and just a really good night all in all...I woke up the next day, I will say, I wasn't feeling too hot! Definitely hungover for sure, but it was more than just hungover. I had zero energy, just walking up the steps, my legs felt like boulders...well, this feeling has not gone away! Been almost 3 days now, and I can't bring myself to do anything. I even had the skin crawling feeling come back and haven't really slept. Just been scrolling around the Internet looking for any advice and came across your post. Do you think I should maybe take like 1mg of a sub like you said? My entire body is telling me to do it, but I'm so scared it's going to put me back at square 1. My husband said he read somewhere online, that if I do that, it'll undo all the opioid receptor 'brain cleansing' I have done, and basically put me back at day 1 of the withdrawal process. Please help, I would love your advice and feedback!

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Kristi: The last thing you want to do is take some Suboxone. I took my last piece of Suboxone strip on April 21, 2015 and I am still having problems with malaise, back pain, and burning skin. I know one other person who has made it as long as I have and he has similar issues. Read this thread high number to low number and you will get an enormous amount of information that will truly help you get through this withdrawal ans PAWS process. I was on Subs for five years. I have been off for nearly nineteen months. I do not want to discourage you by any means, however you have probably figured out the issue with Suboxone withdrawals. The are not extremely painful or debilitating but the last for a heck of a long time. If you take the time to read the past blogs on this thread, you will really get an enormous amount of GOOD information to help you through the tough times. If you have questions just write in this thread and I will give you what I know. Take it day by day and sometimes hour by hour. I'll be cheering for you.

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Tommy...thanks for your words of encouragement. I do not want to do take a sub. But, I just know something isn't right. I shouldn't be feeling the way I'm feeling; I know my body and something just isn't right. I just don't know what to do...I have read back through a number of posts on this thread and now just have mixed emotions...just so confused and lost right now.

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Kristi: I had a call today from an ex Suboxone user who has been off for 18 months. He is still having problems he cannot explain as I am. Just brace yourself for a long awakening of every nerve and nerve ending in your body. Your receptors are searching for a drug that is no longer there. Your libido and sensitivity will immediately increase ten fold. Your toe and finger nails will get strong and start growing faster than you can believe. The malaise will last for a long time so push yourself. You will not have any cravings at all. Force yourself to eat and try to exercise even if it is walking up a flight of stairs. You sound serious so I will be honest. Brace yourself for a long recovery and a lot of ups and downs. Very few people make it the two years it takes to feel decent. I think it has been worth the effort and you will too.

I kept a diary for a year and wrote in it every day. I came to the conclusion that it was a day to day effort and stopped recording all my issues. The Doctors do not have a clue what you are going through. Suboxone withdrawals are like no other. For the good of your children, husband, and yourself stick with the program. If you have an issue just write on this blog and I will answer like many others. Hang in there, tomorrow might be better.

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This is just a qucik recap of my addiction with lortabs and then subsequently suboxone. I used 40-60 mg lortab/daily for about 6 years. I was naive enough to allow myself to become addicted to the tabs i was prescribed for a fractured L4 vertebrae, but realized pretty quickly that I wasn't going to let it go any futrther than that. I feel lucky, because I know how risky it is to go down that road.

Bottom line, I was tired of chasing pills and spending all my money just to feel normal. I quit my well paying job as a bank manager and moved home to try and kick CT. We all know how that goes, so I started using Kratom (3 months) until I was able to finally get into see a Sub doc. He would have had me on the stuff forever, but I was damned if I was just going to trade one drug for the next. That being said, I was on subs for just over a year. I started out at 8mg (4mg/am-4mg/pm) and then slowly started to taper down from that. I did a fairly slow taper and finally got down to .25 mg.

It was hard to stabilize at that dose for me for some reason, so I actually was taking aroung 1mg when I finally made my jump. I stopped going to my sub doc (not recommending this, but I didn't want the option to be able to get another script). There are definitely better and more efficient ways to taper, I'm just sharing my experience.

So I jumped on October, 22 2016. The withdrawals hit almost immediately (within 8-12 hrs) and peaked around days 4,5,6 like most everyone says they will. I will say this though, coming off of a low dose partial antagonist like subs is much more manageable than trying to kick full agonists CT. There are definitely many of the same withdrawal symptoms, but they just seem to be much more muted. You also have to go in with the mindset that this is going to suck for a while. I'm not trying to scare anyone, that's just the truth. BUT IT DEFINITELY GETS BETTER!!!! Every week past the initial acute phase gets a little better than the week before. Some days are certainly better than others, but if you know that it's your body's way of recalibrating itself, then it's a much easier experience to deal with psychologically.

Today is day 30 off of subs for me (a place I honestly thought I'd never get to). I feel soooo much more like my old self. Each week my natural energy is increasing and my mind has long since cleared up. There are definitely still some nagging issues like body aches, stomach issues, rare chills, but only for a second. I'm also still dealing with some lethargy, but definitely nothing like the first couple of weeks. Cravings still come and go, but that isn't a reason to use. It's your body healing. It's kind of funny in a way, because in a lot of ways I feel really normal, and so these last few lagging symptoms are annoying me more than anything else, whereas two weeks ago, I would have been begging to feel this good. So keep perspective and don't allow yourself to become frustrated. One month isn't along time in the big scheme of things, although I know it feels HUGE in the scope of recovery...at least it does for me.

Things I'd recommend that have been known to help (other than clonidine, trazodone or some of the other basics) are KAVA KAVA (extract or powder) helps a lot with RLS and just general mood. It doesn't affect any opiate receptors like Kratom, so it will not set your recovery back. Ambien is also a god send if you can get some, especially in the first month of recovery. Really helps you be able to get much needed quality sleep. Also, DO NOT listen to anyone on any forum that suggests you take tramadol (or other meds like it) it will make you feel better because it affects the exact same opiate receptors in the brain. It will only set you back.

If you sincerely want to get completely clean, then you can definitely do it!!! Learn about brain chemistry and what's actually going on and why during recovery and it will allow you to chart your progress, instead of just laying around feeling "terrible" all day everyday for days on end. That is what caused my first relapsed and the knowledge I learned about the human brain and opiate addiction is what is going to keep me from a second relapse.

ALSO, can't stress this one enough...EXERCISE!!! Whatever your fitness level is, push yourself, even it's just a walk around the neighborhood. Get up and get your blood flowing and your brain will have no other option to start making the natural endorphins it so desperately needs. IT is a b**** to make yourself get up and go, I know, I've been there and still have those days. THAT'S EXACTLY WHEN YOU SHOULD GO!!!! It will speed up the recovery process exponentially!!!!

Sorry for the novel, I hope some of this has helped or at least reinforced other things you've read on different forums. There's a lot of negative stuff out there, but lack of knowledge and not understanding the process you're going through, I think, leads to an enourous amount of misinformation, which then gets disseminated negatively.

Feel free to hit me up with any questions you might have. I'll do my best to answer them from my experience or direct you to someone who can.

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Wow, i wish i saw Krissy's post 3 years ago when it was posted... I love how you said what u were taking at the time you decided to jump off and go "cold turkey"....yeah, i remember back in my earlier suboxone days, forgot to take it for a few days, felt fine, and figured i didn't need it anymore (oh, i had been taking about 8 mgs/day) - until that 72 hour half life caught up to me and I woke up the monday after thanksgiving and thought i was losing my mind and quite possibly coming down with MS or MD!!! Was terrified, took me a few hours to realize it was suboxone withdrawal. The thought that even one person could read your asinine, delusional, dangerous post and as a result think that they TOO can just GO COLD TURKEY and walk hand in hand with their Higher Power, in Krissy's case I am guessing that might be CAP'N CRUNCH or SpongeBob, and everything will be hunky dory and they can "officially" consider him or herself "sober" is a terrifying & sickening thought to me...oh, and Krissy, for implying being on suboxone is not being sober, I personally resent that implication & I hope withdrawal gave you a dose of reality. Share that crap in a meeting, not online where ANYBODY can read it & be falsely & dangerously & erroneously informed!! Sobriety is about saving your ass, not your face!

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I have been off suboxone for a year, and I'm constantly cold. I'm 64 and had been on it for 6 years. Please help!!

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I have been takin suboxen for 7 monts I have tapper down. I know cut them in 1/3rds feeling good. Just wondering how painfull this will get as I continue to lower tho dosage.

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very very very well written, straight from your mind and your heart, and very good food for thought for me, as i am sick of al the bs i have to deal with that comes with suboxone that is through medicaid. my 1st 5 years were a breeze and this last year has been the most trying in my life & i have about had it, all of it. too many hoops to jump through, too much stress, too much incompetence between health insurance and doctors office, forcing me into withdrawal on several occasions now, and each time i am forced to go through it, i feel like i lose another part of myself that i am afraid i won't get back. reading your post, moreso than any other i have read by a person who "took the plunge", has me thinking it actually is possible to get off of this stuff and stay off. i never tried before but i never wanted to before, until now.

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Let me know how that goes m in same place with the things its just a scam money maker is what i think

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What is valerian root? And what amino acids did you take? Did you feel it helped? My husbands on day 10 of no suboxone after 5 years of use. He's feeling horrible.

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I am happy to see new people on this thread starting this process of getting off of Suboxone. I'm going into my 20th month of being off of it and I am still wrestling with issues. If you go back in the posts on this thread there are many great posts and discussions on different things you can do to make yourself feel better and make it one more day. Like most of you, I have never taken a narcotic that was not prescribed for me. I always followed the dispensing directions. After a surgery and five years of OC'S and Vicodin I went to a toxicologist who loved my insurance and had me on Suboxone for an additional five years. In April of 2017 I will reach the two year anniversary. After being off one year I visited with one of the top five pain doctors in the world at the pain research center at the Unv. of Michigan. He was extremely knowledgeable and very honest. I'm Seventy years old. He told me it would take up to three years to have the chemicals in my brain functioning normally for one my age. Getting off of Suboxone is not extremely painful, it is just an enduring annoyance with periods of reoccurring inability.

I have met and corresponded with many people who could not handle all the issues in coming off of Suboxone because of their job or family responsibilities. That is very understandable.

There is a fix for every issue you will run into. Most answers are in this blog. Read it from the most current post to the oldest. Maybe just two hundred or so. You will soon learn which ones to ignore and which ones give you great ideas. It does not matter why you are in this situation. What matters is how we get you out of it. Suboxone may be the answer for some or many people. You are reading this thread because like me you decided it was not for you. If you write and ask me a specific question, I promise to answer. This is a great forum.

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