How To Get Off Suboxone Successfully - Step By Step (Page 19) (Top voted first)

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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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369

I want to get off Suboxone badly. I was on 1/4th film and insurance switched me to tablets. I struggled to break them up and went back to 1 in the AM daily. I can wean down. I walked off methadone and was so sick and didn't sleep for 6 months. I also couldn't eat and lost about 40lbs. I really want to kick the subs, my doctor is extremely inappropriate and I hate seeing him. Your testimony is similar to my experience with getting off methadone. I prayed for a sane mind. Although physically miserable for upwards of a year, it was pain but remained sane. If my mind was craving and body aching I don't think I would have succeeded. I went on Suboxone after having a child due to severe cravings. Now I'm at a normal state of health in my life but am still taking them. My doctor is a pig, I have tablets, and I am scared. I really appreciate your time in writing this. I will follow the path, Lord willing, I too will be successful.

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Scott S.

I don't believe that this website will allow me to share an email or phone with you. I would love to help in any way possible. I understand the need or hope to speak with a real person about quitting Suboxone. Can I tag from this site? Perhaps we could exchange emails through that avenue?

I want to encourage you that it can be done and I am still Suboxone free since June 6th, 2013. Anyways, I can appreciate your motivation to get free of chemicals..... A child and a wife,... yes you do have some great motivators. :) See if there is a way that we can share personal info through this website or something and we can go from there. I'll help in any way that I can. Let me know what you find. I will put my link below and this website might extract it? Here it is {edited for privacy}

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Hello,all!!! My name is Curt! I have 2 great girls and a wife. I was on opiates for over 10 years and used Suboxone for 4 and a half years! 14 and a half years of addiction! I made my mind up that if by the end of 2013 I would be weened off the Suboxone. Trust me when I say that my Suboxone doctor didn't care if I did it or not! They do like your money, however you truly must want OFF the meds or this won't work! So December 26th was my last dose. And I went into rehab on the 31st. I was successful discharged on January 21st and now doing 12 step meetings and IOP. Yes I felt like s*** but the only person was to blame but myself. It has been nearly a month and I feel a little out of sorts but when I get tired I hit the gym. I make sure I eat and sleep! Days are much better now that I'm 100% off all drugs and I can take a U.A and not feel nervous! So my words to everyone that is stuck is this, Suck it up, you put your own body thru hell. Pray that it won't take every day you used to every day you need to be clean!!! Yes it will take 6 months to 2 years to get back to square one! Maybe, but every day I'm off Suboxone, I win. I think through the using and know that if I do use nothing and I mean NOTHING is worth losing everything I have. Remember, the only path from using is jail, institutions or death! Make sure you have a great support group, family or friends and its very possible you will never use again! Just because some relapse you don't have to! Buck up be the man or woman you are suppose to be and just do it! Its only painful if you DON'T do it! I'm stronger inside and out since and I wouldn't have done it any other way! Never forget your addiction, just keep it behind you so you can look back and think there is NO way I want to be that sick EVER again, GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! If I can do it you can to! JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!!

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SUCCESS STORY: My only critique of your post is the "god" stuff. You are making it sound as if the only way a person can truly recover is to become a "Christian". This is WRONG. It is absolutely, positively, 100% possible for people to get off of drugs without having to become "religious". I do appreciate your post, but we are currently having problems on another thread with someone who keeps "preaching". This is a forum about DRUGS, not JESUS. I mean, the last half of your post is basically a sermon. If that is what worked for you, great. But the "whether you believe in God or not, you will face him someday" stuff.....SERIOUSLY? Those that do not believe in "creation" or "higher powers" are going to find that to be a complete turn-off. Telling someone who doesn't believe in "god" that they are damned is completely and totally ridiculous. I loved what you had to say, until I got to the preaching. UGH. I mean, you are basically telling those of us that DON'T believe in a "god" that we will never get clean without one. That is completely and totally WRONG. This is a forum about drugs: there are plenty of "Christian" chats and forums out there. It really isn't appropriate here.

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338

KRIS: Addiction, ESPECIALLY opioid addiction, is most certainly a "disease". The A1D2 gene is called the "addiction gene". Scientists estimate that around 20-25% of humans have this gene. It is the reason that thousands of people can try opioids a few times and then put it down, while only about 20% of those that try it become full-blown addicts. Just like some people are pre-disposed to certain things, like diabetes, those with the A1D2 gene are pre-disposed to addiction. So yes, it definitely is a disease.

Now of course, many diseases can be successfully treated, even cured. But with something like opioids, it becomes a MEDICAL situation, not a matter of "will power". So that's more evidence that it is a disease. If you can get off of ORTs successfully, as I said, more power to ya. But for some of us it isn't that simple. I was given Promethazine cough syrup with Codeine from the time I was NINE YEARS OLD. I would sneak in when I was nine, ten years old and take an "extra swig" of the stuff. So in effect, I have LITERALLY been an opioid addict since that time. That opioid fit into my brain like a missing puzzle piece.

One can only feel horrible for so long before they crack. MENTALLY, I'm already clean. But it's the PHYSICAL that always gets me. Days, weeks, months, even a YEAR of feeling horrible and knowing you can make it "go away" with one shot? Yeah, that starts to wear on you. Maybe people say that the "mental" part is the hardest part of it. That certainly hasn't been the case for me, not in any way. I don't know who all these horrible doctors are, but I know FOR A FACT that the doctors I work with want what is best for me, and if they thought I would do well by being completely clean, that's what they would recommend. I do realize that there are unscrupulous physicians out there, but I have been fortunate to have top quality docs.

You hear many people say that ORTs are just "substituting" one drug for another. Well, yes and no. This is where a thing like Narcotics Anonymous gets it completely wrong. Physical dependence and addiction aren't necessarily the same thing. My doctors say I am, of course, physically dependent on the Methadone. But that isn't addiction. I take my medication like I am supposed to. I lead a productive life. I don't sell or share my meds. I work with a therapist and am in recovery. I don't use needles to dose my meds, so I am no longer exhibiting "addict behavior", even though I am PHYSICALLY dependent on the meds. The only reason for taking them is withdrawal avoidance. So that is the main difference between "addiction" and "dependence". I may have to take Methadone the rest of my life. And if so, I will look at it like a diabetic with insulin; it would be best for my health to take the Methadone, just like it is best for the diabetic to take their insulin. But I am at least lowering my dose, so if I CAN'T completely come off of it, I will only be on a small dose. Others have to do what is best for THEMSELVES. Good luck to all.

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349

I hope after 4 years you're still off the suboxone. I have been taking it for 5 years. I started on it after years and years of pain pill addiction. I was going through bucket loads of hydro 10s. I was taking 10 to 12 hydro 10s at a time three or four times a day. I was able to do this mainly I think because I have what the doc told me was a reverse reaction. They never made me tired, quite the opposite. It was like speed. After some time they switched me to 30 mg of methadone 3 times a day. I failed a random U/A and was completely cut off, cold turkey. I thought I was going to die. I happened to come across someone who introduced me to suboxone. I was saved. So I thought. I was taking 3 of the 8 mg dissolving pills a day but that cost me between $60 and $100 daily. Too expensive. I then discovered that by insufflating them I could cut that down to one pill a day. Two years ago I said enough. I have tried several times but failed. The last year I have gotten down to 1/8 of an 8 mg pill every 24 to 48 hours. Anything less is torture. I've been on them for 3 years and my withdrawals include severe headaches, sinus pain, running nose that is literally like a faucet, gagging and my nose swelling almost shut. I have never told my doctor. I'm afraid of what damage I have done from insufflating them.

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350

Why didn't you just pray to God in the first place and not start down the road if addiction? Why would you need to taper couldn't you just pray and take the Suboxone away?

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354

I'm in the process of coming off opiates I took Suboxone for 3 days I cut them into four pieces the strips and they worked good I still had cravings and felt terrible in my body but another couple days I felt better and everyday after that you will feel better every day I would like to try the supplements the other man mentioned but I truly believe anyone can get off of this it's not that hard it's not as hard as an opiate you just can't do it for more than 21 days God bless you and good luck

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356

You guys Kratom seriously works WONDERS. Today is my day 4 and last night I had restless legs and insomnia so at 1am I took 2 grams of kratom and I slept until my alarm went off. Going 2 attempt to go to both my jobs today :)

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