Withdrawing with suboxone...

[drugsaregood]

So obviously swim's chipping success didn't last long enough, the past couple of months he's been hitting the roxi's as much as possible, skipping a day quite often...It pretty much just seems like a big run blurred together. SWIM never fully detoxed, he got 3/4 done with it, and went back out...

Well SWIM hasn't used roxis since last saturday or so...Instead, he started taking the last of his suboxone he had prescribed almost a year ago for opiate cravings...Been taking 2mg a day to aide in w\d's..

Now it's to the point where SWIM is out of suboxone, he's been on it for a little under a week...Whats he in for?
He remembers going to a detox his first time around, getting dosed up with subs, and them just booting him out the door to rehab...Felt like shit for several hours the moment he got into rehab, worse withdrawals, overall shitty groggy and barely able to walk...

This is what SWIM was hoping for, a couple of hours or atmost a day of discomfort rather than overall shit withdrawals for a couple of days...He knows he has to face PAWS later too...

SWIM was playing some cod4 a half hour ago and a crappy flu like feeling came over him. Feeling of nausea, muscle cramping like below his right side ribs...Not so much the chest..He's assuming this is normal...Perhaps the way hes been slouching all day?

SWIM is such a smart guy, he even decided to tackle the nicotine monster at the same time as the opie beast...Nicotine patches have been helping...

Anyways...Enough of the tales of SWIM, here's the questions for clarification:

Will SWIM be done with the main sub w\d hurdle soon? How long can w\ds from subs be expected to last if taken for a little under a week? By main hurdle I mean the REALLY shitty feelings, not able to function, appear 'right'...Not the little nuances here and there (residual muscle aches, etc)

From the story above, does it sound like the subs will be doing its job? Reducing withdrawal times...

Also, are there any tips for reducing PAWS? SWIM suffers from depression at is, and a odd lifestyle...I'm miserable enough without suffering from PAWS..

I've used the search engine, read some of the main suboxone sticky, etc...Wanted peoples opinions too however.

[zenpunk]

I jumped from 2mg (with a little bump of .25mg a couple days later and that was it). You will feel like hell for a week but these are the things that helped for me:

Electric blanket on your legs for the RLS and burning feeling.
Hot baths
Try to force yourself to exercise, even if it is walking around
I used alcohol in moderation and some really strong pot at the very end of WDs
Also sugary foods and chocolate

Its hell but its bearable - there were times I sat on the couch or leaned against the wall in the shower and cried my eyes out - after the physical pain the emotional pain comes as the Suboxone finally leaves your body. I was severely dehydrated so I got fluids at the ER, also Gatoraide.

I'm over 1 month in and I still feel crappy - my bones and joints ache and I still wake up covered in sweat at night. I only sleep about 4 hours a night still. This should last another month or two I'm told.

Suboxone WDs and detox are like a milder Heroin WD but in slow motion - it lasts a hell of a long time but it is bearable. Good luck to you. You can PM me if you have any questions.

[drugsaregood]

Thanks for the prompt reply zen...Ya know before I decided to do this I completely forgot how much of an emotional wreck I was straight out of detox...I had one episode, bawling my eyes out...Ahh damnit...

My main concerns are being able to handle an hour of court ordered group 'therapy' in acouple of days, and also seeing my P.O in a few days...I'm going to try out imodium, etc...I'm sure I can handle this...Last thing I need is some crazy emotional episode\looking like I'm dying infront of said people....

My friend SWIM typed this.

[zenpunk]

Been there - first couple of session of my outpatient therapy I looked like death floating into the room physically and I was a mess mentally too. But hey, there's been marked improvements so I don't feel so bad about it anymore. They all know what PAWS is and when they hear about what my habit was (a big mix of Heroin, benzos and booze all at once) they just take it all as par for the course.

[HMMM...]

I'm not sure with suboxone but I know subutex potency expires pretty quick. I think its less then a year when they expire completely.

[Duckfeet]

Sounds good man: glad you posted this...nice to hear it can be done...you wouldn't believe how few successful detox stories we hear on here...and I'm not talking about years, either: just people who make it a month are pretty rare, and so glad you still post...I never made it past day three, really, on sub detox, and yeah, I felt shitty, but I also think it was motivation...gotta be pretty motivated, to carry u thru first week or so...IMO...

anyway, appreciate u posting...

I jumped from 2mg (with a little bump of .25mg a couple days later and that was it). You will feel like hell for a week but these are the things that helped for me:

Electric blanket on your legs for the RLS and burning feeling.
Hot baths
Try to force yourself to exercise, even if it is walking around
I used alcohol in moderation and some really strong pot at the very end of WDs
Also sugary foods and chocolate

Its hell but its bearable - there were times I sat on the couch or leaned against the wall in the shower and cried my eyes out - after the physical pain the emotional pain comes as the Suboxone finally leaves your body. I was severely dehydrated so I got fluids at the ER, also Gatoraide.

I'm over 1 month in and I still feel crappy - my bones and joints ache and I still wake up covered in sweat at night. I only sleep about 4 hours a night still. This should last another month or two I'm told.

Suboxone WDs and detox are like a milder Heroin WD but in slow motion - it lasts a hell of a long time but it is bearable. Good luck to you. You can PM me if you have any questions.

[drugsaregood]

Yeah, unfortunately it's not an outpatient get substance abuse help kind of therapy...I've already completed that obligation for court, what little good it did...Hah.

"I'm clean!!"..

I really means SWIM, of course..


Been there - first couple of session of my outpatient therapy I looked like death floating into the room physically and I was a mess mentally too. But hey, there's been marked improvements so I don't feel so bad about it anymore. They all know what PAWS is and when they hear about what my habit was (a big mix of Heroin, benzos and booze all at once) they just take it all as par for the course.

[mikells43]

i wish u the best man. even with bupe there still is that grin and bear period. with anything addictive theres really no free walk away or free lunch as duckfeet says. hell if there was my free lunch card would have been used up like in elem school. anywho what are ur plans? getting and staying clean? chipping? is this ur decision or the po's? im just curious thats all, cause many people do what u are doing for many reasons. the ones that seem to make it over the other ones are the ones who are fed up with their lifestyle and all that pain. im not going to go into everything but i do honestly hope that u go thru this as painless as possible, but remember that if u dont feel pain ur not going to learn from it. i truely am a pussy and i never made it past a week clean on my own without anything. thats why im still on bupe to see how the fixing urself while having a clear head thing works, so far so good. but this is the best way to do it the way u are doing it. and whatever u do , dont take that first one cause its allways followed with a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on.

[drugsaregood]

mike - Pretty much as of now, I'm tired of it and its effects on my lifestyle. Tired of having to lie to my family. Tired of being my main focus, there are a shit ton of other things which I need to accomplish in life. Tired of having to set my standards low and associate myself with people I don't really like. Tired of worrying about being sick. Tired of always being the 'badguy'. Tired of always not feeling right in the head without opies. Tired of worrying about UA's or having shit around me. I'm young enough where permanent damage wasn't done I'm sure, got the rest of my life to fuck it up when I'm older.

This is my second 'go' at being clean, first wasn't really sincere. I realized that "one is never enough", even though I always hated those freaking sayings, and still kind of do. It wasn't enough, even if I managed to get high..

[mikells43]

I have been clean for going on 17 months. my life is really good today , if u want me to share some of the things that i did u can pm me if u want. but i am not going to say them on the open board. some of the things people really dont want to see posted here. but if u want to kno u can ask. i was the same way when i quit. i was resorting to trams cause i had dried up all my other connects, had a grand mull due to tram od and landed in the er. after that went to rehab. left there got on bupe matenence and here i sit. i also did alot of things to change my behaviors, thinking, acting tooo , thats the main focus once u clear ur obsession a lil and can focus on other things but getting high. if u want to do it is deff poss and wwhen u look back its simple, its the individaul person that makes it more than it really is.

[Opiyum]

I jumped from 2mg (with a little bump of .25mg a couple days later and that was it). You will feel like hell for a week but these are the things that helped for me:

Electric blanket on your legs for the RLS and burning feeling.
Hot baths
Try to force yourself to exercise, even if it is walking around
I used alcohol in moderation and some really strong pot at the very end of WDs
Also sugary foods and chocolate

Its hell but its bearable - there were times I sat on the couch or leaned against the wall in the shower and cried my eyes out - after the physical pain the emotional pain comes as the Suboxone finally leaves your body. I was severely dehydrated so I got fluids at the ER, also Gatoraide.

I'm over 1 month in and I still feel crappy - my bones and joints ache and I still wake up covered in sweat at night. I only sleep about 4 hours a night still. This should last another month or two I'm told.

Suboxone WDs and detox are like a milder Heroin WD but in slow motion - it lasts a hell of a long time but it is bearable. Good luck to you. You can PM me if you have any questions.

Really hit the nail on the head here. Im currently on my third day of Suboxone WD's after having maintained on 2-4mgs a day for two years while intermittently using Heroin or Dilaudid from month to month.
This is my second Sub detox and I have to honestly say that it is much much easier this time. My first time was more like the post describd above but I have really prepared myself with L-tyrosine, Loperimide, Magnesium, Calcium, B-6, Benedryl, Epsom salts and multivitamin's and minerals. I'm eating two banannas daily which helps with RLS and have a decent bit of weed and a handful of temazepam and ambien for sleep. In other words its the Thomas Crown method to a T.
One thing I want to mention which I can remember from last time doing this and from my current situation is that most of your WD side-effects come in waves. It's very rare that I find myself lying in bed kicking the sheets with watery eyes while sneezing and covered in sweat and goosebumps. These things and all the rest seem to happen here and there rather than all at once. This makes things much more bearable.
The two worst things by far are the mornings. That is when things are definately there worst but after an hour or so you seem to even out. The other thing that seems to stick with you no matter what is the lower back pain and general aches all over.

I am a bit worried at the moment because it has only been 72 hours and I do remember from last time that it took three to four days for the worst of the WD's to actually kick in.
I do have to say that so far it hasnt been that bad. I've been planning this kick for a month or so now and when it came to my last few sub doses I was getting very very scared but so far It hasnt been that bad.
At this point it's all a test of endurance and stamina. Im hoping that come 15-20 days in I will be ready to go back to work when the call comes. I hvae yet to cancel my next appointment for suboxone and wont until the day before it if I feel like I can make it.....


The most important and really the only worthwhile thing to say at this point is that this very post has kept me distracted for about ten minutes now and it is these kinds of things you must do to keep yourself distracted. It's very easy to sit aroud mindlessly watching TV or movies when all your really doing is wallowing in self pity and focusing on the pain that runs through your veins. It's exactly what I was doing 20 minutes ago when I looked at my laptop and thought about losing myself in opiophile. No matter how little time it ate up the point is that it worked.

Best of luck to those in the same postion as me at the beggining of this, so far miserable, new year.

[drugsaregood]

I see what you mean about the 'waves'..Yesterday when I posted it was pretty bad, I'm having pains on and off, various stomach problems, but they're pretty damn manageable...

The consistent thing is the 'off' feeling. I need to find something new in my life, that's for sure. Can't stay holed up in my room forever, or else I'd probably end up killing myself. Hah.

I'm sure the ritalin abuse isn't helping mr. swim.

[zenpunk]

Opiyum is also right about the mornings....the mornings its still really hard to get moving, every joint aches.

[mikells43]

i still hope u guys make it . cause then it will give me the inspiration to get off the bupe, not that bupe is a bad thing inmy life right now cause i have changed just about everything else. and ritilin abuse is hurting u deff, not in the physcall addiction aka the hooked part it is hurting u in the sense that u are still using drugs to solve things and to make things go away, tho ritilin made me focus like a mo-fo on whatever i did so i dont see how u can numb the pain away with ritilin lol but in the mental aspect of addiction it deff isn't helping.