mnh1982

Hey dudes, Happy Friday!!!

Need a little help/suggestions...
My husband (for several reasons, sigh) canceled his scrip for Suboxone about 2 weeks ago. I believe he had been on 8mg a day. So, needless to say, he's pretty miserable. It comes & goes but today is one of those dry heaves/nausea/diarrhea/sleeplessness/RLS days.

Does anyone have any suggestions for things that would help? I have him drinking lots of fluids & eating Saltines with chicken broth several times a day to replace sodium. He has been taking anti-diarrheals but those don't help with the nausea. I'm considering picking up some Dramamine tonight at the stores. Peppermint for stomach upset, chaga tea & OTC Ibuprofen for inflammation & pain...

We don't really have a ton of money for OTC pills or remedies so just wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to help him through until he restarts taking Suboxone. Unfortunately we also really don't know when exactly that will be...

Thanks in advance!

OpioPhobe

I would lay off of the salt actually. A bad part of withdrawal is due to high blood pressure. During withdrawal I intentionally avoid salt at all costs. Hot bathes are one of the few things that help with RLS. Even though it sounds too easy, a hot bath would be more effective than many prescription meds in my opinion.

He has been off of the subs for 2 weeks already? If so, why does he want to go back? This is an opportunity to get off of them for good.

I would write more, but I am withdrawaling right now and feel like crap. I'll swing by later to check in unless I am getting owned.

mnh1982

Because it's been 2 weeks and none of the withdrawal is getting any better. We have a 4-month old son & it's just not acceptable to me that my husband be trying to wean himself off Subs right now. I can't take care of a 4month old, the dog, AND be the only working parent (fulltime + weekends when needed) AND take care of him while he's going through withdrawals. I don't know if you have kids, but let me just tell you that having to wake up 3-4 times a night to feed a baby, working 40+ hours a week, being the housekeeper, AND the nurse to someone who's chosen to detox on their own is just...hell. It's hell. And if our marriage is going to survive he doesn't get to make these kinds of huge decisions without my input. That may sound harsh but that's just the way it is.

OpioPhobe

Actually, I can empathize with your situation. I have a 4-year old and a 2-year old. I had to go through withdrawal, take care of a wife that was very sick and take care of both children at the same time. That was last February. It was a rough time, and it never changed. I still take care of my children and my wife is basically a third child that is a rebellious teenager.

Prior to that, in 2012 I was working about ~80 hours per week. I went cold turkey and was helping out with our daughter from the moment I got home. During the first few days of withdrawal I wasn't much help at home, but I showed up to work for days 1-2. Days 3-4 fell on a weekend. During that period of early sobriety my wife gave birth to our second child and she got very sick afterwards. I worked that same job and got up with our newborn the entire time. She didn't get up once with him at night, and it took 7 months before he slept through the night.

So I do know exactly what it is like to be the only one in a relationship pulling their weight. It sucks. I completely get the feeling of it being overwhelming.

I am confused by your post though. Are you saying that he has been weaning off for two weeks or he quit two weeks ago? If he quit two weeks ago then he is probably going to turn the corner soon. There are a lot of folks with personal experience with withdrawal from long-term sub use, but it takes longer than a short acting opi. Unless he is going to stay on it for life he has to withdrawal at some point, right? If he goes back he is going to throw away the past two weeks? You will need to carry his weight again then next time he withdrawals.

Also, I would say that there is no reason that he should be laid up needing you to nurse him. There are folks on here that kicked long-term methadone habits, and showed up to their jobs. It sucks, but it is what it is. There is no reason that he shouldn't be able to help you out. Even if he can't help out he shouldn't be sucking your time away right now given that you have a newborn. Given his insomnia I don't see why he couldn't deal with all the night duties with the newborn (unless you aren't doing bottle feeding).

mnh1982

He just flat out quit, but HAS tried weaning off by cutting his films in half, etc.

Bahaha-I heart you. You are correct: there SHOULD BE no reason, but he's about as useful when feeling ill at all, let alone as severely as during withdrawals, as a fish missing its dorsal fin. Like, he literally flops around acting as if he's suffocating. That being said, I don't believe that as his wife & only support right now, it's going to be helpful for me to continually harp on the fact that he SHOULD BE capable of taking care of his regular duties while detoxing. That's not going to help with the shame & embarrassment he feels about being on Suboxone, or being so helpless while trying to come off of it.

So, many, many kudos to you for taking on your own care plus your family's, and being able to suck it up.

I just do not have the time, energy or patience to continue telling him to suck it up. While he is on Suboxone, he also has access to free counseling, group therapy & all kinds of other things that change his mental & physiological state for the better (he's Alaska Native & qualifies for all kinds of healthcare that those of us with private insurance don't...Sigh. Must be nice...)

Due to him just...being how he is, attempting to wean or go cold turkey of Suboxone had a huge part to play in his recent job loss, too...it's been quite the **** show, pardon my language.

I get that there are plenty of people in this community who have kicked their drug AND their medication needs & habits, but it is simply not acceptable or feasible for my husband or our family at this point in time. Maybe when he DOES get a job again, or DOES start being able to step it up at home, then we can talk. But for right now & the foreseeable future, it's just not an acceptable thing for him to do.

OpioPhobe

I see where you are coming from now. Yep, you aren't a nanny, and shouldn't have to tell him to suck it up. I am struggling right now to quit yet again, and I have some sucking it up to do myself. Today I was a disappointment.

Ha, I have had those times where I was flopping around like a fish. That would just be at night though. So long as I was up moving around and doing something it wouldn't get like that.

As far as taking care of duties while detoxing goes, I don't want to make it sound trivial or easy. It makes things harder in some ways, but in other ways it makes it easier. I find detox to be the worse if you have absolutely no responsibilities. Then you just sit around thinking about how miserable you are.

Well, best of luck with the situation. I can only imagine how long the past two weeks have seemed to you. Maybe he will surprise you in a good way, and start doing more as he starts feeling better. I am not sure when his next doctor appointment is, but he has made it through the toughest two weeks of it.

mnh1982

For now things are just a daily guessing game/roller coaster. Some days he seems "fine" inso much as he can get up out of bed & go do things. I bought him anti-diarrheals & Dramamine the other day which seem to help, but in my opinion if he needs a cocktail of OTC meds to just get through the day then in all honesty, being on JUST Suboxone is preferable.
Then we found out via a letter the other day that his GP is leaving her practice & will no longer be his doctor. So that sucks, because we love her & she has been instrumental in maintaining his treatment. Unfortunately now that he's canceled his prescription through her for Suboxone, ist's not as if she can set things up for him & get him back into the program before she leaves. He'll have to that for himself.
If, as you say, just the first 2 weeks had been tough & it had gotten better & he were more functional, I might be inclined to tell him to just stay off it. As it is, it doesn't seem that way. His withdrawal symptoms & illness seem largely the same in intensity & frequency.
Just keep swimming, right?

Dave36

Umm......so getting cleans not the goal? Seems like you're more concerned about how inconvenient this all is than anything else. I get its not you're problem but it makes absolutely no sense for him to go back on medication after 2 weeks.

mnh1982

Thanks, Dave, but it's not just an inconvenience when I'm the only one working in a household of 3. We live in Alaska. It isn't cheap. Not only that but he literally, 3 out of 5 weekdays per week, is incapable of getting out of bed because he has vertigo, nausea, is tired, etc. It's not just inconvenient, it's threatening our ability to have a roof over our heads because there's no way we can pay the bills on just my income. We have no savings-I've drained through it because he lost his job. We have a 4month-old son who i eating more by the day, needs diapers & clothes.
Like I said, if there were any indication that he WERE feeling better, then maybe I'd reconsider making him go back to treatment. AND like I said, he's not. Without Dramamine, Ibuprofen, anti-diarrheals, etc, he can't even leave the house much less look for a job, or help take care of our son.
I don't see how it's even close to acceptable let alone financially feasible for him to "get clean" right now. Maybe if he had TOLD me he was considering doing this so that we had lead time to plan, it would have been different. Instead, he made this decision without telling me, lied about it when I asked him if that's what was going on, & then lost his job because he was constantly calling in late, "sick" or leaving early because he was in withdrawals.
Not. Ok.

Dave36

Well there will always be excuses I guess.

Sfcitychic

I didn't read all responses forgive me if it's been said.

Ensure helps. A lot. When I was in jail and didn't have anything to help me, the nurse gave me ensure nutritional shakes. It helped tremendously. When you're in full withdrawal your body is severely malnourished. You'd be amazed by how much providing your body w vitamins helps.

mnh1982

UGGHHHHHHH, well, come to find out that the treatment program he WAS in is on hold...they are no longer accepting new or returning patients, until further notice. So looks like we are just going to have to "tough it out"...and by we I mean him.
We are at the end of (or I believe we are, not exactly sure) Week 3 and last night he was still telling me he had the sweats & was working toward being nauseous. He still isn't sleeping well & has restless legs.
Awesoommmee...