esyla

i'm on suboxone and i'm starting the process of weaning off.

now, there are so many things i'm unsure of.

when i took street suboxone, i took like 1-2mg a day and i maintained. granted, i wasnt HAPPY the way i am now, but there are other major life changes in place these days to affect that. when i went to the dr, he recommended 1-2 8mg pills a day. i settled on 1 1/2 - 4mg in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, and 4 at night.

the plan to wean off is this:
4mg am, 4mg pm - this is what i'm currently doing, for about 3 weeks total
4mg am, 2mg pm
2am, 2 pm
2am, 1pm
1am
dunzo

i cant imagine it being too hard to get off when i'm weaning down that slowly. but then i read here and hear about it being soo hard to get off of. my dr says it shouldnt be as hard as opiate wd, which i went through on my own before relapsing and deciding to take subox.

i also know that it seemed harder the 2nd time around to stop taking subox and percs.. i was taking one or the other every day, and i dont know if i just thought it was harder, if i couldve made it through (i think i had 4 or 5 days when i got the script for subox), i dont really know what to think. either way, it's a choice i made and i'm perfectly ok with, i don't regret it at all. i'm just a little nervous because i have read and heard so much conflicting info, from other patients of my dr, my dr, here, etc. i mean, obviously i'll find out on my own..

mostly i guess i'm just wondering if anyone has any experience tapering down as slowly as my plan with my dr, and how that went for them - if it matters, how long you were on it and how long you were on pills before that, too. i got heavy into percs (about 150-180 mg at a time and then i'd take more for maintenance throughout the night sometimes) for maybe 6 months.. maybe longer.. it seems like a blur. i did them far longer, but that seemed to be the heaviest time. and ive only been on subox for 2 1/2 months.. anyone?

CarolD

I have zero expereince with anything you have been or are now doing
I don't know what info you are getting or from where..but only your doctor can assess what you need.
SR is not a medical site and we as members are not allowed to give medical advice.

Here is our SR Posting Rule....
I do hope you will find what works for you...and will keep doing whatever your doctor decides is in your best interest.....

esyla

Good thing I asked for personal experience, not medical advice, then.

TXsubmamma

Esyla, I've been on subs for around 3 years and started at at 8am and 8pm. I'm now down to 3mg(1.5am 1.5pm). I've read a lot of horror stories but I've also read a lot of success stories! I am in NO WAY a dr but the route I'm following has caused me little if any withdrawal. I just stay on the dose until I am comfortable (usually 2wks to a month) and then I drop it .5. So next week I'll start @ 2.5mg. All of the success stories that vie read have been with a slow taper and finally jump off at a really small dose (.25 or lower with liquid taper or by skipping doses). I am under the care of a wonderful dr who is very supportive of me going by what my body tells me. Talk to your dr before u try anything and best of luck 2 u! You haven't been on it very long and may not even have any withdrawal at all but like I said, I am not a dr and I'm not giving medical advise, just telling u what I'm going through ;-)

esyla

thank you so much! my dr is great as well, i just think he's a bit concerned about me deciding to go off so early. at 2 1/2 months sober i decided i wanted to start the process of getting off. i have been noticing that i feel poopy around the late afternoon/evening - i've eliminated the mid-day dose. i'm just feeling a bit weak and having some cold sweats and chills and the like. it's not fun, and i'm a bit nervous because what if this lasts the whole time i'm tapering off? it's taken about a week to notice these effects, and in another week and a half i'll lower it again. i guess i'll see what happens - my dr said we can level off at any time if i need to.

i have to say, though - the crap way i'm feeling, even with a bit of aches, beats twitching and the restless leg-type feelings that i got during percoset wd!!!!

TXsubmamma

With my personal experience with tapering down, I felt alittle bad and warn down with no energy but it only lasted a day or two. Just keep it up and it will get better. I have found that the longer I stay on a dose, the better I feel about it. Don't be in any hurry. A little withdrawal now is better than full withdrawal if u jump too soon and the longer u stay on it, the less likely u are 2 have a relapse. Keep up the good work, it'll b worth it in the end.

TXsubmamma

I've been doing so well with my taper but yesterday i had so much anxiety. I guess because I can see an end in sight. I'm started thinking about what I'm going to do when I don't have my suboxone crutch to hold me up. What if I fall? Crazy thoughts like that. Since the beginning of my treatment with suboxone I've never even had a craving for the norco that once had such a strong hold on me. I'm a different person now and I know better but I still have a cringe of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. What's a girl to do???

esyla

My anxiety has been through the ROOF!!! That was there before this though and what I used to cover up, so I'm having a lot of concerns about why its so bad right now. Is it coming back full force to make up for lost time?

With the sub, though, I've been having that hot/cold feeling and really bad sweating at night again. So bad that it soaks the sheets.. Its so gross. I hate it. And I'm going to call my dr this week, because I'm scared its going to level off and then ill decrease again and it'll be ****** again. If I can get it over with faster, I think I will. Rip the band aid off - as long as the twitchy, restless leg feeling doesn't come, I can deal with the lack of energy and sweating and overall crap feeling. I'd rather have it over faster.. So I guess ill see what this week brings and what the dr thinks..

Good luck to you girlie! Keep me in the loop about your progress and ill do the same! Much love

CarolD

esyla...
Please do bring up your anxiety issue when you see your doctor.
Sorry to know you are having such difficulties...

TXsubmamma

I've had the hot/cold feeling as well along with night sweats but the night sweats are more sporadic. Just out of curiosity how many times per day do u take yours? I've tried so hard to only take it once per day but I end up feeling lousy. I have found that taking mine 3 times per day is what is most comfy for me. I'm planning on dropping down to 2.5mg's 2morrow so wish me luck ;-)

CarolD

TXsubmamma.....Hope all works out well for you....

TXsubmamma

Thanks carol! I had a good day yesterday because I managed to keep my self busy. I've gone down to 2.5 mg instead of three and thought it would be worse than it was but I had no withdrawal! The doc was right about listening to my body. I'm gonna hold at this dose for a week, maybe 2 if I need 2 and then hold at 2 mg's for a month. That is as far as I've gotten with my personal plan. I'm curious, how r u esyla? Msg me if u need 2

esyla

sorry i havent been on to respond! i was taking half of a pill 3 times daily, so 4mg in the am, afternoon, and night. then i cut out the afternoon pill, so i was down to 8mg total - 4 in the morning and 4 at night. the dr says it doesnt make a difference how i take it (like, if i took the whole 8mg in the morning vs half and half), it just makes me feel better. mental or not, it works!

so now i've dropped down to 4mg in the morning, 2mg at night. i havent noticed much, other than one afternoon i felt achy and blah.

from here, i'll go to 2mg/2mg, then either 2/1 or 1/1, 1, then done. i was on the first downgrade, from 12 to 8mg, for 3 weeks. now that i'm going down to 6mg i would like to see the dose decrease every 2 weeks, since it's in smaller steps. my only concern there would be that the half life is long so i might not be giving it enough time to get out of my system for my body to adjust. i see my dr tues so i'm going to tell him that's what i'd like to do and i'll report back what he says.

while i do really like my dr and i think he is a good dr, he also isn't being verygood with communication right now. i called to talk about the dose because he only gave me 15 pills, which was 15 days worth, and his wife called me back and said she would deliver the message to him. she also asked if i was taking more than i was supposed to... i have a month between appts.. so obv i would run out! he has always called me back himself. she does his admin stuff, but i dont really like that i had to explain it all to her to be passed along.

(fyi i lowered the 2mg i did on my own this time. dr told me that would be the next step, but i did it on my own after i didnt get to talk to him)

TXsubmamma

Esyla, good job on your taper! I'm still suck at 3 mg's, I rried to go down for a few days but had bad anxiety so went back up to 3. I feel like I'm at a road block. So I decided to stay where I'm at and I'll try again in area days to go back down to 2.5. My doc wants me to try to take it once daily but I feel so 'blah'. I guess just going by what our body tells us is the best route. Lots of luck and prayers...

esyla

yikes.. that's what i'm afraid of.. when i get down that low. my anxiety is bad enough as it is.

good luck to you too.. keep me posted!

i see my dr tomorrow so i'll see what he says...

TXsubmamma

I've stuck to my taper and actually managed to take 2 mg's yesterday at this time! It's been 24 hours and this is the first time I've been able 2 go that long without cutting my dose in 1/2. The weird thing is that I haven't been having the anxiety anymore! The only thing that I've been doing differently is that I've been making sure to take my multivitamin and calcium every single night and I've added 2 fish oil capsules to my nightly routine. After a few days of doing this, I'm waking up in the morning and feeling great! I'm going to take my dose the same way today because when I taper down, sometimes I won't notice a difference for a few days. I can see an end in sight and I'm excited about it again instead of scared! Esyla please don't let my little setback hinder your process in anyway because there is light at the end of this sub tunnel. It just might take area days of staying still to see it again!

TXsubmamma

Also, for some reason my posts are saying they're 3 hours earlier than I'm actually posting. Any1 have any insight? I'll check the time on my iPad to b sure.

esyla

is your time set correctly on your settings for the forum?

im glad youre feeling better.. not to scare you, and i hope this won't change for you, but i do know that subox has a relatively long half life, so it can take some time after a change to feel it.

so i went to my dr last night... he said i can do it my way if i want, which was to go down to 4mg in 2 weeks, and then 2mg 3 weeks later, then 1mg for 2-3 weeks. he suggested that because of my anxiety, i don't do it that way, so my body has more time to adjust, since the half life does make it take longer to actually get out of your system. for now, i'll do it his way - if i dont see a change in my anxiety (meaning it gets better), i can still taper down whenever i want to. so his plan for me is to stay on 4mg for a month, then 2mg for a month, 1mg for a month, and off mid-dec.

honestly what i end up doing will depend on how i feel.

esyla

ive been gone from this board, but just wanted to update - i'm now on 4mg subox a day, 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. i had a sort of rough time with this last decrease from 6mg. i had chills/sweating and it sucked. don't remember if i said this before but if i stay on track with my current plan with my dr, i'll be going down to 2mg next visit (a week and a half) and then 1mg a month later, then off by the new year. i'm still glad to be decreasing it, i don't see any more reason to stay on.