[crazyinmass]

I have been tapering down on Subutex (not Suboxone) 8-mg tablets. I have been on these for over 3 years, and was prescribed 3 tablets per day. I am now down to 1/4 tablets 3 times per day. I need to get off of this medicine. The problems is that I cannot get below 2 doses per day without feeling severe withdrawal. Please help me get off Subutex completely within the next few months!!!

Thank you.

[RubyDean]

crazyinmass, good to hear you have tapered down from that ridiculous amount. you seem to be doing much better, and i know from the suggestions on this board are to only dose TWICE a day, and never 3 times. It appears you are taking approx. 2mg's 3 times per day, so that would make you taking 6mg daily. This is a good reduction from what you were once taking, and I am sure Robert can help you taper down from this amount with no problem. The first thing he would most likely suggest is to start taking your dose only 2 times a day. Usually one in the morning, and then the next about 10 hours later.
Keep up the effort and he can help you out. What most folks do typically is a 25% reduction every 4 days or so...good luck and stay connected.

[crazyinmass]

thanks you. my doctor worked me from 4 suboxone per day to 3 subutex about 2 1/2 years ago. it took several doctors almost 9 months to figure out i was allergic to the naxolone. i have been steadily reducing my dosage every 6 months until early this year when i was at 1.5 tablets per day. i have been slowly weaning down to 1/4 tablet twice per day, and doing the third only when feeling really bad and withdrawn. part of my problem is i have been diagnosed as being bipolar. the subutex helps as an antidepresant. i just realize that i need to be free from all medicine - including subutex and other anti depresants. i can mostly hang at 1/4 tablets twice per day, but over the past two weeks, i took a 3rd about every 4 days. i usually take my first dosage at 08:00, the second at 14:30 and the third at night only when needed. i cannot move the morning dosage back any more or the afternoon dosage at this time - but i feel i can work into this. my doctor has no idea that i am reducing my dosage. i am still prescribed 3 tablets per day, but i only refill when needed. once i am done this program, i promise to throw out all remaining subutex and never to give away or use again. thanks (in advance) for helping me.

[bev49]

If you are truly diagnosed with bi polar disease, then please be very careful about what you do, medication wise. I have never heard of sub being used as an antidepressant. Were you addicted to opiates? What kind? Are you on lithium or any medication for your bipolar disorder? You can work with RObert here to taper to a more normal dose of sub, but make sure you take the medication perscribed to you for the bipolar. I havea close relative who suffers from bipolar disorder and I know how it can be so please be careful with your meds.

[crazyinmass]

i injured my back in 1985 - broke 2 vertebrae and suffered a severe bone infection. in 1996, i rehurt my back lifting a heavy object. i had several visits to the doctor, and i was prescribed tylenol 3, vicodin, and percocets over a 6-9 month period. i could not find the right pain killer to help me deal with the back pain. all of my pain - from the first injury to the reinjury in 1996 - was all upper back, shoulder, and neck. the strange thing about painkillers is that i found i was happier on them and could function better during times of depression. i was more outgoing. anyway, after my back started feeling better in early 1997, i realized how much i liked the painkillers. they felt a part of my life, and i could actually feel like a better person on them. my doctor prescribed 4 to 6 per day, but i was only taking 2, and keeping the rest in reserve. i wanted enough to allow me to feel better when i need to deal with life. a few years later, i found a doctor who was writing me a prescription for 120 to 150 percocets every 3 weeks. although i was only taking 3 or 4 per day, i was building up my supply, anticipating the day when my doctor would stop writing me prescriptions. i then realized i needed more each day to feel normal. by late 2005, i was up to 5-6 per day. by early 2006, i was up to 12-15 5-mg percocets per day. in may 2006, i realized that i was starting to take more percocets than i could build up my supply, so i knew by august that i would either run out or need to do something else to get more. in may 2006, i went to an outpatient rehab, and started suboxone. it was heck getting on the subutex. i had the worst time, and in early 2007, i went to another doctor who realized i was allergic to the naxolone. i was absorbing it. i went from 4 suboxone per day to 3 subutex per day. during my rehab, my doctor and councellor worked together to realize that i am slightly bipolar, and the percocets had a mild antidepressant side effect that was masking it for years. i am not sure if they are correct, but maybe the feeling sof depression were actually withdrawal symptoms from the percocets ans the reaction of the naxalone. whatever it is, i want to be free of everything - absolutely no medicine in my life because i think the subutex is making me feel elevated and normal. but everytime i step down my subutex, i feel like garbage until the dosage levels off. i take first dosage at 08:00 every morning, and by 09:15, i feel like a human being again. i take the second dosage around 14:00, and by 14:30, i feel normal. i truly believe the subutex is the euphoria, and the bipolar diagnosis is a psychiatrist just trying to keep me on drugs. i have tried over 10 combinations of antidepresants over the past 3 years, and nothing has made a difference. only a stable dose of subutex makes me feel like a human being rather than depressed. unless you have felt the same experience, i can't describe it too well. anyway, i have only take 1/4 of the 8-mg subutex tablet for the past 3 days (monday, tuesday, and today). i would like to know the best way to proceed - whether to go to 1/4 tablet in morning and 1/8 tablet in afternoon for next decrease. my doctor does not know i am reducing my dosage, becasue he has already told me i may need to be on this for life, and i would be intollorable to be around if i came off of subutex. God bless, and thank you in advance for any advice.

[crazyinmass]

most people i have talked to about painkiller abuse do it because they started off with an injury, and they liked the high feeling from the opiods. most people i know who abuse them, including myself, are really introverted, but like the outgoing effects of opiods. i felt a difference on vicodin (more naseau, less talkative) than percocets (less sick, and more outgoing) - so percocet became my drug of choice. mental disease is hard to diagnose accurately - especially depression and bipolar. was it the opiods and withdrawl from opiods causing this feeling, or is it real? for me, i think mostly my bipolars high came from the euphoria of the opiod highs distorting my thinking and sleep patterns. i could go days without sleeping (over 72 hours straight) just from being high. it was hard to distinguish if the medicine was causing this or my mind. the depressions were mostly cured by increasing the percocet dosage per day. i really hope i was able to explain hpw i was treating the "bipolar" with percocet, and now with maintaining an acceptable level of subutex. thank you, and God bless.