[RT Harrison]

Hey all,

I have been reading these forumns for a while and they have certainly been helpful and now as I start down this next path towards complete sobriety I thought I would start a thread in hopes of support for me and with hopes of providing information and telling my experience to others.

After back surgery in 2004 I started a multi year love affair with opiates. Towards the end my DOC was methadone at 50-100mg/day. That all ended in December of 2006 with an intensive out patient program and a new relationship with Suboxone. I started out with 16mg (I feel certain that was too much) for the first year and then after about a year I went down to 8mg. I made the switch to the 2mg pills about 8-9 months ago and over that time I have gone from 6mg per day to now 3mg per day which has been my dose for about a month.

Today I went down to 2mg per day. 1mg at 6:00 AM and 1mg at 6:00 PM and I plan on doing what seems to be the advice of persons on this thread and go down 25% every 4 days. FYI, I didn't notice the dosage change as I went through my day today - so I guess that is . . . one day down!

By the way . . . did I post this under the proper topic?

Hey Robert_325 from my own very selfish stand piont I hope you reconsider your recent decision. I have followed your posts for months and have found them very very helpful. I bet there are hundreds and hundreds of persons, that you have never heard from, that have benifitted from your words. To tell you that is another reason that I write today for the first time tonight.

Ok, thats about it. I am going to check in every day and kind of document this journey.

Take care,
RT

[Robert_325]

RT ..... I appreciate that. I'll never disappear totally. I just need some time for my life to do some things that are important to me. I'll still be around. It always makes me feel good though when I hear from someone like yourself. Stick to the plan and you'll do well. God bless.

[shellister]

Great--just introduced myself through post on another recent thread, only to now find that Robert_325 is taking a break from website?! Hate to sound selfish too and have seen how much time and energy you, Robert have devoted to this site. Just seems like my luck!! Well, the info you've provided should be all I need to be successful---am just scared and totally freaking out. Amazing how trying to put drugs down turns you into a 3yr old, afraid of everything---or is that just me?? Well, wish us all the best, and GOD BLESS!

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by shellister

Great--just introduced myself through post on another recent thread, only to now find that Robert_325 is taking a break from website?! Hate to sound selfish too and have seen how much time and energy you, Robert have devoted to this site. Just seems like my luck!! Well, the info you've provided should be all I need to be successful---am just scared and totally freaking out. Amazing how trying to put drugs down turns you into a 3yr old, afraid of everything---or is that just me?? Well, wish us all the best, and GOD BLESS!

I just posted to your other thread on suboxone help. I'll continue to help you as I have indicated on the other thread. Relax! I'll still be around. I just can't work every day with over 30 people at a time by myself. But I'll be checking in on you. Check the other thread for suggestions. God bless.

[RT Harrison]

Well I certainly have no complaints after 2 days and a morning of going to 2mg from 3mg. It is so tempting to want to go faster but I will keep to the plan and wait until day 5 to taper down again.

From reading all the others experiences, I guess the work really starts when the dosage gets to < .5mg.

I would be interested to hear from any persons that had similiar history to me, both DOC and Suboxone use, and who successfully got off Suboxone.

Ok thanks,
RT

[ialwaysdo]

I have been on subs since may... I'm taking around .5 right now....

My back has been killing me but for some reason I'm way more comfortable than I expected when it comes to w/d... I used to wake up and have to take subs but now I don't need as much and can go longer without it...

I have only a small amount of subs left and won't go back to get more to force the issue..

Best of luck to us both...

[kidmonster]

Originally Posted by RT Harrison

Well I certainly have no complaints after 2 days and a morning of going to 2mg from 3mg. It is so tempting to want to go faster but I will keep to the plan and wait until day 5 to taper down again.

From reading all the others experiences, I guess the work really starts when the dosage gets to < .5mg.

I would be interested to hear from any persons that had similiar history to me, both DOC and Suboxone use, and who successfully got off Suboxone.

Ok thanks,
RT

Hang in there friend. Going below 1mg was the hardest for me. I've been off suboxo for about 1 month now., , so there is hope. Hang in there/ I had to hand my suboxo stash to my father and explained to him to give me 1/2 a mg. (.5) a day no matter what. .. This helped me cause once I was okay on 1/2 a milligram a day, I would put .25mg of powder under my toungue and go down from there, but also my regular doc helped me with other rx's she prescribed me...

[ialwaysdo]

For me the w/d were worse when I was taking more than now....My body feeling like it was on fire was my least favorite w/d... I was stuck at 2 mg for a long while... My body pretty much let me know when i was ready..



Lets all hang in there.

[RT Harrison]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Going from 2mgs to 1.5mgs today and planned on taking 1/2mg in the morning at noon and in early afternoon.

This morning was the first time I have ever taken such a small dose and I feel better than I would have imagined. I can tell definately that I took a smaller dose but just barely. So the results of the first 1/2mg dose give me hope that the step from 2mg to 1.5 will be uneventful.

FYI, I have slept very well the past several nights. Interesting and I think worthy of note.

So far so good.

RT

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by RT Harrison

Thanks for all the feedback.

Going from 2mgs to 1.5mgs today and planned on taking 1/2mg in the morning at noon and in early afternoon.

This morning was the first time I have ever taken such a small dose and I feel better than I would have imagined. I can tell definately that I took a smaller dose but just barely. So the results of the first 1/2mg dose give me hope that the step from 2mg to 1.5 will be uneventful.

FYI, I have slept very well the past several nights. Interesting and I think worthy of note.

So far so good.

RT

You should not be taking three doses each day. Twice is the most. Subs have a half life of 36 - 72 hours. That is two to three days. There is absolutely no reason for taking it three times a day. That is addictive behavior that you're trying to stop by doing this. You should be taking .75mg twice each day four days. Then for convenience sake at the next taper I would drop it to .5mg twice daily. God bless.

[RT Harrison]

Originally Posted by Robert_325

You should not be taking three doses each day. Twice is the most. Subs have a half life of 36 - 72 hours. That is two to three days. There is absolutely no reason for taking it three times a day. That is addictive behavior that you're trying to stop by doing this. You should be taking .75mg twice each day four days. Then for convenience sake at the next taper I would drop it to .5mg twice daily. God bless.

Sure thing. The 1/2mg 3x per day was more to avoid having to split a 1/2 into a 1/4 pill.

Anyhow, everything is going fine. I can tell the dose is lower but it is still very mangeable with just very minor discomfort.

[RT Harrison]

Originally Posted by RT Harrison

Sure thing. The 1/2mg 3x per day was more to avoid having to split a 1/2 into a 1/4 pill.

I meant its hard to split 1/4 into 1/8.

[Robert_325]

Sure thing. The 1/2mg 3x per day was more to avoid having to split a 1/2 into a 1/4 pill.

Anyhow, everything is going fine. I can tell the dose is lower but it is still very mangeable with just very minor discomfort

Originally Posted by RT Harrison

I meant its hard to split 1/4 into 1/8.

RT ..... I totally understand the convenience factor. It's a pain sometimes as we taper getting the pills cut to strange doses. It gets even worse than going to 1/8 trust me. When you get down to splitting 1.25mg into two doses it's an obvious pain!

Let me give you a couple tips that will make this easier for you but still help you keep from engaging in the addictive behavior. I'm calling it "addictive behavior" not meaning that you're acting like an addict, but it's one of the things we do while actively using RX drugs is to take drugs throughout the day every four hours or whatever our routine was. So that is one of the things we're trying to eliminate doing while we are getting clean using the subs only twice a day.

Take an 8mg pill and cut it in half. Then cut one of those halves in half again .... or cut it down to 2mg pieces. Then crush one 2mg piece into powder. DON'T SNORT IT! (bad joke) Take the 2mg piece that's now powder and divide it into four equal .5mg piles. It's very simple from that point forward to get to whatever dose you need. You can divide a .5mg pile in half or a third or whatever you need to do to arrive at any dose you need and that makes keeping your dosing down to twice a piece of cake.

I really emphasize here to set those little piles aside as they are very small and you don't want to get them mixed up. You'll have a very difficult time keeping them the right size if you don't make them up and keep them made up ONLY four piles at a time .... the amount that comes from ONE 2mg piece. You don't want piles of powder lying all around your room. So every 2-3 days you'll need to make some little piles up for you're convenience, using a plate, a little mirror, whatever. I know it's kind of a flashback to my young years personally which I don't like but they don't make .5mg pills in this country. In France for example they make .4mg pills. Proves how we are SOOO on top of everything. LOL NOT

To help make using the powder more simple you'll want to crease a piece of paper very sharply and pour the powder under your tongue off the creased paper with whatever piece you are taking. It works perfectly and resolves the "wierd dose" syndrome from being a problem. Then you aren't faced with having to mess with medication all day long.

I know that most of us are accustomed to sticking something in our mouths every few hours when we're using our drugs of choice. It always seemed like I was poking pills in my mouth every couple hours each day when I was using. Such a seemingly small thing makes a significant difference for us when we're able to eliminate that behavior from our lifestyle completely. Some people dose only once a day because they don't like doing the splitting of doses. But at the dose you're at right now doing the split dose with two doses helps to spread the taper out a little instead of it hitting the body all at once.

All I can say is to trust me on this one thing. I've been doing this a pretty long while with LOTS of people and I know that what I'm talking about here help us. Doing it twice a day will help you especially from this point forward in the taper. There will come a time in the not too far distant future where you'll be totally eliminating the late afternoon/early evening dose all together. Working with only two doses will make that step much simpler for you as well vs having three doses to contend with. Hope that makes sense and helps. You're doing a great job. Keep us posted how we can help you. God bless.

[subuser31]

I agree, I started taking my subs three times a day and now am feeling tons of urge to use again from it. I am coming to terms that the suboxone is best when taken all at once or closer together. I wonder what happens when you get less of a dose or start to cut back. I think I will go ask that question unless someones online and can do so. I am new at this stuff.

[RT Harrison]

Thanks Robert. I will certainly use the powder method. I only have 2mg pills but I get the idea. Gosh it would be great if the USA had smaller doses like other countries that you mention.

I am on day 2 of my taper to 1.5mg (from 2mg) and I took .75 mg this AM and I feel suprisingly well. It really makes me realize that I was on much too high a dose for much too long.

Side note: The one suprising change during early stages of this process is that my sleep has become noticably better. I am sleeping more soundly than I have in a while.

Anyway, so far so good.

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by RT Harrison

Thanks Robert. I will certainly use the powder method. I only have 2mg pills but I get the idea. Gosh it would be great if the USA had smaller doses like other countries that you mention.

I am on day 2 of my taper to 1.5mg (from 2mg) and I took .75 mg this AM and I feel suprisingly well. It really makes me realize that I was on much too high a dose for much too long.

Side note: The one suprising change during early stages of this process is that my sleep has become noticably better. I am sleeping more soundly than I have in a while.

Anyway, so far so good.

This will end up working lots better for you. Just stick to the standard taper plan (reducing 25% every four days) and you'll do fine, especially now that you fully understand how to get the small doses figured out and cut. Take care and God bless.

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by subuser31

I agree, I started taking my subs three times a day and now am feeling tons of urge to use again from it. I am coming to terms that the suboxone is best when taken all at once or closer together. I wonder what happens when you get less of a dose or start to cut back. I think I will go ask that question unless someones online and can do so. I am new at this stuff.

Tapering is very simple UNLESS you don't know how to do it. We've been using my sub tapering method for years here. There are a ton of people who have tapered completely off the subs and are now totally clean, not just clean off the RX pain pills. I will post a link to follow that explains how we do this.

But remember what it amounts to is to taper by 25% of your existing dose every four days. Do that all the way down to between .25mg-.5mg. Then you'll go through a process of skipping days which we can get into later when you get closer. We can answer ALL of your sub questions right here.

Post regularly in case you have any problems but in the meantime read the link to follow. I came up with this process when I used subs and there have been people all over the world literally use this process successfully since. Some drs are even beginning to use this process now (FINALLY) instead of the archaic methods that have been used in the past. Here is the link. Hope it helps.

You may want to start your own thread here. You could tell us more about yourself, your history with subs, etc. You'll be assured of getting LOTS more support and replies from other people on the forum. It's easy for our posts to get "lost" when they're placed in the middle of someone else's thread. God bless.

[meremcd]

I started suboxone 6 days ago for a 10 yr addicition to ultram. I have felt horrible on this, i guess i'm at the wrong dose. i didnt start at 8mg like dr said, i started much lower. one day i took 4mg 2x and was so sick. so now i'm taking @ 3 mg and it's still too strong. i have zero energy and motivation, and i want to get off. any advice or help is appreciated!!!

[Loading]

I am new to this site. My 30 yo son will begin tappering off Suboxone 8 mg. How can I support him? He is not in a recovery program; he feels he can do this alone. Anything you can share will help guide me to prepare for this path ahead of our family.

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by Loading

I am new to this site. My 30 yo son will begin tappering off Suboxone 8 mg. How can I support him? He is not in a recovery program; he feels he can do this alone. Anything you can share will help guide me to prepare for this path ahead of our family.

Here is a link that explains how I suggest using and tapering off subs. After a week or so being stable (should be at 8mg or less) he should be tapering by 25% of his current dose every four days. It's worked miracles for many people on this forum. Follow the link closely and he will do fine. God bless.

http://www.drugs.com/forum/featured-...apy-50887.html

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by meremcd

I started suboxone 6 days ago for a 10 yr addicition to ultram. I have felt horrible on this, i guess i'm at the wrong dose. i didnt start at 8mg like dr said, i started much lower. one day i took 4mg 2x and was so sick. so now i'm taking @ 3 mg and it's still too strong. i have zero energy and motivation, and i want to get off. any advice or help is appreciated!!!

You didn't wait long enough to get into severe enough w/d before you started. It's making you sick doing it like that. Read the following link paying very close attention to the INDUCTION section.

People have been following this process exactly for years getting clean here. Follow the suggestions to the letter and it will work for you. But the induction is possibly the most important part of the whole process. God bless.

http://www.drugs.com/forum/featured-...apy-50887.html

As you taper off you'll notice that you need to taper by 25% of your dose every four days. That is very critical. Hope that helps.

[cheekysod]

Originally Posted by Loading

I am new to this site. My 30 yo son will begin tappering off Suboxone 8 mg. How can I support him? He is not in a recovery program; he feels he can do this alone. Anything you can share will help guide me to prepare for this path ahead of our family.

loader, just so you know from an addicts point of view, who has counted down from 14mg to 1mg over 4 months.
tell your son, its going to be ok, subs work in such a way, we dont even notice when we drop our dose, by 25%, then go at least 4 days, longer if he think he needs it, then go for the next drop.
take it slow if he needs it, but get it right. he will be ok.
all the best for you and your son.
i am so thankful for suboxone, its got me off the methadone and away from a lot of really shady people and behaviours. so im so glad im on it.
and i have learned heaps from this site, read read read. you will learn heaps.
good luck.
cheeky