Helping pregnant girlfriend getting off Suboxone/Subutex using deception? Opinions?

The doctors take an 8 hour course in order to get the special license to write a prescription for suboxone and they are not taught how or when to taper someone. Believe me, I know, I have been to group for suboxone and none of the 17 people that were on it in group ( and there were at least 4 different doctors for those people) were told ever to taper or get off of it, or how to taper. I am on my second subs doctor, and 2nd subs counselor, not by choice did I change, the first counselor mover 3 times where i could get to her then finally where I couldn't and my first subs dr. moved my 3rd month on it. I asked many times about how to taper and finally the counselor told me how often to taper, but not how many mgs. to taper, she didn't know and she was trained the same way the drs were. I asked finally "how many patients have you gotten to taper or gotten off suboxone?" and neither counselor or the doctor had gotten anyone to taper or get off. Please friend Robert and go on the forum and ask about this and at least set your mind at ease. I am willing to believe that you were completely frought with worry over this and really did what you in your heart of hearts thought was the best thing. I am betting your girlfriend is in MAJOR withdrawal by now. Is she complaining about major pain, is she fatigued and not sleeping, is her nose running, does she seem to have the flu and the stomach flu at the same time? These are all signs of withdrawal and coming off at 4 mgs is probably pretty hard on her. If you contact Robert, he may be able to tell you what to do, He works in a rehab/recovery clinic and he is the one that I learned that I was overmedicated from, he says no patient should start suboxone on over one 8 mg pill, I was put on 12 at first and am now at .25, successfully, and if you follow on here, you will realize how rare it is that anyone gets off without going into a rehab clinic and getting off. I am not trying to fuss at you, I am truly concerned, but I also want you to know that we will support you and your girlfriend here, we are just all really scared at what happened in this case. Best of Luck, I swear I am praying for you. Please contact Robert_325 and ask what to do. Patti

I believe that an addict has lost control of his or hers will to make important decisions when it comes to issues related to the addiction. A small minority is an exception. We are not talking about the millions of heroin addicts in China during Japanese occupation in which they were forced to be addicts.
We are talking about people who became addicts and are now on some maintenance program in which another drug is supplied so all hell doesn't brake loose.
I also don't believe in the myth that an addict has to want to get out of addiction in order to become drug free http://www.hbo.com/addiction/understanding_addiction/16_myths_of_addiction.html

I have been in 90% of my girlfriend's doctor visits and I know how it goes. Most of it is complacency. How you feel? Have you done anything illegal? Here is the prescription...

This is the 8th day, she feels lot better than yesterday. She was able to sleep better and only has minor headache. Before I stop giving her the pill she was taking half a pill every 2-3 days so the jump wasn't that bad.

I understand some of your concerns for what will be a baby (5 weeks only) on the other hand we have to think also of the future. We don't want to have a frankenstein because someone didn't want to be uncomfortable . I prefer some unpleasant pain now than seeing nurses inject morphine to a new born.

I took the real subs and hide them at my desk at work.

Today she told me that she should have taken those days in which she was very sick and stop taking the pills because it wasn't doing anything to her (it was, it was giving her vitamin C). She says that she is afraid of what will happen if she continues taking the pills...
Believe me, this is not like refusing to give insulin to a diabetic patient. Before she got in a program of sub I spent over 1 thousand buying her the sub because she didn't have insurance. At one point i had to buy them on the street because her disorganized life didn't permit her to see a therapist before the sub Dr. and he refused then to see her. No prescription then.

We have gone through a lot. This is small in comparison. Today I need to pick for the first time her subutex at the pharmacy. I already have some calcium pills that look similar. If getting out of drugs is a good thing, like winning the lottery, and someone by tricks gets one out of it, should that person be condemned?

What people need is not more and more drugs or long term reduced harm drugs but therapy and support, smart recovery.
The reason why she was able to get out of the streets after 6-4 years of heroin addiction is because I sacrificed everything of value in order to rescue her. Where would she be if i left everything to the doctors? They or you are not going to spend nights at the hospital taking care of a drug addict or a baby with NAS.
Thanks for the people that shared their opinion and experiences.

I hope I am wrong but I think she may feel 'duped and dumb' by what you did. I would ask forgiveness and move on to recovery with her. Hopefully she will be so busy with the healthy new baby that you won't have to worry about whether or not she is "planning a relapse" but quite frankly, you will never know until it hits. Good Luck. Let us know what happens.

I have 3 sons now, and pregnancy has never been good for me. I had all my boys early, they were all high risk, I had kidney/bladder problems with them, and they all ended with a c-section. With my first two, I didn't even know what narcotic pain relievers were and had no problem with them after I healed. All that changed when I got my first kidney stone 4 months after my second son was born. After that I was fighting an uphill battle with my health and marriage and used pills not only to treat physical pain but mental and emotional pain as well. After my 3rd pregnancy began, they started me on subutex because it was safer than narcs and they didn't want me to quit cold turkey because I could lose the baby. I was given a choice of methadone or subutex and discussed this with my ob and perinatologist. I learned that the baby would have an 85% chance of being born addicted to methadone and a 3% chance with subutex, so I chose the lesser of two evils. Please don't get me wrong, suboxone/subutex saved my life and I would do it all over again, but a 3% chance is still scary, especially when it comes to your unborn Childs health. I honestly didn't do enough research on subutex and pregnancy and thought my child would be the other 97% that was born with no withdrawal symptoms. I was dead wrong and totally clueless! I was able to see my baby for about 5 seconds before he was taken to the nicu. I was never allowed to take him out of the nicu until we were released to go home, then 2 hours later child services showed up and asked me how long I had been addicted to heroin! Heroin? Really!!! I was 30 years old and the only drug I had done was pills. My families life was invaded by child services and nurses had to come by everyday to check on my sons progress, even when he showed no signs of withdrawal. Everyone stared at me like I was some horrible mother for taking a drug while pregnant. Even my husband looked at me differently. Then after going through all that, my son started showing signs of withdrawal after being home for 2 days. I called the doctor immediately and was instructed to come to the nicu immediately. We were sent home without our baby. I was on 8mg of subutex a day throughout my pregnancy, the lowest dose they would allow me to take, yet I was still a horrible mom to so many, and things stayed that way for awhile. My son was put on morphine for withdrawals and the first time he was weened off of it, it failed. He spent almost 3 weeks in the nicu before we could bring him home. Now he is a healthy, happy 15 month old, but it was hell getting here today. I just stopped taking subutex about 3 weeks ago, and I am still having wd symptoms, even after being on such a low dose. There is no such thing as a 99.99999% chance that your child won't be addicted. Some people may have a child with no wd symptoms, but it is my understanding that those are few and far between. To all the mothers out there on subutex therapy, either before or during pregnancy, please do your homework on this, and if possible, get off before you conceive. And if not, please prepare yourself and your family for the backlashing of society and the people you feel like you can trust, you will definitely learn who your friends are.