I know it sounds a little dumb to be thinking it's somehow possible to get off the suboxone without withdrawaling but I truly need to. In the beginning before I started taking it, I was on oxycodone 30mg a day basically and the same thing happened -- I didn't want to withdrawal from the oxys so I got on suboxone. And I was extremely misinformed that suboxone helps you get off oxycodone and you have no withdrawals if you taper yourself off slowly. Obviously that's not true, because literally every forum i've read says they did the same thing and withdrew horribly. Suboxone is NOT a good drug no matter what people tell you, yeah it doesn't give you cravings to take opiates but the withdrawal from suboxone is extremely worse than from the opiates. So, I need to figure out a way to get off suboxones, and not withdrawal. I've heard that if I was to just quit subs right now and wait 36-48 hours and then take a oxycodone or any opiate for about a week or two and then quit taking that and withdrawal from that, that it would be so much easier because opiates give you less withdrawal symptoms than suboxone. So, basically my question is that --- If I did stop suboxone, and start back on the opiates and take the opiate for 2 weeks and then quit, would I be withdrawaling from both suboxone and opiates or would it just be the opiate withdrawal? (And please don't tell me that i'll get addicted to it again because I can't afford to and i'm so ready to be normal and sober that I would give anything for it.) But I refuse to withdrawal for a month or more from subs and have extreme painful withdrawal and suicidal thoughts and all that stuff. I need an answer... Someone tell me how I can do this. & that if I do start taking the opiates 48 hours after taking my last suboxone will I have absolutely any sub withdrawal? Or will it be gone from taking the opiates? And then when I stop the opiates will I be withdrawaling from subs and opiates or just opiates since the sub will be out of my system? I'm just extremely confused and I need an answer... FYI: Here's what i've been taking -- Suboxone 8mg, one a day, for 3 months.
How can I get off Suboxone without withdrawing?
Question posted by radicalrainbow on 7 April 2011
Last updated on 6 February 2023
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
22 Answers Page 2
Dear radical, I know ur scared about wd but the ans. Is not in taking opiates again. If u taper ur subs you'll do much better in the long run. I can't speak for others but for me tapering caused no wd I mean zero. Good luck and let us no how things turned out.
How long were you on the subs and how slow of a taper did you do? Thank you, Larsy
Hi Anonymous :) Is that your name here or do you want to be anonymous? Larsy
Please let me know how you’re doing it because I hate the withdrawals. I was on 12mg. Got down to 8mg, now on 6mg. I only been on it for 3 months.
not one person answered this question.. she didnt ask for a debate on suboxone. I'm commenting because i too am in the same situation and need an answer. I'm very educated on my addiction and suboxone, so i dont need any advice about it, just need to know what a good regimen of opiates would be for getting off suboxone.. please and thank you.
I looked this up for the exact same reason and found nothing useful yet... Your post is a year old and wanted to know if you were successful? Any advice? I have been taking the strips, about 1/3 of one for 6 months until 2 weeks ago and now i take about a 4th. I started to feel a little weird so I took a vic after 22 hrs of no sub and feel decent. Can you tell me anything else, thanks so much:)
Opiates WILL NOT HELP YOU GET OFF OF SUBOXONE! I dont know where people are getting their information that suboxone has this awful withdrawal that lasts for a month... methadone does that, but suboxone is only a partial agonist opiod. So going back to opiates for even a week is a really stupid idea. Taper down off the subs. halve your dosage for a week, then halve that for a week, and continue on until youre taking about 1mg. and then, voila! magic! you wont withdraw at all, although I have stopped suboxone cold turkey after taking it every day for two years (32mg/day) and I've had nothing more than restless legs for a few nights. Youre just trying to give yourself an excuse to go get high for another week. Come on.
thats not an accurate statement.. for one suboxone causes great withdrawls that are greater than opiates. i know this not only because its a fact that suboxone is the hardest opiate to get off of, but because i've experienced it myself. suboxone and methadone are very similar. sub withdrawls last about the same length, at the least 2 weeks. they both have long half lives which is what causes the withdrawl to last for such a long period of time.. and ABUSING opiates is not a good idea to get off subs. taking them the right way is very effective. Dr.s who prescribe their patients suboxone, prescribe them a lose dose opiate for a few weeks to get off it. and it does work. how do i know this? because after posting this comment i did it, and it worked. im not free of opiates completely. and i didnt get high on them.
Methadone - I withdrew for almost a month. Worst feeling of my LIFE. But I have NEVER met someone who's Sub "withdrawals" have been more than restless legs and lack of appetite for a few days... including me and my husband, who were both on suboxone (32mg/daily) for two years... we tapered PROPERLY, and didnt even have a change in appetite. It does have a longer half life, but it is only a partial agonist, which is the part that makes it so easy to get off suboxone. If you think that sub withdrawals are bad... then you've probably never had a REAL habit. And a doctor who prescribes you opiod medications to get off of suboxone (which you were taking to get off of opiods) could lose his license for prescribing opiates to a known opiate addict... just saying.
and you know that because you're a law enforcement agent? no they cant, thats how many doctors get their patients off suboxone. listen to yourself, i got off it, i did this, i did that, and it wasnt bad so that means its a fact that its not hard to get off of! lol sub withdrawls are horrible and yeah i had a pretty nasty habit. and for ME personally, sub withdrawls are a lot worse than full opiate withdrawl. they are just as intense and last way longer... you know i was actually thinking about making an account names haharlybro, and lyke going on forums and laughing at ppl who have the same problem as me, sounds like fun right?
cleandream09 How refreshing,. Its always the same. you ask a suimple question and you get the same idiots not answering the question that we need and answer to. it would be better for the idioots to keep quiet and go and find other threads to comment on isnstead of insulting our intelligence and doing ANYTHING but answer the question that we asked. some people just like seeing their wordsd in print even if they are words of utter cow dung.
I see this post is a few years old.. I am looking for positive feedback on how to taper off with minimal discomfort. I was taking 1 sub a day 8mg.. for a little over a year... over night I cut it down to 3 quarters and the following night I only took half (4mg) so far I feel fine.. is it ok to keep cutting down as long as I'm feeling well ?
Thank you cleandream09 for voicing that, this individual asked for help not a friggin lecture ! You took the words out of my mouth
Thank you cleandream09 for voicing that, this individual asked for help not a friggin lecture ! You took the words out of my mouth
I have gotten down to .75 and it's been hell so I guess not everyone is the same also I take .25 three times a day four am two pm and eight pm and two hours prior to each dose I am waiting and watching the clock so I can take my dose but I wait till then and not cheat and take it early. I was able to miss my two pm a couple of times trying to get to .50 but found out that it was to early so went back to three times a day.
I just keep trying to make each piece smaller also I quit trying to measure the Peace's so I might be under .75 some I am on the film 2.5 strips cut in half then cut the half in four pieces then cut them in half three times a day I also have a cheat piece by I mean I will take my eight o'clock piece and cut a small piece of that and take it early cause of withdraws but don't add at eight just take the less amount but by then I am ok it works for me it's still real hard but my body gets used to it after a week but I still am dreading the quit day and am scared as hell I won't make it but I keep reduction going and hope for the best.
You CANNOT get off Suboxone without withdrawing PROPERLY unless you want to risk seizures and being sick mentally and physically for up to 3 weeks with flu symptoms 5x's worse, and thats NO JOKE. I tried it. You NEED to SLOWLY WEEN OFF THIS DRUG. And I mean SLOWLY. Please do not try to just stop taking it.
I think that's why they had me on neurontin, clonzepam and clonodine (in the hospital), but in my opinion that was just too shocking to my body and my mind. Now I am trying a very, very slow taper. I just can't seem to figure out what the right dose is for me to start at. I've never taken more than 2 2mg. pills twice a day (although my doctor kept saying that I needed to increase my dose). If I took more than that I would get headaches even on the subutex. Right now I take between 2-3 mgs. per day and I'm still sick. I've been sick ever since I left the hospital last year a little before this time. I'm just wasting days, weeks, months and years away. In the past week I've been trying so hard. I lost 8 lbs. in less than a week. I'm not hungry now. Also, yesterday after 3 days of having a headache I decided to see if I could take one of my old migraine medications.
It worked which was unbelievable but I didn't feel good later so that's not the answer. I searched the web for hours but everytime I wrote in the name of the medication tramadol or ultram would come up. It's called isometh/apap/dichlor capsules. Does anyone know what they are made from? One of my good friends is the head nurse at The Diamond Headache Clinic and she told me about midrin a long time ago (even gave me a few samples) but they stopped making it so then when I asked my doctor, he gave me this stuff. You can only take it on the onset of a headache (works the best then or if your headache is so bad). It kind of made my head feel tingly and like it was floating but I could still feel the headache was back there. I just wonder if this stuff contains tramadol because nothing has worked for me because the subutex seems to block everything. Also, I did try the vicodin and thought it might work but after 3-4 days I realized that the vicodins were not working and I didn't want to keep taking them and end up hurting my liver. This is just the biggest nightmare ever. I have a very good friend now who is helping me but the fact is you just have to take it slow and there's no immediate cure. I was put on this for depression and had no idea this could ever happen. My husband was upset the other night and kept asking me why I didn't look into it further before I took it. I trusted the doctor, plus I got off of it that time after 8 months being on it by just tapering a half pill every 3-4 days and I went back to normal. I'm so sick of being sick. I really wish the doctors knew how to prescribe this medication. Good luck to you and feel free to write back. Laura
I don't understand how people can blame the doctors for not telling them about how hard it is to come off of this medication. I don't care what medicine it is, or what doctor prescribes it for me... I always go home and look it up on the internet and do my research before ingesting anything. It is your own responsibility to do your own research on what you are putting into your body. It's just common sense. The doctor didn't force you to put any pill into your mouth. It is up to you, the patient, to weigh the pros and cons of each med you take to decide if it is worth taking it. Doctors don't have hours to spend babysitting each patient they see every day. For most people on Suboxone, it is worth having to do a long, slow taper in order to get out of the hell of addiction that they are in. Suboxone is not an evil drug... it is just misused. Yes, doctors overprescribe it, telling you that you need way more mgs than most people really need, but again, do your research.
exactly.We seem to be so connected in,yet no one reads the info.
@ pixley as a healthcare professional we do have responsibility before prescribing or administering any med to a patient to inform them of the risks and side effects. Whatnthe poster said was her dr. Misinformed her. If you look up this drug in the drug guides etc. There are no horror story withdrawals for subs. You do not learn this until or unless you start reading blogs. Alot of people do not do or trust this when they have a trusted Dr. Swearing they wont have withdrawals. My dr. Put me on subs low dose for pain control! I drilled both him and the pharmacist about side effect an desp. Withdrawals and was told NO WAY you will have withdrawals atbsuch a low dose. I researched my drug guides and found the same answers. It wasnt until I felt ill from it and just stopped taking it did I stumble upon these sites. Like I said, Dr's and other hcps have more responsibilities than you are stating. Patients share some too, but should be able to get their questions answered properly by their healthcare team and dont.
Btw the dr is suppose to let you know what the drug is ,side effects , how to administer it , if u should eat with it etc..
So what do you do when the clinic gives you the boot at 16mg a day? They required me to go into in patient due to high benzo levels and I simply cannot because i am a single dad of two kids and I have nobody to even list for emergency contact let alone foster kids for a month.
I just want to point out that I disagree with your post that suboxone is not a good drug. It has saved my life! Of course it has side effects like anything else, but if used properly I think its wonderful. I was spending 100.00+ a day on my opiate addiction (tramadol, percs, oxys, Vicodin)... my life was going in a fast downward spiral... I started subs 4 months ago and have been slowly tapering. Im down to 4mg day. Everytime I taper there is no withdrawal so far. I think if you taper slow enough that you will be fine. There are people on all kinds of opiates and suboxone has saved them. If it wasnt for suboxone I would be living on the streets. Im hoping at the end of my taper there is minumum withdrawal, but this drug has really helped me and saved me!!! Even if there is some withdrawal at the end, its better than the way my life was going. Due to my self control issues, like all addicts have, I truley couldnt have done it without Suboxone. I just want to put my experience out there for other people to see that are deciding to take it or not. :)
You had no withdrawal symptoms because you aren't yet at the dose where you get them. Hope you have a plan for below your 2mg dose. Take it from someone with 11 under their belt with this med. 4 months is a day at Disneyland.
I agree, it's also saved my life. I've gone from having nothing and being in and out of jail, to having a stable job, home, almost me car, and taking care of myself and my children without other people thinking I'm unfit.
My view on Suboxone is that if it was not available at the time we would have a lot more deaths and addiction. Fast forward 7 years and I do think they got it wrong though. Some doctors say 12 months then proper counseling and time in recovery then ween off. Others said you need this the rest of your life.
I believe if they had done enough research and work into addicts it could have been used properly. I have tried now it least 5 times to come off. I am at a sliver maybe less than a quarter and the minute I get sick it is such a trigger and I can't seem to let go. I have seen friends take a year and some more to feel better. That is insane.
They know that people do not need two strips a day after a year on it but they continue to prescribe for many to still be in the mindset of active using because they sell them.i did for awhile.
I never grasped the concept that if i did not change my way of thinking through brain retraining that i was a addict in recovery still thinking the same way as when using. Lying,sneaking, selling subs etc. It wasn't until i went to cognitive Therapy that it finally clicked.
I am very grateful for Suboxone however i think its another pill to fix a problem deep within us that needs to be addressed.
Hi everyone. I'm new here and kinda stumbled onto this site when I googled "suboxone withdrawal". I had been taking 50mg. ultram for 8 years... up to 1250 mgs. a day. I decided I needed to quit and my doc suggested suboxone. I started with 24 mgs. a day, and put on 35 pounds in 60 days. I have never been over 110 lbs. in my 29 years... I'm 5'5. Then we moved out of state, where the laws about sub are different, and had none to take for almost 30 days. I went through the worst withdrawal I have ever experienced in my life, (I was a heroin addict years ago, and tried to quit ultram many times). So I found one of those outpatient D&A places, where they don't accept insurance and you have to pay ALOT for every visit, but it was worth it in my mind to get more subs. (I had lost 10 lbs during those 30 edays... the weight was literally FALLING off).
So now I've been back on suboxone, 8 mgs., for 2 months, and I'm back up to 145 lbs. I joined a gym and work out intensly 5 days a week, but the weight isn't going anywhere. It has me so depressed that I now sleep with clothes on, have sex with my shirt on, I am SO disgusted with the way I look. I know that ultimately, suboxone is just postponing the inevitable, but my doc wants to keep me on indefinately. However, I'm afraid that I'll never be able to "live" life without any kind of medication to "tone down" reality. I tried to take ultram again, and they have no affect on me anymore. They actually made me feel worse during those 30 days without subs... But this weight has got to go and I'm afraid the only way I can get it off is to quit the subs! Major Dillemma!!! So, how should I taper and feel the least withdrawal possible, (i have a professional job and can't go through terrible w/d's at work), is there anything I can do to drop the weight and stay on subs, (still doing heavy exercising 5 times a week), and will the ultram ever do what it did for me before? If so, why did it make me feel worse when I was w/d from the subs? Thanks everyone... sorry to ramble.
Hi Drummrzgrl,
You sounds exactly like me. I've been on suboxone/subutex for over 3 years now and it's been over a year that I was in the hospital for 11 days for a cold turkey detox. That just scared me to death and ever since then I have been skowering the internet for answers. I too am 5'5 and weight 150 lbs. I was always about 110. I feel so ugly. I feel like even if I exercise that I do not lose weight. A couple of weeks ago I tried so hard to lower my dose from 3 mgs. per day to 2 mgs. per day and I lost 13 lbs doing nothing but suffering. I am a lot older than you. I am 45. I have two daughter's. One is 25 and the other is 21. After all the research I have been doing plus trying to keep in touch with a friend who is going through the same thing, Larsy (Hugs to You)
Your doctor gave you Suboxone for Ultram? Ultram is not even an opiate... its an analgesic... they gave it to me in the hospital when I was withdrawing from oxycontin, for the sole purpose that it would help me not feel like my body was breaking, but it has such a ridiculously low number of addictions because its a narcotic-LIKE substance. You just got addicted to taking a pill, you might as well get addicted to birth control or tylenol.
you do realize you're on here mocking people when the jokes on you considering you're the one who is misinformed lolol. tramadol is an opiate. a weak one, but still an opiate. you wanna make fun of ppl go ahead, but cmon, at least know what you're talking about. if you're gonna step, step correct.
Ultram is VERY addictive. I know because I went through it. They are non-narcotic painkillers but they mimic the effects of opiates. They are not strong in small doses but I used to pop those things like tic taks and felt pretty good. When I quit I was very sick for three days.
My suggestion is to start a healthy diet. Give up simple carbs in exchange for complex carbs. Start your day with a healthy breakfast, steel oats, with some fresh berries and peanut butter.
Look for a good multivitamin, plan healthy snacks/mini meals, in fact look up meal plans designed for diabetics... this helps regulate your insulin production through diet. It is imperative to start your day with a good breakfast. It gets your metabolism revved up and using your calories as energy.
Also abdominal fat is very difficult to get rid of , the best way to get that stubborn fat off is by working two major muscle groups simultaneously. Swimming, Rowing , doing arm exercises while walking on treadmill. It sounds counterproductive to eat more often as way to lose weight, but our daily routines and not eating through the day are causing the majority of weight issues. I am not an expert by any means , and strongly suggest you seek out assistance from a registered dietitian.
Some one who can assist you in recognizing proper portions and hidden calories. Like ketchup... is primarily sugar, and eating fresh fruit as opposed to drinking juices.
Best of luck on your journey .
Yes, I would suggest ask your doctor to prescribe you Clonidine Trans-dermal System 01 mg/day Patch. It will help you in withdrawal.
Hi. You sound just as scared as I am but I wonder if you are just reading about withdrawling from the suboxone and scaring yourself. Did you try to cut down a mg. every 3-4 days? You probably have 2 mg. pills? I was able to do that when I was on the suboxone for about 6-8 months and I was fine so I'm thinking you may be too! I think if you've been on it for more than a year is when you run into problems. I'm praying for you too. Larsy XX
I was on subs for over a year before I even thought of tapering down. It depends on the patient and how fast they try to taper. I know I also read all those horror stories about getting off subs, I actually googled "what will happen when I stop subs?" and wound up here. It doesn't have to be bad, it is simply that not enough people who did NOT have a tough time or bad wd from subs are posting their stories. The fear makes you feel all sort of symptoms that aren't really there. The power of suggestions is very strong and if you read many of those horror stories, it will scare you so bad you won't make progress. Keep the faith and use the Force, you will get there. If you feel a sticking point, slow down and stabilize. Patti
If DONE PROPERLY there is no "HORROR". People just attempt to scare you, or are tapering the WRONG way. Trust me... I've been on a high dose well over a year now and just tapering down now and its pretty easy. Good Luck, and TRUST ME, I felt the SAME WAY... BUT IT WILL BE EASY!!!
I'm down to an 8th of a strip a day. And when I dont take it I still get sick. There is nothing easy about getting off this poison. You have to be honest with people trying to get clean.
I am not sure why some believe you can get off suboxone with short acting opiates in a short amount of time, but that is not how things work. Luckily you have only been on suboxone for a short amount of time, and not on a super high dose, I really am going to suggest you try and taper off of it. I came off of it without withdrawals with a slow taper, and I know of several others who have as well, but usually, just the people who have a bad experience tapering off of it post these stories. You rarely hear of those of us who taper off and are fine. You probably won't feel anything different when you do the taper until you get down to the 1 mg per day and less part of it. I didn't really feel anything except anxiety, which to be fair I have suffered from all my life and because I too believed those stories, I was anxious. Then I heard of a friend of mine from my subs group saying he was cold turkeyed off 40 mgs per day and it wasn't as bad as people said.
I do NOT suggest anyone do that. I also had a friend here named booter42 who told me he came off at 2mgs and it wasn't too bad, and that gave me hope. The reason that taking short acting opiates after being on a long acting replacement opiate will NOT work, if because the brain gets used to that long acting one, and You would be right back trying to take many short acting ones to take the edge off. Imagine it this way, there is a hurricane all around, with strong strong winds, and there is a diner stool with a sumo wrestler sitting on it, it will stay more stable with a sumo wrestler(suboxone) atop of it than it will with a toddler(short acting opiate like lortab or vicodin, even percocet sitting on it, even 3 or 4 toddlers) I know that sounds kinda goofy, but it is the best analogy I can come up with. If you will read my profile,(click my avatar) I give the taper schedule I used, and the tips I used, that got me off subs after 2 1/2 years without withdrawal. It can be done. There are quick tapers also, you can go thru the old posts on the subs group page here, and scan them for Robert_325's quick taper. It is basically a reduction by 25% of your dose as soon as you stabilize at a taper. I have also seen it say every 4 days, and 4 or 5 days after you stabilize, drop down by 25%. Now don't quote me on that, please scan the old posts to find the link or the info, or go to the forum part of this site and start a thread to him. One thing I observed is that you can drop a bit more in the beginning of a taper, as when you get to the very end, you might feel some anxiety, have some mild insomnia ( and there are ways to help with that) the higher the dose you are at, you won't feel it ( if you even will feel it) for 5 days, when you get to .25 mgs, you can feel the subs wear off at around 36 hour mark.The fear is the main thing that stops a subs taper and causes people to derail. It can be done successfully, Hang in there and best of Luck, you are in my Prayers, Pattishan ps I have now been off of it for almost 6 months with no problems and no relapses.
I've been on 8mg's 2 x's a day for one year and 2 months, everyday. I am just starting the weening off process and to be honest I'm almost at the point where I dont even care about the Suboxone anymore, I can go almost 3 days without before I feel the bad symptoms... only feeling bad because thats NOT the way to do it, but i tried anyways. SLOWLY BUT SURELY YOU WILL WEEN OFF AND NEVER WANT TO TOUCH OXYCODONE OR VICODIN AGAIN, TRUST ME !!!
your avatar is anonymous? I want to know your taper schedule
And also, I do agree with FootBallfan12 that EVENTUALLY at some point you will most likely and LITERALLY HATE the drug that has taken over your life because you will realize that it has caused so many problems for you, in essence you will blame the drug for your life becoming a disaster, and this is actually a great thing. It will indeed NEVER EVER make you want to touch that stuff EVER again.
I'm currently tapering off buprenorphine I have been taking this medicine for a little over 6 yrs. and ive been taking about 12 mg a day for about 4 of the 6 yrs.To be honest this medication literally changed my life but I'm to the point where I'm tired of taking it I have a new job and want to get off. I started tapering about 3 1/2 wks ago and for about a week now I've been taking 1 mg a day I try and go nearly 12 to 15 hrs between doses but it's hard. I think what I'm struggling with is the routine habit of taking it a couple times a day. So starting tomorrow I'm going down to .5 mg a day and then hopefully after this next week that's it but I will keep posting if anyone has any comments please feel free I could sure use any suggestions. Thanks.
hey, i tried to click on avatar for taper guide nothing...
I tapered down to 1/4 mg a day after 5 years of 8 - 12 mg a day. I’m 3 weeks out and still have no energy, migraines daily and have tried everything from CBD, Lortab (give about an hour-1.5 of relief but then kick back the migraines), marijuana, every triptan in the book, and still suffering. I don’t know how to turn things around as I can’t even get out of bed some days. Proud of all who were successful and pray for everyone’s recovery!
I've been trying to get off of them after taking them for 10 years. For the past year I've been down to a 1/2 strip every couple weeks but my stomach is still a mess. I take antacids, zantac, nothing helps until I take a piece of that strip. How do I fix this?
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