I have not been on this board for quite some time. I was addicted to Vicodin for about 2 and a half years. Last June I found a Sub doctor. He put me on a small dosage of subutex. I have been taking about 2-3 mg of subutex a day since then, I am reeady to get off of it and move on. I know that there is some wd's associated with getting off of sub but I can sense it is not as bad as the vikes.

My question is is this, what can I expect and how long will it last? I have some clonidine to get past the some rough times for the first few days.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks,

Andrew

Sub is difficult to get off of, but it can be done, with minimal withdrawals, with a very slow taper. The trick is to stabilize yourself at a given dose and then slowly reduce the dosage and then keep repeating the process over and over again until you get down to a very low dose, then you can successfully come off and use the clonidine to manage whatever latent withdrawal symptoms you may have, but I doubt if you will even need it if you do it correctly. Be aware, that in this process, you still will experience some degree of withdrawal discomfort, but nothing compared to cold turkey. It is simply impossible to come off opiate dependence without experiencing some degree of withdrawal, the slow taper method is simply the least intense and humane method of doing it.

In your situation, it sounds like you're already stabilized comfortably at 3mgs. Your immediate goal would be to go down to 2mg; you'll then experience the modest, but very manageable, withdrawal symptoms for a few days or so. When you get to the point where you are completely comfortable at 2mg, then you reduce the dose once again. At this point you'll need a good pill splitter, which you can purchase at any good drugstore, or big chain retail store. I personally, was able to cut the 2mg pill in half and stabilize relatively quickly and painlessly at 1mg, but it’s different with every individual. If you find out that the drop to 1mg is too much for you to handle, then simply cut one of the half pills into half again. You then take the remaining quarter pill with another half pill portion and attempt to stabilize yourself at 1 1/2 mg instead of 1mg. Then soon thereafter, within days most likely, you should be able to get by with 1mg. If you get this low, you’re doing great! Don’t stop! Keep cutting the pills and repeating the process until you’ve tapered down to .25mg, or 1/8th of a 2mg pill. At this point, most people can come off the suboxone relatively easily, but I have even heard of a case where a person tapered down to as low as .125 and then came completely off with no withdrawal whatsoever!
This slow tapering method works. Trust me, I’ve spoken with several people that have successfully come off suboxone this way, and it works very well if done correctly.

A word of caution: There are several products out there that you can purchase at health food stores and over the internet which, in my opinion, make bogus claims to the effect that their particular OTC products can someone miraculously alleviate most, if not all of the opiate withdrawal sickness :nono:
I'm not saying not to consider them, because different products work for different people, but remember the simple rule that the only thing that can completely take away the opiate withdrawal syndrome is another opiate, such as methadone and suboxone. With the exception, possibly of clonidine, but unfortunately, this drug has the side effect of lowering one's blood pressure, and it makes a lot of people feel run down and crappy. Hope that helps.

Stacey :)

hey dad how it goes with ya.ask for a poster by the name of goddessgirl as she has been thru the exact same thing that you are askin about.she is a sweeheart and will most likely be glad to help you on this.you have to do a very very slow taper or you will relapse.i myself have been on suboxone twice now and both times was not able to get off it without relapsein but i did not taper slow enough and got in trouble.good luck-spark

Props to Goddessgrl65! I read her posts and she successfully tapered off the suboxone using the taper method I referred too! She is truly an inspiration and proves that you don't have to spend a small fortune on other products to successfully taper off the suboxone as well (It’s bad enough paying for the sub itself!).

Stacey

Props to Goddessgrl65! I read her posts and she successfully tapered off the suboxone using the taper method I referred too! She is truly an inspiration and proves that you don't have to spend a small fortune on other products to successfully taper off the suboxone as well (It’s bad enough paying for the sub itself!).

Stacey

Thanks Stacy I will do that, I did not realize that there are pill splitters. I will buy one. I think that I can start off by 2 mg's a day as I am hovering around 3 to 3 and a half mg right now. So I will start doing that. I know it takes some discipline and I realize that there is going to be a degree of wd's but with the suboxone, it does not seem to be as bad as it was when I was trying to quit vicodine cold turkey or taper. I was not able to do either.

And yes you are right the sub is expensive. Definately an expense I can live without. I am greatful for the suboxone because being on vicodin was awful and so was the inability to get off of it no matter how hard I tried.

Thanks for the advice and I will keep you updated.

Andrew.

Could someone give me a round about dollar amount on how much the Sub costs........are we allowed to ask that on here............? I f we cant let me know, please just dont throw me out....I have heard so many different prices aqnd everything else on this board seems to be correct so I would like some info from people who know what they are talking about.....THANKS MUCH HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Could someone give me a round about dollar amount on how much the Sub costs........are we allowed to ask that on here............? I f we cant let me know, please just dont throw me out....I have heard so many different prices aqnd everything else on this board seems to be correct so I would like some info from people who know what they are talking about.....THANKS MUCH HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I don't think it is against the rules to ask the price of subutex.I pay 25 dollars for 10 2 mg pills. They are sublingal (You take them under the tongue)>

Thanks for the info........sorry...................one more thing, what type of dr are you going to that writes you a script...............I have called around in my area and they told me this dr was new, I would be like his 2nd pt and he wanted something like 2 grand for i think 3 months and I would have to pay for my own scripts and then there is another program that you pay 895$ for a month,meds included, but i think that is only for a month and if you havent detoxed yet then i guess its like to bad so sad, I am not sure how familar the drs where i live our even educated on it...i got the manes off the sub list and most of the places i have called are very new to it..and i feel like i know more about addiction then they do, most of them our pain management drs that our branching out into this, to help there pts and i am sure for the money too, i myself am in the medical field and only learned about it when i started looking into trying to get clean again this time....so any dr info and prices anyone has please post.......thanks.................CHRIST INE

Hi all..Catholic Dad..i answered your question on the other thread..
Stacey..we did basically the same type of tapering..day 10..feeling much better,
I can't complain!!!Knowing how many horrible kicks ive endured over the years..this was a process..but as you said..humane.
Thank you for your excellent info..i stand by this treatment-and still do not feel cravings-but am exp. mild post-acute depression.
But w/ the therapy and anti-depressant meds..i feel im on the right path-to changing my life.
I wish everyone freedom from addiction..
ggrl :angel: