Hi Jewel, GGRL, and TrampyG! WOW!!! You guys are doing it - Way to go!
I believe from Ed's experinence that when you are able to stabilize at 1 mg - that is, feel 'normal' again at 1 mg - then the worst may be over. You three are doing so great, please hang in there! Ed will have been off the sub for two months on October 10th and he's feeling great! He says that when he looks back at his sub taper he was very depressed, he knew he was depressed each time he tapered, but he didn't realize until just recently that the 'blah' feeling he had - his words and I see that you guys are using the exact same word - was in fact depression from the sub. He's feeling really great now, has been back to work for about a month. So HANG IN THERE - there is a pot of gold at the end of the sub taper rainbow!!!
I copied Ed's taper schedule below with some info along with it that I like to share with people who are going thru the same thing and hungry for all information they can find - especially the one's with a happy sub ending!!!! Please keep posting here and sharing how you are feeling and doing - so the next group of people can learn from your experience. By that time, you three will be OFF the sub and feeling GREAT!!!! Love to you all! RoyalSecret
Here is Ed's Subutex taper schedule. It has worked very well for him. Please keep in mind that while he was tapering he was off work so he was able to go thru a 'bad day' while he was tapering without having to worry about working. If he had to be at work during the taper process, he would have done it more slowly.
We believe that the key to a successful sub taper is to taper down very low, and take the time to stabilize at each dose before tapering again. Sub is extremely POWERFUL and to be respected. Also, be prepared to feel each taper a day or two, and just remember that once you stabilize you will feel better again, until the next taper.
Ed said the worst he felt when he was 'feeling' the taper was depression, anxiety, and a restless feeling where he couldn't get comfortable in his own skin.
Just remember that it's normal to feel this way for a day or two when you are tapering - Ed usually felt this way on day 2 or day 3 of each taper. We feel it is so important to give yourself time to stabilize each time you taper, then a day or two to enjoy feeling 'stabilized' before you taper down again. If you don't, and you taper too fast, you can find yourself feeling depressed, anxious, etc., the entire time you are on sub - which can lead to relapsing.
Ed felt that it definitely got harder for him once he got down to 1 mg - that is why he stayed at the 1 mg dose for 10 days.
2 days at 24 mg
5 days at 16 mg
5 days at 12 mg
4 days at 8 mg
5 days at 6 mg
4 days at 4 mg
3 days at 3 mg
10 days at 1 mg
3 days at .50 mg
3 days at .25mg
3 days at .12
Ed's last day of Subutex was on August 9th. He tried to stop the sub when he was day 1 at .25 but when he got to the 30 hour mark of no sub, he started having bad w/d's - nothing like the oxycontin w/d's, but bad enough that he said he wanted to taper down even more.
He tapered for another week and when he stopped at .12 we thought for sure that he would go thru 4-5 days of w/d's...but he didn't! He slept that first night just fine and that awful depressed restless feeling filled with anxiety and heebie jeebies never came! He must have had already gone thru that during his previous tapers.
Again, HANG IN THERE - YOU ARE ALMOST FREE!!
RS
