Author: MovieMaker1

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:15 am

There is a lot that could be said here, but what I WILL say is this…

You can find bad in every facet of the recovery world if you want to. Just depends on how bad you want to get better and hold onto it. Not just stay away from drugs. That becomes the most afterthought of an issue after awhile especially on suboxone. But.

If you cut out all drugs… Minus suboxone… And find something that you can make work in recovery… You’ll get better everyday. I have many recovery outlets today, but don’t be so fast to wrote something off just because of a bad experience or something you heard or anything like that.

Like I said… Always ask yourself just how bad do you want to keep what you have…. Or get something to keep…

Take away the suboxone… What are you left with? Are still just as fucked up bit not using actively? Or do you have something to build on?

Just some thoughts.

Author: Brown Eyed Girl

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:36 am

Wow cstby, I thnk that’s awesome you are doing so well at this point. I just began a new thread here trying to get off 2mg myself. I jumped from there several times and had to go right back on it due to symptoms being so severe. I see you jumped from a dose of 1mg and maybe that’s what I should try? I asked for taper help to go lower than 2mg thinking that’s what I needed to do.

You seem to be doing awesome at day 5 after your jump. The RLS, lack of sleep, and my angry mood was also an issue when I jumped from the 2mg dose. Maybe cutting my dose in half like you did and going for it is the answer?

I will follow your progress and see how you day each day as you continue without the sub. Thanks for posting so others like me can follow.

I wish you the absolutel best!

Author: DBMB

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 11:22 am

Skipped posting yesterday but overall I can’t complain. Things have been good I have been keeping busy and at times I hardly notice anything. Sleep is still an issue and I still have some on and off RLS that is assisting that issue. Fly home tomorrow but truth is a feel healthy, alive, and better than I have in years even with sleep issues. It’s hard to imagine looking back how much opiates and suboxone was holding me back. But now I have no question. I enjoy people, can stay up past 10, and am an excercising fool. That is the old me.

Author: Fiveseven15

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:40 pm

im not going to get into my history too deep other than it involved massive amounts of pills, heroin and meth. this went on for 7 years, until a very, VERY great friend called me out and sent me to inpatient rehab ( he was the only one who called out my using, and i am forever in debt to him for that). after residential rehab (30 days) i was put on suboxone 16mg. pretty high dose. i actually got high off of it and ended up abusing suboxone. my months supply ran out in 2 weeks, and the docs kept refilling. this went on for 18 months. ive had constant back and hip pain, and when i found out about opioid-induced hyperalgesia i decided to stop. ( i am actually pain free. my WD consists of anxiety, mudbutt, and insomnia. RLS is there too..that sucks the most, but the pain is GONE) i was never great with self control obviously lol, so my last few days ‘taper’ was 8mg, then 4mg the next day, and 2mg the following two days.
Wel. its been 13 days, and mentally, i feel phenominal, always trying to keep a positive attitude. i watched a documentary called ‘Swansea Love Story’ its about a town that lost its industry and the youth are pretty much all drug addicts, but one person they interviewed kept mentioning PMA. positive mental attitude. it stuck with me for some reason (even though he ended up relapsing). I’ve gotten used to the insomnia, and the stomach issues are a bother, and its very hard to stay positive, but hard physical exertion works WONDERS. force yourself. i was moving buckets of rocks yesterday for about 10 hours, and i felt great afterwards. i find when i slow down the withdrawal creeps up.

I guess what im really getting at, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? its not debilitating but it is extremely irritating. it makes me angry, so i go work out to get back in a good mood. 5htp and b12 helps.

i guess i just need to talk about it. my wife supports me, but doesnt really understand. none of my friends are users so they dont get it ( most didnt even know) and the friends ive made in residential rehab have mostly relapsed….i dunno. i guess its therapeutic to let it out, but these low level withdrawals are annoying as f***!!!. when does it end? does anyone have any GREAT experiences? i know i boned the ‘taper’ but ive gone this far, and havent had cravings, so is the worst yet to come? i was prescribed benzos for sleep. 19mg ativan and 10mg klonopin washed down with vodka in one night didnt do a damn thing (i know it was stupid, but i was somewhat loopy from lack of sleep. that was the first drink i had in a decade, and it tasted like s*** lol)

i know im just rambling. for the people in the early days of withdrawl: MUSIC and EXERCISE. even a bit of exercise will help a ton. and one other thing i learned. try not to think about yesterday. its over. im out of ideas. if anyone can give me advice to help with the stomach issues and insomnia it would be greatly appreciated. btw tis is the longest time ive been off of mind-altering chems in the past 8 years….feels good man…

and for everyone else in these forums. thank you. your experiences have helped tremendously. i come here everyday to read and read, and gather strength..

Author: Faeked

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:21 pm

Well I believe this marks three weeks and besides the copious amounts of sweat under the pits, foggy head, yawns and sneezes I’m doing remarkably well! Energy spiked yesterday and today is even better. I’m guessing the jogging in the morning is doing wonders because since I started doing that I’ve noticed huge improvements every couple of days. Emotions are leveling out and my heartbeat has dropped below 100bpm! Things are good, I’m stoked!

Author: Brown Eyed Girl

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 2:24 pm

Hi Amy. Thank you so much for your reply. I was beginning to wonder if my thread was in the wrong spot or something like that. I guess I could have provided additional information in my first post also. Let me give a few other details and see what happens. I’ll try to keep it short.

I’m 33 and been an addict for over 15 years using all kinds of different drugs. Narcotic pills were definitely my drug of choice. I was taking upwards of 400-600mgs per day of Vicodin, Perc’s, Methadone, etc, etc, etc. Tried quitting many, many times and kept relapsing over and over. I lost nearly everything that was important in my life and finally hit "rock bottom" at that point. Had a nasty Benzo habit also which is the worst drug to get free from.

I have tried both NA and AA in the past, and they both did help, but I just never really wanted to remain clean before. Well I can assure you that I do now! A friend suggested I give Suboxone a try as she had been successful with it. I guess the sub doctor put me on too much of the sub (24mgs) in the beginning. He also told me to wait only 8-12 hours from my very last dose of narcotics before coming in and being inducted in his office. Turns out that wasn’t nearly long enough and I went into Precipated Withdrawals. Thought I was going to die I was so sick, being in bed for days. After stopping the subs entirely at that point, I waited longer and was inducted again. Still too high, but I was again put on 24mgs per day for about 3 years.

I began tapering the dose on my own without his knowledge and got down to the 2mg dose I’m now on. Tried jumping from there as I said but that was nearly impossible for me and always had to get right back on that 2mg dose where I am right now.

To answer your question why I am so impatient, I just want my life back Amy. I have recovered from my years of drug abuse financially, and I’m actually quite healthy and in good shape physically. Now I want to get my friends back, and have family members want me around at different functions instead of me being the one they never wanted to be in attendance. I don’t want to TELL them I’m clean and a new person, I want to SHOW them all I am with my actions, not words.

That link to the RX Cutting Plan is awesome Amy! Thanks for providing me with that! I’m going to definitely take your advice and taper from the 2mg I’m now on too using that plan! I see the 2mg sub films are the same exactl size as the 8mg ones. No sense using 8mg film when it would be so much easier to use and cut those 2mg ones into tiny doses. I have plenty of 8mg films saved up as I have been tapering without the doctors knowledge. I wonder if the pharmacy will let me swap some 8mg films for some of the 2mg ones? Probably not, but I know the sub doctor will give me those anyway if I ask him. He’s pretty easy going and I’m sure he will give me the 2mg film if I ask him.

I’m going with my friend to her next NA meeting also. I’m going to use every tool at my disposal this time around to remain clean. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your reply. You have provided me with valuable info which I intend to use to the best of my ability. Thank you again so much!

Karen

Author: Fiveseven15

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:21 pm

I’m no expert but I think you may be one of the lucky ones? Excercise helps more than you could imagine. I myself am on day 13 off subs and still have physical wd. Keep hydrated, exercise, and aleve works WONDERS…most important is to stay positive. As corny as it sounds it has everything to do with succeeding. Best of luck

Author: Fiveseven15

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:28 pm

Have you talked to a doc about subs and norco? There’s some cross tolerance and it could be dragging it out since subs are so powerful compared to norco. I’m no doc, but I read about opioid induced hyperalgesia. Pretty much they CAUSE pain, and most docs confuse it with a tolerance issue. When I stopped subs my back pain went away in 2 days. I’d consult with a doc…I’m also on day 12 (Jumped off at 2mg) and other than mudbutt and some other little things its pretty close to over…..can you try an NSAID instead of norco for a day to see if it helps with pain?

Author: RXFCG

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:59 pm

Thanks DBMB. I plan to take it all the way down to zero, reducing by .063 mg every week. Once I get down to 0.125 mg or lower, I’ll start reducing my amount by 0.015 mg. Before I jump, I’ll gradually skip more and more days between doses to further reduce the amount of Suboxone in my system. I want to have the least amount of Suboxone in my system before I jump. I feel this will limit the withdrawals I could experience.

This is my plan and I’ll adjust accordingly as the time comes. I have a daily record of my dose since 2 mg and plan to inform everybody as the time progresses and once I am clean.

Author: TeeJay

Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:13 pm

I just re-read the thread and I don’t know who said this.