Author: broseph

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:25 am

Hello friends.

Here is a link to my taper thread:
http://suboxforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7549

So, I’ve been off subs for approximately one month now. The process is documented above, including the jump. At one month, I pretty much feel the same as I did after 2 weeks. Normal. I sleep 6-7 hours a night, but am not tired (so all good) and have felt a real resurgence of interest in my future. That came back pretty heavily on sub, but now that I’m 100% opiate free, I can tell there is a subtle difference between having a small daily opioid dose and being totally sober in mind and body.

I understand the precarious nature of many people’s addiction, histories, and the relapse rate make the use of sub long term a very viable option for a lot of people. And I don’t discount or disagree with that. But I kind of snapped when I broke my addiction mentality Christmas of 2011 and got on sub and just stared tapering immediately. My goal was to be off it ASAP and then see what’s up. This is where I’m at, and I’m very happy I stuck to the plan and reached my goal. I have zero zero zero desire to get high. I genuinely believe you could put drugs in front of me and I wouldn’t do them. I’ve already been offered T3, vicodin, roxy. I know a couple of people who got dental work done; another old friend randomly hit me up asking out of nowhere. An issue is no one knows I’m an addict. They actually seem surprised when I don’t want free vicodin. I just say I’m too old for that shit. This was all within the last week, almost like the universe is testing me. I turned everyone down with not one single thought of saying yes, honestly. I can’t even think about turning back the clock on this. I went too far down the rabbit hole to climb out and dive back in. I’ll read this every now and again to remind myself..

I know my journey has been perceived as being easier than others, or some kind of anomaly. I don’t think this is the case. I think there are more people out there like me than you think and they just don’t go online to post about it. Hell, I have 2 friends that tapered to around the same as me and had basically the same experience. They’re still clean.

I think the astronomically huge aspects of successfully tapering are psychology, exercise, and diet.
First, sort out whatever shit it is that made you want to get high in the first place. This varies extensively, but I’ve come to learn that a lot of opiate addictions are borne out of an emotional trauma. And if you can face that while you taper, your jump will be infinitely easier. Therapy or an addiction counselor are highly recommended.
Second, exercise. Lift weights (even if they’re light), do body weight exercises, walk, jog, run or ride a bike. This is your anti-dote to PAWS and the shitty symptoms to some drops, especially under 1mg.
Diet is also very important for everyone, but especially for someone coming off this addiction. Most addicts don’t exactly take care of their bodies while active. Although I never went off the rails, I was definitely eating too much candy and sugary drinks. I cut all that shit out. Fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, whole grains, water. You’re preparing to take your body off a chemical addiction it’s had for quite a while. Get it in top shape and you will be rewarded with an easier journey.

These are all just recommendations, but do what you can. It WILL help. I employed such an approach and stepped off with relative ease. I never would’ve imagined it would’ve been so, but that’s what it was.

At this point, I’m taking 5-htp and melatonin and night to sleep, but I think those are actually good for you, so I will not continue their use for the foreseeable future. I also take plenty of minerals, supplements and continue to exercise and stay busy.

I hope chronicling my journey has helped some people, and I’ll continue to update this thread as I see fit, or as people have questions/concerns.

Lastly, thank you to everyone here for being part of a great, positive community that supports people with addiction/dependence issues in a proper way and anyone who pushed me along and encouraged me on my thread during my taper. You guys are the best, and this wouldn’t have been as easy without you. Seriously, thank you.