Does tapering aid in healing? Or prolong the process?

[[Wi...]]

I am curious aboit your suboxone use. You are not on it anymore? Ive been on it 12 years and am wanting to quit. Could you describe your experience? Thanks!

[[Ea...]]

I am curious aboit your suboxone use. You are not on it anymore? Ive been on it 12 years and am wanting to quit. Could you describe your experience? Thanks!

 

I started taking opioids daily from around 2008/2009 to 2014. June 10, 2014 is when I started taking suboxone. The first year or so I thought it was a miracle drug. But as time went on I honestly just got tired of having to base every single day of my life around taking a medication to function. I tried to CT a couple times & had even made it up to a month without taking any but my chronic pain & anxiety prevented me from staying off. The first time I REALLY started trying to taper was in the beginning of 2018 & by March I had gotten down to only 2 mg a day so I decided to go ahead and jump. I managed to stay off of it until August but I just wasn’t happy with my quality of life so went back on. The only problem was that I was concurrently quitting xanax so when I reinstated I started to have adverse reactions. It got to the point to where I would be fine taking 1 mg but if I tried taking another it would send me into a severe panic attack/wave. For me, it got to the point to where I was just completely fed up of how any & all medications were making me feel. I think that the only reason that quitting this time worked was bc I had been off for a few month’s then when I reinstated it was such a low dose that the withdrawal symptoms weren’t really that bad. I know how the withdrawal felt from opioids bc I had gone through it so many times but the withdrawal from suboxone just seemed to linger. Although the combination of benzo/opioid withdrawal is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The pain & discomfort I experienced when I finally decided to quit it all has been a living hell. But, with that being said now that I’m at where I am, I’m incredibly grateful. The withdrawal from opioids just never seemed to be severe enough to make me completely quit. I always knew it would suck, but eventually go away. When I quit both though, it just seemed like I was in a perpetual state of withdrawal for month’s. It’s like the opioid withdrawal became a permanent mind state. Around month 4 after quitting benzo’s & month 2 of suboxone is when I really started to notice a significant change. IMO, suboxone is a great tool to transition from opioids, but I don’t agree with being kept on it permanently except for maybe in more severe cases. Like I know others that were on several medications for anxiety, pain, depression etc & once on suboxone were able to quit everything else. If taking one med works just as well as taking six, I’m all for it. I do suggest tapering if one decides to quit but with that being said I believe that this is a personal decision. All in all, I’m grateful for suboxone. I don’t think that it is a cure for opioid dependence at all, but it can definitely ease the withdrawal symptoms. Although, I do think that the withdrawal from suboxone can be more difficult that other opioids such as norco or percocet. It just seems to me that it lasts much longer than a typical opioid. I don't really know if the withdrawal from suboxone would have been as bad as it was for me if I wasn’t taking benzo’s at the same time. But overall, I’m just incredibly glad to be feeling the way I do now completely chemical free. If you do want to get off, I suggest taking ur time & tapering at the pace u feel most comfortable with. In comparison, the withdrawal from opioids seems so much more minor than benzo withdrawal now. I guess that’s what I personally needed for me to finally decide that enough is enough. I just hit my 6 month mark for benzo’s & my 4 month mark for being completely suboxone free (quit from March to August, then reinstated August to November) & I honestly haven’t felt this good in years. I’m back to exercising daily, (running 3-4 miles along with an hour of lifting), eating & feeling pretty healthy (very minor sugar & caffeine with rarely any severe reactions or food sensitivities), & mentally feeling stronger than I have in a long time. Maybe for some of us that huge shock to the system is what’s necessary in order to change behavioral habits. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it as it can be potentially dangerous, but after going through what I have, this has been the only thing that feels like it’s really stuck. And even though I’m not 100% healed, (still have head pressure, nerve pain, inner vibrations, & anxiety) the intensity of it is starting to become so minor that my symptoms only cross my mind for brief periods of time throughout the day. Things are working out better than I had ever anticipated. Hope this helps

[[ea...]]

Hmmm.. maybe opiate withdrawal can cause kindling too. Interesting. I have (or had, not sure now-) chronic pain from a femur fractur I had thanks to benzos (I was falling a lot back then.) Orla narcotics did not help a bit so my pain doc gave me an implanted pain pump. That was 11 years ago. Now, I am not sure if I NEED pain meds or not. So, I am slowly reducing the tiny dose of Dilaudid I get via the pump. I am down almost 12 percent now and have had NO increase in pain. My plan is to keep "tapering" (I cannot control the pump but my doc's NP can-) every time I go in for my 3 month refills.

I will tell you that an implanted pain pump definitely helps pain patients. When I first got it my pain levels were truly bad. I could barely walk. The pump worked SO much better in controlling my pain.

I now just do not like the idea that I am addicted once again to a drug.

east

[[Ea...]]

Hmmm.. maybe opiate withdrawal can cause kindling too. Interesting. I have (or had, not sure now-) chronic pain from a femur fractur I had thanks to benzos (I was falling a lot back then.) Orla narcotics did not help a bit so my pain doc gave me an implanted pain pump. That was 11 years ago. Now, I am not sure if I NEED pain meds or not. So, I am slowly reducing the tiny dose of Dilaudid I get via the pump. I am down almost 12 percent now and have had NO increase in pain. My plan is to keep "tapering" (I cannot control the pump but my doc's NP can-) every time I go in for my 3 month refills.

I will tell you that an implanted pain pump definitely helps pain patients. When I first got it my pain levels were truly bad. I could barely walk. The pump worked SO much better in controlling my pain.

I now just do not like the idea that I am addicted once again to a drug.

east

 

East, I feel like I can see where u r coming from. But I highly doubt my pain levels are anywhere near what you’ve had to endure. I can totally see ur reasons for wanting off & respect whichever decision u feel is right for u. Pain is definitely unique to ea individual. I really believe that when having to deal with pain, it truly comes down to quality of life. I still can’t say for certainty that I’ll never get back on pain meds regularly, it’s what I strive for but I’m also trying to be realistic. Although, I do know that I’m definitely done with my benzo use. I’m pretty confident that this will be it. Hope alls well, best of luck to u in this process.