quitting suboxone with percocet

[itstime]

I was on suboxone for 4 years (about 8mg per day at first and tapered down to 1mg).  Here comes the tricky part...under the supervision of my addiction specialist, I switched to oxycodone and think it will be easier to come off that that the dredded subox.  Subox is 30 times mg per mg more powerful than oxycodone.  And with its half life, it is like taking 30 mgs of percocet but never coming off of it for 24 to 36 hrs.  That is a lot of percocet to fill those shoes.  So far so good with the percs.  On day one I took 14 5 mg oxycodone.  Today, one week later I am down to 8 5 mg pills.  Next will be dropping one per day.  By next week I should be taking one a day for the extreem withdrawals.  Has anyone attempted this before?  If I get down to one 5 mg oxycondone per day....can I avoid withdrawals?

[Larsy1566]

I hate it also. How long and how much are you taking?

[NickleSpender]

I've been on Subs for about 6 months, and I am scared crapless when I think about stopping cold, at any dose. I'm destroying my life one day at a time. I have ruined (am ruining) opportunities that I have created for myself, I dropped out of high school and worked dead end jobs until I was 24. To this point, I had not had an opiate problem. I had messed around with oxy's, but never prolonged usage. I have always had anxiety problems, and self-medicated with klonopins bought mainly from my aunt.

Then I joined the Army as a Signals Intel Analyst. I was in the Army for 6 years, breaking down roughly to 2 yrs Maryland, 2 yrs Germany, 2 yrs Iraq. I got out of the military JAN 2012. I was collecting 550$ in unemployment, plus some saved up money. I started to take perc 30s more and more casually. It took well over a year before I got to the point of real addiction. I got/have a job in IT, and I make an OK living doing this. I have also used the GI Bill, which in Boston pays you about 2500/month (not taxed). I was spending everything I could get on P30s without realizing it.

I found suboxone and thought all was well. After taking Subs for a month, I had trouble when I tried tot stop. Since then, I've tried to taper repeatedly, and I never get anywhere. I wake up in pain. It feels like I got kicked in my ribs while I slept. I also end up sleeping 10+ hours OFTEN. I have failed out/dropped ALL classes I have taken. I am at the point where I am willing to go to a detox/rehab/whatever. I have a very supportive gf who will help me and support me with whatever decision I make. I’ve never seen a DR for painkillers, and one of the reasons I don’t want to go the DR route is my clearance. Once I go that route, I will never hold a security clearance again. That’s a lot of money on the table in potential future earnings.

I currently work in the IT department in Downtown Boston in a 9 floor building, and attend Northeastern University, pursuing a B.S. in IT for free. I actually GET PAID 2500/month to go to school.

I wasn’t satisfied with what I was doing with my life, so I joined the military in order to give myself opportunities. I am pissing away everything that I gave 6 years of life for. If I could just get clean, my life is right in front of me. And it’s a cakewalk. I went to war, and then I volunteered to go back. That was easy, this is not.

I’ve been arguing with my GF and we both know I’m not me. I sleep all day and put off homework until I don’t do it. I’ve never had any depression problems, but I am growing way past disappointed in myself and starting to feel sorry for myself, which is depressing.

[sprawl]

I'm not sure about that 30mg  per mg stronger. I am tapering down successfully. Down from 1mg to .8mg so far. It took a month to go from 1 to 8/10ths of one. it'll take more months to SLOWLY taper down to 1/10th of 1mg.  That is a low dose I can live with forever..  It's cheaper to buy off the street than to get an RX

[Auwerx]

Please read "Overcoming Opiate Addiction" by Dr. Adam Basiaga. Suboxone cannot get you high! It's loaded with Narcan..it's a full blown "anti-agonist", which means it kicks off any & all of the opiates that have attached themselves to the nerve endings! Suboxone contains NO opiates!

Buprenorphine (Subutex)  is a "Partial Agonist". That means that it does contain some opiate in the drug itself. However..you cannot get high! It reaches a certain level & then stops the opiate from attaching fully to the nerve endings. It's actually a better drug to use because you don't have to go through days, if not weeks of withdrawal, especially for heroin users.

Methadone..a full blown agonist. It's trading one opiate for another. But hey... it's evidently  been working for years on addicts all over the world.

And no.. I'm no medical professional. My apologies to those in the medical profession if I screwed up on the explanation here. But I've been doing a deep dive into what medicine has to say about the current opiate crises we find ourselves in in 2018. I'm finally getting clean after 21 years. But I need to see the science that's going on. Be informed folks! Take control of your lives. Thanks.

Cheers!


Auwerx

[DocEmmitBrown]

After reading this thread. It is wonderful that "Itstime" was able to do what he did. Very interesting indeed. Now I was not going to reply , considering the age of the thread here. But the pure misinformation in the last post, is so bad that I have to. Suboxone is combination drug of one part Buprenorphine (usually 3/4th), the second part naloxone(1/4th). Suboxone itself is considered a partial agonist opiate.(Which in no way speaks to it's binding affinity, which is astronomical) The reason for this, is because it has buprenorphine in the pill. Which is,  in and of itself a partial agonist opiate. The naloxone is in the medication as a deterrent. For ROA(route of administration) abuse. So to be as clear as I possibly can Suboxone contains Buprenorphine which is most DEFINITELY an opiate. Subutex, which is stand alone Buprenorphine, which I previously mentioned is a partial agonist opiate, without the naloxone in the pill itself.  The previous poster is right about the Methadone being a full agonist opiate. The reason Suboxone is so hard to get off of, Is it's very long half life , and it's binding affinity to your mu opioid receptors. Methadone is it's own beast. In a lot of professional opinions, it is outdated, and should never be prescribed over a buprenorphine product for opiate dependence. God bless any one trying to come off any opiate. I truly wish you the best. Congratulations to the original poster for such a success.

- Dr. Emmit Brown

[liliansdream]

Thank you for posting DrEmmitBrown.  I am trying the same thing as  "Itstime"..  I'm on day 7 of using Percs to get off the Suboxone.  I started on 6 percs / day for the first 3 days then I had to increase to 8 day 5 & 6.  That is when the w/d seemed the worse... I am doing this under my totally "unknowledgeable Suboxone Dr.s"..  supervision.  I say that because she really doesn't have a clue how hard it is to come off.. or she doesn't care and just wants repeat customers so she will prescribe to those with a mild opiate addiction.   I had a urine sample and Suboxone still showed up over 120 hrs since my last dose.  That is the scary part how potent it is with that long half life... It builds and builds..    

I couldn't drop from 2mg to 1.5mg without significant w/d symptoms which surprised me as getting to 2mg was not difficult.  From what i have read dropping minute doses and going through some w/d with each drop and it taking a month or more to stabilize, "I couldn't give up that much time to feel sick"...   I was on Sub years ago, and once I had it out of my system for 2-3 weeks, I felt so much better.. bit by  bit my energy returned..  I was very physically active with exercise so I think that helped.  

In a week I switch to Tylenol #3. for 10 days..   I live in Canada and my Suboxone Dr can do this for me..  I guess in the USA a Suboxone Dr. cannot prescribe other opiates.. "I gather from what I have read"..  that is tragic.  some people need this route.  I have no worry about becoming addicted to the percs as I have not felt high once from them doing this.. just keeping me out of bad w/d's.  Is am being very cautious about how many I take as I know all about the slippery slope.  I just want to be done with opiates... I hate them, and love life clean..

Liliansdream