Subutex

Hey everyone, I’m curious—what has your experience been like after finally quitting Suboxone?
I took five years off from working, and last summer, I finally decided it was time to get clean for good. I started the process back in December by sticking strictly to my prescribed doses, and since then, I've been on Suboxone. Right now, I’m down to taking half a pill every couple of days (actually a little less, maybe every 30 hours), and I’m ready to be done with it. But I wanted to ask: does anyone know if there’s a massive crash or withdrawal period once you stop completely? And if so, what does that actually feel like?
Also, I have one more question...
Is it possible to use speed or other stimulants while you're still on Suboxone?

Of course you can, just don't go riding high in the morning; instead of pushing through, maybe just take a couple of tranquilizers 🙄
Honestly, you’d be better off spending the cash you blow on speed or X on a psychiatrist instead.

kiđanka said:I'm curious about people's experiences after stopping Suboxone...
I was on a five-year break, and last summer I finally decided to get clean. I started with the Heparin doses through December, and since then, I've been on Suboxone... Now I'm down to half a pill every two days (maybe a little less, about 30 hours), and I want to quit entirely. I'm wondering if there's still a struggle once you stop, and what that looks like...
And I have one more question...
Is it okay to use speed or pictures while on Suboxone?

Well, you should probably consult your doctor. In theory, the whole point of this therapy is to lead you toward being completely clean from everything, including those pills...

And no, you absolutely cannot be using speed or, God forbid, acid. Anything could happen because of that...👎

I spent about ten years on a pretty heavy cycle with speed—every weekend, sometimes even mid-week. Lately, I’ve switched over to Suboxone, and honestly, the craving for speed has mostly vanished. I’m taking very little now—averaging about half a dose every three days—and I’ve been steady like that for about seven months. There are even stretches where a week goes by without any issues. The only thing is that mental itch—that psychological pull to take something just to unwind. One physical thing I did notice is that I sweat a bit more overnight; it only happened for two days, though, and then things leveled out. And, of course, there's that lingering, low-key depression...

Look, folks, I can honestly say I’m truly sorry that this monster of a drug didn't leave you alone and that things spiraled out of control, but at the exact same time, I have to thank God🙏🙏🙏 that I wasn't curious enough to go dragging myself into the mess you're all in...

I am sincerely wishing you all the luck and the sheer willpower needed to claw your way out of that hell

I’m pretty new here, so I’m still trying to wrap my head around how everything works on this board... honestly, I’m looking for some advice on how to actually quit Suboxone once and for all. I’m dealing with both mental and physical struggles whenever I try to cut back or stop, even if I just miss a little bit of it

You go to see your doctor and they simply tell you straight up that you aren't going to find the answers you're looking for on a forum like this.
It happens gradually, much like the process with methadone. This crisis is merely a brief episode, so just stay calm. Go consult your physician.

Withdrawal is a deeply personal hell. My ex-boyfriend used to be a total wreck without his Suboxone... both mentally and physically. He tried to pull himself together pretty fast while he was in rehab, but honestly? When he finally decided to go cold turkey with the help of his doctor and psychiatrist, he just swapped one problem for another by leaning on antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds. Those things are just as addictive, so he didn't actually get anywhere. From what I saw—and I was right there by his side the whole time—and from what he told me, coming off Suboxone hit him twice as hard as coming off dopamine, even if it didn't last quite as long. We're talking muscle spasms, pacing the floor like a caged animal, vomiting, fevers, racing heart, mental instability... the works. But yeah, it was shorter. In my opinion, if you actually give a damn about getting clean from this garbage (and I mean the heavy stuff like white powder, dopamine, heroin, etc.—not counting speed, acid, or weed, since those hit differently and don't create the same kind of trap), then bite the bullet and do it the hard way. You need some serious, unpredictable willpower, but that's just the reality. He didn't have it, and now... well, he's gone. Anyway, good luck to you all. Stay safe out there. If you're going to do this, at least do it smart—clean needles and all that.

You can't just talk about buprenorphine "Subutex" in such half-baked terms. It’s a heavy-duty analgesic that, honestly, should be avoided—just like using Suboxone as a painkiller. Since it’s packed with naloxone, which ER doctors use to kick drugs off receptors and pull someone out of an overdose, you're messing with serious chemistry. These meds hit three different types of opioid receptors in your brain, so playing around with them is basically playing with fire. If you want the straight truth? Only about 20% of addicts actually stay clean and get kicked out of treatment for good.

But even that isn't the full story. The real truth is much more brutal. This is clinical data for the general public, but honestly, you might be better off not knowing the actual percentage.

It’s enough to say that heroin addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease.
The brain gets permanently damaged, but that’s not even the worst part. For almost every addict out there, life is absolutely trashed, and clawing your way out of that hellhole is a mission that's practically impossible.

So, stay far away from heroin. It will wreck you. And I don't just mean your brain... it's this vicious, endless loop: heroin-methadone-heroin-Subutex... death.

wanderingcobra2 I think everyone here gets what she’s getting at... Look, all she wants to know is what it’s actually like once you stop taking Suboxone. Sadly... or maybe I should say luckily, I can't give her a firsthand account because I haven't been through it myself. But I was by someone's side 24/7 while they went through absolute hell—and unfortunately, they didn't make it out the other side... (don't take this as a dig, I see you're trying just as hard as I am to help 🙂). It really comes down to willpower and the actual hunger to get clean. I don't know anyone who successfully quit just because their parents forced them into some rehab center or whatever; most of those people just end up right back where they started. Everyone I know who is actually sober did it because they made the call themselves and stood their ground. They had to endure both the physical and mental agony. Now, let's be clear: I'm against methadone and Suboxone therapy because you're basically just swapping one addiction for another... sure, it might be an aggressive approach, but honestly, it's the only thing that works in the long run. Ultimately, though, it's all about the individual and their own headspace. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't even realize the domino effect that happens, and those who do are either too weak to face it or it just pushes them even deeper into the hole.

wanderingcobra2 said:You can't just talk about buprenorphine "Subutex" in such half-baked terms. It’s a heavy-duty analgesic that, honestly, should be avoided—just like using Suboxone as a painkiller. Since it’s packed with naloxone, which ER doctors use to kick drugs off receptors and pull someone out of an overdose, you're messing with serious chemistry. These meds hit three different types of opioid receptors in your brain, so playing around with them is basically playing with fire. If you want the straight truth? Only about 20% of addicts actually stay clean and get kicked out of treatment for good.

But even that isn't the full story. The real truth is much more brutal. This is clinical data for the general public, but honestly, you might be better off not knowing the actual percentage.

It’s enough to say that heroin addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease.
The brain gets permanently damaged, but that’s not even the worst part. For almost every addict out there, life is absolutely trashed, and clawing your way out of that hellhole is a mission that's practically impossible.

So, stay far away from heroin. It will wreck you. And I don't just mean your brain... it's this vicious, endless loop: heroin-methadone-heroin-Subutex... death.

What about the ones who actually manage to quit? Are they still mentally broken?? I'm not being sarcastic, I quit a long time ago but damn, I still feel like a junkie... I don't take any meds and I function normally in society (well, except for the occasional meltdown), but I am broken deep down inside. For my depression, all I have is work, just endless work...

driftingpanther42 said:What about the ones who actually manage to quit? Are they still mentally broken?? I'm not being sarcastic, I quit a long time ago but damn, I still feel like a junkie... I don't take any meds and I function normally in society (well, except for the occasional meltdown), but I am broken deep down inside. For my depression, all I have is work, just endless work...

Yeah, for life. Once your brain chemistry gets hijacked, it stays wonky. The only real fix is staying clean forever. There isn't some magical "cure." Addiction is like a sleeping beast; the second your brain figures out a way to get its hands on an opioid—whether it's heroin or methadone, doesn't matter—it's game over. It doesn't care if you've been sober for five years or twenty.

Having your act together and staying busy—like having a steady 9-to-5—is the closest thing to a "cure," but let's be real, that's the hardest part for anyone struggling with addiction.
Hang in there.👍

I think you're off base here. I was deep in the addiction game myself—didn't quite hit the needle stage, but I was definitely in the thick of it—and I can tell you firsthand that Suboxone saved my skin. I stayed on it for about two years before realizing I just didn't need it anymore. I started tapering off naturally, and honestly? I never once dealt with withdrawal or felt even remotely weird about it. Maybe everyone's biology is different, but the whole "drama" people make about quitting seems pretty unnecessary to me. A lot of it is mental—if you're just sitting around at home with nothing to do, you'll find a way to invent a crisis if you look hard enough.

briskangler15 said:I spent about ten years on a pretty heavy cycle with speed—every weekend, sometimes even mid-week. Lately, I’ve switched over to Suboxone, and honestly, the craving for speed has mostly vanished. I’m taking very little now—averaging about half a dose every three days—and I’ve been steady like that for about seven months. There are even stretches where a week goes by without any issues. The only thing is that mental itch—that psychological pull to take something just to unwind. One physical thing I did notice is that I sweat a bit more overnight; it only happened for two days, though, and then things leveled out. And, of course, there's that lingering, low-key depression...

Man, what are you thinking? You can kick speed after a week on Apurin, but getting off Suboxone? That is not happening easily... seriously, don't even try it, Suboxone is straight-up poison.
www.uho.com

Go check out uho.com and read up on Suboxone!!

Gregory Ramos5 said:I think you're off base here. I was deep in the addiction game myself—didn't quite hit the needle stage, but I was definitely in the thick of it—and I can tell you firsthand that Suboxone saved my skin. I stayed on it for about two years before realizing I just didn't need it anymore. I started tapering off naturally, and honestly? I never once dealt with withdrawal or felt even remotely weird about it. Maybe everyone's biology is different, but the whole "drama" people make about quitting seems pretty unnecessary to me. A lot of it is mental—if you're just sitting around at home with nothing to do, you'll find a way to invent a crisis if you look hard enough.

Glad you made it out, but you're still carrying that weight.

When it comes to heroin, methadone, or Suboxone...
People need to realize that once heroin messes with your brain chemistry, there is no "reset" button to get back to how things were before. We're talking about the physical structure of the brain here. Heroin is basically the perfect drug in terms of how it hijacks those opioid receptors.

Anyone who gets hooked on heroin and then quits can't honestly claim they're "cured," because that state of being cured simply doesn't exist.
Addiction is a brutal, incurable disease. You stay in abstinence for the rest of your life. It doesn't matter if you're shooting up, snorting, smoking, or swallowing pills.
For actual addiction, the method of delivery is irrelevant.

Only about 2% of the population is biologically incapable of getting addicted to heroin.

Pfizer actually produced pure heroin commercially for a short stint as a powerful painkiller because it hits harder than morphine. They realized pretty quickly that it was a massive mistake.

Greetings.
I’ve been dealing with this mess for about ten years now, unfortunately....
Mainly, I want to weigh in on the whole Suboxone vs. Subutex situation....

@Amanda Moore30
Look, man, when you're tapering off, you have to realize Subutex and Suboxone aren't even playing the same game...
I'm not trying to act like a genius here; I just don't have the patience to go digging through the forum to see if this has already been answered.😉
Subutex at 2mg consists of 2mg buprenorphine hydrochloride.
Suboxone at 2mg consists of 2mg buprenorphine hydrochloride plus 0.5mg of naloxone—which is a tiny amount.
Speaking from my own experience, every time I stopped taking Suboxone, I hit rock bottom and ended up relapsing because I was foolish enough to try to handle the whole process without a doctor. Just stupid.😕
I was on Suboxone for five months; I started at 6mg and gradually worked my way down...
Basically, once you reach the 2mg single tablet stage,
start tapering by cutting it in half, then take a quarter the next day for just one day. After that, you might feel some "ants crawling" on your legs—nothing major—and you might struggle to get more than four hours of sleep for a night or two. But believe me, it's worth it, because after five or six days, you'll feel clear-headed and bright again.😉
I hope this helps someone; I'm not trying to lecture anyone. The longer the period of addiction, the longer the road to recovery. Getting off street drugs and pills is the easy part; the real question is what happens next. Are you going back to the old ways, or are you going to start drinking heavily? If you actually want to stay clean, my advice is this: once you finish with the Suboxone, if you're someone with an unstable temperament like I am, keep using naloxone blockers. :P

Hey there... just had a question..
A really close friend of mine got clean from OxyContin about a year ago..
But lately, he can't eat anything without throwing it right back up.
He went to the doctor today.. X-rays, blood work.. the whole nine yards.. and they actually
suggested Suboxone??!! They're saying it's a crisis!
Is that even possible?? After an entire year??
Does he really need to start getting hooked on something again?

jadestag11 said:Hey there... just had a question..
A really close friend of mine got clean from OxyContin about a year ago..
But lately, he can't eat anything without throwing it right back up.
He went to the doctor today.. X-rays, blood work.. the whole nine yards.. and they actually
suggested Suboxone??!! They're saying it's a crisis!
Is that even possible?? After an entire year??
Does he really need to start getting hooked on something again?

There’s no need to "get him hooked" again because there is an 86% chance he just relapsed...
It isn't a certainty, but experiencing withdrawal symptoms after a full year of being clean is zero percent likely..

Daniel Morris16 said:There’s no need to "get him hooked" again because there is an 86% chance he just relapsed...
It isn't a certainty, but experiencing withdrawal symptoms after a full year of being clean is zero percent likely..

He hasn't relapsed. I know he hasn't.🙏
I just got some new info... most likely Hepatitis C.👎
Even though his tests were negative six months ago...
😕

jadestag11 said:He hasn't relapsed. I know he hasn't.🙏
I just got some new info... most likely Hepatitis C.👎
Even though his tests were negative six months ago...
😕

Look, that’s kid stuff. He was clean for a year before the crisis hit. It's impossible—it has to be something else, maybe an illness or something like Suboxone issues...

Anyway, I had my annual checkup today with my pediatrician—who actually helped me get clean, not that it's relevant—but I have a question:
-I don't know about other places in the US, but here in Cleveland, they don't carry Suboxone, just this other version. Back when I was in college a year ago, I used the Suboxone that was from an American original company, but I heard our local supply comes from a different manufacturer and it's way weaker. For example, I once took 4 of the 2ml doses and it absolutely floored me—left me totally dazed, which surprised me. Meanwhile, people using the other stuff had to switch to Suboxone and increase their dosage because it felt too weak. So, I'm wondering if anyone else has felt this? Just the Suboxone alone, no extra pills!!!!!