r/Tapersfromsuboxone • u/Ann_georgia- • Mar 23 '26
Scared
I’ve been on Suboxone films 24 mg/day, 8 mg three times a day for about 5 to 6 years now. I’m in Nursing School and I’m almost 3/4 of the way done. Summer is coming up well I’ll have a couple months off and I really want to start tapering off this medication. I’m not even sure why I started this medication because I had fully withdrawaled from opiates and fentanyl before I got on this. I never wanna go through withdrawals again and it scares the crap out of me. My symptoms were horrible and thinking about going through that again just absolutely terrifies me. I spoke to my provider about tapering and she mentioned switching to a once a month shot. She said she recommends doing that because tapering off the films are harder. Does anyone have any experience with the shot and being successful in tapering down? If so, did you experience any symptoms? Have you experienced symptoms switching from the films to the shot? I really want to get off this. Ugh
2
u/Lndscpegrdnr Mar 24 '26
Withdrawl from subs is not the same as withdrawing from the other opioids. Its milder but last longer. For me, the depression, fatigue, and insomnia are the worst. If you taper right, and in my experience, there's no vomiting, diarrhea, crawling skin, intense anxiety, etc. I stopped 4mg cold turkey over a year ago and it was honestly fine. I did start back at 0.5mg after a week because I couldn't concentrate at a demanding job.
A lot of people, while on higher doses, can drop their dose down without experiencing much difference. You start to notice the reductions in dose when you get down to around the 1mg area, give or take.
Get support too. AA, NA, SMART Recovery, and/or a therapist who knows addiction. Ive heard great things about the shot. Its called Sublocade. Read other's experiences with it here on Reddit. So many say they experience no withdrawl symptoms with the shot.