How To Quit Suboxone For Good

Quitting suboxone is hard. There, I said it. But it can be done! Quitting suboxone is hard, simply because you can’t taper it like you would an opiate over a long period of time. To get off suboxone takes a lot of self-discipline and a massive amount of determination, but like I said - it can be done! So, how do you get off suboxone for good?

1. Choose an awesome person in your life to be your “pharmacist”. This person will manage your tapering and give you the doses, so this person cannot be on drugs or someone who is an addict.

2. Put together a taper schedule. This schedule is designed to slowly relieve your body of being dependent on the suboxone. We highly recommend that you do this with a doctor. Just be honest. If you obtain the suboxone illegally, a doctor isn’t going to tell you off for it - he/she will help you map out how to taper your doses down safely.

3. Map out your dose schedule on a calendar.

4. Sit down with your pharmacist and explain the process. You will need to give them a series of rescue doses in the event that you go into acute withdrawal. These are only for emergencies and your pharmacist must be strict with the doses and only give you the amount specified for the day of detox. This means, two bottles: one marked “weekly dose for week one”, week two, and so on. The second: marked “rescue doses”.

5. You’ll also need an X-Acto knife to shave your pills or strips into the proper doses.

6. Figure out how to shave your doses, we love this diagram from Help Me Get Off Drugs:

What To Expect
This is usually a 25 week process. Stick to your schedule. Add a withdrawal aid like Mitadone. This will help you from getting into rescue doses and safely curb cravings and relapses as your recovery will be ongoing. We believe that you can do this! Just go into it with a positive mind and the attitude that you can get off suboxone and live a healthy, clean life.