Anita Journal

Laddertipper,
Thanks so much for that advice. I would like to be done with the taper by the time my husband returns to work ( around June) so I'll take you up on that suggestion. All those little points of advice and your expertise, help so much. And, thanks for your kind words about my husband... it's still so scary but we're working through it all.
I'll keep ya posted and I have been surprised about how I'm tolerating the drops. Once my receptors got quieted down with the switch from film to tabs, that is what I've noticed- that I haven't noticed much with each drop and I've been able to decrease a little faster than recommended. But I so want to succeed so I'm gonna take it real slowly when I get to those tiny doses like you all say.
Anita
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Live like you mean it !

Thanks so much for the encouragement and kind words about my husband. It's been a crazy ride and to have some success now with the taper feels great. The advice here is so helpful and we are so fortunate for all of you who stick around and keep us going.
Anita
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Live like you mean it !

Hi everyone,
Just want to post how my taper is going. It is going well and much of that is from what I have learned on this site. I am now down to 3.75 mg a day and so far it has been very comfortable. Once I switched from the film to the tabs, things got so much better. As I said in another thread, I wasn't absorbing the film at all and also I had developed some sort of oral infection from the film. I'm making really small decreases of 0.25 mg about every 2 weeks so that averages out to 0.5 a month. I'm not in a hurry and so far, I've had few symptoms and the worst of what I had- the ringing in my ears and the tremors have greatly diminished. I know the hard part is yet to come, but I am encouraged. The down side is that I have a pain condition and just not sure yet what I'll be on for pain that will be better for me. So just wanted to update. Life is a little calmer right now and again, thanks for the support. I hope this journal will help others too.
Anita
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HI everyone,
I just checked my journal to see where I was last time I posted which was in Feb. and I was at 3.75. Doing pretty well with the taper. I stayed at 3.0 for 6 weeks. It actually took me that look to not have symptoms. I guess that was maybe my ceiling. Now I'm down to 2.5 and I think soon I'll bring it down to 2.0 I might switch to the bupe patch then. I'm on the bupe pills and dosing 3x a day which works well for me. Gosh- I just read substations thread about a successful jump at 12 mg. Amazing that he did that and made it! Congrats substation if you read this. I understand the temptation to do that but I think it would be a disaster for me.

I'm taking it very slowly and it's obvious with my pain condition that I'll need to find some other med cuz the breakthrough pain is definitely starting. We're thinking Amyitriptyline.

Also want you to know that my husband continues to do well - some definite ups and downs with his cancer recovery but we're getting there. This year has been a wild ride.

I lurk a lot but haven't posted in a long time. So thankful for the support and education here.

AniTa
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Live like you mean it !

Hey Anita, always good to hear from you and I'm glad you decide to swing back by the forum and update us on your taper. You're a perfect example of how a taper does not need to be rushed. You're doing it in your time and I think that's wonderful. I hope your husband continues to do well.

I just wanted to give you a little hope about the pain issue, I got on pain pills after a fall, I shattered both ankles, broke both legs and broke my left arm. I ended up going through 7 surgeries to get all put back together again. I experienced pain all the while I was on pain meds, I experienced pain while on Suboxone, although while on Suboxone, my pain was better, BUT when I got off Suboxone my pain almost all went away. It took several weeks off of Suboxone before I realized what was going on. Nowadays, I may take Advil once or twice a week at most. As far as I know, I suffered from opiate induced hyperalgesia. Do a quick google search for opiate induced hyperalgesia, they'll explain it a lot better than I would.
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Be kind to yourself. Our character defects do NOT define who we are!

Hey Romeo,
Thanks so very much for your input and wow... you broke a lot of stuff! I'm so glad to hear that you are better. I know I am experiencing more pain right now as I taper and I do think some of that is opiate induced. That is one huge reason too that I want to see what my baseline is. I have some nerve damage so it remains to be seen, but you are right that it might improve and that is my hope. I'm so glad to hear how well you are doing. And after reading about some of these fast tapers, it sure sounds tempting, but I don't think my physiology would permit it. So, "steady as she goes" and I'll keep everyone posted. I think we all learn from each person's individual experiences here. I know that Ladder sure motivated me with her slow taper, so thanks, Ladder. When you see how one person can do it, and then another, and another.. it is motivating and reassuring. And likewise, if people are doing well on their individual stable doses- that is reassuring too.
As always, thanks for this supportive forum,
aNiTa Wink

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Hi everyone,
Well.. things are continuing to go pretty well. ( A little superstitious to write this but here goes). I am now down to 2.0 mg. I am cutting up one 2mg tab and I take it 4 times a day. I have had few symptoms except for the awful bone pain at night and I wake up not so great but then things progress throughout the day. Not surprised to find that my underlying pain condition is acting up but not enough to initiate other meds yet. My dr. has some others he wants to try once I'm off this. So, just wanted to let you know that the slow taper is working well so far and I'll be re-reading Ladder's journal as well as others to help me as I continue decreases. So, thanks you guys for taking the time to write details. And I'll do the same in an effort to pay it forward.
All my best,
aNiTa
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Live like you mean it !

Thanks for the update, aNITa. After all you went through in the beginning, it's so good to hear that you're STILL doing well with your plan. Keep up the great work and keep on keeping us posted every so often. Hang tough, my friend. Mr. Green

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-As I have grown older, I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.

-I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.

Thanks so much BIG HAT !! Laughing

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Live like you mean it !