Author: Taper57
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:04 pm
Hey Rockermom, I hate reading stories like this, it’s such BS when Doctors pull this crap! As far as her disclosing information the way she did it depends on what was in the consent form you signed when you started with her. But, legal or not, in my opinion, what she did was morally wrong. Not all Doctors are this way, and if I were you I’d try to find someone new, there are good ones out there, but sometimes ya gotta kiss a few frogs to find one. My heart goes out to ya.
Before figuring out a taper schedule, there are a few things you need to consider. First of all I’d try to find another Sub Dr. and do this the right way, second are you really ready to go off Sub? What’s the sense in going off if your not, you might be setting yourself up for a relapse.
If your minds made up, or for some reason another Sub Dr. isn’t an option, I’d try reducing the dose further. Sub has a high stacking/binding affinity, and a long half life, so it takes a while for you to feel the true affects of a dose reduction, especially at higher mg levels. You need to find out where your really at with this stuff. How long has it been since you went from 24 to 16? I’d wait at least 7 days, if it’s been that long you might try dropping another 4mg, then depending on how you feel you could try lowering your dose again, but, I’d wait at least seven days, remember you can always go back up if it’s to much of a drop. If your successful getting to 12mg, and stabilizing there, then I’d lower the reductions by 2mg, every 7 days until you start to feel the onset of withdrawals, then go back up a little. The idea here is to find your ceiling level, the point where your not feeling any withdrawals, just normal. Once your there, you’ll need to lower the dose reductions even further, maybe by 1mg or .5mg, it depends on how much sub you have left and how you feel, but give yourself enough time between reductions to stabilize! You will start to feel the reductions, for me it wasn’t too bad until I got to 1mg and below, at which point I cut the reductions to .25mg. Are you on the tablets or the strips, making accurate dose reductions with the strips is much easier, and how much sub do you have left?
Once your ready to make the jump you’ll need some comfort meds, your PCP should be willing to help you that. I was given Clonidine (helps with cramping and Rstls legs), Robaxin (muscle relaxer), Ambien (for sleep) and Ativan (benzo for anxiety) . My taper was really slow, reductions every 30 days, and I jumped at .25mg (after 30 days), so I didn’t need the comfort meds for very long, by day 5 I felt pretty good, it’s now day 30 for me and I feel pretty normal.
I’m no medical professional, just someone who’s been down this road and wants to help. I do hope you’ll try to find another Doctor and do this right, it’d be a lot easier on you, and you’ll have a greater chance of success. What ever your choice I wish you the best!
Mike
