Stopping Buprenorphine in Three Steps

Readers will sometimes ask for my thoughts about buprenorphine. I’m always happy to respond, time permitting. I’ve described how my patients taper off buprenorphine in prior posts, but the interest out there warrants revisiting the topic. Most people who become dependent on opioids become very fearful of withdrawal. That fear continues on buprenorphine medications like Suboxone, Zubsolv, and generic buprenorphine. Patients should strongly consider using buprenorphine to keep their addictions in remission for at least a year or two before starting a taper, and those prone to relapse to opioid use should consider life-long medication. Doctors regularly use medications with higher risk-profiles than buprenorphine to prevent illnesses with lower associated morbidity! But some people feel trapped by their fear of withdrawal. Such an attitude is completely unnecessary, because most people can taper off without too much trouble. Over the years, hundreds of my patients have tapered off buprenorphine. Are You Ready? The first thing to do is to consider whether you are ready to taper. Stopping buprenorphine IS difficult when tried too early, before the mental connections to opioid use have faded. To assess readiness, I make sure that the patient has been dosing once or twice per day, ‘as needed’, which reinforces the behaviors that treatment aims to eliminate. You should be doing well with prescriptions, and not running out early. Make sure the...
Source: Suboxone Talk Zone - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs