Suboxone Withdrawal | How Long Does Suboxone Withdrawal Last?

Since Suboxone is considered an opioid on its own, it can be addictive and come with withdrawal symptoms after you stop taking it. How long that withdrawal takes depends on a number of different factors.

About Suboxone

Suboxone is used to treat opioid use disorder (opioid addiction) and help with opiate withdrawal symptoms as part of medication-assisted treatment. It consists of a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone.

Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist that binds to opioid receptors in the brain and slightly activates them. This helps ease opioid withdrawal symptoms and stops other opioids from binding to those same receptors.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that binds to opioid receptors but doesn’t activate them. It stops any opioids from getting you high. This was added to Suboxone to prevent drug abuse.

Suboxone Withdrawal Timeline

While the symptoms of Suboxone withdrawal can be different for everyone, there is a general timeline that can tell you when you’ll have certain symptoms and how long they’ll last.

Days 1-3

Withdrawal symptoms may begin within 6-12 hours after the last dose. Early symptoms include anxiety, fatigue, muscle pain, and discomfort.

The symptoms may peak at 72 hours and, at that point, other physical symptoms may occur including fever, body aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, and other flu-like symptoms.

Days 4-7

Symptoms become less intense and subside during this time. You may experience insomnia, diarrhea, and muscle pain but most symptoms finish by the end of the first week. Anxiety, mood swings, or irritability may stick around.

Weeks 2-4

Withdrawal symptoms affecting your mental health are likely to show up during this period. This includes depression. Anxiety and drug cravings can also continue past the first week.

One Month Or More

Psychological symptoms like depression may continue after a month. Cravings can also continue months or even years after you’ve stopped the medication.

Factors That Affect Suboxone Withdrawal

How long withdrawal from Suboxone lasts can differ from person to person. It can differ depending on a number of different factors including:

• length of Suboxone use
• the dosage of Suboxone taken
• if you’ve built up a physical dependence or tolerance to opioids
• your overall health, including liver and kidney function
• age
• weight
• body mass
• gender

Treatment For Suboxone Withdrawal

There are a couple of forms of treatment you can turn to make Suboxone withdrawal as easy as possible.

Tapering

Tapering is one form of treatment recommended to ease the withdrawal symptoms that come with Suboxone. This needs to be done with the help of a healthcare provider and involves gradually lowering the dosage of Suboxone over time until you can safely quit.

By the end, you should experience little to no withdrawal symptoms. Tapering is likely preferred over stopping Suboxone use “cold turkey.”

Detoxification

A detox program is also a recommended form of treatment for Suboxone withdrawal. The Suboxone detox you go to can be on its own or be part of an inpatient or outpatient addiction treatment program.

While there, you can go through withdrawal in a safe and medically supervised environment, and if symptoms occur, they can be treated appropriately.

Addiction Treatment

Beyond tapering and detox, inpatient or outpatient substance abuse treatment programs can help change unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior related to substance use.

Many addiction treatment options include peer support groups, behavioral therapy, and holistic activities to help encourage healthy habits and routines.

If you or a loved one is struggling with Suboxone addiction or another form of substance abuse, please contact the helpline at Northeast Addiction Treatment Center today.