Getting off buprenorphine

Some have Addictive Disease Disorder (ADD). Those with ADD can become addicted even to substances which most can use moderatlely and without becoming addicted, such as alcohol. Other things, however, are in and of themselves extremely physically addictive and people who do not have ADD can become addicted even by using them exactly as directed, specifically opioid pain relievers. Since it is illegal to maintain an addiction by prescribing opioids, once the drug was no longer needed for pain treatment the person was basically screwed if he has become physically addicted. Until relatively recently (sometime in the '70s the firsr legal alternsative, methadone, was approved in the US, and by the '90s was available fairly widely in the US) the person's only options were to either suffer or illegally obtain some kind of opiate. Now however, there are two legal opioid addiction drugs, methadone and buprenorphine. Someone who becomes addicted to opioid pain meds can be changed to one of those, the advantage being that they do not lead to ever increasing doses being needed as is usually the case with opoids, can legally be prescribed to "maintain" an addiction and avoid physical withdrawal, and buprenorphine can be gotten from doctors, avoiding the stigma of joining a methadone program, which is seen by most as a haven for street junkies, people whose original addiction came from illegal opiates such as heroin. However, it is still an addiction, your life is limited by having to see the same doctor at least once a month, and in many cases even buprenorphine cannot be brought into another country. A further problem with buprenborphine (availabe under the names suboxone, butrans, subutex, buprenex, etc.) is that it is a kind of a "forever" drug. If one stops taking it, one will go into severe physical withdrawal which can last for even months. For people who do not have ADD, that physical withdrawal is the problem, not psychological issues. And since the lowest dose of buprenorphin available is the equivalent of 40mg of morphine, slowly taperine to a low enough dose that the withdrawal is tolerable just isn't possible. Does ANYONE know of any way to get off buprenorphine withoue going into severe opiate withdrawal? Tweet