Tapering: Proof that it’s Absolutely Possible

The following post is just a small excerpt of an original (& very informative!) entry from addiction specialist Dr. Jana Burson’s blog. 

This year I’ve had three long-term patients taper off the buprenorphine products I was prescribing. All three are doing well and are happy with their treatment outcome. Since tapering off buprenorphine products can be challenging, I thought I’d share their stories, to help other people who wish to taper off buprenorphine. (Note that when I say buprenorphine, I mean to include all the brands and generics: Suboxone, Zubsolv, Bunavail, generic combination product buprenorphine/naloxone and the generic monoproduct buprenorphine.)

The first patient had been on buprenorphine for over ten years. She saw one of the first physicians to prescribe buprenorphine, and I inherited her from this prescriber after he retired.

When she started Suboxone, which at that time were only available in tablet form, she stabilized at eight milligrams. She stayed on that dose for about four years. She saw her prescriber monthly for the first year and a half, then every other month. By the time she started seeing me, she had cut her dose to 4mg per day without too much difficulty. When the suboxone films were available, we switched to those, both because that’s what her insurance would pay for and because I thought she could taper more easily with films.
Read this post in its entirety!

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