 Hi, my name's Chris and I used to do a lot of drugs but it's been seven years since I've touched this stuff and my drug of choice was actually opiates and today Taylor Nicole Dean announced that she's going to try getting off Suboxone. So as somebody who went through a cold turkey detox seven years ago I have some advice for Taylor Nicole Dean as well as anybody else out there who might be going through this type of detox or withdrawal but also for all of you out there we're also going to talk about what Suboxone is, some pros and cons and some other stuff like that so stay tuned. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution and if you're new to my channel a couple of things that I'm really passionate about are mental health and addiction recovery. So if you're into that stuff make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell and make sure you're following me over on Instagram and Twitter at the Rewired Soul. Alright, so in case you guys missed it I'm going to link a video up in the info card and probably down in the description below but I made a video a couple weeks ago about the addict shaming of Taylor Nicole Dean and I would really appreciate if you check that out because it's kind of the the language used around people who are trying to get clean and stay clean. But anyways before I jump into my advice I just want to give a couple of disclaimers for those of you who are new here and have no idea who the hell I am. I am not a doctor and whenever I talk about suboxone or medications always make it very clear. Talk to a doctor. Okay so as we talk about Taylor Nicole Dean she's currently in an outpatient program and they have medical staff there who is helping her with this. Alright so I'm not a doctor I'm going to be sharing my experience like I said my drug of choice was prescription opioids and I actually worked at a drug and alcohol treatment center for a little over three years. We had everything from detox to inpatient to outpatient and we did suboxone tapers there so I'm going to share a little bit of my experience. Alright so those of you who aren't caught up with Taylor Nicole Dean and where she's at in her recovery super proud of her I believe she's coming up on six months which is huge like this is huge like when I first got clean I didn't think I was going to be able to stay sober for six days right and I remember right around the six month mark I heard somebody say this right and it really clicked for me I heard somebody say if I can stay clean for six months I can stay clean forever right because that's a long time right but anyways Taylor Nicole Dean she she went through a treatment center and when she got out she was put on suboxone I believe she said you could correct me if I'm wrong but when she made her video sharing about her experience in the rehab she talked about getting off suboxone and then she went back on it all right so first let's talk about what is suboxone okay so when you are using opioids or opiates so prescription opioids or you're using heroin or whatever it is you become dependent okay physically as well psychologically but when you stop using the drug the opioid receptors in your brain are left vacant and you start to go through withdrawal all right and withdrawal is brutal a lot of people can't get through withdrawal because the symptoms are so brutal so they end up using well suboxone is this magnificent magnificent medication that helps trick the brain into thinking that you're still using opioids all right now there are two different camps for suboxone okay there is short-term and long-term suboxone all right so Taylor Nicole Dean like I said she's coming up on six months at this time so she's been on a long-term maintenance program the rehab that I worked at we were getting people off of suboxone within about two weeks the only reason we wouldn't get somebody tapered off of suboxone in two weeks was if they had some other kind of like serious medical condition where it might affect them like a negative way I remember one young woman she was actually pregnant so we were waiting for her to discharge and then work on that with her her doctors back home because that could affect the baby and everything so anyways a short-term and long-term what's the difference why would anybody you know choose one or the other well suboxone although it is not an opioid you can become dependent on it all right and that's one of the reasons people are so afraid to get off of it but one of the reasons we did short-term is because after a two-week taper you haven't gotten that dependent all right so you figure the longer that you're using any substance any substance at all like if you quit drinking coffee or eating sugar or whatever it is like you would experience symptoms of withdrawal and it would depend on how long you've been like consuming caffeine or sugar on a regular basis all right but anyways Taylor Nicole Dean tweeted this out earlier my IOP thinks I'm ready to start tapering off suboxone so I'm going to document that experience for my second channel will be a very slow process and I might end up going back up in dose if it doesn't go well but I'm looking forward to try to do this and I am so proud of her I retweeted it I'm so proud all right so here's the thing I'm proud of the attempt all right the attempt to get off suboxone I know people from the recovery community from working in treatment and everything like that who are stuck on this stuff for a long time some people are stuck on it for years and if you're out there and you're still on suboxone and that's your thing do your thing boo right but here's a thing all right like Taylor Nicole Dean like being an influencer and first off like her just sharing her story very publicly and everything like that her making the attempt to get off suboxone is huge it's huge okay because here's some of the fears that I would have if I was on suboxone okay it's what if I went out of money and I can't afford suboxone anymore then I'm just gonna have to go through withdrawal on my own you know what I mean and that's not being tapered off so like Taylor Nicole Dean said you know she might go back up in dose like they're gonna play it by ear and everything like if you went out of money for suboxone and you lose your insurance you're screwed you know what I mean so here's the thing though there's so many people afraid to do this now I wrote a mental health blog the other day about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable like let me tell you guys the number one reason that I drank and used drugs all right like us addicts and alcoholists we have like a million reasons that we drank and used but for me and many others it boils down to one simple reason and Taylor here's my advice for you or anybody else who might be going for this all right but the main reason a lot of us use is because we cannot stand being uncomfortable whether it's physically whether it's emotionally mentally whatever it is we will do whatever it takes to not be uncomfortable and the thing is the thing is that our brain lies to us one of the biggest lies that our brain tells us is that we cannot get through this feeling we cannot get through this emotion we cannot get through this pain right but this is a lie our brain's telling us how do we know it's a lie because millions of other people have done it okay like I I went through a cold turkey opioid detox um and I don't recommend it to anybody like that's a whole different story I talked about in other videos but anyways like one of the reasons why people relapse when they're going through you know withdrawal or you know they they stay on the drugs is because withdrawal sucks but here's the thing here's what I recommend to Taylor as well as anybody else whether it's opioid withdrawal alcohol withdrawal suboxone withdrawal any type of withdrawal it is not permanent okay it's going to suck for a while but it will not last forever our brain has this amazing way of telling us that this feeling is going to last forever because there's pain there can be nausea there could be all these other things there could be fluids coming out of different orifices of your body but it does not last forever all right and I'll tell you this one of the ways that I stay clean today is never wanting to go through that experience again so I'm glad that I went through that experience but for us addicts and alcoholics one of the other lies that our brain tells us is that we need to put something in our body in order to feel better and that is one of the biggest lies that an addict's mind will tell us like I have been able to stay sober for seven years because I realized that there was no emotion there's no situation that I cannot get through like if I'm being honest with you I had a very stressful day today was very stressful right and I'm driving home you know from work and I'm gonna come home and you know be with Tristan everything like that like having a beer having a drink you know snorting something taking something none of that is on the table and it's okay and here's why because I know this feeling will pass all right like have you ever met somebody who's like oh man I I still have this like this feeling from this bad thing that happened like years ago you know what I mean like feelings come and go our bad moods come and go our good moods come and go sickness like when it comes to withdrawal we have to remember this like when we us addicts get really extra about withdrawal like I've been through it I get it and I know it can be worse for other people but we get so extra like we act like somebody is like amputating our arm without anesthetic all right like going through withdrawal when it comes to like opioids or Suboxone it is like the worst flu type sickness that you've ever been through in your life but that's it that's it like you can do this and you can get through all right so a couple things just some quick tips all right for anybody out there trying to get off Suboxone or opioids like I said always talk to a doctor do it with a doctor if you have the resources do with the doctor if you don't have resources go to an emergency room most emergency rooms cannot turn you away all right but somebody like Taylor and Nicole Dean going through Suboxone withdrawal here are the things that help all right many friends and many clients I've worked with who have gone through Suboxone withdrawal and detox they said these things help first one is movement all right like exercise make sure you're moving don't just sit there stagnant or anything like that go for walks if you like going to the gym go to the gym and I'm not saying like do some crazy like rocky workout like just get moving okay the second one is yoga all right yoga is kind of the same as movement but yeah yoga is great too like two of my like manly man like roommates who are going through Suboxone withdrawal like they started doing yoga and they said it helped them out the most now not only does yoga help you get physically active and moving and everything like that and get blood circulation and all that but it's basically moving meditation so there's a lot of meditation practice in yoga and a lot of meditation is learning how to accept your feelings your emotions any aches pain soreness that you're going through it helps you deal with that by being mindful of it all right the next thing is nutrition all right don't eat junk food like when I say junk food like you know like fast food and garbage food and everything like that like if you eat better foods it'll help speed up that process all right it'll help make withdrawal a little bit easier but like something that really helped me out not only during my withdrawal but in recovery is that I knew when I looked at the big picture the big picture of this thing this this withdrawal was going to be that much of my overall life right like think about it I've been sober for seven years coming up on seven and a half years this month I went through withdrawal for a week that was a blip on the radar all right and trust me you guys I am nothing special the only way I was able to get through it was because I saw so many other people get through it and Taylor if you're watching this trust me once you get off this stuff you're gonna feel this complete freedom you know what I mean and I could talk all day long but it's nice not having to take something in order to feel well you know what I mean but anyways if you guys have any tips if you've ever gone through suboxone withdrawal or anything like that let me know down in the comments below if you guys have any questions if you want me to do follow-ups let me know and also make sure that you're subscribed to Taylor's second channel where she's gonna be documenting her journey and everything like that not only will this help educate anybody trying to get off opioids or suboxone but I think it's really good for friends and family members as well so you understand what your loved one is going through all right but anyways that's all I got for this video if you like this video please give it a thumbs up if you're new make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell and a huge huge thank you to everybody who supports the channel over on patreon as well as everybody who buys my mental health books over at the rewired soul.com or rewired soul merch you're all awesome all right thanks again for watching I'll see you next time