SAS-Taper (save-a-sliver): film schedule, cut marks, totals

How to use this

Why save-a-sliver

The hard part of a taper is often not the milligrams but the sense of getting less. SAS frames each day's remaining piece as a whole strip, the dose you have, while the cut sliver leaves the daily routine. People work with what is in hand. Surplus that stays in view is easier to use. Once the sliver is saved it is no longer part of today's dose. The bank is a safety net if you need to increase the dose again, not a second supply for the same day.

Instructions

Use the calculator on this page. Or run the same math in a terminal with python3 taper.py from the repo. To keep a copy with no network, save this page. It is one self-contained file. It needs no connection.
Pick a cut mode. Geometric (the default) cuts the same fraction every cycle. The percentage step stays steady. The ladder never quite reaches zero. Linear cuts the same amount every cycle. The milligram step stays steady. The ladder reaches zero after about n of them. Linear is easier to cut. It is the same mark every day, not a new smaller mark each cycle. The trade is a steeper finish. You can change mode and compare. Nothing else changes.
Measure your film with a ruler along its length only. That is the 22 mm side, the side you will cut. Put that number in "Start film length". All four Suboxone strengths are 22 mm on that side. So it is the same number whichever you start on. Default n = 6 (16.7% every 6 days). If you want a gentler taper, raise n to 8 or 10.
The cards, graphs, and schedule recalculate live. Click a cycle row, or a graph step, to see that day's cut mark and a life-size film. TAKE is on the left. SAVE is on the right. The cut-mark bar is a full unused film. Later cycles hash the rest that is already removed.
At the counter you need four numbers. The schedule's tinted block is those four plus one. Take in mg and mm. Save in mg and mm. Δ save. Open a film. Mark it at Take mm from its left end. Cut one time. Left of the mark is the day's take. That is how much you take that day, the day's total. You do not have to take it all at once. You can split the take piece after you cut. Everything right of the mark goes in the jar. All of it, not only this cycle's sliver. Δ save is how much more the jar gets than last cycle. It grows every cycle. Do not calculate at the strip.
If your dose is larger than one film, the day is several strips. Example: 16 mg on 8 mg strips. The Film column shows ×2. Cut only one of those strips. TAKE the whole ones as they are.
The life-size film shows Folding by default. That is the same dose as whole parts of a folded grid. Halve it. Halve it again. Take five of six. That needs no ruler and no arithmetic. It is easier to repeat than a measure of 15.28 mm at 6 am. It always tells you how far off the ladder that lands. In linear mode it lands exactly. Change to Measuring for the exact mark in millimetres. The cut-mark panel above always measures either way. If you want to know how the fold is picked, there is a page on it.
Print / save as PDF. Take it to your prescriber before day 1. They can match quantity and write 2 mg films for the back half.

What each input does

Defaults in brackets. Only the first three usually need a change. Everything else has a sensible default.

Start dose (mg) [8] ·: What you take daily now, before the taper starts. It also decides which film strength the plan is built on: 2, 4, 8 or 12 mg, whichever is the smallest that holds it. Above 12 mg no single film is large enough, so the day becomes several strips. 16 mg is two 8 mg films. Cut only one of them.
n (days & cut) [6] ·: Does two jobs at once, which is the whole trick. You cut 1/n of the piece each day, and each cycle lasts n days. After n days the saved slivers add up to one whole piece. n = 6 drops 16.7% per cycle. n = 8 drops 12.5%. n = 10 drops 10%. A larger n means a gentler, slower taper.
Start film length (mm) [22] ·: Measure your own film along the side you will cut. Put that number here. All four Suboxone strengths are 22 mm on that side, so the default is usually right. Measure anyway. Every cut mark on the page comes from it.
2 mg film length (mm) [22] ·: The same measurement for the 2 mg film, used after the change. Ignored if you disable the switch.
Target (mg/day) [1] ·: Where the ladder stops. The run ends on the first cycle at or below this dose. Must be lower than the start dose.
Strip strength (mg) [8] ·: The strength of one film as dispensed. Used only to convert milligrams into "how many strips", for the totals and the prescription-quantity table. It does not change the ladder.
Cut mode [geometric] ·: The two shapes a taper can have. Geometric (the default) cuts 1/n of the piece in your hand. The cut becomes smaller along with the dose. Every cycle is the same percentage step, a steady 16.7% at n = 6. The dose continues to decrease by half and never quite reaches zero. Set a target and stop there. Linear cuts 1/n of your first strip and then that identical piece, same milligrams and same millimetres, every cycle after. The dose decreases in equal steps and reaches zero after n − 1 of them. 8 mg at n = 6 goes 6.67, 5.33, 4.00, 2.67, 1.33, then nothing. Linear is the easier one to cut: one mark, measured one time, used every single day. Not a new and smaller measurement every cycle. It never becomes smaller than one millimetre, where a razor stops being accurate. It is also much shorter and uses much less medication. What it costs is the shape of the finish. Equal milligrams mean the percentage grows every cycle: 20%, then 25%, 33%, 50%, and a final 100%. The page shows you those numbers the moment you change mode.
Film strength you cut (mg) [blank = auto] ·: Which strength of film you actually hold. Left blank, the tool picks the smallest official size that fits the start dose (2, 4, 8 or 12 mg), and 8 mg for a start above 12 mg, where no single film holds the dose. Set it if you have something else. A 16 mg start is two 8 mg strips a day, or two 12 mg strips if that is what is in the box.
Hold / stretch days [blank = same as n] ·: Makes every cycle longer without a change to the size of the cut. Set 9 with n = 6 and you still cut 1/6, but hold each dose for 9 days instead of 6. Same taper, more settling time between drops.
n below 3 mg [blank = off] ·: Changes to a different n once the strip you cut from drops under 3 mg, where the same percentage is a much smaller piece of film. Setting 10 here makes the back half drop 10% per cycle instead of 16.7%.
Your cutting tolerance (mm) [0.5] ·: How accurately you can cut. Half a millimetre is realistic with a razor and a steel ruler. It feeds the "cutting error vs the step" graph. It also sets how much simplicity the life-size film's Folding mode may buy. A fold no further out than your own slip is offered in place of a closer but fiddlier one. Among folds that take the same strokes, it still takes the closer dose. It never changes the schedule. Set it to 0 to hide that graph and to always take the closest fold.
Half-life for the lag curve (h) [32] ·: Buprenorphine's half-life, usually quoted as 24-42 hours for a film. Draws the dashed lag curve on the first graph and nothing else. In that film range the curve tracks the ladder with a few days' lag, which is the point of it. A long value (hundreds or thousands of hours, the depot picture) stays high and only slowly falls toward the new dose, because each day's intake is a small slice of what is already on board. Set it to 0 to hide the curve. 2160 h is 90 days, enough to sketch a 60-day injection tail. How the dashed line is drawn.
Day 1 date [blank = no calendar] ·: The date you plan to start. Fills in the Calendar panel with real dates and marks today, so you can see which cycle you are on. Leave blank and the plan stays in day numbers.
Switch to 2 mg films at or below 2.25 mg [on] ·: When the strip you cut from reaches 2.25 mg, restart on a 2 mg film. A 2 mg film is a quarter the density, so the same dose is four times longer and the same cut is four times more forgiving. Disable it to stay on one strength the whole way.
Show n = 6 / 8 / 10 comparison [on] ·: Adds the panel and graph comparing three taper speeds side by side, so you can see what slowing down costs in time and total medication.

Limitation: film strengths

The schedule runs on one film strength at a time (set Start dose, or name it with "Film strength you cut"). It then keeps that strength, or it changes to 2 mg films. A dose larger than one film is fine. It is several strips of the same strength. It does not auto-step 12 → 8 → 4 → 2. A click on 4 mg or 12 mg in the size table only changes the life-size drawing, not the taper math. To plan a different start, change the inputs and let the tool calculate again. Try Start dose 12, or Start dose 4, or uncheck the 2 mg switch to stay on 8 mg films the whole way.

The method, every day of a cycle

Start the cycle with a piece that is the current whole strip. For cycle 1, this is one full 8 mg film. If your dose is larger than one film, start with that number of films.
Keep the full width. Cut only along the length. Mark the cut first. Then cut with a new razor on a mat. Do not use scissors. (The film panel's Folding mode is the one exception. It draws both cuts for you.)
Cut 1/n from the right end. Put that short sliver in the save jar. TAKE the long left piece. That is how much you take that day, the day's total. You do not have to take it all at once. You can split the take piece. Example: one piece in the morning and one in the evening. Or more often. Or less often. If the day is more than one film, TAKE the whole ones as they are. Mark only the last film. One cut a day, whatever the dose.
Open a fresh film each day. Do not keep yesterday's piece. Measure the same cut from the other end. Mark Take mm from the left. Put everything right of that mark in the jar. That length is Save mm. It is the same cut. From cycle 2 on, the save is larger than the sliver. It also holds the part that earlier cycles already removed. It grows every cycle. That growth is the Δ save column, which is the sliver.
Do that for n days. The save jar now holds one full piece of this cycle's size. That is a buffer / safety net, not extra daily dose. If you take the bank as extra daily dose, the taper does not decrease.
Next cycle, the leftover size is the new whole strip. In the default geometric mode that is dose × (1 − 1/n) and the cut becomes smaller with it. In linear mode you cut the identical piece again, so the dose steps down by the same milligrams every time. Repeat until you reach the target. In linear mode, repeat until there is nothing left to cut.

If it gets rough

Hold: stay at this cycle's daily dose for another n days. Cravings, bad sleep, restlessness, sweats and GI upset are all data. Cravings matter most of all. A hold is not a failure.
Optional hedges: stretch each cycle to 8-9 days (same 1/n cut, more settling time). Or change n to 10 once you are below 3 mg.
When the sliver is under ~1 mm, stop shaving 8 mg films. Change to 2 mg films. That change happens by default once the strip reaches 2.25 mg. The same cut is then four times more forgiving.
Store saved pieces airtight, dry, separated by wax paper, and locked. Ask the prescriber to decrease the monthly quantity. Return surplus through a pharmacy take-back.

Inputs

Start dose (mg) n (days & cut) Start film length (mm) 2 mg film length (mm) Target (mg/day) Strip strength (mg) Cut mode Film strength you cut (mg) Hold / stretch days n below 3 mg Your cutting tolerance (mm) Half-life for the lag curve (h) Day 1 date (optional)

Switch to 2 mg films at or below 2.25 mg Show n = 6 / 8 / 10 comparison

Graphs

Dose holds steady inside a cycle, then drops. A step ladder, not a smooth slide. Click a step or a film bar to select that cycle's cut mark. The dashed line on the first graph is a lag, not a prediction. It is not a plasma level. How the dashed line is drawn.

Schedule

Click a row to show its cut mark. Blue = restarted on a 2 mg film. Amber = sliver under 1 mm (stop shaving 8 mg films). ×N in the Film column = films needed per day. Cut only one of them. The tinted block is what you act on: Take is how much you take that day, and where to mark it. You can split the take piece. Save is what goes in the jar. Δ save is how much more the jar gets than last cycle. Sum strips is how many strips you consumed. That number is less than the strips you opened, because you saved some.

What each column means

Cut mark, selected cycle

Life-size film

Drawn in CSS millimetres (1 in = 96 px). That is true size on a 96 PPI display. Most screens differ. Hold a ruler to the 20 mm bar. Move the slider until they match. 100% is the CSS spec default.

On-screen scale 100%

Find the cut by How the fold is chosen →

20 mm calibration: match this to a real ruler

Official Suboxone film sizes (buprenorphine / naloxone). Density is buprenorphine only: mg ÷ (width × length). Click a row to redraw the selected cycle on that film. Same dose, calculated again for that strength. The number of strips and the cut position both change with it. The cut-mark panel above always stays on the strength your inputs describe. This tool cuts along the 22 mm side and keeps the other side as full width.

Limitation: the taper schedule starts from one given Suboxone size. It does not change between 12 / 8 / 4 mg mid-run. The only automatic strength change is the optional 8 mg to 2 mg one. A selection of 4 mg or 12 mg here is for the drawing only. To run a 12 mg or 4 mg start, set Start dose (and strip strength) above. The tables will calculate again.

Strength	Size	Area	Density	Notes
2 mg / 0.5 mg	22.0 mm × 12.8 mm	281.6 mm²	0.00710 mg/mm²	Same footprint as the 8 mg film; one-quarter the density
4 mg / 1 mg	22.0 mm × 25.6 mm	563.2 mm²	0.00710 mg/mm²	Twice the length of the 2 mg film (12.8 × 2); same density as 2 mg
8 mg / 2 mg	22.0 mm × 12.8 mm	281.6 mm²	0.0284 mg/mm²	Same footprint as the 2 mg film; 4× the density; default start
12 mg / 3 mg	22.0 mm × 19.2 mm	422.4 mm²	0.0284 mg/mm²	1.5× the length of the 8 mg film (12.8 × 1.5); same density as 8 mg

Compare n = 6 / 8 / 10

8 mg films all the way. Last cycle still above 1 mg. The save jar is not added to the daily dose. Slower is not free: n = 10 uses about 3× the medication of n = 6 because you spend about 3× longer on the ladder.

What each column means

Prescription quantity

If the prescription stays at 30 strips a month, the surplus is a stockpile. That stockpile is a diversion risk and a household hazard. Ask the prescriber to decrease quantity with the dose. Return surplus through a pharmacy take-back.

What each column means

Notes that make or break this

When you measure, cut along one axis only. Keep the full width. Shorten the length only. Then length fraction = dose fraction, and a single number describes the cut. The film's Folding mode does cut both axes. The arithmetic still holds there, because area fraction is dose fraction on an evenly made sheet. What it gives up is the single measurement, which is the point of it. Do not cut both axes while you think in lengths.
Use a new razor or craft blade and a ruler on a clean mat. Do not use scissors. Mark the film before you cut. The manufacturer does not sanction film cuts. The drug is distributed reasonably evenly, which is why this method is widely used.
Cutting aids. A steel ruler and a new blade on a cutting mat is enough for most of the ladder. If your cuts wander, small purpose-made film slicers exist. Search for "Suboxone film cutter" or "subslicer". A guided cut you can repeat is better than a freehand cut you cannot repeat.
Doses below what you can cut. Some people move to liquid (volumetric) dosing at the very bottom. Dissolve a film in a measured volume of water. Draw a dose with an oral syringe. A 2 mg film in 20 mL is theoretically 0.1 mg/mL. Treat that number as arithmetic, not as a measurement. It is not manufacturer-sanctioned (the labelling says take the film whole). Buprenorphine is only sparingly water-soluble, so the real concentration can differ from the calculated one. A homemade solution is not sterile. You only absorb what you hold under the tongue. Swallowed, most of it is lost. Raise it with your prescriber before you try it. There may be a better route: quartered 2 mg films, a different product, or a properly compounded liquid.
Saved slivers are surplus / a safety net. Do not add them to the daily dose. If you add them, the taper does not decrease. Store them airtight and dry. Separate them with wax paper. Keep them locked.
The low end is where 8 mg films fail. Ask your prescriber for 2 mg films before you need them (around the time daily dose is heading through ~4 mg toward ~2 mg). A 2 mg film is one quarter the density of an 8 mg one. The same dose is four times longer. The same cut is four times more forgiving.
Holding is not failure. If a cycle leaves you with bad sleep, restlessness, sweats, GI upset, or above all a spike in cravings, stay at that dose for another cycle or two before you decrease again.
The two cut modes trade different things. Geometric holds the percentage step constant and lets the milligrams decrease. That is the gentler shape at the low end, but it never reaches zero. Linear holds the milligrams constant and lets the percentage grow. It reaches zero on a schedule, but the last steps are the largest ones you will have taken. Neither is the right answer for everyone. Both let you hold a cycle whenever you need to. A hold is never a failure.
Linear is the easier one to cut. The mark does not move. Measure one time. Use that mark every day. You do not calculate a new, smaller measurement each cycle. The mark never becomes smaller than one millimetre, where a razor and a ruler stop resolving. That is also why this page ignores the 2 mg switch in linear mode. The switch exists to rescue a cut that has become too fine. Here it never does.
Take milligrams is how much you take that day. That is the day's total. You do not have to take it all at once. You can split the take piece. Example: one piece in the morning and one in the evening. Or more often. Or less often. Buprenorphine stays in the body a long time. One sitting is usually enough. Split if you need to. The schedule number does not change.
Every step is held for days on purpose. That same long half-life means a new dose needs most of a cycle to land: about 88-91% of the way there on day 1, and 98-100% by day 6, across the usual 24-42 hour range. That is why the ladder moves in cycles instead of a small daily decrease. It also sets a floor under how fast this can honestly go: the default is roughly two months from 8 mg to 1 mg. Plenty of people need longer than that, and the tool is built for it. Hold a cycle, raise n, or stretch the cycle. n = 10 on 9-day cycles is about six months. Going slower is a plan, not a failure.
n = 6 (16.7% every 6 days) is at the fast end of typical 10-25% steps. You may not feel a drop until day 4 or 5, right as you are about to drop again. Hedge by stretching the cycle to 8-9 days (same cut, more settling time) or change to n = 10 below 3 mg.
The schedule starts from one given film size. It then keeps that size, or it changes only to 2 mg films. It will not auto-change 12 → 8 → 4 mg. A click on those rows only redraws the strip. Change Start dose / strip strength and the tool calculates the whole ladder again.
Ask about the long-acting injections. Sublocade (monthly) and Brixadi (weekly or monthly) are buprenorphine, the same active drug as your film without the naloxone. A clinician injects them under the skin, where the drug forms a depot that releases for weeks. Two things make them worth raising here. First, you do not have to reach the bottom of this ladder before you change: both are labelled for a direct transfer from an established daily sublingual dose. Second, after the last injection the drug leaves over months rather than days. The prescribing information puts the terminal half-life at roughly 43-60 days for Sublocade and 19-26 days for monthly Brixadi, against the 24-42 hours this page assumes for a film. That is why people describe the ending as tapering itself. That is a fair reading of the pharmacology, but neither product is approved as a taper, and withdrawal can still arrive, sometimes weeks or months after the final shot, so it needs watching for longer than you would expect. The two differ in a way that matters to this goal: Brixadi has more strengths, so a prescriber can step you further down before stopping, while Sublocade has the longer tail once you do. Do not read the injection's milligrams against your film's. Different route, different absorption. Sublocade's 100 mg monthly maintenance dose sits near a 24 mg/day sublingual blood level, not a 100 mg one. Both are supplied under restricted distribution and given in a clinic rather than collected from a pharmacy, so ask whether an office actually administers them, not just whether it prescribes buprenorphine. This is a conversation to have with a prescriber. It is not a plan you can make from this page.
Bring this schedule to your prescriber. A taper from 8 mg to 1-2 mg is a routine, well-supported goal. They are the one who can write 2 mg films and match quantity to the ladder.
Strictly unofficially, the method can be called SAS-Sub-minning, because the stat you are grinding down is Suboxone.

SAS-Taper (save-a-sliver) · github.com/bhbmaster/SAS-Taper · same math as taper.py

How to use this

Why save-a-sliver

Instructions

What each input does

Limitation: film strengths

The method, every day of a cycle

If it gets rough

Inputs

Graphs

Schedule

Calendar

Cut mark, selected cycle

Life-size film

Compare n = 6 / 8 / 10

Prescription quantity

Notes that make or break this