Methadone maintenance and pain medication

by Michael97, May 21, 2001 12:00AM

To: Anne

I don't think raising the methadone would be a good thing if you are stable on your current dose. There are plenty of other shorter acting opioids that are more suitable for short term use.....if you can use them responsibly. It would take too long to bring you back down to your current dose of methadone. Maybe a duragesic 25. The patch is prescribed q 3days....a lot harder to abuse than a bottle of pills! The patch contains fentanyl, and at 25 ug/h, is a relatively low dose. It can be taken concurrently with the methadone. After using the patch, just continue on your current methadone dose.

ps the patches come in boxes of 5, but the pharmacy can break open a box...meaning the doctor can prescribe 1 at a time.

by Thomas, May 21, 2001 12:00AM

To: Michael 97

doc dan can confirm this: you'll probably get Vicodin (hydrocodone) for breakthrough pain because the effgectiveness of Vicodin doesn't seem to be neutralized by methadone, the way heroin would be. I seriously doubt if they will bump up your methadone, especially since you're not on it for pain reief to begin with. You'll probably find that the Vics work quite well and feel pretty good. I wouldn't be too worried.

by niccee, May 22, 2001 12:00AM

To: Mymy

Please be careful. I have been on methadone maintenance for a couple of years. It has worked great. I am now down to 20 mgs from 80 mgs with plans to be totally off soon.( The lord willing.) I have never posted here, but come for the knowledge and support. I was given a drug for a kidney stone that made me go into immediate withdrawl. It was the worst 4 hours of my life. I thought I was going to die. There are certain pain medicines that don't mix with methadone. Please be very certain of everything they give you. The ones that I know of that you are not suppose to take are Talwin, Stadol, Nubain, and Talacen. This is the list my counselor gave me. I have taken Lorcet and did not have a problem with it and it worked pretty good. If you don't mind I would like to thank everyone here for all the good advice I have been reading. Good Luck.

by Thomas, May 23, 2001 12:00AM

To: niccee

Niccee is totally right about checking out any painkiller you try to use on top of Methadone. The drugs niccee mentioned, Talwin. Stadol and Talacin (another form of Talwin) are classified as partial opiate agonists/antagonists. All the classic pain killers (opiates, that is) are opiate agonists. Any pain killer that is classified as even a partial opiate antagonist means it will at least partially neutralize or try to neutralize the effects of opiates like morphine, codeine, methadone, Vicodin.

I know from many different correspondences with people who know, that, if you're on methadone as a maintenance drug, any form of hydrocodone (like Vicodin, Lorcet, Damson-P, Norco, Zydone -- there's a bunch of them) seem to be very successful for treating pain without causing complications. If that doesn't do it for you, as far as I know, Percodan, Percocet or OxyContin are definate opiate agonists that pack quite a punch. I suspect your doc might not be too thrilled to give you Percodan, Percocet or especially OxyContin because of their pronounced addiction potential. But, used right, any of those forms of hydrocodone, like Vicodin or, even stronger, VicodinES, will work quite well and wont "antagonize" your methadone.

As always, check with your doc and the pharmacist. But I think, following this road map, will get you where you want to go. Good luck. To check, by the way, use www.rxlist.com. That site will tell you under "description" and "clinical pharmacology" if there are any antagonist properties to the painkiller. When in doubt, use the Vicodin. It's tried and true, battle tested by many methadone patients, including doc dan (***@****), who will be only too glad to tell you about his experience dealing with intense pain while maintaining his methadone schedule. He's highly educated in his field as a substance abuse councilor, highly motivated to be of help, and won't let you down if you contact him.

The only reason I can imagine him not answering a message addressed as I have indicated is that he's changed the address. If that happens, come back to the forum and we will help you anyway. There is a core of forum participants that have a combined time as junkies of one kind or another of several hundred years. My own story accounts for more than thirty of those years. So, you're in good, non-judgmental, knowledgeable and oh-so experienced company. You couldn't shock or repel us if you tried, my friend!

This experience of ours has made us brothers and sisters in a deeply meaningful way. I know that part of the reason I'm still alive is the help I've gotten and been able to give to my brothers and sisters on this forum. Brighty, Rachel, Ambrosia, Dave, PokeBry, Wizard, Doc Dan, the redoubtable J.B., CJ1Naro, Angelica, (a few people here are the same with different handles) - I'm forgetting so many people I will want to kill myself when I realize who I've forgotten - please forgive me in advance. But, listed or not, they are the salt of earth and will help as much or more than I can.

One rule we have is that you have to post back to let us know how things worked out or how your doing, in general. God bless you. I hope this message has helped.

Thomas

by Deja, May 23, 2001 12:00AM

I'm sorry to butt in on this thread and I wish Mymy good luck during her upcoming surgery.

I wanted to post an update since I haven't been around since last week.  I saw my doctor on Friday and told her that I discontinued all my pain meds.  She was concerned about the withdrawal, but at that point I had made it through.

We talked at length about my level of pain and quality of life and I was adament about not taking oxy anymore.

I agreed to a script for vicodin- 5's and she said if I use them as prescribed - up to 4 a day I should be fine.  I really do need pain relief! That is the bottom line.

I don't want anyone to think I caved in and failed at my attempt to stay clean!  Since I filled the script I really have only taken 3 a day and I am now getting adequate pain relief on that dose.

Can I stick to that routine and not start increasing again?  I am praying that I can.  I don't want to start that cycle again!

I've said this in prior posts-  I have never gotten high off these meds!

To Wizard, JennyFla- everyone-  I have been thinking about you guys and praying for you!  How are you doing?

Love,

Deja

by Wizard, May 23, 2001 12:00AM

To: Deja

Thank you for asking about me :-) Deja, I'm doing wonderful! Had a little rough one yesterday but with the support of my family here on the forum and my family at home, with the grace of God, I got through another day of LIFE. As far as you, I glad to see you are talking to a Doctor who seems to have a concern about your wellbeing. YOU got off the oxy's and that is no easy task. I KNOW...If it's determined that you need pain relief then so be it it . That is no cop out or crime. If the Hydro as perscribed works for you then that's all you can ask for. If you start worrying about the next refill or how many you have left, (remember those days people?) Use that as a sign to re-evaluate your usuage. doesn't mean I'm right. Just my opinion, those were my classic signs of abuse. If it was time to worry about my next med, it was time to reflect on my actions. You deserve to be pain free. That should be a human right of natural law! I'll keep praying for you Deja, thanks for thinking of me during your own time of tribulation.

Power & Magick 2 U,

Peace & Light on us all,

God Bless,

Wizard

by Thomas, May 23, 2001 12:00AM

I apparently f-ed up here, too, by giving out doc dan's hotmail address. I publicly apologize to him for violating his privacy. It won't happen again. In fact, whoever reads this please direct any requests for help or questions of any kind to one of the more humanitarian-minded posters on the board like maximus. I'm sure he'd love to donate his time and wisdom to help. Consider me gone.

Thomas

by Pillpoppa, May 29, 2001 12:00AM

To: Mymy

Hi Mymy,

Check out my postings to niccee about methadone withdrawl so I don't have to repeat myself here. Your teeth are bad as mine were because zinc is an essential ingredient in hair/teeth/nails etc.

by Vai, Aug 31, 2007 05:29PM

To: anyone who will help me

I'm 70 yrs old, have multiple severe pain producing disorders, and have been on high dosages of narcotic prescription meds for over 3 yrs. I have managed to wean myself off of oxycodone and trazedone. I am still taking 320 mg of methadone every day. My daughter has moved me to where she lives, and she and my son in law have set me up in a very nice apt of my own, and are doing all they can to help me. She wants me off of any opiates at all, and is trying very hard to find medical help for me to get off the methadoone. I am on Medicare, and cannot find drs or clinics or anyone to help, as my dosage is so high. One Dr.gave me a scrip for enogh methadone to last one month, and a referral for help to get detoxed. We have found one psychiatric hospital who says they take medicare, and will take me as a patient. I am so frightened, I am almost suicidal. Yet I really, really, don't want to die. I am afraid to go into a hospital, afraid of facing life without strong pain meds, and just don't know what to do. I feel so obligated to my precious kids for all they've done to help me, that I feel I must go into that hospital she found for me, yet I'm scared to death. If I had stayed in Hawaii where I lived for most of my life, I would still be on the high doses of meds, living a miserable life. Yet I am here now, and I am glad to be close to my family

Your Name:
Your Email:
Friend's Email:
Message:

	Enter the code shown:



	Leave a Note Send Message Add as Friend Mymy Member since Mar 2001

Addiction: Substance Abuse Community