Can I use a tiny bit of morphine to help detox from methadone?

[Josh_702]

I'm a recovering heroin addict & I've been taking methadone for the last 8 years. I've been taking 90mgs for the past 5 of those years. I'm at the point where I want to get off completely, so I've been tapering off for the past full year, and was down to 42mgs & felt uncomfortable everyday, the only thing that helped is my prescription for klonapin.
     I was tapering at 1mg a week but having a problem paying $45 week.
     There are a few things I prepared for my detox that I've learned over the years in rehab & detox facilities(and they seem to be working). Aside from a secure environment with someone being there for you to be supportive & keeping track of my medication and dispensing it, the drugs I'm going to use are:

   1. Clonidine (lowers blood pressure by decreasing the levels of certain chemicals in your blood. This allows your blood vessels to relax and your heart to beat more slowly and easily) - I have .1mg Clonidine, they also come in .2mg which are a lot better for detox. Ill probably take 1 every 12 hours.
   2. Klonapin (benzodiazepine) (affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause anxiety. Klonopin is used to treat seizure disorders or panic disorder) - I have a prescription for 2mg klonapins  I'll take as needed, I can take up to 4 a day.
   3. Vitamin B shots - That plus a few other vitamins will give me the nutrients I need.

     I got some Nyquil, ibuprofen & other multi vitamins, And have been smoking a little bit of weed to help, as its immediate. If anyone who has been through it, & has any suggestions for my detox other than what I have planned I would Really appreciate it!
     I know how hard it is to get clean, & i know the difference between being abstinent & sobriety. After my detox i will plan to go to meetings and get a sponsor, but right now I'm focused on detoxing & getting the painful withdrawal over.
    I'm now in my 7th day of methadone detox. The 3rd day I was still feeling lethargic & my bones were hurting a lot. That seems to be the thing that bothers me the most is my bones hurting, especially at night. They were hurting so bad, that by 2 am after some aspirin, I did take 2 Lortab 10's to help me sleep, & did get about 6 hrs of sleep the 3rd night, which was a relief.
I called my counselor & she advised me not to take Lortab, but if Anything, to take a tiny bit of morphine, because it more natural then Lortab.
So the 4th day I started getting a little more anxiety & started feeling more depressed, I could really start feeling the detox process beginning, the leg & arm pains, are getting to be VERY annoying. At night I cant sleep, even though I'm very tired & want to sleep, I cant because my arms and legs hurt so bad. I did end up taking 1 more lortab around 4am to help me sleep.
I'm really trying to stay strong but everyday my strength weakens and so does my will, I don't want to take the Lortab, but I feel very miserable not being able to sleep at night.    
  I've W/D from heroin many times, but have heard from many people methadone detox isn't as severe, but much longer, which makes it almost unbearable. I plan to have a bad detox for about 30 days, the the next couple months after will be the post withdrawal symptoms of not being able to sleep or eat well, but after a few months, I'm sure I'll start feeling better & well enough to start working and get this horrible addiction in remission.

  MY QUESTION IS: My friend gave me a few 60mg morphine pills, I wanna know if it will set me back OR prolong it at all?? As long as i watch how much i take and just take some every few days so i don't get addicted, will i be starting back at day 1, or will it prolong my withdrawal? or will i be ok?  I understand its substituting 1 for another, but if im careful enough with the dosages, would that be ok?

[benny64]

You can't use any opiate at all. Period. You won't get over detoxing taking any opiate.

[medic09]

I forgot to ask you if you were using the clonadine. I tried it when coming off oxycodone, and I vaso-dilated so bad I passed out cold in the hallway, lol. So be careful with that. It works like a beta-blocker (as I'm sure you know) and the side effect can be a drastic drop in blood pressure. Which is what happened with me. If your pressure is high to begin with, (could be just from the w/d) then you probably won't feel it much. But if you feel dizzy at all, have vision disturbances, feeling faint, etc DON'T take it.
Good luck! Sounds like you're past the worst part! Do you have someone to support you?

[medic09]

Hi Josh,
No the 30 mg doesn't set you back to day one completely, its just "putting off" the inevitable. You have built up such a tolerance I'm surprised only 30 mg worked for you. Don't feel bad about it. Just move on. I have never taken methadone, but have heard horror stories from patients. They say it is worse than whatever they were addicted to previously.
Let me know if I can help.

[amberly74]

I was on 85mg methadone for 2 yrs. I've tapered to half of that 4 mths. Then 2 months ago I went to a third of 85, 28mgs. The detox center won't help because I have to be 2 weeks 30 milligrams are left documented and I've been tapering myself. When I didn't get into detox and got home I found out my brother died. I knew I couldn't detox and go to the funeral so a friend of mine gave me 5 30 milligram morphine and 8 Klonopin .5 milligram. Will that help or make it worse?

[kimbraveheart]

First id like to say well done on how far you have come already. I think most of your questions have been answered already but id just like to say that i also think it would be a very bad idea to put anymore opiates into your body, itll just prolong the w/ds so im glad you have decided not to take anymore morphine. My husband and i came off a 13yr heroin habit c/t and the w/ds were horriffic but worth it in the end. I relapsed many times as i couldnt stand the sore bones and the rls, i got it in my arms too. I, like you noticed that the sweating, especially from under my arms was really bad and thought it would never stop. It lasted about 2 months, although i dont think it has ever really been the same. I couldnt sleep properly for about 3 months and the lethargy lasted a bit longer, although it did get a bit better day by day. I ate loads of bananas for the potassium, it helps with the rls as opiates takes all the potassium from our bones. I drank tonic water too, it has quinine in it, which also helps with the rls. Maybe you could get some vitamins with potassium in it. It is a big help with the sore bones. I took about 10-15 showers a day and just sat down and let the water ease my bones, although a bath is probably better, i just had a shower or i would have sat in the bath all day. It really helps. But you will start to notice the w/ds easing off in the next few days. Excercise does help. although you maybe wont feel like it, it gets the endorphins in our brain going which all helps. I wish you the best of luck, keep posting, be strong. You can do this. The very best of luck....Kim

[avisg]

if you continue to take opiates its just going to prolong it .t3s my be weak but there is an opiate . Its going to be a rough few weeks but I would just try to get threw it w/o any more addictive drugs .

[Josh_702]

Thank you for all the support, I got rid of all the morphine because you are all right. Last night to sleep, I took a Tylenol w/codeine, some Ny-Quil, Ibuprofen & a nice Vitamin B shot. And Amazingly I slept the whole night. When I woke up(today is day 9), I don't feel too horrible. I still am having bad cold sweats tho(hands/feet freezing, but armpits sweating profusely). i did smoke a little bit of weed, but i don't feel all that bad.
  
SO my question is: Do you think I'll start to feel better from now on? Or is this temporary & ill be going through a roller coaster of feeling like crap for a few more weeks? & when do these damn sweats stop? when i got off heroin i was clean 85 days from being in rehab and those sweats lasted weeks, I cant imagine how long these sweats will last..

[gnarly_1]

HI Josh you should start to do fine once everything is flushed out of your system...no this is not an over night cure you will still have the long lasting effects of methadone to deal with but at least your brain can start the slow healing prossess  it will give you a base line to work with...the really bad physical stuff was about 7 days for me but it wasn't really completely out of my system for about 2 weeks then its just the physiological part you have to deal with....you need to look into some sort of aftercare your clinic can provide you with a conslor for a wile after you detox then a substance abuse conslor or n/a or even a/a is a good place to start...theirs a great post here if you scroll down a bit titled "why aftercare" you should read it it will help you understand more of whats going on keep posting with how your doing and will all try and help
I truly want to see you succeed now you off to a good start good luck and God bless  ....Gnarly  

[vicki595]

Josh~ It's all really hard...and your brain is trying to get you to "feed" it. You know that.
Try a hot bath...really helps the bone pain.  And distract yourself with a movie...
Keep posting as much as you want~
Vicki

[Josh_702]

Thank you again for your response, & i do feel very guilty about taking it, i feel as though i relapsed, my "want" to do this is extraordinary, i want this so bad, im turning 30 this year and ive been on some form of opiates(heroin/methadone) for 10 years, i was clean for 3 months after i got out of rehab in 02' but relapsed which lead me to methadone.. horrible decision!
   But you are right, I'm NOT going to take any more morphine. I will take your advice, i've heard this all b4 in rehab, i just need to put it to use. This is a Real Roller coaster of emotions. 1 second im being strong about it. and the next min im depressed and get the "f*ck it's".. just very hard..

[gnarly_1]

HI as long as you keep hitting your brain receptors with additional narcotics what ever they may be you cannot begin to heal those receptors ....right now they are screaming for narcotics and will continue to do so as long as you feed them more you have to bring this to a stop b/4 you will begin to heal your brain..I will be the first to tell you that getting off methadone is a grind but it is doable you need to break the cycle of adding additional narcotics so you feel better ...it will take a wile but with time you will begin to feel better but not til you stop adding other narcotics to the equation...please trust me on this one
I have been where your at and know exactly how hopeless it can feel but all im trying to do is help you get off the cycle your on and get you on the road to recovery the sooner you quit doing what your doing the sooner you will start to feel better there are no short cuts to this its just going to take some time...YOU CAN DO THIS at least try it my way ...good luck and God bless......Gnarly  

[vicki595]

Josh~  Just hang on and keep up the fight okay?   Be sure to take the vitamins(have you
looked at the Thomas Recipe in the health pages?)  and try to get some good food in.  Drink water and juices...that's what you need for right now,along with a friend or two.   :)

Vicki  xo

[Josh_702]

how could it make it worse in the long run?  what did u mean by that? A lot of people tell me it gets worse & worse by the day, and not better. right this second im probably still feeling the 30mg morphine i took at midnight last night, but im still sweating, and i have been smoking weed, i know its a bit unconventional but it works, I JUST WANNA FEEL BETTER!!!!.
  I know its not as bad as a heroin detox(thats 10 fold) but i feel its worse because of the body life and the detox is so much longer my strength weakens by the day to keep strong.. Im sure any addict could understand that

[Josh_702]

Thank you for your comment, I do have vitamin B liquid I've been using and clonodine, and it's just getting worse by the day not better, its my 8th day, and I'm still feeling the 30mg morphine I did end up taking and slept like a baby. I completely understand I am an addict with and addictive personality, so i do understand that it's possible i could get addicted to taking morphine if i don't watch the doses and only use it at the worst parts, and not to keep using it,
  My question really is will i be starting back at day 1, or will it prolong my withdrawal? or will i be okay just to take small amount every few days?  I understand its substituting 1 for another, but if I'm careful enough with the dosages, would that be okay?  

[gnarly_1]

HI Josh...well i wile be the first to tell you detoxing off methadone is a grind..I had a 6 1/2yr habit and was up to 150ml when I started to taper off...I wish I could say different but I dont think there is a comfortable way to get off methadone....that being said about all you can do is minimize the symptoms...first off a hot bath goes a long way to get rid of the ackes and pains ....you might have to take several a day but I found it helped more then any thing ...your 7 days into it thats great your physical symptoms should be going away soon mine lasted a solid 7 days but the lingering symptoms of sleep and the energy crash last much longer...If I were you I wouldn't be treating it with anything narcotic...you need to purge everything out of your system b/4 you will start to feel better...try not to get discouraged methadone detox takes a wile b/4 you start to feel better...I did find a few things that help it along...for 1 get some liquid B-complex
you can get it at walmart for 6 bucks and it helps a lot with the energy thing..also they have whey protein shake mix for 12 bucks its loaded with vitamins protein and essential amino acids..It will also help make you feel better and give your brain some of what it needs to heal...right now your just going to have to be content not being on methadone for a wile...I have often said ...'you just got to be ok without being ok for a wile' you come back around slowly form methadone...at least thats how it was for me..each week you get between you and it you will notice improvements at 30 days its a bit better then at 60 again better it was 90days for me that I really started to see the turning point and there after things really started to improve just hang in there YOU CAN DO THIS its just going to take some perseverance...just know with time and God it does get better and it is so so worth it in the end...start looking around for some aftercare now it will help a lot to have the support of others around you..keep posting here there are others like myself that will try and help you and walk you thew it
good luck and God bless....Gnarly      

[avisg]

Here is my opinion and its just mine when trying to wd off one addictive drug its never a good idea to incorporate others you are using a benzo that's highly addicting yes they do you them for short periods of time in inpatient centers where they are closely monitored but for an addict in wd its a big risk for cross addiction its happen many times here every one of them have not worry because they dont like the way benzos make them feel but it happens because we are in addictive addiction .Morphine is also highly addictive it was not given to you by a doctor for wd so that also keeping you stuck in the additive phase .again this are just my thoughts .I feel for you I have heard from many many members methadone is he ll to come of off .I just don't want to see you switching out addictions .in the end its going to have to be your choice plz just really think about it . Hang in there ...keep posting