Clonidine and Methadone?

[jessejames31]

i have a question. i'm gonna try to make this short, sorry if it doesn't end up that way. i was taken to the ER friday because of methadone withdrawal which lead to me wishing i was dead. they gave me an IV with vitamins and saleen, brought in mental health people who spent 5 hours asking if i was suicidal. finally discharged me, not helping one bit.. i then went to my primary doctor, who wrote me a script for methadone 40mgs a day (having my sister give me my daily dose), and clonidine .1mg (1 in morning, 1 in the evening). here's the question: i'm two days in and i feel like dog doodoo. the doctor didn't really know how to handle this, she was more worried about losing her license for prescribing the methadone in the first place. should i be taking these drugs together, having the clonidine be for the withdrawals from methadone? reason i'm asking is because i dont feel like the methadone is affecting me like is has.. the only feelings i'm having is wicked dry mouth, drowsy and no energy (similar to withdrawal).. that wasn't short at all ....

[jessejames31]

i think i'm gonna just stop taking the clonidine for a few days and see if that helps. i just wanted to see if anyone knew about this.

[GoingToMakeIt]

I don't know about these 2. Clonidine may well be causing the drowsiness, though. Maybe try just at night or stop a few days like you said you would. Good luck. Also, is the methadone dose what you were at? I assume so but if not, it could make you feel weird too.

[allaboutmary]

Sorry don't know much about the Methadone, but I do take Clonodine with my Suboxone. The doctor gave it to me to help with withdrawal when I taper down. I take .5mg at night and it really helps me sleep.  I take it now even when I'm not tapering because how well it works for sleep.  The doctor said this was fine.  Try lowering the dose of Clonodine, it might help.

[jessejames31]

40mgs is my normal dose of methadone. although i was taking 80mgs a day for a week, then crashing the second week until i refilled..

[GoingToMakeIt]

Well god luck. I think it is wise to not take clonidine, at least in the daytime. Let us know how it goes.

[Penelope14]

Forgive me if I misread something, but are you saying you are withdrawling off of 40mgs? or did you run out & go cold turkey for two days? I just kinda got a little lost? Ive been taking clonidine & it works well for me, yes it does make you sleepy, that is why I typically take it during the evenings. Penlope

[mr.lucky66]

It sounds like you are back taking the methadone at you regular dose and not in need of the clonidine, right? In which case you are in a holding pattern not detoxing, is that correct? No to say anything is wrong with that, I think the doc was compasionate enough to try to relieve your suffering until you 2 can figure something else out. Can you give more background? I have kicked meth many times and have some ideas but need more info like how was it prescribed and how long you were on it. 'Methadone, there's no future in it. all the best

[Beargizmo]

clonidine will make you drowsy and sluggish, and very dry mouthed..when I was taking it I kept a supply of hard candies around which helped great deal..the clonidine had me so drowsy when I first started using it, I fell asleep while on a conference call at work..forunately my headset was on mute and I didn't have to do any talking

Jim

[jessejames31]

i've been prescribed 40mgs a day every 2 weeks for the last 6 months, but i take 80mgs a day for the first week, then suffer the second week. sometimes lucky enough to find some on the street. after this ordeal, doctor wrote this script for 2 weeks (40mgs), but the next one will be 30mgs for 2 weeks, then 20 for 2 weeks..ect.  i was just wondering if i should be taking the clonidine as well, or if i should wait till i start to feel the withdrawals when i decrease down? sorry it was confusing..

[Penelope14]

Ok, now it makes sence to me, I myself would ride it out a little before taking the clonidine, I started taking it 5 days after getting off methadone & it has been a life saver!  Im now on day 15 from coming down from a one year taper from 90 mgs to 1mg & finally feeling some life in me coming back around, but Im not gonna get to excited, as I never know what tomarow will bring? Just gotta hope for the best & try to be as positve as I can. Your doing the right thing by getting off this junk!! Penelope

[jessejames31]

okay, well i'll stop the clonidine till i really need it. on a side note, i've been following your progress and your an inspiration. may i lean on you down the road, i know i'll need to.

[mr.lucky66]

Ok, now I got it. Table the clonidine untill when you are low or off the meth. Can you take benzos without problems? A combo of clonidine and valium or attivan is good for coming off the done but you need to be near a bed for several days. It workre for me. all the best

[louise65]

i found valium more useful although took clonidine at night it wiped me out, which is a bit of a blessing if your withdrawing,after going through all that i bloody relapsed.my advice would be make sure your in a good spot before you try i didnt and thats why im back to square 1. bummer, louise

[jessejames31]

i just got news that i cant go back to work until i "straighten up", not really sure what that means.. but if i got fired, i'm gonna need to file for unemployment.. wish me luck, i'm freakin out...

[louise65]

nothing like getting kicked when ur down eh! its always the way. maybe this means you might be able to concentrate on getting drug free if thats were ur at. good luck

[hopsing94]

ok i'm gonna ask a question since i'm not up on all of this. Jesse could you switch to suboxone instead of the methadone?

[jessejames31]

being in the middle of butt_ _ _ _ NH, there aren't any doctors who can prescribe it, and i dont have insurance. i hear it's pretty expensive. at this point i'm supposed to be tapering, i take 40mgs a day for the next two weeks, then i'll drop to 30mgs for two weeks, then 20 for two weeks, 10, 5, 2.5, then stop. i have clonidine also to help with the withdrawals..

i wish i could switch to suboxone..

[gg222]

I feel your pain...I am also from east bum **** NH and there are no programs that are close enough to where I work and where I live, so I had to go to the hospital yesterday for my withdrawals and sit there for 4 hours before even being seen. Then he prescribed me Clonidine, Librium, and Bentyl...he said he was too old school and didn't beleive in Suboxone because there's not enough medical proof and testing to be sure if it's a good idea or not. I just hope that I will be able to make it through this next week. But I will tell you that I took two 1mg clonidines last night and it knocked me right out! I slept like a baby after finally giving in to taking them at 3:30am. I wish you the best of luck and in the world and I know you can do it!!!

[lifesaride]

dude you been dealing withe this meth mess a while now, i been seeing ya post here and there. have you looked into suboxone? it's worked well for me. i have read you can switch from meth to sub when you get down to 30mg of meth. just a thought, again i've seen your struggle and feel your pain bro, just a suggestion. Teddy

[Beargizmo]

Be careful on the dosage of Clonidine. I would not go over what the doctor has prescribed for you..it lowers your bp and you don't want to lower it too much or you'll find yourself passed out on the floor..yes, it will make you drowsy, dry mouthed and feel like you're zombie walking around in a world of quicksand.

I suspect what you took was 2 *.1" mgs.  1mg would probably find you pushing up daisies.   Either way..take exactly as directed.

Jim

[gg222]

No you're right it is .1mgs tablets...goodness if I took 2 1mg tablets I would prob be in a coma!! haha. Thanks for your input. =) Good lookin out...

[Yeti_]

I know this is well past the discussion but inevitably someone else will find this thread desperately looking for relief.
I'm glad you fixed the typo of two 1 mg pills being .1mg or someone may well have read that and decided to take the same....they would surely die! Clonidine is mainly prescribed for high blood pressure, so over do it and your bp drops to zero.
Several years ago I was addicted to heroin .5-1.25g a day snorting it.
I went to a meth clinic and after a short while starting dropping my dose, when I was at almost 0 I went right back to H (dumb I know). When I wanted to detox for good I really didn't want to go back to same clinic and I no longer had much money for it anyway. I did research and ordered Clonidine, Atarax, and Catapres from an online pharmacy which would ship without Rx.  Results weren't very positive. Clonidine didn't do much for me, Atarax helped me sleep a bit and Catapres didn't do a while lot either.  I don't remember the dose I took of Clonidine but they were .15mg pills, so I prob took one twice a day.  
Some people call them miracle pills though so they are certainly worth a try.
Now over 3 years later after being on meth that whole time I am detoxing from that. I had quit the clinic about a year ago but I would split my girlfriends dose with her (to save money) as received almost all her doses as "take-homes".
Now we ran into financial problems and she was put on a 14-day detox, which ended two days ago.  We saved some back knowing that 14 days is not enough time.
I am doing fine, taking about 4mg's the last couple days and although I have some of the more tolerable withdrawl symptoms, I can tolerate it just fine.
She on the other hand is having a pretty rough time, no sleep for 36 hours, etc., etc. (When she was switched to detox she received and drank each dose at the clinic. I believe she actually increased her tolerance and dependence by inadvertently drinking more of the dose than she should've for most of the 14 days, as it started at much higher than she had actually been taking each day.)
I still had the clonidine and we finally decided she should take one a couple hours ago. She had .15mg and is now sleeping.  I am hoping the Clonidine will work for her this time.  I'll try to post our results as they may help someone else....

[brookie24]

Hey guys... ny name is Les. I am 24 yrs. old. The past couple of months I have been googling and looking at EVERY forum available and reading up on ANYTHING that can help me get over this fear of withdrawaling coming up in 4 days.. For the first time in almost 5 years I will be quitting opiates and I am terrified out of my mind! I started off taking the blue lortab 10s just for fun, then started taking more, and more, and then eventually ended up getting on methadone. Luckily over the last year and a half, I never got up over 20 mgs, thank God. I am now down to 15 mgs and will be starting suboxone Thursday morning, which means I will be taking my last suboxone on Monday night. =*( I was prescribed clonodine and trazadone and was wondering, if I have never gotten higher then 20 mgs, plus really I will only be in withdrawal for about 36 hours, along with the meds for sleep and restless leg, how bad do you think the withdrawals will be?? I have things to take care of and am newly engaged. My fiance is trying to be as helpful as possible but he has never been addicted to opiates so he thinks I am making this withdrawaling thing WAYYY bigger then it needs to be.. he has never experienced withdrawaling before so like the rest of us addicts he has no clue how awful it can be.. If I can get anybody's support while going through this it would be such a blessing. Thanks so much, and God Bless!
~Les