I'm in Methadone Withdrawal- Help

[ruffles]

I've been on Meth about 20 years solid.<private doctor>I have slowly reduced from 100mls aday to about 5mls. I'm trying to get rid of this ball and chain.Am in withdrawal now.Can't sleep. Got the willies.What can I expect when I drop to nothing? Never kicked a habit . Not once.Scared to tell my Doctor how low I've gotten. Don't want to lose my place on maintainence, if I fail.
  Its a little different in Canada. Go to Doctor once every 2 weeks, pick up once a week. Doctors only allowed so many, methadone patients.So there's always someone waiting to get on.
This is a really scary thing to do, after 20 years.

[cindi]

Ruffles,,,Please email me at cin91860  Am having problems right now but can talk to you via email      cindi

[lax]

Hi Ruffles.  Firstly well done on making the decision to kick the liquid handcuffs!  I've been on Methadone for 11 years now and am trying to reduce very very slowly myself as I want a life without the chains too.  I came off the program once before (coming down off 90mgs at 5mgs p/week) and made the mistake of coming down and getting off to quickly.  Although, when I reached Zero I actually felt fine for about a month but then it hit me like a baseball bat round the head!  Like you, I couldn't sleep, had severe withdrawal aches and pains and was trying to hold down an 10 hours a day job.  Because I didn't want to start taking Benzo's to sleep I tried a variety of natural remedies, but to no avail.  In the end, I ended up scoring once "just to sleep" fooling myself into using more frequently and thus, because I couldn't stand it all again, ended up back on the program!  It's is an extremely hard addiction to kick, if I was told of the long term effects of Methadone, I would have just gone cold turkey and tried to kick it myself.  Anyway, what I wanted to say to you is because you are now on such a low dose now the amount you are still reducing at will be too much too soon.  Take it slowly.  Even reduce .5 of a ml (2.5mg) or less if it's possible in Canada.  Good luck Ruffles and keep smiling!

[Mom2B]

Before I bother to post a long comment, is anyone reviewing this page?  Is anyone out there to help someone going through withdrawal?  Please post if you are out there!!

[lmb]

i wish i could be at your point keep up the good work,,,getting off this stuff,,,yes ive made another step ,,my doctor is sending me to the top doctor in my province,,to see about methadone,any suggestions before i go to see him..i went once long time ago,little scared ,,i guess if anyone even abuses the clinic,,your gonna be pushed aside,,true?? anyways wondering if i could suggest anything to doc,specialist in this area??  thank you again,yes there is people everyday reading the posts

[stallion]

Hey I just found this site and was thrilled to find out that there are many other people addicted to methadone. Here I thought I was the only one. Well, I have been trying to ween down for about 6 months but without much luck. I have decided to go see a doctor. Good luck to all here, as Im hoping I can suceed as well. Nobody could understand the pain of withdrawels until they've been through it. I tried cold turkey once, and only made it to the third day before I buckled to the pain. If anyone here has any suggestions, please pass them to me. Again, good luck to all!

[creator182]

Hi everyone
My name is Neil and I have been on the Methadone program for about 8 years. A year ago I decided I wanted to be free and I started to reduce. My initial dose was 80mg and I was coming off at 2mg a week. When I got down to about 15mg I changed that to 1mg a week. Im now down to 10mg and I am about to attempt to come off. It's taken about a year. They don't give you alot of help here in New Zealand so you basically have to help yourseld if you enjoy sleeping and feeling kind of normal. They have given me Clonidine which I find helpful. Of course, nobody wants to suffer and I am quite anxious about the whole thing but eventually I guess you have to bite the bullet and just do it. Wish me luck eveyone out there!!. I will try to keep you posted as to how Im going.

[skipper]

creator182:

welcome to the forum! there will always be room for just one more
addict, so come on in. you might try posting a little closer to
the top. it is real easy to get overlooked down here in the base-
ment. just jump in on a thread close to the top - don't worry
if the thread you use doesn't apply. it sounds like you've had a
real long go at getting off methadone. BEST OF LUCK! the last 10
mgs. seem to be real rough for most of the people who post here.
i hope to see you post to us real soon...i need everyone this
forum has to offer.

keep an angel on your shoulder
kip

[motheronmeds]

Hi. I am so upset at my methadone clinic. I've been there for 2 years and have NEVER failed a drug test (except the first one of course) Well, one of my drug screens came back positive for opiates! How could this happen? I've been clean every since i was admitted to the clinic. I paid 45$ to have the urine retested and 2 weeks later they tell me they didn't have enough urine to do the retest. Do I get my money back? NO! Then I have to pay 20$ more because I had a dirty. I'm outraged and hurt. I'm clean and I know in my heart I havent taken anything in 2 years. When I had my baby I was hooked up to a moriphine pump which I was able to use every 6 min. I never felt anything. I went through a c-section with 0 pain relief. If I couldn't feel that then why would I take a hydro? I've lost my faith in my clinic. Now I'm wanting to detox myself b/cause I don't want to give them another penny of my money. I've got some xanax but I'm not sure if it's going to help at all. I just want the withdrawal to be bearable. I have a 9 month old baby to take care of and can't be deathly sick. Anyone have any tips.

[Khanken]

I have just stopped going to my methadone clinic. I went there for a year and a half. After about 6 months i got fed up with the way i was being treated. And i decided to stop on my own. I was at 90mg at the time. I started to buy methadone from a friend, and was taking between 20 and 40mg. I was awful. I felt so sick everyday. My son was two years old, and i just couldn't keep going on like that.  so i decided to go back to a different clinic, which was alot better.  I went up to 60mg, and started to slowly go down. WHen i got to 40mg, i decided to go down 3mg a week. That was ok. When i got down to 15mg i started to go down 1mg a day. In the morning and at night i started feeling sick again, but it was not as bad as before.  I have now been without methadone for 3days. But I have absolutely no energy.  I do not have very bad stomach cramps and nausea. My nose is really runny, and it's hard to sleep, and eat. I dont have much of an appetite. It is hard to work, and then come home and take care of my son. But i can deal with it. I just tell myself it cant get any worse than it is.  I decided to go down alot faster that most, only because i was tired of being dependent on something everyday, and it was hard to pay for every month.  

I Have asked my friend, who went through rapid detox in one week, what to expect. He told me that you will feel like **** for about 2 weeks, and after the first week or so, you will start gaining back some of your strength everyday.    My advice to you would be to try to go down slowly, you probably wont feel any different untill you are down to about 20mg or so. From what i have heard from other people who have gone through methadone withdrawal, no matter how slow you go down, you will feel some of the WD. If you go down slowly though, the WD will not be nearly as bad.

[KA069]

IM CURRENTLY COMING DOWN FROM METHADONE. I WAS AT 90 MGS IM NOW AT 52 AND STARTING TO COME DOWN 1MG A WEEK RIGHT NOW I DO HAVE SOME DISCOMFORT IN MY KNEES AND BACK BUT IM GONNA TRY TO STICK WITH IT IVE BEEN ON IT 2 YEARS AND IM READY TO BE OFF I REALLY HATE THE WEIGHT GAIN AND CONSTIPATION.

[KA069]

I HOPE THERES STILL PEOPLE OUT THERE IM NEW TO THIS SITE AND I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OTHERS.....
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP... AND GOD BLESS

[FLaddict]

This is an old post, it will more than likely get lost due to its older date.   scroll up and click "back to forum"  this will lead you to the main forum and post a new question introducing yourself. this will up the odds that members will see your posts and help you anyway they can. Its getting late so if you don't get alot of responses tonight check back tomorrow..

welcome

[bubbaganoosh]

Was going to say 20years though't i was bad holly ****, 20yrs i woulda jumped by now anyone how they went hopefully ok

[Ernieelc]

I have been takeing Methadone for almost 2 years. The last 6 months I was takeing about 60 millagrams a day. My wife and kids had no idea I was on this stuff. I have a job that has terrable hours and no scedual. I work 10 to 16 hours a day so I started useing methadone because it gave me alot of energy at work. I never thought I would get hooked on a drug but methadone got me. I tried quiting cold turkey. This was imposable for me to do. I felt suicidal when I got sick it hurt so bad. I tried to ween myself off of it but that didnt work. As soon as I started feeling sick I was back up to my 60 millagram dose. My habbit started afecting my wallet and my familly. I knew I had to get off this stuff somehow. I went to the emergeny room. They seemed like they didnt want to help me. They told me to see my familly doctor. So thats what I did next. I went to my doctor. They were very suportive. They talked me into telling my wife about my problem and even came to my house to help me talk to her about it. At this time I havent had any methadone in two days so I was going through withdraw. I had enough. My wife was so pissed. But she calmed down and was very supportive. I started calling rehab facilities. Most were full. I found a rehab. called bowling Green. It was 5 hours away. Somehow I drove myself there and checked in. To be honest I thought it was a **** hole and I wanted to leave. I was realy sick by now. It took another day or two untill they dosed me with 30 millagrams of methadone. They started tapering me down 5 milligrams a day. I felt like **** but it wasnt that bad. I could handle it. To be honest I checked myself out of rehab after 6 days.I couldt take being away from my familly. I just wanted to go for Detox. I have not had anything in about 14 days. I stopped counting. I did not get very sick. I am having alot of trouble sleeping. I have crazy dreams. My leggs hurt. I have some of the crepy crawleys. But I feel a little better every day.I went back to work 5 days ago. It was hard to stay on my feet all day because of my leggs hurting but somehowe I did it. I think tapering off this stuff is the way to go. You probable wont be able to do it yourself. Reach out for help. There are still some good people in this word that will help a drug addict. No matter what you are going to get sick. You may not get as sick as you think you are. I am not going back to useing. I hope this helps some people. Take care.

[alli123]

i have been addicted to opiates for 15 years and methadone for 4 years. my dose is 90 mgs. on april 18, 2008 i went to jail and was forced to quit cold turkey. i am certainely going through withdraws, but they are not nearly as severe as i would have thought. i am now 3 weeks in..........is it possible that the worst is still to come? any advice would be appreciated.

[DUNK32]

I have been on pills and in and out of methadone clinics for about 15 years.  I never actually tried lowering my dose at the clinic when Iwould get done it was allways some sircumstance or another why I would quit.  Sure enough a day or 2 or 3 later I would be begging to come back, and sometimes it would work and mostly not.  I have been getting my methadone through a DR. no illegal buisness at all and I get 405, 10 mg tabs every month.   I also have a brother that is going to the clinic for about 5 years solid, but he takes his take home done really quick and is out only days after getting it.  So he knows he gets to go through 4 days of hell.  This is where the problem is he turns to me for my pills and makes feel like its my fault he is feeling crappy and I will not help him and he know this works on me so I give in.  No matter what every single month about 10 days or so I am really low and have to taper and almost allways completely out 5 days before I can get more.  I need to stop him from getting mine, and I would really love not to be a slave to this drug anymore.  But everytime in the past I have tried to quit I relapsed, I even had 6months off the stuff but felt sh**ty the whole time.  Does the Methadone Spell ever go away?  I love my brother so any tips on getting him out of my bottle would be great.  Good luck everyone, and Im happy for you and the good days and feel for you and the bad, you know what I mean.
DUNK

[freeandclear93]

Congrats to you for taking the leap after so long.  This is my biggest beef with methadone clinics.  If they really wanted to help people they wouldnt let it go on for so long, but oh, the money made off of junkies. My own "counselor" (i use this term loosely as she thinks coke and heroin provide the same feeling and knows nothing about addictive personalities) tried to tell me i couldnt drop for the first TWO YEARS. Started @ 80, now its over.

I was a junkie for 5 years and on methadone for one, i got off the **** by tapering about 12 days ago.  I never felt sick but definately . . . different.  Im tired, am unmotivated, havent had a sex drive since i hit 10 mg (3 months ago), am sensitive to cold, and am having serious #2 issues (trying not to be graphic, ha).  

Im new to this forum but i gotta say even with the down sides it is great not having to bust out my bottle, check the date, and down that nasty **** anymore.  I can spend the night at a friends house and not have to hide in the bathroom and sneak a dose, i dont have to stash my luggage ral fast when i go visit my family worrying if theyll stuble upon my little black box or if i left a bottle out, and most of all it feels really good that i finally did it.  For me i just couldnt take having my life run by a brown then pink substance.  A measly CC or mg of something that if i forgot or couldnt score would ruin my whole day.  Its worth it, its scary, but its an unbeatable sense of accomplishment.  Self afflicted so no pat on the back from anyone but you, but thats the only person that matters anyway:)

Good luck!

[bummedout234]

I'm not a methadone user but my daughter is & has been for about 4 yrs. I agree absolutely with the comment that the so called counselors do not want to lower anyone's dosage. She takes 160 mg.! I didnt read anyone's comments that said that. I'm beside myself with worry. She wants to get off that junk, has no insurance & apparently there are no resources for a recovery from this drug. I do not know what to do or how to help her. She's 25 yrs. of age,

[PDXtrouble]

Im on my 9th day of detox cold turkey from 60 mg's, Ive been reading all the comments on this board and am going through every WD symptom Ive heard on here. Sure you cant sleep, but really in the grand scheme of life its only 3 to 4 weeks of it. And most of it depends on the person and there mental fortitude. I kick my G/F at night in bed all night if you can see im writing this at 3 a.m. I hate watching her sleep almost makes it worse, the chillls were gone after the first week, then the stomach not eating right maybe 1 small meal a day. I feel liek im losing my mind, but I also havent slept in 2 nights. The absolute worst one of all for me is the restless legs at ngiht, im 6'4 and was an athlete for most of my life til I got into OC's, So RLS and the muscle spasm's almost make me insane, Im one lost puppy right now and if I knew how bad Methadone was, I NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE IT! I qsa at my clinic for about 6 months went up to 100 then got down to 60 and just never went back, hated it there. But to everyone out there going through this, it will be over soon and life is worth living, and its a downward spiral at best; but I love it death. In my pursuit to perfection I was filled with poison..... Good luck and be strong.

[jimgreg]

i say cold turkey it and go forawrd   tappers suck..do irt an d bedone with it..i di on 160 mgs to iothing....the mind game is to me the worst  8 monthes or longer

[kiylen]

If you go to my profile you will find a page where a lot of us have been talking about coming off of methadone and it has been very helpful to me.   Just click on my first post and it will take you to the page and there is a lot of good stuff.  These sites have been a lifesaver to me as I am currently tapering off methadone also.  To me, it's better than going to NA or AA or whatever.  Just to wean out what you really need to know and have people like you have seen here that really care.

[G__ray]

Today I am clean and sober and I thank God and my Family for the help (well, most of my family).  I have been an addict to every kind of drug (besides heroin), and the last 5 years my drug of choice has been opiates.  I tried using Methadone to get off the opiates when my daughter was born 1 year ago.  Little did I know that this is much harder to kick that coming off the opiates altogether.  I started out using 5-7 m.g. a day, and reduced myself gradually alll the way down to m.g. a day until I got arrestedc for marijuana, along with a suspended liscence, etc.  I came clean with all my family, and went cold turkey.  I haver to take this a day at a time, the first 5 days where actually HELL, every day is a little bit better, some days worse than others, I am hoping after 30 days I will have my energy back.  I went to a DR., and he prescribed my .5 mg of xantax, which helped, but my father no longer gives them to me.  I have taked with other peope who have gone to an addiction specialist, and was given sleep aid for 6-12 months, I just want to use these xantax for another 14 days, then stop.  I only need 1m.g. a day, Is this bad?  Am I going into another hole?  I don't think so, I want to use some hours, but I pick up a guitar, or talk to someone, and eventally it all goes away.  I hope my story helps someone, and if anyone has any suggestions for my situation, I would be happ[y to hear!

~G

[krissssssstin]

I'm hopeless and I have nowhere else to turn.  I'm glad to at least meet some people that have something in common with me, but i feel like all hope is gone, and i just don't want to go on anymore.  The only thing keeping me here is my family, and I know i've disappointed them greatly.  these withdrawals suck and i don't know what to do.

[dominosarah]

You are not hopeless at all.  Go to the top of this page and hit the Post a question, its in green.  That will start a new thread for you and others will see it.  This one you posted on is an old thread.  We have alot of people who have gotten off Methadone and will have some good ideas for you.......sara