Methadone and Xanax

[Tivos]

I've been on methadone at 150mg a day and about 15 mg of xanax.  i went to detox for 21 days, i've been home 1 week and i just keep feeling sicker.  Can anyone help me before i just give up, I'm 51 and have been batteling this problem most of my life.  Is is possible for a real drug addict to get clean

[S65NYC]

I've been on Methadone since 1979 (39 years) and benzos. When I was on 120mg. I got 6 take home bottles. I began using a 3cc OTC syringe to accurately measure and take 5 my. then 10. etc. slowly for months. I am now down to 20mg a day. You can do this. If on the pills break them. The Xanax is harder. I did it very slowly. Your anxiety is real but paralyzing. Don't let it control your doing whatever you need to do. I've been there I'm sharing what I know and you be stronger than your fear

[JesusFreak22]

Good morning Tivos,
Addiction is mainly emotional than physical; from my experience. I am currently on about 15 days detox off of Suboxone in which I have been physically sick and mentally drained. I think, however, that my mental state is partially to blame for my physical state. What I am trying to say is that addiction is a battle, there is no easy way, no cure all, and nothing in the world that can ease that pain than hope and faith. Which feels impossible sometimes. Do not give up. I do not know if you pray but I have prayed for over 16 years for my addiction to go away. Do you know what God says to me in return? I am sufficient for you. This too will pass. (16 years my friend!! 16 years and that is all I get!) But I trust that in the suffering, much joy is to be found when all is complete and I am a healthy, normal, happy, and productive person again. God bless.

[Tootsdeville]

I am 61 and have been on heroin 27 years and methadone 100 mg for 34 years. I kicked it after 7 years and wish I stayed off. There is a way but only if you have been on a few years. They knock you out like when they do surgery. That is supposed to let you sleep through withdrawals. But I am sorry to say it is practically impossible if you have been on manyyears. I take 10 milligrams out of mine very other day. But that is just as n emergency stash. You need !like me to go d a doctor. And I am addicted to Xanax for 20 years. Some days I do 6 mg I comp!early screwed up. I need to find a doctor that will help the over 50 s that can't do the work they used to. Good luck stay strong.

[Tootsdeville]

Meant to say 100mg. I wish it was 10. I could stop that in a month!!!

[gnarly_1]

HI and welcome to the forum....I detoxed off 150ml of methadone also its 226 days for me now...but it does take quite a wile to start to feel better the first 30days are brutal the energy crash can be debilitating and depending on how you went off of it the withdrawal itself can be pritty drawn out....try not to get discouraged you will get better with time
and proper nutrients a 21 day detox is only going to put you right where you are....feeling like you got ran over by a truck...at this point all you can do is damage control
look up the amino acids protacall on the right hand side of the screen get out and get some supplements they help the brain heal from years of abuse...I drink whey protein shakes you can pic it up at walmart for 15bucks and its full of vitamins and amino acids as well as protein all of witch the brain needs to heal...get out and go for a brisk walk even if its just around the block getting out in the fresh air and sun helps
you will notice improvements at 30 60 and then around 90days things  really started to come around for me...right now im comfortable in my recovery life is a beautiful place again...but it took a wile to get here.....aftercare is a must do with methadone your going to need all the help you can get so get pluged into something N/Aor A/Ais good and its free...if thats not a good fit try a substance abuse consolor or an addiction therapist ...hang in there you can do this and in the end it is so so worth it good luck and God bless ......Gnarly    

[Prospero73]

Methadone and Xanax is a potentially lethal combination, as I'm sure you know.  It's hard to know how much is too much, as we don't hear from the ones that don't make it.  My son was one of those (1 year ago, age 27), and I have some idea of what he was taking.  On one of his (survived) OD's, he took 1600 mg of methadone and I don't know how much Xanax (he often combined them).  On the one he didn't survive, I only know that he had both drugs in his system, and also had about 30 mg of Xanax in his pack.

What got him was uncertainty about dosage, a byproduct of the effort to quit, because of loss of tolerance.  From what I have read on this forum, it sounds like quitting is possible with a long taper, a lot of determination, and the help of a support group of some kind.  My son had only the middle item, and it wasn't enough, after a 3-year battle.  There's a lot of good information on this forum, and you have a good chance of making it.  You are the same age I was when I joined AA 24 years ago.  There's a lot of good stuff left to do!

[sway1]

do you have a program? the only way i can stay off is by going to meetings and talking to people who understand. i've tried doing it myself so many times, never successfully. i am 47 and have been using for about 34 of those years. from crack, mda, heroin....well you get my meaning. i surround myself whenever possible now with folks who have what i want. recovery. keep posting! peace, sway

[dominosarah]

Yes, a real drug addict can get and stay clean.  I am one of them.  Did they taper you off the meds?            sara

[IBKleen]

Hi & Welcome,

Did they taper you or did you go ct off of the meds?