Methadone tapering and chronic pain

[Mdone]

Well, it's been a long road. I've been clean from all the benzos for about 4.5 years now, and my 4 years of methadone maintenance is almost over too. It's taken me a bit over two years to taper my methadone dosage from 150mg down to 3mg. Tomorrow, I make the drop down to 2mg. I feel a little nervous, but I'm committed to doing this.

No serious withdrawal symptoms to report (well, at least nothing on the level of a heavy benzo withdrawal or cold turkey heroin/oxy withdrawal). I am having a lot of trouble sleeping, of course, and my energy level is very low. My chronic pain has been steadily on the rise since I hit the 20mg mark, but that's to be expected. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that.

I know that a lot of people on this site have chronic pain issues, in addition to being plain old junkies. I'm taking Neurontin to help reduce the back pain, but it barely takes the edge off. I walk at least an hour every day, which has helped a lot, but it's pretty tough to trudge through snow during a Wisconsin winter. Anyone that has any comments, suggestions, or insight into dealing with chronic pain without dope, let me know. I could use the help.

[Calzy]

I'm glad to hear you kicked the methadone after 4 yrs and your getting your life in order, wow thats great and others will be glad to hear your taper worked. Most ppl say their pain level drops after a short period of time, as my did around a month after quittting. I took m'done for 6 months to kick a 13 yr pain pill habit and it worked, but the m'done always left me nodding. I was up to 200mg and reduced down to 115mg as fast as i could but the nodding didn't quit so I went c/t at 115mg and i had very little w/d's from it, was just glad to get off it. I am still dealing with 39 yrs of addiction but have been clean for about 4 1/2 mos and life is coming back into my veins again.

[Mdone]

I've finally finished my methadone taper. I've been completely methadone free for 5 days now. Surprisingly, it hasn't been too bad, except for not being able to sleep well and feeling incredibly lethargic. My pain level is pretty bad, but that goes with the territory. I'm pretty shocked, actually, that I haven't been craving opiates. The thought has crossed my mind obviously, but only fleetingly, and I'm not fixated on it at all.

So, to anyone else with a strong desire to leave methadone maintenance, I guess I can now say from personal experience that it is indeed possible to taper successfully, and it isn't all that bad, as long as you don't try to rush it.

[Zurich42]

Hi there - enjoyed reading your successful tapering regime - that's incredible!!!  
Like you, I suffer the 'cold' winters as well.  I bought a treadmill (used from Craigslist) and am now doing a very good 2 mile run a day.  I am on my 20th day of sobriety and have lots of energy to burn.  Keep posting! let us know how you are doing! And remember to treat yourself well - you deserve it (of course, without drugs...).  :-)

[Mdone]

My reason for deciding to taper off of methadone maintenance therapy was twofold: 1.) I'm a young guy (25), and I really don't want to spend the rest of my life on methadone, pain or no pain.
2.) I've kicked all my other drug habits, gotten my life back together, finally graduated from college, repaired relationships, etc., and I want to move on with my life.

I guess I'm most curious about people's experiences with regard to rebound pain caused by methadone withdrawal. Basically, to what degree will the increase in pain I've experienced subside after, say, a few months completely clean? I know I'll never be pain free, but how much of what I'm feeling is because of methadone withdrawal, and how much is due to my underlying back problem?

I know that's an impossible question to answer, but if anybody has any similar experiences to share, I'd like to hear about it.

[GoingToMakeIt]

Good job on your taper! Was it your idea?
What is the cause of your pain?
As far as chronic pain if it is severe, I will leave others to answer how they deal with it. I have pain all the time. It is usually tolerable. I will say that our bodies 'produce' pain in order to get the drugs. It is true. I have been in less pain overall than when I was using.
Keep posting. Welcome to the forum.