Methadone

[Holliee]

How many of you or any are on Methadone? How is it working for you. Any tips!!!!!

[cathy5841]

i have not used methadaone but some here have.  i think there is some info on it in the health pages on the bottom right of this page.  please make sure you do your research.  are you going to take it to overcome a pill addiction?  many say it is much harder to get off of than the origial DOC.  check out all your options.  and hang around there is alot of support here.

[worried878]

I have no experience with kicking methadone addiction ...there is a site for support for those on methadone...u can google it...most here are trying to or have accompliched getting off all narcotics...some are on sub short to long term...both methadone and sub long term have their consequences..depends on ur goal and ur situation,,,be safe

[worried878]

I read your profile...u r onmethadone but staying away from ur doc...that is good..looks like u tried detox, sub, and CT...take some time to heal and try to keep ur dose as low as u can..k?

[minlb]

I used to be on methadone before they put my morphine pump. It was very difficult drug to get off( I had to be detoxed from it before the morphine drip via the pump started). it was done in hospital and took 7 days and than 3 more days of the morphine induction

[kim715]

I was on methadone for over a year.I went cold turkey off of 25 mgs and I now have close to 8 months clean from it.If I can help in any way or answer any questions you may have please feel free to pm me...All the best...Kim

[nickjackson]

I am currently detoxing from Methadone and it's rough.  On the other hand, it was the best drug my Pain Specialist offered me from his magic bag to help with my chronic pain.  It kept me on cloud nine and helped me sleep.  Oh, how it helped me sleep. :-)  Until the back pain got so bad I couldn't stand it.  
After having another fusion and decompression for spinal stenosis, my neurosurgeon suggested to the pain doc that I should go off the Methadone and now I am a new member of MedHelp and loving all the support I'm getting.  I offer mine to you.  Good luck with it.

[NeedsHelp109]

Listen please dont go on methadone ! i'm an x addict ! my doc was lortabs ocycotin oxycodone and any other pill i could get till i was introduced to methadone (illegaly) When i started taking it i did know sever people in the methadone clinic and they told me to start with 20mg and build myself up to a point where i no longer have urges to use ! This did not help me quit drugs ! this was just another drug ! and 90% of the people in the methadone clinic are only there because they are getting there drugs for free - i think most of my friend that go to the clinic are like walking zombeeeesss ! They seem to think that the methadone no longer makes them high ! when it does ! they dont work because a. they can hold a job and b. methadone maintnence is very expensive if not on medicade ! to quilify for medicade (free insurance) in nystate you cant work or have to make very little money ! so now my "x" friends will not find employment cause they are scared to death they will loose there methadone ! i got very lucky when i quit ! i had recentl;y lost a job and had very little money ! both me and my x were methadone addicts eating almost 80mg ( the waffers ) thats 2 -3 40mg each a day - when i lost my job i was no lobnger able to afford that much and for almost 2 weeks i dropped down to somedays 10mg and somedays 20mg which is not much ! i felt very shaky and nerviouse even still taking some ! i ended up getting arrested going into the city to buy the pills ! while in jail with 1000 bail i was expecting to get extreamly sick ! thats all i continued to feel was the nervious feeling - by the time i got out of jail a week later i was fine ! i have been clean from methadone sence june 24th 2008 - although i do eat a lortab once in a while maybe 10x sence june 29th i will never go back to my old ways ! I think it is very dangeriouse to get involved with any pain killer ! expecally methadone - if i didnt wing my self down before my arrest i think i would have been alot more sick ! These methadone clinics tell people they have to wing them off over a long period of time. not true ! i am proof ! i took methadone for almost 2 years everyday and did not mis a day ! while being an addict i thought the same thing most people in the clinic think " i'll never be able to quit ill be so sick id rather die than try to come off this - people it is not hard but we have to step back and take a look at the real picture - people are going to quit if they are ready to quit , if they make the decission in there own mind that they do not want to do it anymore ! if tyhere going to the methadone clinic just so they can get there fix for free then they are lifers ! they will be in the clinic for life ! someone is not going to quit because a family member or a court or a friend or counciler tells them they have to quit or if a wife threatins divorce or kids threatin not to talk to them they may quit temperarly but if it was not them that decided they do not want to live that life style any longer then they will be back to using ! methadone is not a joke and it ruins lives ! ive winesses two family members and several friends go downhill hilth methadone ! another thing i noticed is alot of people go to methadone to quit opiets (so they say , there going to get there free high and satisfiey the people that told them to get help) and they end up hooked on other drugs such as benzo's  zanex, valum , ect .... also every person that i know in the clinic is brain washed and they think they are getting there life back on track and they are doing better ! nooooooooooooooooo your not !!! you still get high everyday !! and dont tell me after the 1st two weeks it dont make you high anymore because yes it does ! i have been there ! i know ! your just so damn high you dont realize it ! your blinded by the methadone and the councilers that are leagaly supplying you with your DRUGS !! did you notice i didnt say medicine ! the goverment is supplin drug addicts with free drugs ! i know im back and forth and i keep changing subjects but im trying to get the point across that methadone is not good and no one if thinking about going on it should do it ! unless you want to keep being a looser and you just want to keep getting high ! these clinic should not be legal ! they are supplying drug addicts with free drugs so they can spend there money on other drugs ! people are becoming brainwashed by the goverment , doctors , councilers or who ever runs these clinics - most think they cannot quit or miss a day ever - guys i am proof you can quit ! and please dont tell me that you are taking 150 mg a day and i was not taking much - because if you noticed i said atleast 80mg a day - if i had the money i would have eating 2-300 mg a day  which i have done and did often)  most have you reading this have probable been on methadone for sometime ! just quit ! it is not as hard as you think it is going to be ! its really not ! its a big head game ! wing off it and then stop ! i know you think you dont get high from it anymore and i know you think your no longer a drug addict but you are !! like i said your just two high to realize it ! you will realize it when you quit and your head clears up ! well im done ranting and raving and im sorry about my spelling but i typed this in like 3 min ! please if you are thinking about methadone do not do it try suboxone 1st you dont have to go to a clinic everyday it dont make you high..... ever ! its cheaper and your doctor can write you an Rx - if anyone has any questions please e-mail me at ***@****

[basslover79]

I would like to know where going to a methadone clinic is free? I went for almost 4 years and I had to pay for me and my wife the whole time. I really dont think u should be calling people loosers that go to clinics. Going there really saved my life and changed my ways. Yeah, I know some people abuse it, just like they do suboxone and every other drug. But u have to want to do better and it took methadone maintenance the right way for me to open my eyes.,
   I dont know , maybe people are different but I never took over 55 mg. and I tried to quit once before and it was worse than any other opiate that I had been addicted to.
  I switched to suboxone but I think it is no better than meth. if u do not have the drive to quit all together.
   To the question about , any tips? If u are going to go on methadone I would say for u to not go above 40 or 50 mg. and try to get off of it as soon as u can. Personally I feel much better on 2mg. of suboxone a day than I did taking 50 mg. of methadone.
                chris

[dogatron]

With regard to methadone (going onto it) being a huge mistake; I'd disagree.
I haven't personally had the misfortune of having to battle any form of addiction but have patients at work who have, with many of whom I am now fairly close. I think it depends on the area in which you live, as to what the methadone patients are like.

Apart from ONE patient (who is very obviously still using) all the patients seem to be doing well...now of course there are probably some of them still using small amounts on top (although I like to think not, I imagine this is unreasonable statistics wise).
Having talked to a few patients who have tried to detox from the methadone I'd agree that by the sounds of things it's extremely hard to get off (well, duh), but I'd also say that it's been paramount in some of their recoveries from substance misuse.

The physical addiction is there, perhaps the needle fixation (if using needles prior to commencing methadone scripts) but the emotional attatchment to 'escapism' is lost. In my opinion its effectiveness is subjective and should be considered on an individual basis.

There are success stories, and there are stories of great failure.

[jrfk]

The majority of people on the forum make it clear if their giving an opinion or speaking from experiance. I"m sure there are success stories with meth and I know there are positive results with sub and the negative experiances with meth far outnumber the positive.I think the results for sub arent in yet but it seems that it may be getting the amount and time using sub is the key.As far as meth I have to agree with those that say using meth to get off pills is like using gas to put out a fire.Secondly if someone is currently on meth then it may have saved your life today but it may also be what kills you in the future or just keeps you a slave to even that 1 lil pill or cuppa kool aid everyday. They say an addict obsesses and worrys and I know if I was on meth I"d always be thinkin what if the clinic burned down and from the storys I"ve heard theres a few folks who would like to burn 1 down lol. metth,sub,taper,ct whatever,,it probably wont last without aftercare cause theres a whole lotta reasons why we use and they dont just go away cause we made it thru wds,,,gl to all

[christos24]

ive been on it for almost 8 months, i was prior to that on suboxone 32mgs  day the highest effective dose for 8 months and then shattered my wrist and was put on morphine and norcos at very large doses, and taken off of the sub, so I saw the cycle of addiction starting all over, so i took action and starting at a methadone clinic. I am currently at 100 mgs daily and will most likely stay on that dose. I ahd the unfortunate experience of going to the Milwaukee County Jail for unpaid tickets and was without methadone or my prescribed 4mgs of xanax for 110 plus hours and that was by far worse than any wd's i ahve ever encountered, by far. it was horrible. for 24 hrs after taking the last dose i am fine but after that the worst wd's you will ever encounter will hit, so be very very careful, the lower the dosee the faster you can taper off, but dont let taht stop you from being comfortable you need to be comfortable confident and structured tot ruly stay clean. go to group meetings, NA meetings, and one on one counseling that is crucial. It ahs been one year and two weeks since I last use oxycontin or heroin and it feels amazing, but going cold turkey or tapering methadone or suboxone too fast your asking for horrid wd's that both my DOC's would not even come close too..so be careful...christos

[worried878]

methadone gives more pain relief than sub...it is also a bit cheaper as a rule...if ur doctor prescibes it especially...at a clinic u r subject to pay their costs but it is not usually as much as sub...more strict tho and more visits to the clinic....bo0th are hard to wd from and both are addicting (sub and methadone)  both have their place in recovery...being a chronic pain patient if i ever chose a narcotic for life i would choose methadone....,if i chose that route i would know i was on it til the end.....both can be used short term to detox and if safe and short term use/can get out without addiction to the drug....it is a decision that people need to make with much education as doctors overprescribe both meds/especially sub/as a rule

[methamorning]

Ive been on methadone for a while, I take 85mgs daily, yes it is a low dose, but it satisfies me and thats all im looking for, if I kept going up to get a buzz, it would never end and I would be up to 300mgs very quickly, that is our clinics max dose, and there are alot of people on that dose. I was a heavy oxy and perc user for 5+ years and when I say heavy I mean heavy 20-30 pills a day, just to stay "not sick" , if I had known my choices I would have gotten on suboxone instead of methadone, now for me to switch, I would have to detox all the way down to 25mgs. and then go 48hrs. methadone free before i could switch over, I hold a very important position at work and have a lively family, so I cant afford to semi-detox then cold turkey it for 2 days.I have been nauseated every since the methadone treatment began, its a constant naggind feeling, I get easily angered. So i really have to watch myself, so I dont hurt anyones feelings, its not their fault, im in this situation.   -Dillon