Withdrawl from 3 month methadone/vicodin

[Debaser]

Hi all,

I've been browsing here, trying to gauge whether I'm going to have issues in coming off of methadone and vicodin.  It looks like I'm in much less of a dire position than most of you here, so forgive me if I'm coming to you for something that you consider trivial.

I just need a simple answer from someone other than my doctors, who seem utterly ignorant.

I'm on only 5mg methadone three times daily, and using approx 40mg of Vicodin daily (10mg tablets x 4).  I don't know whether it matters, but I'm also on 300mg Neurontin twice daily.

I suffer from chronic facial pain, similar to trigeminal neuralgia, except the pain is constant and bilateral.  I may, however,  be facing the end of my chronic pain.  

I want to discontinue the methadone and vicodin, but I want to make sure I do it in a reasonable way.  I know it's a minimal dose, but I've also read many of your stories.  I'm concerned that even a little evil is still evil.

Am I going to need any special advice, or is my maintenance dose small enough to where I won't see any significant effects?

Thanks for your time.  I may not know anyone here, but just browsing through these threads I've come to gain a lot of respect for the ones who are honestly trying to help.

[cforster]

You should expect some w/d side effects from even that small of a dose.  If you were taking as prescribed and not abusing, you will not have nearly the hard time that most of the people who post on here do.  There is a bid difference in taking pills as directed, and taking to get high.

In my opinion the hardest thing to come off of for me was methadone.  It has a long half life and stays in your system, thus making the w/d side effect a lot more drawn out.

[SublimeSublime]

3 months is long enough to develop a dependance. It would probably help for you to talk to a doctor knowledgable about opiate dependance. I don't understand why they would put you on methadone, but I would try to get off of that if nothing else. Then it's up to you whether you can go cold turkey from your current dose or if you need a taper plan to help minimize the WDs. The only way to find out is to try it. Unfortunatley, you've already done your homework. Most people don't even know they're going through WDs, so the mental aspect isn't there. Fortunatley, you may have spared yourself the chemical change in your system. Hope this helps.

[Debaser]

I'm glad I asked.  Thank you for the advice so far.  Fortunately, I've been sticking with my prescribed dose of methadone.  I've been taking the Vicodin for closer to 7 months (I should have noted that in my original post).  I've had no temptation to take more methadone than prescribed, though I can't say the same for the Vicodin.  I took Vicodin more often than originally prescribed (40mg vs about 20mg prescribed) and had to go to a street source to supplement my supply of Vicodin.  My latest prescription has been for my actual use of 30-40mg/day.  I've always taken the Vicodin to control actual pain, though, rather than for the "high."

I plan to taper the methadone by one daily dose per week or so.  One week of 10mg/day, then one week of 5mg/day (thinking of taking it in the evenings, to minimize impact on sleep).

I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to respond.