is methadone the answer?

[hawaiiii]

Hi Everyone,
I know the consensus seems to be to avoid methadone at all costs.  I have a question though, and hopefully someone who is on methadone maintenance could respond?

I have a 10 year addicion to narcotics (oxy, vic, etc.)  My habit is formidable: average between 100-3 or even 400 mgs. a day.  
I have detoxed myself before, usually because I had to because of lack of supply.  
I know that I will always crave these drugs, and would continue to do sometimes horrible things to get them.
Last week I decided screw this.  I started at a methadone maintenance clinic.  I'm on day 8, my dose is about stable at 60 mg. a day, and I finally feel normal.
It takes 11 months to get to the point where you only have to visit the clinic once a week, you can get 6 take home bottles a week.
I honestly think this is the answer to my addiction.  If I take suboxone, and get off the oxy, so what??? As soon as I get some I'll take them again.
Methadone doesnt' give me the euphoric rush I love, but I sort of fills what feels to me like a missing part of me.  
I wish I was a person who could get off all together, but after 10 years of trying, failing, stealing, crying, all the trauma that comes with addiction, why can't methadone be the answer???
Thanks for opinions.

[skippysizemore]

If you think that Oxy's withdrawals are bad  wait until you w/d off of methadone.....1000X's worse. Seems to me like you would be one who would need to taper off of methadone/suboxone. I have used methadone for the past 4 years and and I have been going cold turkey for the past 10 days and am just now starting to get the shakes and stuff under control....I am sorry to be so blunt but methadone is evil to ME..and I too have done oc's and vic's and perc's and tabs and any other thing with codeine in it. someone will come along soon to give you better advice.. like I said I am sorry to be so blunt.

[cathy5841]

i have never takenit, but do yuo plan to stay on it forever?  i have heard the clinicsjust want you to keep taking it forever.  i personally dont know . but whatever you decide we are here for your support.  some will come along soon.
cathy

[toxictome]

I have never used meth...but many on this site say NO.
More people should be along who can answer your question.
Good luck!

[skoochie]

Get off of it as soon as you can.  The withdrawals are far worse and long lasting then the week you go threw for the other.  I made the wrong choice and took methadone to get over my oxy addiction and trying to get off of this is taking forever.  Do alot of research on the web of what it is.  It gives you a false sense of energy and you can do anything feeling like any other opiate, maybe not exactly the euphoric rush but it is a high and it is an opiate.  Sooner or later when the newness wears off you won't be so happy anymore and you'll want to get away from this ball and chain too.  This withdrawal is a doozy!!  Good luck and you found the right place for support in any decision you make!

[duckandcover]

I understand the natural reaction on here is that ALL narcotics are bad almost all of the time and that the ultimate goal should be to get off of them forever.  I have inclinations in that direction myself.  I generally hate pills and the pain and anxiety I have gone through as a result of my abusing them.

However, (there's always a however isn't there) after 10 years of fighting it seems like you "may" have found a possible solution that you can live with.  YES Methadone is an awful drug to quit.  YES suboxone works better for a lot of people.  I think it's wrong to assume that suboxone will work better for ALL people ALL of the time.

But you may find that doing it in stages might be a better solution than all at once.  After 10 years it may be good for you to "feel like your self" for a while and then decide where you want to go from there.  You will suffer when/if you decide to kick methadone.  But I know  from personal experience that Suboxone is not always a  complete one step solution.  

If you're on day 8 and feeling better and if you have the means to stay on it for a while then after 10 years of up's and down's you may want to "feel like yourself" and get your bearings for a while.

2 cents..

[whathefu_k]

I knew this guy, let's just say his name was Keith. His life was moderately screwed up due to OC's and perc's he was taking. I watched him go the methadone route- he was stuck in that clinic for a very long time. He seems even more screwed up now. I would be very careful with the route you've chosen.

[allaboutmary]

You have to do what ever works for you.  Methadone saved my brothers life per say. Got him off the streets and made him able to live a normal life.   This has got to be better than doing what you were doing.  The thing I like about the suboxone is I get a script once a month and dont have to hassel going everyday. Like I said do what ever works for you.   Best wishes.   Mary

[Penelope14]

Im a woman who has been on a slow taper off methadone for almost one year & I can tell you that during my first two weeks on methadone I to had that feeling of wow, Im not high but geez I feel pritty good, but after a while it fades out & as a matter of fact some people on methadone such as my self, get a feeling of living life as a robot, methadone has robbed me of emotions that I should have been feeling but couldnt as the methadone was masking it, now that Im on a lower dosage & almost off, I can feel me again, I can cry, laugh, feel things coming back that I havent felt in so long because the methadone was taking me, the woman I am, little by little every day, so Im not gonna let this drug take anymore of me, Im winning, not the methadone! & Also living your life around a methadone clinic grows real old after a while, you begin to lose sight of why your even their. No one can make the decision for you to stop now before your body gets to adjusted, as we can merely give our opinions, & my opinion is to bail out before you become yet another statistic of this controling powerful drug.

[usarmymedic1]

I only used methadone for 8 days before my tapper was done but I was only on the pills for 4 years. I would say take this time to rediscover who you are and what you want to do without the " I GOTA GET DA PILLS " going off in your head. everyone is right the people on here are dacine people you will need to finnally get off if that is your end goal. So keep on posting and it will help make your mind up. It did for me.

this forum does seem to be there little ohana.

yes I use to live in hawaii

[johnnykelly]

Hows it going, i have used and abused mostly percocet since 1990 as a result of a tractor trailor accident. I have also used on and off Methadone,Your right there does seem to be a bias on this forum in regard to methadone.I believe the majority of the drama in regard to how hard and terrible it is to get off meth is from those looking for a quick fix.Cronic pain requires also a remedy,unlike those that only use for the Eurphoric and or buzz.They are in a different class.methadone unlike other drugs is a long acting narcotic,best suited for the treatment of narcotic addiction and cronic pain,also it is used in palliative care,another benefit is it is less toxic on the liver,as drugs that contain tylenol are toxic in high dose of 2grams or so.All drugs have their side affects and methadone is no exception.In my personal experience i no longer am in thought of running out of percocet or its cousin oxycontin.If a person doesant have cronic pain and decides to come-off of methadone,then do so on a controled basis under the care of a physican.There are people that ive heard of using self knowledge to detox off of methadone and even Suboxone.I believe a little self-knowledge is a dangerous thing when it comes to chemistry.I wouldnt recommend a methadone or suboxone detox to anybody,as i am a user,not a DR. So my friend good luck john

[mr.lucky66]

Methadone maintenence is bacicly harm redution. It's the lessor of 2 evels. It's not a good idea for those with poly drug addictions just opiates. If you take all these hydro pills with all the tylenol, then you are better off with the done . It's not a great life to be on methadone but it's better than crime or liver failure. I spent many years on it and am so glad to be off. Methadone, there's no future in it. all the best

[sweetmama1970]

ok that really pisses me off for u to say methadone is not a good idea..look how many lives it saved..I,ve been on it for 1 year.. n I,ve been clean since..maby it didnt wrk fort u.. if u feel it not wrking just get increased..but it wrks good for me n it wrks for a lot of my friends..so bite your tongue dude before u diss something that saved our lives!!

[mtgoat911]

i was on and off methadone for 10yrs, at the end of my addiction to methadone i was getting 2 weeks take home, it was impossible for me to take one dose a day at the end, eventually i was unable to shower by myself, clean my house, work, nothing about my life was ok at the end of methadone matience, i ended up in icu
but i think that its good you are trying the methadone clinic, we learn from experience, addicts in general have to see for themselves, keep posting and let us know how it goes
methadone is a very progressive addiction, but like you said you already knew the cons of this medication, most of the people here that have experience with methadone are already off it, the best place to recieve possitive comments about methadone use is called MA, your clinic should have details
i have had more experience with this drug that anyone on this forum, if you want to really explore the truth about methadone please email off the forum
i notice that people get upset when i share my experience with this drug and other matience drugs, ofcoarse its always people who are still taking it, but my effort here is not to offend but to share what happens when you devote you life to matience, there is no do over, we cant ask for the years back that we have turned over to drugs
if i do not hear from you i wish you well, i have been reading detox stories on medhelp for a long time but none of them compare to the detox i suffered from my last methadone wd
soon the clinic will be the most important aspect of your life, having the money to dose, getting to the clinic on time, stressing over the drug test, once the energy goes you may turn to speed like diet pills or adderal to help with this common side effect of methadone, dont worry there will be dealers outside the clinic waiting to sell you these drugs, oh yes the people you will meet, hopefully it will not affect your family like it did mine, my parents got sick of me nodding off during family get togethers, i stood in that line to get my "medicine" for years, i am so glad that i am free, i used to get so happy walking up to that med window to drink my coctail, it was like i always had to have something different and i thought i found it in drugs, what a life i had, i had to drive several a week just to get my take homes, walked in with my little lock box, paid for my governement dope and hoped i would make it to my car without someone asking me if i wanted to by herion or sell my doses, man methadone clinics are a trip, this is the first time i have talked about all this on the forum, but i figure its better to let you know what your getting yourself into, its not just a drug its a lifestyle, a lifetime lifestyle
wow after spending 10yrs in the clinic, i have so many stories to tell i should write a book, think anyone would read it?\
i have had more friends die from methadone then any other drug, i know atleast 500 people who are on or have been on methadone, and none of them would say it saved there life, so statistacally speaking your looking at 1 in a thousand, for more information on death from methadone please visit
http://mothersagainstmedicalabuse.org/default.aspx
read the memorials, and driving after dosing

[Mememe79]

I would agree with skippysizemore on the methadonewithdrawals. I know coming off of oxy you feel like your in hell but withdrawing from methadone will make the oxy withdrawal feel like a stomach ache. I just did 8 months at the methadone clinic, I jumped off of MS Contin, I was taking 4 100 mg MS Contins a day. I was still in severe pain most of the time so I went to my doc and the only idea he had left was to switch me to the 200 mg pills. I got upset and decided I wasn't taking them no more. I cant stand the pain, but I hate being a slave to the physical dependency thats brought on by this ****. My methadone dose is 160 mg a day, I stopped taking it 12 days ago, I thought I was going to die, I still cant sleep but I actually have energy today and I want to eat. I know you dont want to go through withdrawal, but the only reason I stayed on methadone so long is because of how well it handled my pain. Otherwise, its just the same as trading one drug for another. I know the pain is going to kill me but I'd rather deal with that today.