methadone detox-how fast?

[dioraddict]

i was addicted to opiates for a couple of years and now have been going to a methadone clinic for about 18 months.  I am on 100 mg per day.  I have now decided that id like to try to get off of it but am in no rush to do so for any reason.  i began going down on my dose last week- the dr says we will decrease my dose by 10 mg every 5 days, consistently.  I may be wrong- but isnt that a little quick? im a full time college student and am in no immediate rush to be off of it; i just would like to begin slowly decreasing.  because im a college student i cannot afford to feel withdrawal symptoms and think itd be better to do maybe 10 mg per month.  Even so i see some other posts on this website where people say they go down one mg per week or even per month.  is this rate of 10 mg per 5 days extremely fast and bound to result in withdrawal symtoms?  

[Lindseysmith123456]

Hello I just started my methdone 3 days ago and was told I can not be uped untill 4 days how much will I go up cause I'm really sick right now and want to use? How much will I go up at a time

[Lilnickymse]

The clinic I go to, most of the time it's the patients choice on how fast the wanna go down. But most of the counsalers recommend u go down 1mg a week. 10mg a week, in my opinion is to much. I mean everyone is different but most people I talk to that decrease fast says that they wouldn't recommend it and they end up doing it slowly. I wish u luck and hope everything goes well.

[sadinmichigan]

I agree..that is TOO FAST..you have been on it awhile and on a good amount..I tried to taper and was in constant withdrawals going down 2-3mg every 2 weeks..from@70mg(liquid) ..I did end up going cold turkey at 65mg  but stongly discourage that..i had no idea what I was going to have to suffer..and suffer i did,with no way to change it I had to live through it...i don't know how, but i did..barely. i will be free from that nightmare 2 yrs Aug1. please don't make them rush you..You may feel fine for a little bit..even a week..but then it will hit you because methadone is a long acting drug..stays in your system up to 36 hrs..so as you take your dose it steadily increases inyour body..The same is true in the reverse process..I hope this helps..

[hugsnotdrugs5233]

I am currenty tapering off of methadone from 75mg. I went down about 5 to 10 mg a month depending on how I felt. I didnt notice any discomfort untill I got down to 35mg. It isnt as bad as ppl make it out to be. Its like any other opiate WD. Which you have experienced before. But I wouldnt recomend it while going to school or doing anything else for that matter! I just wanted to say that this is YOUR addiction and YOUR recovery. It should be completly up to you and if its not you need to switch clinics. Everyones recovery is different and only you can decide whats good for you. But I suggest going slow and it totally sucks that your clinic only does 10mg. I get liquid and its nice to know I can go 1mg at a time if I want to. You might want to look into other clinics in your area. They can do a transfer and its fairly easy. Good Luck!

[wait2long]

all i can possibly say is the slower the better...i have heard 2-5mgs every month...5 mgs per week, is quick and you will not be without discomfort, you may be ok for a while because your dose right now is quite high, but once you get to, my guess here is around 60-70 mgs is when the discomfort and WD's will start......is this the way you HAVE to do it? is it their way or the highway?  can you ask for a slower taper??
send Savas a private message...i know he can and will give you nothing but great advice about this....he knows the correct way, but it still will not be "completely pain free"
good luck...

[spacecadette]

that is too bad...especially for NYC with all the addicts running around..well it sounds like all you can do is talk to them.  Every clinic is different so i'm not sure how fast they would be willing to re stabalize your dose or if at all...it really depends on the doctor as well...i don't think that doctors are specifally instructed to bounce people around on methadone to ensure that they are hooked for life.....HOWEVER,  I too have heard those rumors...and i'm sure that there is a percentage of people who are practicing unethically and what they are doing has no merrit as far as actually getting to the end results.  I can tell you for sure that 10mgs every 5 days is going to be rough.

[dioraddict]

yep believe it or not at my place they only work with 10 mg wafers and refuse to even cut them in half even at the very end when u are down to 10 per day and then ready to go down.....they wont even break them in half to give u 5 mg for a few days.  They told me that in that case they'd give me a 1 week vacation of take home bottles-each with 10 in them- then i would break those 10 doses  up as i wished and take less and less each day. 3/4 one day 1/2 the next 1/4 the next....something like that.  

[Mawmaw3]

I just want to give a word of encouragement to all here who are fighting their various addictions. I've never been addicted, but my daughter (36) and her ex-husband used Oxycontin for several years (unbeknownst to me and my husband). When their marriage ended in the Fall of 2005, my daughter started going to a methadone clinic to get off the Oxy and at the same time enrolled in nursing school.  In Feb. 2006, after she confessed to me and her Dad what had been going on for so many years, she decided she had to quit the methadone also, and requested that the clinic begin tapering her daily dose at a greater rate than they normally do. In March, she was completely weaned from the methadone.

She suffered from extreme withdrawals...all the symptoms so many here have talked about...while also continuing with her college classes. It was extremely rough for her for about 10 weeks, so much so that she didn't do so well in the nursing classes. But instead of completely dropping out of school, she changed her major to Social Work.

Next month, it will be 2 years since she quit doing drugs...of any kind. Last week, she received notice that she had been named to the Fall 2007 Dean's List at a major Kentucky university. She has decided that she will continue with her education in Social Work and earn a Masters degree so that she can support herself and my granddaughter instead of looking to government programs for support.

I hope her story will give some encouragement to some of you who are waffling about getting off the drug of your choice because you are afraid of the WD. It is a difficult thing to go through, but it can be so worth it. I pray all of you here succeed in your efforts.

[Penelope14]

10mgs is a huge leap, but their are a few things that come into play when determining this, such as maybe your dr is gonna get you down to a lower dosage then slow down the taper, I just dont think he or she would take ya down to the last mg at ten? So far I have seen a few people come off of methadone with success, but they did it extremly slow, one girl took almost a year in a half to come off of 90mgs, I myself have been tapering, & so far so good, as I started my taper fearing the worst, which I must add is what kept me on methadone for 3 years, then one day it just hit me, I want off this junk! Now after 10months of slowly tapering, Im at 8mgs & feel fine, if all goes as planned, I will be off of methadone by April 1st, or maybe even the end of March? Also are you in the wafers or liquid? Nine times out of ten clinics willl titrate you down on liquid versus pill form, as you just cant get a accurate dosage off the wafers. Good Luck Penelope

[dioraddict]

really appreciate the input- 3 questions- 1st-spacecadette-when u sed that most ppl were lowered at 1 mg per 2 weeks- did u actually mean to type ONE  mg or ten mgs? i know ppl do go as slow as one mg at  a time at clinics where they dispense liquid meth but i just wanted to double check if i got u right.- unfortunatly my clinic only carries 10 mg pills and wont even cut them in half so they cant decrease at anything less than 10 mg at a time- but as u advised im definetly going to insist that it gets slowed down to decreasing 10 mg once per month.  atleast till i finish the semester in may-then i can try it quicker when im off.  
2nd- i did request on my own to start coming down- im in excellent standing at my clinic so its not like they want me out or are forcing me- so in this case- am i in complete control of how fast i go down? and if i begin to feel bad withdrawals can i insist it be stopped immediatly? and in that case if i wanted to be brought back up to a more comfortable dose do u know if theyd do the increases back up daily or wont they do it that fast?
3rd- have u seen alot of clinic's "setting u up for failure?" ive read about that on this site and it seems to be a pretty real issue- i am self pay cash so maybe the dr's are told to do it too fast to tried to prevent ppl from leaving?
4th- does anyone know of a website where i can find a psychiatrist that specializes in a addiction? i know where i get a little lower ill need meds for sleeping. bloodpressure, and anxiety.

sorry to bombard u all-i hope to hear from anyone who has any advice- my counseler is out for the next month with a broken leg so i dont really have anyone there to ask these questions to

[spacecadette]

Yes that is VERY FAST!!!  Especially considering youve been on 100mgs per day!!!  Ask...or actually i would INSIST they slow it WAYYY down....! You are a college student so that will literally be an *** whoopin hun!!! If you were taking methadone for lets say a week or so to taper off of opiates than and ONLY than would i taper you at 10mgs per day.  For withdrawl of methadone to fully kick in is about 3 days alone so they are really rushing you....it's not safe and not successful.  Now they may have to RE stabalize your dose to get you comfortable....i agree with going to make it....every 2 weeks...most people i know were lowered at 1mg per 2 weeks ...I know...that takes a long time....but it's efficient, comfortable and most of all....usually a success!!  Good luck!

[GoingToMakeIt]

I believe it takes 2 weeks for your body to adjust to the new dose. You will be in constant withdrawals. Search for Savas here. He is well informed on methadone.

[usarmymedic1]

I was on hydro's(loracets 10/650) for 4 1/2 years I went to the VA and they put me on methadone starting at 30mg with a tapper of 5mg daily for 6 days I feel very little withdrawal so far and I have been off of everything for 8 days so 10 mg a week should do you right