methadone

[markd236]

I,m currently tapering off methadone and am down to 2.5 milligrams a day.  I'm scared to death when I quit completly I will go thru terrible withdrawals.  So far it hasn't been too bad , just alot of nervousness inside of me.  I will like to here from someone who has tapered down that far and was sucessful ,  and hear there experience.  thank You

[Savas]

I'm in the same position you are (2.5 dose). I'm planning on going down to .5, then trying to start skipping days. I've talked with someone who did it this way years ago. I guess we'll see how it goes!

[Penelope14]

Wow, sounds like your doing great! Im also tapering off methadone, only I,ve gone from 90 to 34, and I feel just fine untill somtimes in the mornings, but its hard to tell sometimes if its just me, or am I withdrawaling? because I never was a morning person, but I just had to say that I know of a few people right now who have gone from 1 mg to 0 in the past month and they said that its been fine, not great, but no getting sick or anything as bad as their heroin withdrawals, so thats hopeful for people like you and me, keep up the good work!

[johnnykelly]

You did great,you will not experience any physical w/ds. The only problem will be psychological,if any.I would suggest 1mgs every 2weeks as methadone has a long half-Life.All the best, John

[Savas]

Well...I wouldn't be to sure of that. I don't want to set you up for creating a bad post 0 dose situation, but be prepared for the possibility. Everyone's different. And logically, you take a highly addictive drug...and stop taking it, be it 100 or 1 milligram...and logically, you would suffer withdrawal. The question is how badly will it be?

Prepare for the worst, but assume it will go well. Get all the treatments and med's you read about on here, and set aside a week or two where no one needs anything from you, including yourself.

If you can go 3 days without suffering too much (if you do it that way), I';d just STOP. I'm not sure how  1 milligram every two weeks would help...unless you mean you're taking a 1/14th a day...which I'd be interested to see if it worked out (kinda what I plan, but MUCH more extreme to cut down to 1/14th a day!).

[Luke103]

I have sever psoriatic Artritis, and since I lost a kidney to cancer I couldn't take NSAIDS so I started oxycodone. Been 4 (?) years. Not got above 80 mg a day because I started Enbrel about a year and a half ago and it worked wonders. Not sure if i need the oxy or not, I have been at 40mg a day for about a year(year with Enbrel) Doc says Ebrel is not a pain killer, but if it stops the arthritic process, well it is sort of. Anyway, I am now told I must get off the oxy and they gave me methadone.40mg a day script. I am afraid of the methadone. I took 1 10mg 12 hours ago and it still is blocking any W/D. I think I am better off weening off the oxycodone than replacing it with the meth? After 3 years of course I don't know how much of the pain relief is from the oxy. But I think it's wroth finding out. Enbrel is dangerous for me (had kidney cancer 6 years ago) but it worked wonders (releiving stiffness and inflammation mainly) Anyway, I have been reading about all this for days now. Decided on this forum to start. Any advice is welcome.
Luke

[Savas]

After all this time I doubt you could tell if you need it for pain or not. The withdrawals accentuate the pain you had, so if you were mostly pain free without the oxy's now, the withdrawals however, would make it feel like it was hurting back when.

You should try to taper off the oxy's. You've reached the point where you've been "written off" by the doctors. When they switch you to methadone, it means they feel there's no hope for you. And while on methadone, you'll be treated like an addict regardless of if the pain is legitimate or not.

Your other choice is to wait four five days of methadone and do what the others up above tried; stopping totally. You may get a pleasant surprise. Just keep in mind if you an still function and get about at that point, your doing better than most in withdrawals.

[mestiza]

My advice would be to try the methadone for about three days, at the lowest possible dose.  You took one 12 hrs ago, then don't take another until you start feeling a little uncomfortable.You could do that the first 2 days then just take half of that the third day. It is wonderful that one 10mgs helped you.  I used to have to take 30mgm the first day,

[Luke103]

Don't understand "written off" and no hope?
I understand about tapering off the oxy. My first thought.
about five days of methadone? Do you mean continue the Meth for 5 days, NO oxy, then taper off the meth and be done? That was my orig fear, the W?D from the Methoadone. But do you mean after only 5 days it will be fairly easy to stop the Meth and then i am done with all?
I appreciate your response's. I'm confused.

[Luke103]

Do you also mean "use the Methadone to kick the oxy and that the short term use (maybe 2 days then taper off) of Meth will not be too hard to kick?
Sorry for my confusion, story of my life.
Thank you

[mestiza]

yes, that is exactly what I mean.  No more oxys, just the methadone I say 3 days,  savas says 5, i just wouldnt want to risk get hooked on the methadone

[mrpat]

What qualifies you to say that a doctor has written someone off just because they put you on methadone? Methadone was originally prescribed as a painkiller and not just for herion withdrawel. It is better to only take one med that hace to take a bunch and beleive it or not you actually can lead some what of a normal and pain free life with methadone. So unless you are an MD you should get off you high horse and quit telling people that because their doctor has put them on methadone that they are washing their hands of them. You have no right to install this kind of fear in people!!

[mr.lucky66]

I don't think you should be that bad coming off 2.5 mg. I detoxed many time but much faster, like 5 per day. 2.5 mg isn't even a coverage dose. About using methadone for oxy addiction, others said it too. It would be allright for a short week or less but don't get hooked on the "done" It's like putting out a fire with gasoline when you switch from other narcotics to methadone. all the best

[markd236]

Thanks for the encouragement I appreciate it

[Savas]

mark236: Yes, take the methadone for 5 days, no oxy at all, then stop. See how it goes. If you can't stand the results...well, then you aren't in any different position. After that, the decision depends on your life circumstances. Being on methadone is better than losing your job and ending up on the street. Just be prepared for the fact that the methadone addiction is Much harder to get off. So...if you're planning to do it down the road, it will be a harder fight. But, you need to do what you can to survive, right?

(mrpat): As to what qualifies me...?
*shrug*
I suppose nothing more or less than anybody else. Except I have talked to many people, and I have the power of observation. Here in NY, methadone is a write off. I talk to MMT patients time and again who are on "pain management" and were placed on methadone, and see them screaming and complaining they don't appreciate being treated like addicts by the clinics, and refused any additional med's by doctors who discover they're on methadone (each is a pain management patient who was transferred to methadone for long term opiate pill use).

I've been through it myself. I NEVER ask for any of these meds now that I'm in recovery, I don't believe in using them without VERY good cause. Yet I've had doctors tell me they won't give me pain pills or barbiturates when they first meet me because of my methadone history, even when I haven't asked for them.

So... as far as the right to instill fear, I don't look at it as fear but awareness of the changes to how pain and addiction are viewed and dealt with. I don't have or not have a right to do it, but I feel an obligation. But people can listen to me or not. If I'm wrong, and I'm a lone voice, then people will dismiss me as a nut.

Yet I seem to have gained a following in a number of places (web sites/local HRC centers/clinics), without really seeking it. For some reason people like what I have to say.

I've run a few "surveys" on addict opinions and experiences that have the weight of statistical analysis to back up what I say (I'm the first to admit that the statistical pools are very low, though, under 300 people each time).
So, if people are listening to me, that's their choice. But they don't have to. After all, it's entirely up to each of us what we choose to believe or not. We do create our own realities in the end, and define ourselves in our own terms.

[Luke103]

OK. Here is where I am. At 40mg a day oxy. That 10MG methadone I took yesterday lasted for 26 hours??  I don't mean for pain, I mean for w/d, .No bad feelings(except no sleep to speak of)
I took a 5mg oxy at appx 2pm today. and another at 8pm. I really want to try the meth path, short time My body (since losing kidney and some liver problems) metabolizes stuff real slow.
I believe (hope) that 10mg meth can last me a long time. So maybe I should do less(5mg?) and see what happens.
At any rate, Like you people say, If I try short term and fail (back to oxy) I have lost nothing. Also, I never mentioned that I was the one who told the Dr's that I wanted OFF the oxy, but I have a sub DR right now and I really don't think she understood that I really BELIEVE that the enbrel is what's making my life livable with the arthritis and stiffness.
Thanks so much for all the help. I'll post back in a few days.
Sincerely
Luke

[Savas]

Okay, wait. you're taking 40 a day oxy and have had a long term oxy use history?
And you took 10 milligrams methadone for the first time yesterday?
And then took 10 milligrams oxy split the next day (today) with no methadone?

I suppose if I was you I'd take a dose of methadone (10) tomorrow, and only 5 oxy. repeat this the next day. THEN, I'd take no oxy the next day and take 10 mg's methadone, and be prepared to need an additional 5 mg's methadone at night.
Then for the next 4 days take a split 10 methadone in the morning, 5 methadone at night. Then...I'd stop and see how it goes.
Keep in mind that I'm partly guessing here, based on other people's experiences. There's no guarantee it would work;
but if you have NO methadone history, it's possible. You could avoid major withdrawals and end up dealing with only the mild after stuff.

I'm very wary of using methadone for any of this, but that's me and my prejudices. So what I'm telling you here is based on other's experiences, again, I have no personal experience with it working this way.

[Luke103]

Thanks. I am tempted to try to just keep at lowering the oxy. I did quit smoking after 33 years, so I do have the willpower when I want it. I just really pray whatever road I take that I am correct about the pain being controlled by the enbrel. Only one way to find out.
Thanks I have some decision making to do.
Luke

[Luke103]

PS Correct I have NO methadone history at all. Only oxy as far as any opiates go ever.

[mrpat]

I do understand why you feel the way you do know, as I did not know that you have to go to a clinic for the methadone treatment. Here in Missouri the pain management doctor prescribes it and it is used as an alternitive to having to have to take several different narcotics, to wit say they have you on oxycotin 80 mgs 4x a day plus oxycodone 15mgs every 4 hours for breakthrough pain. If you do not feel like it is working well for you then the pain doctor will work with you to get you on the correct meds to control your pain, that is why I could not figure out why you said it was the doctor writing you off.

[mbradyc]

With your dosage of Oxy it is very likely you could kick it with 5 days of meth. Worked for me and I was taking way more oxy than that. As for the pain, you will still have it even if you kick the meds. Just be carefull not to take the Done too long unless you can accept being on it for a good while and tapering down later. If one Done held off the wds for 26 hours your a perfect candidate IMO

[Savas]

Yeah, the NY methadone situation is really bad. It's used exclusively to make a buck off of addicts here. I ten to forget there are parts of the country where it's essentially a privilege to get on a clinic, or they do have it for pain management.

I hate to say it but I see it's use in this way spreading. There's an entire "slot" system, in which they're starting to allocate the number of methadone "slots" allowable by state. (NY is 40,000, I think the highest).

Where is the possible logic in assigning slots? The only rational is that's the number they set as an acceptable amount of people's lives to destroy and make a profit off of all at once. If it was done for our own good, I think it would be by patient needs, not "slots".

I wonder at how addicts manage in states like yours. It must be an entirely different feeling to get on methadone there, more of a privilege, and not a punishment!

I've been trying to prove that methadone could possibly work for detox rehabilitation if they offered real aftercare treatment here at least in NYC. The failure rate for positive drug tests here in NY is ridiculously high in clinics, like 97%. But they do A LOT to hide that statistic, and only quote statistics for success of long term MMT. If I successfully taper, come off the clinic, and don't use again, I'll still be considered a failure by their standards. Actually, the only thing they consider a success is if you STAY on long term maintenance.

[mrpat]

I see what you are saying, but here in missouri the state does not run the methadone clinics. the ones that are used for detox are private. If you go there it costs you 13.00 a day. then after you have been on it so long they force you to ween down. If you go to a private detox center they use suboxen. Pain management makes you take drug screens to make sure you have the proper levels in you.

[angel456]

thse methadone clinics hand out anit drug/alcohol pamphlets and talk about the chance of survival if one continue on . yet, they begin dosing a person. and monitor. i havent went to one but i am thinking about it. im on chronic pain management. but for the benefit of my liver in the long run, would i benefit from such a program and save my liver yet be legally bound to some clinic? anyone else have similar questions?

[markd236]

I've made it 3 days on 1.25 milligrams of methadone and only experienced nervousness and depression,  I pray alot which helps.  I just wish I could feel the way I used to feel 3 years ago before starting on methadone.  I want to make it soo bad so I'll keep the faith. Thank You

[Savas]

Good for you mate! That's a great start. The hard part is going to be waiting for the time when you WILL feel like you did three years ago, maybe better. You should start the amino acid replacement therapy soon if you can. In a sense, this is the easy part. Just keep it up and you'll get along fine.