on methadone-sober or not?

I have been 210 days clean from oxy and heroin after a 10 year long addiction everyday needing it for ten years, and im onlt 24. I joined a clinic that is giving me counseling and group therepy and i take methadone. it is a controlled, something i cant o'd on because you get one dose a day, then go back every day. i concider myself sober since i havent been doing ANY DRUGS or drinking, but my traditional family thinks that im not sober since im on methadone, which is only opiate "like".  I dissagree cuz when i take my dose, i do not feel any effects like getting high or anything, any insight on that?

[dominosarah]

I dont think it is anyones place to say whether you are clean or not.  You came off a real heavy addiction and you are working your program by getting counseling and group therapy.  There are times when Methadone is a life saver and i have a feeling this is one of those times.  Dont let anyone rain on your parade.  You are oxy and heroin free.  Keep doing what you are doing.  Congrats on 210 days!!!!        sara

[worried878]

Being clean is a state of mind..methadone is an opiate..it is not "opiate like"  sub is an opiate as well....in reality, u r still on a narcotic/and if u used outside the clinic//u could also overdose//so dont!...but from ur post it seems u r in a better place thyan u were on heroin?...u feel better?  u feel positive?  who gives a flying f what others think!  u r moving forward and this is the plan u made...stick with it...techincal terms can be hard to pin on a person...goals r different from everyone...ur use of a maintenence narcotic right now is to me a huge step in the right direction...as long as u know what u r taking and have educated urself on ur plan
Methadone is a long lasting narcotic originally developed for injuries in Germany during the war...medicating someone on the battlefield was not easy so a long acting opiate was best...The usa adopted it as a detox drug but it is also to legal to rx it in the US for pain as well
Suboxone was originated in S America for pain and was called Temgesic...it is still a drug used for pain there at 0.2 mgs....The US uses it as an addiction drug only///not legal to rx it for pain....0.2 mgs is 1/5 of a mg...the US rx-s this drug at over 100 x this dose and then SURPRISE! peeps get stuck on it..but the pharmaceutical company is making a ton of cash...as r many sub drs

either way...we do what we gotta do to reach our goals...knowing everything about what u put in ur body is importan...and u r getting support//aftercare....u r moving forward....keep us posted

[KbayBeeee]

thank you both of you- im having a hard time with what outsiders think, but methadone has alllowed me to get a job, have custody of my daughter back, and just gave me a normal life again. i may be on it for a long time who knows but after trial and error of every other single kind of treatment this has kept me away from any drugs or alcohol, its just disappointing when all you hear is whats wrong with what you do not how much good you have done with what you are doing....