Methadone detox, maybe?

[rkymtnbaby]

Recently I learned that my finance is in 80ml of methadone. I knew from the start that he had been a heroin user in the past, however he told me he had been sober for 6 years. When I finally put all the pieces together and confronted him, he said that he was too scared to tell me but he knew that eventually I would find out and in a way he was hoping that he would get caught. He said it all started after a car accident 3 years ago when they gave him opiates for the pain and it started a vicious cycle that he couldn't manage and he choose methadone over street pills or heroin.

Last week he said that knowing he had my support that he was ready to start detoxing and would start at 2.5ml every two weeks and depending on how he tolerated the change possibly increase to 5ml and later start on suboxen. He met with the dr at the clinic on Tuesday and told me that they would reduce his dosage by 2.5ml starting on Thursday.

The clinic is closed on Sunday so every Saturday they give patients a 'take home' in a lock box and last weekend he shared with me the lock code. This morning we were going to look at buying a house so I rode with him to the clinic but didn't go inside. We came home, chilled around the house for the afternoon and then he got called out for work. I decided to clean up the house and noticed the locked box was sitting on top of the kitchen cabinets which seemed like an odd spot since it was normally in the bedroom. Out of curiosity,  I decided to open the box and see what was inside. You guessed it…. Methadone 80ml

My only thought is that maybe they don't make 78.5ml labels and until he drops a full 5ml that the label is wrong and he really is detoxing. That's what I'm hoping and praying for but I'm worried that I'm wrong and he's not ready to detox but knew it would please me if I thought that he was going through the process.... does any of this sound normal?

Thanks, Overwhelmed in TX

[Julia M Aharonov, DO]

I am so sorry you are going through this What you need to understand is that many addicts like to think of methadone and Suboxone as "sobriety". What they fail to realize and are often misled by their prescribing physician, is that even though both of those medications are legal, they are both opiates and are 'substitution' treatment. Meaning that they are still just as addicted as they ever were but now it is to a legal, FDA approved, doctor prescribed  substance. Sometimes it is even covered by their insurance provider, which makes it even more comforting and official.
All of this,however, does not make it any easier to quick and actually become drug free. I will tell you from my experience that the withdrawals from methadone and Suboxone are actually harsher than many street opiates. We deal with detoxing patient from both of those drugs in our clinic all the time, they have come to us for help when they are on hundreds of mgs a day of methadone as well less then a half a mg of Suboxone. The withdrawals for them without our help are just as hard.  Take some time and read my blog about both of those medication by clicking my name in blue and than blogs. You will find it interesting. You can also visit my clinic website for more info.
But you must understand your fiance, we see his story happen over and over again. Methadone is an extremely addictive substance and titrating down is a painful process that not many can accomplish. I hope I can help both of you. Good luck to you whatever you decide.

[husband396]

My wife is addict to percset 10 I take the same dose for nerve damage in my feet I also take xanax 2 mg I take like a qurter or half a pill not even every day when she gets her hands on my rx she will 10 xanax 10 oxy 10 mg at one time she starts drinking behind my back I dont whst yo do she steel my rx she gets her own and finish it in couple of days we have no health insurance please let me know what to do I live in tampa fl