would they switch you over to fentanyl and then taper the fentanyl and then move you to an oral med???
most pain docs have NO problem prescribing high amounts of fentanyl
It is not a good idea to take non-prescribed narcs without your doctor's knowledge. A.) It can be dangerous. B.) If/when they find out, you'll be detoxing "really" fast. C.) It will mess up your detox schedule.
It sounds like your doctor is doing the right thing. When reaching higher and higher, escalating dosages of opiates, the ratio of therapeutic benefit to side effects gets worse. Most of the huge amount of methadone you have been taking is going towards "keeping withdrawals at bay," rather than going towards abating your actual pain. (Remember the 'olden days' when one single hydrocodone pill knocked your socks off and killed all the pain.)
By "resetting your opiate receptors," it is good for you in the long run.
Jinx_777's post about fentanyl may be an option; your pain doctor is no doubt very well aware and experienced with fentanyl, but for whatever reason, he's choosing the morphine/methadone route. Morphine is the prototype opiate. That's what's given in the battlefield during war. Very, very powerful. Be careful with it. Don't treat it like an 'aspirin' just because it's not reducing your withdrawals! Did you know that out of a group of opiates, one opiate won't necessarily stop all the withdrawals of another opiate!? For example, if a person is on morphine, and the doctor switches them to oxycodone, that person can be getting relief from the oxycodone, but still have morphine withdrawals! So please be careful.
That being said, it never hurts to ask questions about trying different medications, e.g. "Hey doc, do you think fentanyl is an option for me to try?"
I am sorry to hear you are in so much pain. Try to remember that in being a Pain Management Physician, your doctor's goal is the same as your's: to reduce your discomfort. No sneaking around taking "pills from a friend."