How can I withdraw from Methadone ?

[Saul]

I was sniffing heroin for 7 monhts and tried for 3 months to quit. I went to a detox doctor and got clonidine,some muscle relaxers and shots of buprenorphine. He said it did not come in a pill so I had to do the shots. I got the stuff and took it home but I was too terrified to take the shots.My fiance offered to inject me and I let her give me one of the 3 shots because I was so sick from the withdrawl. I went into a panic and have not been able to face another one. This is hard to explain but I have not had any medical work done in years that requires a needle. I guess it's a phobia. So I have these 2 shots left from January. I was able to get methadone under the table from my heroin supplier and have been on it for 2 weeks now and want to get off it really fast. It has helped me with the heroin which I had been on a small maintenance dose for a month. Since supply and cash were no problem maybe I should have just stayed on the heroin. Why don't they use morphine or just less and less heroin to detox from the heroin? I am having a hard time getting off this stuff. The cravings are really bad. Is there a way to stop them? This is the only reason I kept relapsing from the heroin. Will Naltrexone stop cravings? I wouldn't take that pellet from the doctor because if it doesn't stop the craving I'm afraid I might use and od. He didn't have an answer for this and said maybe I shouldn't get it afterall. I appreciate your help.

[help_me75]

i've been on methadone and clonipine for many yrears,my E.K.G. came back a bit messed up that was a year ago,i can imagine what it is now.i'm so scared i really want off both of them but i need a medical detox,my insurance doesn't pay 4 any of it.if i had 8000.00$ i could get detoxed medically.the results of my E.K.G. makes places weary of taking me because i could have a stroke,heartattack,seizure etc.so i suppose that this will eventually kill me leaving family behind,i don't dare cold turkey,as i have chest pains all the time.

[dunson]

u chose NOT to be an addict. most dont want to live without their Linus blanket, so they just keep getting diffrent colored ones. Good for u!

[tazm]

I started using using methadone about 2-3 years ago,  I started at 30 mil and went up to 85 mill in 10 mill increments a week.  After being oxy/heroin free for 4 monthes I started tapering down, I am now a 24 mills from 85 Drs will tell you different o keep you on the stuff, they get paid that way,  The Drs in Barrie Onario want people on this, I have to push them to go lower,  I have stared lowering dose myself and had no real problems.  I have even gone down as much as 10% every week with no problem,  I smoke weed sometimes to sleep ake testosterone for energy and mainain great sex life alhough I will be stopping that soon too.

[Trydall]

5 mg at a time when coming off methadone and don't mix anything with it ever! Weed won't kill u but ur doc won't be happy. I went from95 mg to 0 by dropping 5 every 3 wks to a month. I'd say to 5 a month to b on safe side. Naltrexone ***** it's just a blocker that actually takes away from the bupe. But the pill form with it is suboxone the pill without naltrexone is subutex which works way better cause some of the  naloxone interferes with the bupe latching to receptors and therefore not allowing full bupe in receptors

[GreenButterfly906]

oh really because i have the best case that no one has thought of, which is crazy that would make LARGE! I am looking for a pharmaceutical settlement! Please help!
thanks.
had i lived in USA, this would have been a done deal already!

[GreenButterfly906]

NO LOVE, THEY WANT YOUR $$$$$ and every client is a pay check. One time the dr. told me she had given it to someone who took over the counter tylenol 1!! I said you a drug dealer with a degree. And was surpised she wasn't offering free samples along with business card!!!!! HAD THEY TOLD ME THE TRUTH, I would never have touched the ****, and just got off of oxy's! hindsight is a ***** but worst decision of my LIFE!!!! if i could take it all back i would!

[GreenButterfly906]

and because suboxone is VERY EXPENSIVE if not covered whether methadone is cheap. As for made up the things we love, i dont think so, I dont find high off done, but it has changed in canada in last 7 years big time????????? I like subs much much better!

[GreenButterfly906]

How was the LAAM, since the just got subs here in Canada, and LAAM is no monger used in USA and never brought into CAnada, why is that, what is it comparable to?

[GreenButterfly906]

where to get it, i spent $2000, and got nothing but broken heart!

[WantMyLifeBack2010]

this is from April4006 from Feb 23rd, 2012...

Im in the process of tapering down off of methadone. I've been on methadone for 4 yrs and desperately want to get off of it. I'm told I can switch to suboxone when I get lower but I'm wondering if I can just keep lowering my meth dose and get of of meth without turning to suboxone. How is the withdrawal off of meth if u taper right down to 0 mg?

WHEN YOU GET TIME.....can you send her your wisdom filled words?? I tried I hope if you read what i replied you approve of??? you ARE my mentor Gnarly!!!!
God Bless you my friend and thank you for all you have done for me....
Kim

[WantMyLifeBack2010]

Hi April.....
before I even begin I want you to contact Gnarly or he will find this post of yours....he is and has been my savior thru my taper and all I can say is YES IT CAN BE DONE!!!
I am on 15mgs as of Yesterday.....I am tapering in incriments that Gnarly advised due to my MILD symptoms and I mean MILD....
yes I cry....but I am also 45 yrs old I could ALSO be having Hormonal issues????
So BELEIVE ME when I SAY yes it can be done....YES you will go Thru symptoms but like my post above the post of yours READ it ALL of it...word for word.....and you will see the MAJORITY an addict tapering FROM methadone our BIGGEST FEAR, our biggest obsticle Is .....OURSELVES....
We have to believe it WANT it and commit to feeling like crap for a little while....BUT NOT THE KIND that I thought I would go thru like I did when I tried to Cold Turkey it off PAIN MEDS SO MANY TIMES and ....failed.....
once you go thru "THAT" sickness you never forget it??
But from ALL the forums I've read of people Successfully tapering off methadone please PLEASE REMEMBER April....the work begins when you take your very last dose of methadone...
you MUST stay away from yes Im gonna say it..."people, places and THINGS"!!
you must continue working on YOU why you did what you did so YOU NEVER end up back on methadone ( I dont know if you're on it for treatment as I am)
That is the MAIN problem with us(addicts) we think.."Once we complete our treatment whether it be a clinic or 28 day center which ever you chose,....You MUST find a group of recovering addicts with ALLOT of clean time and get involved with them...
I go to a church on Fridays to a womans addiction prayer group  and they have helped me SO MUCH....but I also have given myself over to my Lord and Savior Jesus ...Im not a bible thumper, I just feel with his love and all the prayers that are prayed for ME...by GOOD GOD loving people, I personally feel it has helped me tremedously!!
So April yes it can be done....if YOU HAVE THE WILL POWER becuase I sure didn't have it when i began but ....I DO NOW!!!!
Good luck and try and email Gnarly_1 he is an amazing man with great advise...what he tells you ...follow it ...I promise you will NOT regret his help...

God Bless and YOU are in my prayers for our Father God to Give you the strength to DO THIS!!
Kim

[April4006]

Im in the process of tapering down off of methadone. I've been on methadone for 4 yrs and desperately want to get off of it. I'm told I can switch to suboxone when I get lower but I'm wondering if I can just keep lowering my meth dose and get of of meth without turning to suboxone. How is the withdrawal off of meth if u taper right down to 0 mg?

[WantMyLifeBack2010]

YOU have NO IDEA how comforting it was to find your post and read it as My Biggest fear is or rather Was..."OMG Im gunna be so sick just like I was when I tried to do it CT back in may of 2010 off of my pain meds"????.
I too was on years of Oxy  Roxy and Percocets 20+ a day in percs then snorting the oxy's and roxy's sometimes up to 3 each or MORE a day....
I have been at my local methadone clinic for 9 months now......never passed 40mgs then at the End of August I started tapering down I stayed at 25 mgs until Tuesday as of Yesterday I am on 20mgs and so far I feel ok,......

Everyone that knows me on here and my struggles with trying to find a Suboxone dr and the PRICE-What a miserable road that was...BUT  .....I decided to just detox/taper slowly off the methadone.....and reading YOUR POST really made me feel EVEN MORE positive about my taper.

yes everyone IS Different and everyone will go thru there own set of symptoms....I have been Riddled with FEAR....FEAR from allot of stories (Not on MEDHELP) that "U will be so sick you will wish for death" HUH???
I went in this clinic FOR HELP not to swap my drug of choice I was so highly addicted to...NO I went becuz I KNEW tryin it yet again the  Cold turkey way i had failed so many times in the past that  I knew I would end up back at my doctors or my dealers then eventually .........JAIL or DEATH.....
My only problem to me in MY OPINION is ----I stayed longer than I should have.....9 months was longer than I thought...but I cant change that NOW...all I can do is move forward continue on my path take it slow dont be so hard on myself....and like someone posted to me ...just think this will be over and by summer you will have you life back"

so I wish YOU all the best on your journey off methadone and I hope and pray for each one of us to be FREE of our addictions......to live life with out any drugs at ALL!!!!!

Thanks for  posting 404megan and DONT GIVE UP!!
Kim

[gorephine]

i been on methadone for 12 years tried 4 times to get off it tried going down 5 mgs a time tried clonidine and every tranquilizer possible to help get off it the withdrawls are so bad i cant take it maybe because ive been on 12 years started at 19 and am 30 now desperate to get off it please someone out there tell me what i can do i fear i can never get off it and very scared someone please help with an answer thanbk you

[dawn263]

Methadone is synthetic heroin and has the same effects as heroin in the body. It is just as addictive and more deadly than heroin. Ive been on methadone for 12 years and have relapsed more times than can be counted. Methadone should NEVER be used as a heroin substitute to get off heroin. It is Heroin, in man-made form!  Methadone is the number one drug for accidental deaths because its effects aren't immediately felt for 2 hours if ingested. Make no mistake, methadone will slow your respiratory drive to breathe more than any known opiate or illegal drug on the market.

[IBKleen]

404 megan,

his post is 8 years old and the other one you brought back to life is 20=-1/2 years old. If no one sees it, it will return to archives unanswered.

You would get a lot more help and advise if you started your own post. Scroll up to the top of this page and hit the green "Post A Question" button. Follow the directions.

Hope to see in the forum. If you need help let someone know.

[404megan]

suboxone comes in a pill... i have been prescribed to it!!!

i have had both suboxone and methadone and methadone worked far better... but everyone is different and what works for some will not work for others...

hey everyone... i have always heard that coming off methadone was horrible and worse than coming off any other opiate.. i myself was a really bad heroin addict for three years and when no other clinic or medicine would work to help me come off the heroin i turned to methadone... i have been on it for 3 months ... i started with an adjusted dose of 60 and about a month ago i started to come down from 60 to 50, then 50-40, and like that at 10mgs a week and now i am at 20... when coming down some on the dose i only experienced very mild w/ds for only the first 3 days and it was only at night a few hours before i was suppose to take my medicine that i felt it... i have always feared coming off it but my own experience has been nothing like wat everybody else has said i dont know why... but i am grateful it is not painful like everyone else says... although i prob should have been on a much higher dose i realized the higher you start out on the longer and harder it will probably be to ocme off... so i recommend that ppl start on a low dose under 80 if you really want to quit and then taper off at 5-10 mgs a week... good luck to all those who still suffer

[RANDO88]

AFTER  5  TIMES  AT  METHADONE  CLINICS ( OBVIOUSLY  DIDN'T  WORK )  I TRIED  SUBOXONE.... I  WAS  CLEAN  IN  3  WEEKS.   I  BELIEVE  THIS  IS  THE  "BEST"  OPTION...NOT  PERFECT----BUT  THE  BEST   WAY  TO  GO.

[RANDO88]

  SUBOXONE  is far superior, even at the high cost.

[bethany81]

methadone is evil.

[Memo911]

everywhere i look people are looking for help, looking for some way to have a normal life. and god im one of them. when will doctors finally realize methadone isnt an answer to addication. i was hooked on 80mg x15-20 aday for 4 years. and to be completely honest the withdraws from the oxys was much easier to deal with. i see new people weekly coming into the clinic and i feel for them because ya its great at first but i know they are going to have to go through what im going through now and it just kills me. i always try to tell them but of coarse they dont lesson.
Ive been trying to find a not so painful and lengthly way to get off methadone. i cant go back to work till i get off this ****, and the only thing that ive found world wide that works at all (for me) is to, go pick up some morphene. this is how im doing it right now. every 50mls of methadone i was on is 100mg of morphene i was on 220mls of methadone so i started at 400mgs of morph and everyday i go down. if i wake up and dont feel to good that day ill only go down 10-20 but if i wake up and im on top of the world ill go down 35-50. the way i made the transzion was to stop taking my methadone and waited until i just couldnt take it anymore, also dont get the morph before hand wait until your not taking your methadone. i waited 2 extras days just cause i didnt want to go out side. ive been doing this for about 10days and im down to 210mgs. dont think this is fun. remember we're on a very painful drug because of another drug so if your serious about coming off the methadone try this. you wont feel good but i sleep at night and i can go out, not for long periods, im not playing basketball or anything but instead of taking years this will hopefully only take a month or two.
im not saying everyone should do what im doing but if you need to get off the methadone for some reason that you just cant wait the years maybe think about this. but if you have the time why bother. if i was 50+ id just stay on methadone but im only 22 years old and i need to get moving again.
well i hope that helped some people, just remember this if you got addicted to a drug before. tomato-tomata, a drug is a drug be careful and make sure you go down daily
PS sorry about the spelling, lol

[oldhippie000]

I was in an accident on my job and lost mt left leg 10 yrs ago. You can guess the rest,morphine for 4 yrs. Methadone for the last 6 yrs,starting at 160mgs a day so yes I am hooked good. Anyhow I am down to 30 mgs a day slowly from 50 mgs a day 2 monthes ago.The pain clinic is closing and the nearst one is 100 miles away. Not that it matters I want of the Methadone I hate taking the pills. The clinic is closing in 2 monthes so I have 60 maybe 75 days to get off the Methadone.I am feeling it now a little,so I want to know what will help. Vitamins,food,over the counter meds. I heard benadryl helps. I am 54 and healthy other wise. I do smoke pot.

[memorys]

what you should do is DO NOT QUIT COLD TURKEY.
if you take heroin more than 3 days in a row you will become addicted.
if you quit cold turkey it can lead to death.
take morphine instead and take less and less of it each time, untill your completely off it. and once your off it stay away from it completely

[catmagnet]

This is a 7-year-old post....=/