Methadone Maintenance - Dosage

[concernedinmd]

My son is leaving the hospital today - I had him picked up on an emergency evaluation and they kept him for 5 days but he has not agreed to seek treatment and quite frankly the hospital did nothing to help him. He will be on the street shortly and I fear will be dead soon.  He went on methadone maintenance in July and it has taken him to his worst depths.  He is still shooting drugs, is addicted to XANAX and anxiety pills.  He will take a whole bottle at a time and is also drinking regularly.  He has been hospitalized twice in the last month, picked up by police multiple times and has been near death at times.  He is completely out of his mind.  I found out that his dose at the methadone clinic is 190mg and everyone I talk to say this will eventually kill him and is the reason he is messed up constantly.  Does anyone have any feedback on what the doses should be? The people at the clinic are trading anxiety drugs and cocaine.

[jimgreg]

my brother was on maintenance..his higest  was 90..then after a wile  went to 70..

[Holliee]

hello iam so sorry 4 what your going through., i am on methadone at only 95mg been on that dose 4 1 1/2 stable my friend is on 120mg an she was a heavy herion needle user so yes 190 is way high an mixing xanax is deadly an so dangerous along w/alcohol too wow. i'll keep you an your fam in prayers,, if you have any questions feel free message me
best wishes an God Bless
~~H~~

[kim715]

Just wanted to send my support your way and let you know I will keep you and your son in my prayers.I can only imagine,as a parent,how hard this must be on you.You are doing the absolute right thing by not enabling him.Set down the rules and stick to them. Please keep us posted and keep posting.Addiction effects not just the addict but all those around us and we are here to support you as well as your son.All the best to you...Kim

[concernedinmd]

Thanks for sharing.  Tough love is what we want to practice and as we all know is the hardest thing.  It was very hard for me to have him picked up by the police, but a step i took in the right direction.  My son was discharged from the hospital even though he was commited and there was to be a hearing on December 2nd to determine next steps.  He was able to talk the doctor into discharging him.  how he can be so manipulative yet out of his mind is beyond me.  He was out on his own with shorts and a t-shirt for a couple of hours before he called.  He agreed to go to an inpatient program and called for his intake before my wife let him in the car.  I didnt want him back home, however he agreed he would stay in the house, and begged for us to let him home for thanksgiving.  We even went to a movie tonight....which never happens.  He has 10mg of klonipin for tomorrow.  I will take a grumpy straight son any day of the week.  I pray I get him to rehab Friday...but if his mind changes he is on the street and not welcome in our home until he gets clean.  He is 22 and it is time to get on with his life.  

[kim715]

190mgs of methadone is a pretty hefty dose.I'm not sure you can blame the methadone for why he is 'messed up' all the time though,given he is abusing all the other drugs you mentioned.I will tell you that mixing methadone with other drugs you are abusing,especially benzos [the xanax] can be a fatal mixture and THAT could kill him.It's really not possible for us to tell you what his dose should be.If we knew what type of drugs and how much he was taking PRIOR to the methadone we may be able to give you an educated guess.The fact is though the dosage amount of the methadone is not really the issue here.The fact that your son is still very much in active addiction and playing a deadly game with some fatal combinations is the real issue.You can't blame his behavior on the methadone,thats not what is doing this.Your son is an addict who is obviously not ready to be clean yet and until he is he's not going to be methadone or not.I'm so sorry for your situation.Keep posting...All the best...Kim

[Mom4Peace]

I have a cousin who was on methadone maintenance way back when. People who are taking methadone shouldn't be using any other drugs or alcohol. It's contraindicated as far as I know. He is on a high dose. How long has he been with that program? And how old is your son? My son had a major problem for 4 years, he's on a supervised suboxone program, not that it is the greatest thing to do, but it's better than watching him relapse over and over again. Many addicts who have psyche issues think they can self-medicate with xanax and other meds. Just a sorry-*** excuse to get high.
I had my son arrested 2x to save his life. He stayed clean for awhile, but it didn't stop him from using again. Everyone kept telling me, he'll change when he's older....well, he's 23 now and not using. I believe in tough love. Being enabling parents hurt him more.
Your son sounds like he's in bad shape. You need some advice from a lawyer and a counselor. Many people told me to let go, but I didn't want my son to die from a drug overdose. We did everything we could to help him, but the last straw was last Thanksgiving, when he took a load of Xanax and some Oxycontin and threw all the food off my mother's dinner table onto the floor after a confrontation with his sister. Then it continued when we got home and she called the police. Well, I still had an in-house order of protection and they arrested him. A few weeks after that I helped him get into a supervised suboxone program. He still has his attitude that it's everyone's fault and not his and no one cares and no one does anything for him.
It's hard if he's over 18, there's all these privacy laws and you can't call doctors or methadone clinics to ask questions. Talk to the leader of the forum here and ask for advice. My heart goes out to you and pray that he sees some 'light'. Stay strong and keep hoping. Love conquers all.