Methadone Question

[skipperkey]

I have been in addiction most of my life. Right now I am taking 10mg methadone. Was down to a 7.5 for many weeks. It did not work any longer, so I up it to a 10mg. I want to get off in the next month. Been gathering up information on here. But, I am at a stand still. A little over a year ago, I was on a 5mg, for the whole day for pain. I am in menopause and 54 years old. I just cannot seem to taper any more. I have to work; up to the bitter end. But if I have to, I will be sick for 10 days. All I can do. How horrible is methadone to jump off of? I have the nutrition down. Some exercise. Subs is NO option for me. I was on them 4 years ago. Not good. I am feeling more fatique, than I remember, tapering off the subs. Also, I was younger! And had more hormones then. Thanks.

[Heather8448]

The fear is the worse part! Take the symptoms one at a time and make up your mind to never go back! Push through it!! Thats what i did and in the end you will be stronger than you know! Have faith in yourself!!

[ariley13]

We are not allowed to give out specific taper plans on here. As for advice on quitting, just set a date and do it come hell or high water! Your addict brain will try to trick you into changing the date and putting it off. Talk to your doctor and let he/she know that you want off the Methadone and that eventually you want off the other pain meds too. If you don't cut your sources to the drugs, then you will find yourself in a weak moment and probably cave. There are many of us on here who suffer from legitimate, chronic pain conditions. I am one of them. The more time that you put between you and the opiates, the less pain you will have. I know it sounds backwards, but it's true. Do some research on opiate induced hyperalgesia. Basically while on opiates, your brain tricks you into thinking you have more pain than you actually do. This is so you will increase the amount you are taking. Once you are off of the opiates for awhile, it becomes much easier to manage your pain with non narcotic options. Just hang in there and try to stay focused on your goal of quitting. Take it one day at a time. We are here to support you and will try to answer any questions you may have.

[valleyloops]

I hear you sister, menopause makes the tapering feel impossible. I too am peaking in my menapause and am finding the last 10mls like being on the crazy train. You have great things going on, good nutrition and excercise is Key. You've got this. Good job. You have to make a conscious effort to separate the side effects of the menapause and the w/d. Take a breath and realize the hot sweats and irratability is just that. Calmly walk through it as it happens. Its tough and to be dealing with both is a challenge. But we as woman are warriors. It to will end. You are in the home stretch, be proud. My thoughts are with you, good luck!!

[HappyDays2Come]

Hi skipper, there are many on here that have legit pain issues, too, and can offer you some advice to manage it without narcotics! I really hope you look into alternative ways to manage your pain. You don't want to get on tramadol...that's one of the worst drugs out there and the horror stories I've read of those coming off of it are unbelievable. I hope you work towards getting off the methadone and then onto living a clean life, narcotic-free :). You can do it. Good luck and keep us posted!

[skipperkey]

If anyone could just help me with a plan to get off this, then to hydros, then to tramadol. I would rather just be on the trams myself for pain. I know some have issues with trams. But it would be better for me, I think so anyway. Thanks.

[skipperkey]

Thanks to all of you. In MHO; all of u have The Best answer!!!
Yes, my doctor knows. Last year I was on 10- 10mg a day of hydros. I did not want to keep on going up and get into a mess. I am a recoverying on/off addict! Went to him and he put me on methadone to get off of the hydros. Short term. Then I could go to 5 mg hydros and tramadol. I have a monthly prescription for both now; but I decided to stay on low dose of methadone. 5mg.It did not make me high. I have alot of knee, hip pain. I work on my legs all day. I work at home next door to my house. Beauty Salon. The last few months I had to go to 7.5. I decided to ween down off that. Cause I got online and read all the horror stories about methadone. Got scared and anxious. When I weened, I got sick and had to go back up again. Only down to useing 7mg. Did'nt work, so I up it to 10mg, in the last few days. I found yall last week, on here. I am doing the salt baths, and nutrition. I am just plain scared. I will plan in the next few weeks; a vacation and do what I gotta do. I do not think taper I can do cause of my work and the attitude that goes with it. Thank yall and love to ya!

[ncgirl01]

It's good to hear you want off. You might want to take a look at the bigger picture. If you are using the methadone for pain then of course it will not work for pain as you taper. Controlling the pain in other ways is important. In order to get off you will need to be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable for a while. If you're already uncomfortable it is up to you as to how long you want to drag it out. 10mgs is a really small dose so stopping there isn't much different than dropping to 1mg but everyone has different degrees of sensitivity. The times I've detoxed it has taken about 1 month to feel like myself again and sleep through the night. Working throughout will be challenging but it can be done. I stayed extremely busy and did a lot of manual labor/exercise type work. I literally pushed myself to the limit each day trying to wear myself out. I can relate to the age thing as well. I stopped methadone in my early 20's and felt almost normal after the 3rd day but as I got older it became more difficult. It helped me to focus on goals I had set for myself and to have people to encourage me. Talk with your doctor and see what meds you can use to help. Keep us posted so we can encourage you. At present I am doing a slow suboxone taper and chronicling it on here. You can do this!!! Focus on getting through the day.

[ariley13]

Hi there and welcome! I have no personal experience with Methadone, but I know quite a bit about it. Methadone is very different than most opiates. It has an extremely long half life and takes a long time to get out of your system, which means it takes a lot longer to start and get through detox than most opiates. It also is stored in various body tissues and the liver which result in accumulation and increased levels. The key to detoxing off of Methadone is a very slow, deliberate taper. The slower the better. Is your doctor involved in this? Can he/she recommend a taper plan for you? I would highly suggest getting your dr involved in this process. It is important to make sure you are healthy enough for an unsupervised detox and they ma be able to prescribe different things to help you out. Just know that you are not alone in this. We will be here cheering you on every step of the way Please take care and keep us updated on how you are doing. Good luck to you!

[HappyDays2Come]

Hi and welcome. I don't have any experience with methadone but there are many on here that do and will offer you some very valuable advice. I've watched many jump off or rapid detox from methadone on this forum with the help of many old timers around here:). You're in the right place. Don't be scared and just know that reaching out is half the battle. You can do this and we'll all be here for you every step of the way:). You'll be receiving some very helpful feedback / suggestions soon. Hang in there!