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Methadone Withdrawal

I've been on Methadone for 3yrs and am finally ready to stop. I'm weaning myself off slowly on advice of drs. I was told to drop 5 mg every 2-3 weeks. I did not calculate tho when I was down to the last of my pills so i wnt frm 20 to 15mg & 15-10mg in less then a week. 12 days ago i (at 15 mg) started having cramping and nausea /no other withdrawal symptoms. Since i dropped to 10 mg, I'm irritable, muscle pain (altho i have Fibroimyalgia)still cramping and sick. Im curious since my fmly dr has no clue about methadone, why would i be having withdrawal symptoms if its still in my system? i always thot it would be so easy to slowly get off it and wouildnt be nearly as bad as oc withdrawals, im afraid im wrong aftr reading horror stories. I could go back to my dr for "one more" scrip, but then i feel i will never finally stop this awful drug. Other then clonidine, or costly and timley buphrenorphine programs what else can i do before i can get into my psychiatrist (who has been more helpful then the "scrip dr")?? I have exactly 25 mg. left. Im wondering if i should continue taking 5mg then try and break it to 2.5 etc. or just get it over with and finish it in 2 days and accept whats already happening. Any other recipe for withdrawals as well? PLEASE HELP ME!
9 Responses
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185545 tn?1331074866
mayb u could disolve 10mg tab in a known volume of water eg 10mls.So then u will have a 1mg per ml mixture.i dont c why this wouldnt work.just ensure u shake/stir properly.most places that dispense mdone hav liquid too.my pharm dispenses tabs and liquids.5mg/1ml and 10mg/1ml mixtures and this is a hick pharm in semi rural NZ.good luck to ya.
regards J
Helpful - 0
202347 tn?1189755825
You are dropping your dose waaaay fast. The reason you are withdrawing is b/c you dropped your dosage too much too fast. Lowering your dose too much at once can cause withdrawal just as easily as not having it. 5mg a month sounds about right. My husband is a doctor at a methadone clinic and patients there are advised to drop by 3-5mg per month. Most of them drop by 3mg. Some of them drop by even less just depending. 5mg a month should be fine. I didn't read all of the posts but I did see you mention that methadone is and opiate. And yea it is an opiate, discovered in the search for an opiate that was different in chemical structure to morphine. That's why it became good for dependency and addicts. It had a dual action: while it binds to your opiate receptors, it also blocks the action of other opiates eliminating withdrawal and hindering you from getting a high from taking any other opiates. I think the safest way for you to go is to get another script and make sure you stick to a strict 5mg per month in lowering your dosage. xoxo D.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The problem is that, it is out of your body but it is not out of you mind. With alcohol and opiods it can be life threatening for withdrawls, methadone not so much, but still an issue. Extreme meditation worked for me. My two vices were marijana and meth and I tried stuff to get me right but it almost seemed like nothing worked. If addiction starts in the mind it almost seems logical to start repairing there ya know? I worked with sensory deprivation but that took more out of me than I could take, made me deal with other issues from my pass ultimately( I just wanted to stop using not deal with that) I had a guide but it is not necessary to have one it just helped my journey. I needed to repair my receptors to stop taking or wanting or receiving pleasure from my usage. I tell you what, start with getting knowledge on astral projection first and knowing what it is, then use the same process to enter your mind and use mental imagery to reverse or correct or change your mind from like to dislike as for as using. Its a bit much but it worked for me, its going on two and a half years.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you all for your kindness. Mindtraveller you sound like my sister who is at present in New Zealand teaching at a yoga retreat. She is constantly reminding us how important it is to meditate. ThankGod I do have the willpower, I just wish my body was stronger but with fibromyalgia its not easy. Methadone IS an opiate so im not sure what was meant there....and it isnt quite out of my body ...yet.  My Dr did say w/d from methadone will not kill me....just EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I dont have ability to be sick for a month, i just want tips to ease my w/d symptoms. i know that w/d is diff for evry1 so any othr insight is greatly appreciated. I hate to "take a pill" to combat "taking pills".(i.e clonidine...)  If I had info i have now, methadone wld NOT be my choice to get off oc's and/or take for pain. For me it was the easiest and most economical to not have to deal wth oc w/d. I want to thank every1 as i've learned much tdy frm this and othr sites tht i've passed onto sm1 else in need of help.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know methadone w/d's can be worse than most narcs b/c it is so long acting.  Wean!! Taper!! If you can (btw, I do not have that kind of willpower) that is my advice.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
ok since your hubby works at a clinic maybe you can answr this...its obv easier to get down to 3...2...1 mg whn its in liquid form but how do i do this when i am prescribed 10 mg pills? I will see my psychiatrist (not scrip dr) on monday but he will convince me to not refill im sure...i used to c him for depression but he just so happens to specialize in opiate w/d (my ins wont pay for the rapid detox)  If there's something out there that will combat these w/d symtoms i wld rather grin and bear it and save myself the money (ins also dsnt cvr for scrip dr)  Not to discredit whr ur husb wrks but often they're in it for the money. I was ok at reducing 5 mg evry 2wks...but im sure it works diff for evry1...ur absolutely right i weaned too much too fast...thanks!
Helpful - 0
202347 tn?1189755825
use scissors to half and fourth your pills. It will be hard with 10mg pills though. The whole money thing is one of the main reasons my husband wanted to work at a methadone clinic. They are private clinics and if they make all counselors encourage the patients to wean off of meth. and make a 2 or 3 year plan to wean off, they are losing years worth, sometimes a lifetime of money from the patients and/or their insurance. The methadone clinics bill $70 for every 45 minute counseling session and pay their counselors about $10/hr. And that's just one component of the program. So yea they want money, they don't want patients to leave the program. My husband always makes it a point to sit down with patients and work out a 2 or 3 year plan with his patients so they're actually getting somewhere, and doing something. If you're seeing your psychiatrist he writes you scripts doesnt he? If not then he's a psychologist not psychiatrist. Not many psychiatrists would try to convince you not to fill a script cause psychiatrists are M.D.'s. They aren't required to take any psychology classes at all. They just go to med. school and instead of rotating in their residence, they do their entire residency in psychiatry. This is one thing that steered me away from psychiatry (as a profession) it's very biologically and chemically based and one sided. If you choose not to get another script just taper as slowly as possible. If you do get another script ask for a lesser dose (less mg per pill) so you can taper more easily and effectively. You really are blessed, people on methadone would KILL for take homes for a couple of days. Patients at the clinic have earn takehomes over time by showing improvement, negative drug tests over time, making all of their counseling sessions etc. Most doctors do NOT like to prescribe methadone. A lot of people on methadone would give anything to be able to take their methadone at home on their own time. I suppose you would be the other side of the story right? I hope some of this helps xoxo- D.
Helpful - 0
202347 tn?1189755825
use scissors to half and fourth your pills. It will be hard with 10mg pills though. The whole money thing is one of the main reasons my husband wanted to work at a methadone clinic. They are private clinics and if they make all counselors encourage the patients to wean off of meth. and make a 2 or 3 year plan to wean off, they are losing years worth, sometimes a lifetime of money from the patients and/or their insurance. The methadone clinics bill $70 for every 45 minute counseling session and pay their counselors about $10/hr. And that's just one component of the program. So yea they want money, they don't want patients to leave the program. My husband always makes it a point to sit down with patients and work out a 2 or 3 year plan with his patients so they're actually getting somewhere, and doing something. If you're seeing your psychiatrist he writes you scripts doesnt he? If not then he's a psychologist not psychiatrist. Not many psychiatrists would try to convince you not to fill a script cause psychiatrists are M.D.'s. They aren't required to take any psychology classes at all. They just go to med. school and instead of rotating in their residence, they do their entire residency in psychiatry. This is one thing that steered me away from psychiatry (as a profession) it's very biologically and chemically based and one sided. If you choose not to get another script just taper as slowly as possible. If you do get another script ask for a lesser dose (less mg per pill) so you can taper more easily and effectively. You really are blessed, people on methadone would KILL for take homes for a couple of days. Patients at the clinic have earn takehomes over time by showing improvement, negative drug tests over time, making all of their counseling sessions etc. Most doctors do NOT like to prescribe methadone. A lot of people on methadone would give anything to be able to take their methadone at home on their own time. I suppose you would be the other side of the story right? I hope some of this helps xoxo- D.
Helpful - 0
182493 tn?1348052915
sounds like you were weaning a little fast... so your body isn't getting used to the new dose and you are having withdrawl symptoms.. with only 25 mg left wouId either just stop all together.. or only take a 5 mg when things are really bad like every 12 hours or more. At this point you are feeling the withdrawl already just go through it.. we are here to help just keep posting..
Helpful - 0
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