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Methadone withdrawal HELP

I have been taking 70mg for about 3 years. I recently just dropped 2mg per week and got down to 58mg this week. I lost insurance coverage and my car broke down and I missed an appointment. I have no family besides my husband in this state to help me get to the clinic, pay my missed appointment fee, and pay the 150.00 per week for my dose.  I have no friends or family that can help me. My husband just got laid off on top of it all we are getting evicted because the landlord who has been taking out money 'forgot' to tell us that he quit paying the mortgage and is in foreclosure I have two kids 6 and 9. When it rains it pours.

Don't want to throw a pity party but my husband has been working at this company for 7 years now and has always worked hard. I was supposed to graduate with my associates degree this semester (fall), which will not happen now. With all that is going on my school has been postponed until spring. We have always worked hard and taken care of ourselves the right way. I got in this situation because I got extremely addicted to a pain medication that I was prescribed for a back injury I sustained and mild scoliosis that I have had since young. I feel as if my life is falling apart.

I have been wanting to quit Methadone for a while but I didn't want the withdrawals to affect my schooling so I put it off. I was however aware that our insurance would be cut off eventually so I started saving one or two doses a week, every week, for a while. I stored it in used energy shot bottles. I have around 4000mgs right now. And as I suspected my worst fear (concerning methadone) came true. I hated duping the clinic by saving doses BUT in my situation I was looking out for me and mine.

My last dose was yesterday morning (full dose). I took 10mg out of my stash tonight. I am well versed in what will happen with WDs start. I have been researching this since I started. I know I will be out of commission when that starts. My husband has locked my stash in the safe and bought an eyedropper to measure my doses. I am aware that I don't have enough for a nice year long withdrawal. At 58mgs I was on and having 4000mgs left I was wondering what you guys suggest. Should I just quit cold turkey?

I want to make an appointment with my physician but the last time I talked to him about methadone he said he was not versed in it and didn't have a good enough relationship with me to help (that was a long time ago). I have not seen him since. Will he help me at all you guys think? I heard sleeping pills and a few other drugs will help withdrawals but I don't know if he will help me at all. Maybe I should get a new doctor if he won't? I am a little afraid because I have had heart problems (was hospitalized once for a problem with my heart-rate). I constantly have high or low blood pressure which I hear can make WDs dangerous. I am going to need help what should I do?
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Avatar universal
Day 40 something feeling okay except the stomach pain and issues.  I think the prilosec was just preventing the natural flow of my healing so been off it for a week. I requested a non addictive sleep aid. Dr gave me trazadone. Slight nerve problems still but non unbearable. I dunno it's going okay. That was one long road...
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Avatar universal
Wow mandie, that is quite a story! Thanks for sharing it. I believe you suffered so much because you came off methadone too fast. I understand that you wanted to be done with it but I think if you had gone slower and tapered more, things would have been better. But you are starting to get better now so maybe it was worth it to you, I don't know. I don't have any advice for you as I am on methadone too but have been tapering for over 2 1/2 years and now down to 13mgs and I am not sick. I am hoping to avoid really bad withdrawals by doing a very slow taper, I know I will suffer some, but hopefully not as much as if I had gone quickly. I feel bad for you that you suffered so much and continue to do so, I guess time is going to be your true healer. Thanks for sharing your story and I wish you all the best.
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Avatar universal
Day 7-13 were terrible. I didn't eat or drink. I had anxiety and insomnia. Worse than anything was the stomach cramping. It was so bad I could only cry. Dumped said Methadone because I am deathly afraid of it now. The Ativan and Xanax were only good for an hour or two of sleep. I kept obsessing about random things. I couldn't watch movies or read because I couldn't focus. Minutes seemed like hours. Everything tasted like CRAP. I smoked a lot of cigarettes that tasted like bile. I don't know why but I just wanted to smoke and smoke. I stared at the wall for days. Music and chatting online were a MILD distraction. Laughing helped. Hot baths were great for temporary relief. The stomach pain got so bad by day ten that I went to the ER. I could just feel this swooshing and churning like there was ten pounds of painful acid. They offered Suboxone but I declined so I got a Chlonidine patch that lasted 7 days,GI cocktail (which stopped the pain) an IV and Protonix (whatever that is). I felt pretty good when I left but the Chlonidine dropped my blood pressure so freaking low that I was dizzy and weak. I took it off after 4 days. Oh and he also gave me Prilosec.

Went back to doctor and told him what was going on and he only wanted to treat me for insomnia so he put me on Restoril. I didn't even know it was a benzo till I looked it up and I was pissed by this time (yesterday)  because I was worried about having to withdraw from that too.

I am on day 22 and have continued with the vitamin daily. I have gotten my appetite back for the last 3 days straight. I have been taking the Prilosec since the day at the ER. I am still fatigued to the point of not being able to do much of anything. Stomach pains are dulled but far from gone. Insomnia even with the Restoril is still bad, I still have a bad taste in my mouth that won't go away. My fingers are shaky. I have depression. No more Marijuana. I bought some ZZZQuil today instead of taking Restoril. I dunno, it has been freaking rough. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Avatar universal
Oh yeah and I did this with the Methadone bottle sitting next to me. I don't know why I am so afraid to throw it out. I feel like I will die when I flush it. Im not throwing all this time away for another dose of a drug I disliked being on. I don't know I think I will dump it tonight.
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Avatar universal
Okay so I am in day 5 of omgs methadone. What happened was that I, being the addict that I am did not taper enough and spilled an entire bottle of like 300mgs of methadone into the carpet. I ended up with half a bottle. I panicked and went from 40 mgs a day to about 5mgs a day THAT day. I was on 5mgs a day for about a week and that put me into FULL withdrawal. At the end of that week we decided that the 5mgs a week was doing nothing for me so I quit.

I was puking but the Promethazine helped. I had diarrhea but the Imodium stopped it. I had shakes and pains and cold sweats which marijuana helped with IMMENSLY (don't condone it just saying) The restless leg was ticked up by the marijuana though so an Adivant and xanax helped me sleep. I also had Ambien. The Ambien didn't help with sleep unless I used Adivant or Xanax with it so I only bothered with it the first 2 days. I slept every night, I was in some pain but I found ways to manage. If I got to my wits end I would take a steaming hot bath.

All in all...I am near day 5 at zero but I should count that week of withdrawals from dropping to 5mgs because that was the worst so far. Today I don't feel that bad. I have cramping but that's probably from the Imodium constipating me and PMS.

Also the pot helped me eat throughout the entire thing.

I took fish oil, 2 multi vitamins, and Potassium every day. I took another Potassium at night. It's supposed to help with the RLS.

I think the reason this worked for me is that I HATE benzos I HATE marijuana. In fact although I liked that they helped it was uncomfortable for me to have that heavy feeling over me. I had a script for xanax for years that I never touched so that's how I got them.

I plan now to keep up with the vitamins and only take the scripts if a moment pops up that I can't deal with. I slept today for hours with no drugs.

Oh yeah and I know I will be a little sick for a week but it was the best choice I made so far. I'll keep posting.
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Avatar universal
I have lived with opiate addiction for 22 years now and have tried every way to get clean. Methadone, suboxone (subutex), lofexidine, induced coma (detox 5), codine, other street drugs, alcohol, benzodiazepines, tramadol..... Etc etc.
Don't be fooled into thinking you can stop one addiction by drugging yourself up with a substitute, don't think the drug companies that are getting rich off your pain want you to break free and stay free, if they did, there wouldnt be all these substitutes. They are not cures.
Wake up, open your eyes and except that it will be a bit uncomfortable for a while, but that you will be free and clear so  much quicker
I know it's easy to say, but I also know its really easy to do. You are doing nothing after all, it's not as if you have to work really hard at being curled up twitching on the floor.
Harsh i know, but true. If you search the net for a thing called a bio tuner, get some tens machine pads cut them to fit behind your ears just above the bump in the dent. keep it on continuously for four days or so, continue to take what you would normally take drug wise. find a hypnotist and ask to be given the power to hear your own voice in your head that has been gagged for so long by the addiction you have lived with. Practice listening to that voice, hear it shout loud and clear. If you are really ready to break the cycle  it will be pain free and easy. I know I have developed how to do and helped many people beat heroin with this technique. Believe it can be pain free. Try and if it doesn't work, I'll not believe it. Use your minds people, not some chemical crutch, good luck and remember to breathe.
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