Methadone withdrawal

[Mandymuffin86]

My boyfriend is on day 5 of withdrawing off of 240mg of methadone. All he does is sleep, probably to avoid all the pain. He has restless legs, runny nose, diarrhea, restlessness in his sleep, and is only able to sleep at all because an urgent care MD gave him a 5 day supply of lorazepam to help with his anxiety. No MDs will take him on as a patient because he has no insurance so he is stuck withdrawing. He has herniated discs so he is in severe pain with nothing to treat it. I am wondering if there is anything I can do to make the withdrawal process easier for him. I am also wondering if there are any resources I can utilize to help him. We are located near Syracuse, NY and all methadone clinics we found have a 6 month wait. Any advice at all would be appreciated, I've never taken anything stronger than Motrin so narcotics and withdrawals are not something I am familiar with!!

[donefornow]

my opinion would be to trust the doctor. They deal with this everyday-especially the ones dispensing the sub. They still don't quite now everything from the patient perspective and how difficult sub can be to get off. but in the interim I'm sure he wouldn't recommend oxycontin unless it was the best course temporarily. I just hope bf and doctor prescribe minimal amount to get through to when they can distribute the sub.

[gnarly_1]

hi  Mandy and yes if he is on oxy he will go into withdrawals if they give him sub he will have to wait a day (24hr) b/4 tey induse there just giving him this to take away the withdrawals
this is a very unconventional way of doing it ......I have never herd of them doing it like this but I also know in the physician desk reference guide it says not to induse sub untill a person drops down below 30 mg of methadone and if they induse and there is methadone left in his system it will send him into persipatated withdrawals or the 7 level of hell thats why the doctor wants to wait 14 days bettter to error on the side of safety im just really surprised the doctor cares how he feels till then this is a compassionate doctor or a ""dr feel good"" im not sure sound like youre just going to have to trust him I hope this answersd your question good luck and God bless........Gnarly      

[Mandymuffin86]

Anybody??

[Mandymuffin86]

Also...won't suboxone put him into immediate withdrawals if he is on oxy beforehand? I thought anything long acting could cause this problem? Maybe I'm misunderstood...

[Mandymuffin86]

Ok guys, I need some more advice before tomorrow morning! My BF went to the spinal doctor today and he couldn't do anything for him (go figure).  He sent him to prompt care, who again couldn't do anything.  They sent him to a pain treatment center who couldn't do anything.  Soo, while at work today I dispensed suboxone to a patient and took the opportunity to see who the MD was and have my bf call this office.  He called and got an appt for tomorrow at 9AM!! Buuut, this doctor does not like to put methadone patients onto suboxone until they have been off of Methadone for 14 days.  He is on day 8 right now, so tomorrow will only be day 9.  The MD wants to see him and put him on Oxycontin for the 6 day period in between.  He was dependant on Oxycontin in the past so I don't really like this idea (not to mention the price of Oxycontin without insurance).  I thought maybe he could ask for oxycodone IR to at least help with the cost, if not the addiction potential.  However, I have never been addicted to anything so I don't know how it all goes.  Do you think about a 6 day period on Oxycontin will be ok for him? He said he felt like a zombie when he was on it before and doesn't like it, but he is in alot of physical pain from his herniated discs and is also set to return to work soon (Monday at the latest).  I'd appreciate your words of wisdom before he goes to his appt tomorrow!

[fbcoach]

Yes..INCREAING ENERGY FLOW thru the body is key to beating this. The puzzle is finding the best ways to accomplish this. Here's what has done it for:
1) 1 1/2-2 gallons water daily
2) Nutritious diet based on lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, rice, and grains (bread, cereal, etc.)
3) 2 intense strength training and conditioning workouts weekly, along with one hour of walking or biking 3-4 times/week
4) 10mgs ambien and an OTC sleep aid before bed
5) 100mgs caffeine at 6:30am and 11:00am 6 days/week; I may take a third dose late afternoon if going out that evening or game night
6) Thai massage 2x/week


This regimen has provided me with all day energy. Not that I don't have some rough times, but considering I was on 400-800mgs morphine/daily for over a year, this has really worked wonders for me. Again, finding ways to create energy flow throughout the body is key.