methadone withdraw

[ANDREA1984]

I have a question for all u that has been in or in a treatment center to get off oxys herion ect. I have been going to a treatment center for 2 years and some days now im ready to get off this methadone i was on 90 couldnt keep my eyes open so stablelized myself on 80 i am currently on 30 and going down 5 miligrams every 2 weeks it went great at first i was going down 5 every week then after 50 milgrams 5 every 2 been great so far just hate thats its so hard to sleep at night and the sweating of the palms suck! what could i do to help this and get through this time!

[ANDREA1984]

yeah when i first started this med help post every one was talkn about how sick they were and wd off stuff that  isnt even a addictive thing thats crazy! its all in ur mind i keep hearn about the sickness right when i heard that here i started to have wd but now i thought screw that its all n my mind! for me i going to think positive and ne1 who needs help or advice on here ill give them a positive outlook! i know you all are tryn to help and give me a heads up on whats about to happen. But what i need is u can do it! all i need is god on my side and i can get through nething!

[worried878]

U go girl!  Most of wd is mental..positive attitude like u have will suffer the least...there is a book about the Power of Positive Thinking..I do believe that what we expect will happen..not saying our mind controls our surrounding but for instance if u wake up and feel yucky/and lay in bed thinkin bout how yucky u feel..then chances r u will feel yucky all day...if u occupy ur mind//focus on sumpin other than how yucky u feel..then ur mind is not thinkin bout how yucky u feel..it is concentrating/focusing on the activity u r engaging in

Lack of nrg during wds is hard tho..this I know...making urself get up is very hard sometimes..specially in the morning when I would first wake up...I would lay there and think doomy stuff..if i got on up and got moving..doing my daily routine. , I always felt better..but often I had to remind myself that "Laura, get up, get moving, this doomy feeling will leave me 5 minutes after I started moving "   and it did...it is easy to sink into the couch..wallow in our misery..but it is not productive..it only makes us more depressed..not condemning cos i did this as well..til one day I realized I had to join the human race and begin living agin

Congrats on ur decision to get clean..methadone is just another narcotic..but due to its long half life like sub..it tends to last a bit longer..but so do-able as I have seen lots get clean from methadone...first ingredient is the will to do so///and for me, positive thinking was number 2......keep us posted

[gnarly_1]

hey girlee glad to see your going strong ...sorry about the confusion over the formula
it goes a drop of 10% of your current dose and wait 72hr b/4 droping again this formula
was givin to me by a neo/natal nurse that brings babys off heroin ,methadone , ext
I figured if its safe for babys it was safe for me.....many clinics think it is to fast
but after using it it seem to work good most of the time you just have to stop once in a wile mabe a week or so to let your body adjust sometimes...but its a very workable taper that gets you off in like 1/2
the time a clinic would bring you off...as for feeling withdrawals
''you just got to be ok without beeing ok for a wile you will get use to it..if it gets to much to handle just stop tapering for a wile and let your body stabilize good luck with you taper take your time and the lower the dose you jump form the least discomfort you will feel in your final withdrawal 5ml is a good number the last 5ml tapering sux
so if I had to do it again I wouold jump off at 5ml
good luck and god bless...ill add you to my prayer list...Gnarly

[JoeKnowWhoIam]

Hey there, first I want to congradulate you on getting up and trying to get help, its hard, I would know. My expirence with kicking oxy and H was easier then methadone though. When I entered treatment I found it hard as they dopped me 5mg every 2 weeks. I constantly could not sleep, panic attacks, restless legs ect... I actually stopped going to the clinic and decided to stay home and suffer the week and half, the withdrawls felt 10 times worse then oxy which i've detoxed from serveral times. The methadone was way more intense, the downside is that your on a schedule dropping 5mg at a time, you may have not been stabalized properly, if you dont mind being on the methadone then ask if they have a maitinence program where there is no schedule and you choose were your comfortable and when you want to drop down 5mg again.

My two cents...good luck and be strong

[ANDREA1984]

honestly i believe withdraw is just a mind thing! mind over matter! if u believe that u will b sick u will and it will b bad! but if u just dont think about it it wont be that bad! I mean im not sayn no systoms at all but it wont be as bad as everyone makes it out to b!

[Holliee]

I also am on m'done and I have talked with many ppl that go to clinic for I only go ever 2 weeks now but use to go daily.... From everyone that I have spoke to the lower you go on done the easier it is once you hit cold turkey here is what one girl did and it wked for her...when she got down to 5mg she would dose on morning at 9am and then she would not dose again till 12 or as long as she could go next day then 9am day after so on cause half life methadone and then she drop 1mg weekly till 1mg an 1mg she would dose ever other day for 2 weeks then c/t and now she has been clean 6 mos we kept in touch via e-mail maybe something to think about

[jimgreg]

i also did it the same way  you are..i got to 20 mgs  went ct,,and yes i suffered 14 days..i couldnt sleep..i had chills to the bone but you can  do it..i dont go to detox ..im back on it..im on 10 mgs vaday instead of 160..i had a crooked doc..the DEA got him on a 3 yr suppeshion..but yes its a bad one anyway you takje it..i cant stand methadone..i cant go the bathroom now..im constipated..im detoxing myself after next week i got to move and apts...good luck to you!!

[Stevo977]

Hi Andrea, my quit date is May 12 of this year. I was on 90mg of methadone and still using various other pills along with alcohol. For me, cold turkey was the only way to go. Those of us with addictive personalities always want to cure ourselves with more medication/ tapering. Honestly, it is hard, but quitting is just that; it's quitting. There should be no more tapering. Withdrawals are a pain. I have done them many a times. Today, when I look back, I wonder why I wasted $800 a week on pills, took a week off work ( where I was making 100k ) and then decided to go to the methadone clinic. It makes no sense. We all make excuses for what we do, and I at the time, had one too. I thought by going to the clinic, that I would change my habits when all that did happen was that I was getting a legal fix. I know this is the not the case for everyone and maybe not even you, but I, in my infinite wisdom, had most of my pill popping "friends" going there also because I thought at the time that it was a Godsend.

There are many stories of how people quit, but for me it took 3 accidents ( all of which I was high and drunk ( how I didn't get a DUI I don't know ) and my wife leaving me. I lost my business and went to rehab. I had to withdrawal from the methadone and then 12 days later had to again withdrawal from suboxone. I think the suboxone was worse to WD from weird as it may sound. By week 3, I was fine. Depression was a big factor, and energy levels were bad too, but I can honestly say now, 6 months later, that I feel great. You would be surprised how your energy levels and everthing else, especially  emotions, come  back. I know when I abused pills, ( up to 25 10mg tabs or equivalent in oxy's ) I was always moody. Now I wake up happy and ready for the day. Most importantly, I don't need anything to help get me going. My self-motivation is back.

I hope the best for you Andrea. I don't post here often, but do check out these boards every day. These forums have played an intrical part in my continuing sobreity. I hope that you get what you're looking for and I wish you good luck!

[ANDREA1984]

what do u mean 10% formula drop every 72hr? thanks everyone for ur input and yes i am going to need all of you alls help with this i feel like i can do it! i want to so bad theres nothing going to stop me, its so weird how i have changed for the good! i know i will never go back to the streets no matter how sick i feel i know thats drugs wouldnt be the answer to help me only make it worse! I was talkn to this one lady last week at the clinic and she said her and her husband done said they will b there forever! That they will always b adicts! i told her no way you 2 can do it if i can yall 2 can! wow crazy!

[gnarly_1]

hey girlee welcome to the forum...well as you can see there are lots of ways of getting off methadone....for me tapering was the way I did it
I was at 150mg and took 8 1/2 mo to taper to 1 mg to say the least it was tuff ..but it different for everyone if you go to fast you will experience withdrawals  sounds like your on the edge of them now with some symptoms..sometimes you just have to stop at certain doses for a wile and allow your body a week or 2 to get use to your dose..when you get below 30mg a formula of 10% drop every 72hr or as your body would adjust worked well for me...I tapered all the way down to 1mg but if I had to do it over I would recommend jumping off at 5mg....the last 5mg at 1mg a week sorta keep you in a constant state of withdrawal and when I did jump I felt like I did at 5 mg for about a week..since your at 30mg just slow down a bit if you continue to taper  this is a race won by the tortus not the hare
we tend to want to speed it up in the end and this is when you have to go slowly..keep posting on your progress there are many here that will help get you threw it whatever way you decide to go
good luck and god bless...Gnarly  

[Electra1982]

Read my response on your other similar post! I was in the exact same situation as you and were close to the same age. my last dose of methadone was 8 days ago.

[mr.lucky66]

I have detoxed from methadone many times and have now been off of it and all dope for 6 years. I believe and many addiction docs also believe, that longer slow tapers are a waste of time and acually may draw out the misery. I think you could drop 5 per day but you probably won't want to do that so just bear in mind, the real detox doesn't start until a few days after your last dose. As long as you have some meth in you you are not really detoxing except when it gets too low or long in between doses. It's not that bad after the last dose it just takes a while to get back to narmal.  It wasn't that bad for me but it took awhile.all the best

[122 Tactical Fighter Group]

You may want to both drop less of your dose - 5mg isnt a gob of meth.....but at 30mg dose its one sixth of the total maintenance dose.........   and you may want to take your time here for awhile - - the single most common mistake that I see is people in such a hurry to detox (methadone isnt a "hurry up" kind of detox...)  that they ultimately relapse and fail at their attempt. As far as OTC sleep aids - - natural stuff like valerian root does help - - -   melatonin gets many endorsements ......but I had the best luck with diphenhydramine (benadryl) and a hot shower 30 minutes before sleep time. Sleep is one of the hard parts of withdrawal - and its one of the later things to come back after quiting......  Meditation works and is narcotic free...as are guided imagery and breathing exercises..... Calcium / magnesium supplements are very helpful....   There is really a lot that you may do to become pro-active with your situation.....start by reading through the Forum and learning as much as you can from other peoples experiences and posts - - -  Knowledge is power with this one - - you can win this battle though - -  keep posting with questions, for advice, or just to vent if thats what you need.  And good luck to you!!