Switch from Sub to Methadone?

[shoegirl01]

I saw a new dr today. Just started Sub last Thursday but that Dr wasn't the right one for me. I really like the new Dr & they also offer counseling - the other doc didn't. Meant with the counselor & liked her too. The thing is, this doc thinks I need to be in Meth due to the amount & the time I was using & still have chronic pain. I had a chance to speak to 3 other pt's at the clinic. 2 were on meth & 1 on Sub but had been in Meth. They all agreed the methadone was really helping them. The lady in Sub said she would prefer the meth but due to where she lived couldn't drive over everyday. She said the Sub helped but had been taking it a long time & still has cravings. I commented that it must take a lot of willpower & that I don't have that right now & she said "I don't either" gave the impression that maybe she relapses. The dr would have started me on the meth today but wanted me to try the sub 1 more week & consider the commentment of driving to the clic everyday. It would be an hour from my house & then a little over an hr to work. Clinic doesn't open until 6am & I have to be at work at 8am. Has anyone ever switched from Sub to Meth?I wouldn't really love to hear any advice. Also, how does a once a day dose last? Are u sick every morning before u get to the clinic? Can u ever go on vacation or just out of town for a few days? How long could I go without it before I would get sick? I heard the wds are hell but doesn't the dr taper u so that u want get sick? Don't some people make a life choice to stay on it forever? My doc said since u do have pain I will probably have to take something forever anyway & that Meth is better on ur brain & body. I know this is a lot but I really need help with this decision. Everyone is swaying me toward the methadone.

[trinity555]

Hey hun,

You just always remeber this is your body and your life and none of us has that right to tell you what to do with it. We don't have to deal with your pain and frankly I don't know how you have put up with it as long as you have. If you still felt like using on subs then maybe methadone will be better. I can say from experience I personally still felt like using when I was on meth. Those Dr. you see need to take you seriously and put you on a pain management program that will work and stop treating you like a drug addict. You might try going on meth for a week and see how you feel before it really starts to sink in than you might have a better perspective. I'm not trying to detour you from getting meth, I just don't want you to regret it later. Blessings to you and yours.

[liscamdave]

I totally agree with Kim about none of us being able to tell you what to take or not to take. We are here to give advice and our own personal opinions. YOu take what you want from what we say. My point is that in your above posts you say that the drs are suggesting Meth due to the fact that you still crave the high while on Sub. So you are switching to Meth so you can obtain the pain relief you need as well as maintain a high. This to me just doesn't sound like someone who wants to quit. If you have to stay on pain killers why go for something that is probably one of the strongest? If you ever do have to come off of it, it could take months. I just don't see what you needed from your post? I don't understand what you question is really.

Anyway, good luck again.

[stilltrying1965]

Hi shoe, im Kim (stilltryings wife). I havent been on a lot recently due to the loss of our dog. I know it maybe sounds silly to some but to me its like the loss of a family member. Anyway, i felt i had to write to you as your situation sounds a bit like how i started taking drugs due to the pain but also the predicament you are in deciding about the methadone. I or anyone else cant tell you what to do but im strongly recommending you dont take the methadone. I like you had terrible pain due to chronic fatigue syndrome, fybromyalgia, arthritis. The doctors told me i couldnt possibly be suffering the pain i was telling them about, this went on for a couple of years then a so called friend introduced us to smoking heroin, told us you couldnt get addicted to it and it would work wonders for my pain, i refused at first but then eventually i took it. BIG MISTAKE. Well after a year or so of doing that and a scan and a piece of my lung removed they found out i was suffering from a very rare illness called pulmonary histiocytosis x. Thing was i had it in my lungs so as they couldnt cut out all the tumours and there is no other cure so all they can do is give me painkillers and chemo or massive amounts of steroids to try to stop them growing too quick, i chose the steroids. Anyway now they decided i was in pain so they gave me dihydrocodeine, tramadol(which they said wasnt addictive, obviously didnt know what theyr talking about) and sleeping tablets. Too late, i was also suffering from another disease by then, addiction. So for 13yrs we smoked heroin, tried to come off it countless times, did a few times but always relapsed. The dihydrocodeine didnt give me the buzz heroin did so i done the usual things we addicts do, swapped them for heroin and numerous things i certainly am not proud of to keep my habit, lied to my family, borrowed money and never paid it back, the usual stuff. But like you, i was annoyed because if they had gave me the painkillers when i needed them it would never had happened.Then i found medhelp and met some wonderful people and eventually after a couple of mishaps i am now over 200 days clean. At first i stopped all my pain meds too but i was suffering badly but a special friend here told me, just because we are addicts doesnt mean we have to suffer, so i now take the dihydrocodeine and a sleeping tablet, although i dont really sleep but i dont abuse them now. I take them properly instead of taking handfuls of them. I never told anyone about my habit, i was to ashamed but people arent stupid, they knew something was going on they just didnt know what. I tried methadone but believe me i never got a buzz from it and i still wanted to use. James went on a methadone programme but stopped it and suffered the most horrendpus w/ds i have ever seen. We have lost friends from methadone overdoses and it wasnt massive amounts they took, just a lil extra but you just stop breathing and thats it. The rest will be on it for the rest of their lives, they know they will never come off it and every 1 of them now regret big time starting it. It seeps into your bones, makes most people overweight and their whole lives revolve around getting to the chemist every morning to take it. It isnt used in our country for pain, just for opiate addiction. But now the subs are starting to be used and a couple of people i used to know  get them and after giving them a chance to work get on with their lives and say its better than methadone. Its the risk factor with methadone thats the problem hun. Im not judging you in any way at all, james and i are just worried about you thats why im writing this. Wed hate to see you go down the road that all the people we know are on, its not a nice road shoe. Why not give the subs a bit more time or try another pain med. I know your drs are saying its fine but they get paid to say that, unlike here we have the nhs so theyr quite against methadone here, most drs are switching to the subs now. Im just asking you to think about it very very carefully before you go down that road as it is a never ending road. You like me have chronic pain but we dont have to suffer coz we are addicts but honestly methadone is not really used for pain, it was brought out for opiate/heroin users. Now they know its worse thats why theyv brought out the subs. Anyway, i hope ive not bored you i just wanted to tell you my story and let you know you dont have to suffer but methadone isnt the only option. There are other options you could try. Your still thinking like an addict which is normal but you must think about your family now and not chasing that buzz, eventually nothing gives you that buzz it just makes you feel normal. Let us know how you get on, we do care about you thats why wer here. Stick around youll get good advice here, there are sme great people here who will help you in any way they can. Good luck in whatever you decide to do......Kim

[Danny111]

I have an employee who was a long time heroin addict.  He got off the heroin and onto methadone.  After a few years of the methadone he began weaning himself off of it.  He told me that getting off the methadone was harder than getting off heroin.  He ended up in the hospital because he went weeks sleeping an only an hour a night and sometimes not sleeping at all.  His body couldn't take the total lack of sleep.  I watched it.  Almost had to fire him because I'd sometimes find him lying on the floor asleep during the day.  

I had another employee who was on methadone that would fall asleep while on the telephone talking to a customer.  He'd just nod off.  Had to fire that guy.  The other guy was taken away by ambulance about five months ago and hasn't come back.

Everyone has to find their own way to sobriety but I wouldn't touch methadone under any circumstances.  If you want the methadone because you still want to feel high why not just get the drugs you were already taking?  

[dominosarah]

Im not understanding what your not understanding either!!

[liscamdave]

Wait a minute, lol, I need to make sure I am reading all this correctly, you want to be able to get high still without taking percs? Is this right? I don't understand. Your drs are telling you you have to come off of sub so you can get high on meth??? What dr would do that? If you are on sub and are still craving then you need therapy and aftercare. I swear to you I am only trying to help. I really don't want to see someone with a family get hooked on Methadone. Its a dangerous drug. It grabs hold of you and never lets go. The withdrawal can take months....months!.

I understand you are an addict. But I don't even see why you went on the sub in the first place. You said you had to be on pain meds forever right? Then why even bother with the Sub if you have to be on them and you still want to get high? That is my point. If you want to get clean, then that is different. I don't know, maybe I am just not understanding this thread correctly.

I wish you luck.