Went from 150mg of norco to 10mg methadone for last 5 days. Can I stop now, or did I make a mistake?

[JR714]

Some of you might remember that last week I posted that I went from a 500+mg Oxycontin a day habit, down to 150mg of norco a day habit in about a weeks time.  I obviously felt some w/d's, so I took that week off.  I was sucessful at keeping at 150mg a day for about a week to let my body adjust, then last wednesday, a friend of mine told me that he was able to stop taking his opiates by taking a low dose of methadone for 7 days.  He had some left, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I need to get my life back!  I'm sooo ready for this to be over and in the past!  And I really need to keep working.  So since last wednesday (day before thanksgiving), I have been taking 10mg of methadone in the morning.  I only take one 10mg tablet every morning, and nothing else.  Its been 6 days so far, and today is the first day I've felt almost normal.  My question is do you think I can stop taking it now since its a low dose, and its been 6 days, or did I mess up and now I will feel worse and longer w/d's due to the drugs long half life?  I really hope I didn't mess up as I have worked so hard to get to where I was at already.  I'm hoping I can either just stop now, with minimal discomfort, or maybe take 5mg of methadone for a couple days and stop.  Most people I have talked to were taking at least 40mgs per day, but most felt w/d when stopped.  But none were only taking it for 6 days.  Any input would be greatly appreicated.
Also, for the past month, I have been taking all the vitamins and suppliments on the thomas recipe and some from the amino acid protocol.  I think it has helped somewhat as well.
Thanks for reading this and responding.  

[weaver71]

Welcome good karma, you should post your question on a new thread. This is 2 yrs old and don't want you to get lost in the shuffle. I am a methadone junkie. If at all possible, I would not choose methadone or suboxone. I am currently on 2mg of subs to get off methadone. Norcos are a fast acting opioid that leave you body fairly quickly, c. 7 days. I always say that to taper is the best option, but I understand how many of us have to get really desperate to ask for help. I couldn't taper, hence the suboxone. Methadone has a long half life and the withdrawal is my vision of hell. I was in your situation with the meth. I finally went to a friend that had been clean for four years and admitted I needed help. He brought me 4 morphines to cut in half to make the 8 days so I could at least make it to a doctor. It was really hard for me to ask him to get those for me and his friends looked at him funny like, "Are you going back to the chaos?" Luckily he was understanding enough to do that for me and not tempted by my weakness. Anyway, do you have a source for more norcos? Do you have someone who could give you a dose each day? Are you dealing with the reasons you have gotten out of control? If not, there's no easier way out. Just being honest. Many people have to use the flu excuse, since most of the symptom resemble flu. Hope this helps and keep us posted. Remember to restate your question on a new thread. Good luck.

[goodkarma750]

Hi I was reading thru some of the posts and was hoping someone can help me ??? I have been taking 20-30 norcos a day for 2 years and need to get my life back and finally ready to throw in the towel to this nightmare.  This has been a ongoing problem for over 20 years but never this bad.  I went thru a detox program about 3 years ago and was put on suboxon but the thought of getting to that point of when you can take it keeps me from wanting to do this .  I have people who depend on me and cant go thru that horrible w-draw for the 24 hours or more.  My question is can I try methadone and if so I only have two norcos left and its 8:30 am Im going to need to take them in a hour or so and then Im out !!!!! Im freaking out!!! If I take methadone do I have to wait till im in somewhat of a w-draw or can I take couple hours after my last dose?? Please someone help me .... thank you ,,

[quitinoxys]

Jimmy I just replied to your message brother go and read it I hope it gives you ispiration to keep it up. You are doing great so keep it up.---Rick

[HughBeaumont]

Great work on the taper, but beware the depression which will surely ensue ... it's what fools with the best-laid plans.

Best of ...

[JR714]

Thanks for all the support everyone!  You guys are the best!  As I was explaining to Rick...My family life is kind of going down the toilet, and I've realized that all the little fights and arguments with my wife is my main trigger for wanting to use.  Got into an argument with her couple hours ago, and the first thing I thought of was getting a hold of something to take the edge off, and mellow me out.  As for a little background on me...after I came back from my tour, with everything that happened, and losing my best friend and team leader over there...I brought home with me PTSD.  I have some anger issues, and alot of anxiety.  Of course my doctor wanted me to take some type of benzo, but I hate them, so I never took them.  Hated the way they made me feel.  I think right now my biggest hurdle is learning how to deal with my triggers for wanting to use.  How are you all dealing with yours?  I used to mountain bike alot before I started using opiates, and soon as I started using, the mountain biking stopped.  I'm thinking it might be a good idea to get back into it.  Helps relieve some stress, anger, and built up tension.  I'm very worried that with all the stress I have going on in my life, Its going to be the reason I use again down the road.  I went to one NA meeting, and Its just not for me.  I have a hard time being around people and talking about my feelings.  I think its one reason I started getting so heavy into the drugs to begin with.  When I got back from deployment, I was hurting so much inside, and I've always been trained and taught to suck it up, and dont show my emotions, so after taking drugs, I found out that they helped alot in hiding those emotions.  I know I do NOT want to have this lifestyle anymore and ever again!  God how I wish I could go back into time, and never take pain pills and realize how they made me feel.  But that's not reality...reality is that I need to find ways to make sure I stay clean!  Whatever it takes.
Please share how you deal and identify with your triggers, and how you manage to stay focused on staying clean!  
Thanks everyone!

[quitinoxys]

Hey Jimmy, I just replied back to your message and I am glad you decided to flush the rest of the methadone. I applaude you for making the decision to go CT. As I told you in my reply to message I am here for you so just keep in touch and let me know what I can do to help you through all of this.---Rick

[justneedtotalk]

Becareful doubling up on your multi-vitamins....Most say is ok but only for a few days, you do not want to over do it on certain minerals.  You might just be the luckiest guy if this is the extent of your detox.  You are definitely going to feel the lack of energy and probably some medium to mild anxiety and wrestlessness.  It sounds like you have made it past the worst.  The next week or so is going to be difficult but easier than before.  Each day you will start to feel a little better.  Keep hanging in there and try to throw in some exercise....it helps with the anxiety and I actually replaced one addiction (pills) with another more positive and rewarding (exercise)......Good luck and god bless!

[JR714]

Well, had a decent night last night.  I was pretty tired by the time I got home.  I fell asleep on the couch watching tv around 10 or so.  Woke up at 2am and went to bed.  At around 6 am I was up.  Didn't feel too bad.  Its been 27 hours since I took that last methadose 10mg tablet.  I don't feel sick or anything, but I'm super tired this morning!  Going to try and eat something before I loose my appetite, and take my vitamins.  Do you think I should double up on the vitamins and minerals for the next few days?  I heard that helps sometimes.
I have to work today, so hoping that it does't get any worse.  I'm gonna need a 5hr. energy on the way to my shop.
Thanks for all the replies guys!!!

[kgzswifey]

Your story sounds very similar to mine but without oxys. I was prescribed 6000 mg lortab/day right off the bat and got addicted very quickly and after two yrs of that a friend of mine gave me methadone to get off the lortab. BIG MISTAKE!! 1 10mg methadone went to 2 in days, and before  I knew it I was addicted for over 2 years taking 10 methadone at a time! I just went cold turkey again about 6 days ago and it is a miserable detox and withdrawal but just like u i realized I couldnt keep putting it off it had to happen. And I just want to be normal and be happy and laugh and do everyday tasks without having to swallow a handful of pills first. I wish u luck and u really CANT supstitute anything for anything if u havent stopped the  methadone it coud lead to an addiction as big as the oxys or lead to that again. I hope this has helped and since were going through the same thing, if theres anything that has helped you please let me know good luck n god bless.

[gnarly_1]

HI .....read threw you post....wow 500mg of oxy you have done well tapering off
ive never been a proponent of using methadone to eaze withdrawals but whats done is done
and im happy you only stayed on it 6 days and flushed the rest you dont want that stuff getting its fangs in you the detox is awful...it will be a day or 2 but your probably going to feel the effects of long term oxy use.....you sound young so your recovery should be quick
a couple of days of withdrawals then the energy crash for a wile give it a little time and you will pull out of it....getting clean is ezer then staying clean...we always recommend aftercare
both N/A and A/A are free and the programs work if you work them...the pills are only a symptom of the problem as addicts we need to change the very way we think to stay clean
get plugged in somewhere I wish you the best of luck with your plan keep posting for support we all want to see you succeed ......God bless......Gnarly

[JR714]

Thanks alot for all the motivation and kind words everyone.  really does mean alot to me!  

[hellc@mst]

Hi there. Well done on your decision to flush the remaining methadone pills. As you and justneedtotalk inferred, addiction should be a walk in the park compared with millitary service in an active combat zone. I am not suprised to learn of your military background considering the level of self discipline required, so far, to taper down from 500mgs of oxy. I am not trying to minimise the serious nature of an opioid addiction but compared with other challanges many of us have faced already, it should barely register in comparison.

Good luck on your recovery journey. You have displayed amazing character to have come so far on your own. For what its worth, i am mightily impressed.

All the best. kind regards jeremy.

[justneedtotalk]

Sounds like you are going to have the conviction to get through this.....You just have to commit to yourself that you are going to go into the first of the year off of all opiates and feel a lot better than you do now.  Even though you are actually feeling worse while taking that many pills your brain tells you that to avoid the pain of withdrawal you have to maintain and increase your dosage.  It is really a sick addiction in that way....There is never enough and it is like any other drug where you start increasing dosage just to feel normal and once you start chasing that first timer high it is all over.

You are lucky that you have the mind set to admit you have a problem and are willing to do something about it!  I too come from an active military background and you are right....If you can make it through active duty service in a foriegn country, you can make it through anything!  This will not be that bad but it will seem miserable at first.  You are going from a chemical that forces the production of endorphines which make you feel good to feeling the exact opposite....Just keep in mind that it will pass and I cannot stress the exercise.....You have got to get out and run!  You are military and know how to do it and this will help get the toxins out of your system and help your brain get back to normal endorphine production.  Keep posting, keep taking your suppliments, and get out and exercise with lots of water and you will get through this in no time.....Good luck and God bless!

[JR714]

You guys are right!!!  I can't keep making excuses for wanting to drag it out a few more days in hopes of lessening the w/d's from a 5-6 on the this ***** scale to a 3-4!  It's not worth it!!!  I want it to be over with!!!  If I stop now, hopefully when christmas comes close, I will be 100% normal me again, and I think that's the best gift I can give myself and my family and friends!  I will need your guys support though!  And I don't dobt I will get it.  You all have been such a huge help so far!  I'm actually very surprized that I have been able to come this far.  I remember 3 weeks ago when I was down to my last few oxy 40mg tablets, I was thinking how in the hell did I get in this deep????  I thought that coming off of a 500+mg a day habit of oxy was going to kill me...even tapering for that week with the norco's I didn't know if I was going to be able to keep going with the taper, but I held on, and did it.  I have to say that my will power has to have come from being a military veteran.  Spending 12 months in Afghanistan wasn't a walk in the park when your running missions all day.  I've truley gone through some horrible times in my life, and I've learned to just deal with it.  Not sure why I'm going on and on, guess I'm trying to psych myself up for this, and hope you all will cheer me on along the way.  
Excuse me while I go flush some methadone!!! :)
Thanks for all the replies!

[hellc@mst]

No, you are so close now i strongly suggest you just stop. The longer you remain on the methadone the more you risk the 3-4 week struggle many encounter when tapering of a lengthy methadone habit. Honestly, you have come down from 500mgs of Oxy to a miserly 10mgs of methadone. Just stop it there and see how you feel. No doubt you will still experience withdrawal symptoms but nothing like what you may have expected had you cold turkeyed off of the 500mgs of oxy you were taking.

Honestly, having battled opioid addiction for over half my life, 12 years of those spent on 155mgs of methadone, i can not stress enough how important it is for you to cut your losses now while you are still ahead and to just grin and bear the inevitable withdrawals that are likely to come within days of your final methadone dose.

Do not be tempted to switch again from methadone onto another short acting opiate. You are virtually on nothing now and i can not see any worthwhile benefits from employing a protracted taper off of such a small dose. If you are as serious and committed as i imagine you to are, do yourself a huge favour and just stop now.

[justneedtotalk]

I would just jump the minute you are out of the Methadone.....If you want this over with then you should just face it head on and stop taking anything.....I too used the Methadone methode but unfortunately did not stop at 5-6....It turned into a horrible long term Methadone habbit which your information and buddy is correct that there is NOTHING like coming off of a methadone habbit....I would not wish that on my worst enemy.....You can do this.....You are already ahead of the game by getting the oxy and norco out of your system and only have to contend with the methadone withdrawal which should not be bad.  Your body and mind will try anything to get its fix back so cold turkey from here is usually always the best way.  You are going to feel the effects of withdrawal but not nearly as bad!  The longer you keep putting drugs into your system the longer it will take to get them out and that is when you will start feeling better.  

It is going to be a huge adjustment both mentally and physically and that is where aftercare can help....For me it was the exercise and the suppliments that got me through.  Once you start feeling better it is such a great feeling to wake up in the morning and know that today I am sober and everything that I exeperience is REAL and not done while under the influence.....They money that you will save is also another big plus....Use some of that money you would normally spend on drugs on yourself as a reward at different stages of your recovery.....Your biggest goal at this point has to be getting 100% off of everything.  This will be your D day and each day no matter how miserable will be better than the next.  Once you get a month under your belt you will finally start seeing the light of sobriety and YOU WILL feel a lot better.  You have got to put it into your mind that you are done with opiates forever and you will do anything it takes to accomplish this goal.  450-500mgs a day had to be expensive so this might be a perfect way to help keep the faith.....There are a lot of knowledgable and supportive people on this site so post often and really think about going cold turkey tomorrow....You can do this, many of us have been through it and we can help....Good luck!  

[throwindatowl]

If you can ween. Even  1mg of anything other than methadone will get you feeling better faser. Not telling you to go get norcos. I am saying if you make a 10 mg norco last 5 to 7 days. When ya stop youll feel almost nothing. Maybe tired for a day. Your doing so good just keep it up. Remember your goal. No pills. Its a mind thing now man.

[JR714]

Thanks for the replies guys!  Since I only used the methadone for 6 days, do you think I should expect a quick detox like few days versus the dreaded 3-4 weeks that most long term methadone uses experience?  I was terried in reading that methadone detox lasted that long, but after talking to a friend of mine, he said I shouldn't experience anything like that since I was only on it for a week.  I hope that's true.  

This morning I actually felt pretty good.  Almost felt like the normal me again.  Something I haven't felt in awhile.  I know I'm not there yet, but for me to go the day, and only take one 10mg tablet all day, its a huge accomplishment, and its kind of wierd at the same time.  I have developed a habit of always reaching into my pocket to see how many tablets I had on me, so I can make sure I have enough to get by for a few hours in case I had to go somewhere.  I haven't done that in 6 days, and its kind of awkward, but I'm slowly starting to get used to not doing it.  That's one reason I'm hoping that it wont be too bad once I stop.  Even my friend said my pupils looked huge today, cause he's always seen me on something, and it was always enough to make my pupils like pin needles.  

If I can get a hold of one or two 5mg methadone tablets, I'll do that as a small taper from the 10mgs i've been taking everyday to help reduce any w/d's I might feel.  If not, a friend of mine said to just take a small dose of norco one or twice a day, and reduce til i'm not taking anymore.  

I just so want this all to be over with!  This past month has been hell cutting down in my doses, but all in all, it wasn't that unpleasant.  Much much easier then going CT from where I originally was at, which was around 450-500mgs/day of oxy.  That would have been hell I'm sure!!!

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and hopefully by end of this week, it will all be over, and I will be back to my normal self.

[justneedtotalk]

I agree with hellc@mst on this one as well.  I think that the short term Methadone will actually help you come off such a high dose of the other opiates BUT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to stop after the 7th day!  You WILL experience withdrawals but not nearly as bad as if you had went cold turkey 7 days ago!  Keep taking you suppliments and a day or so after your last methadone dose you will start to feel it.  If you can keep up the intake of water and your suppliments and add exercise into your routine, your withdrawal symptoms will not last as long.  

You have done a great job to this point and as long as you go the rest of the way cold turkey your symptoms will not last long.  Believe it or not, the faster your body excretes the remaining toxins the faster you will feel better.  Exercise and your suppliment regiment is the best thing you could be doing for yourself and try to get 30-40 minutes of vigerous exercise....it will be hard to do at first but it will make you feel so much better so much faster.

Also, many will post later about aftercare (AA-NA) and I think it is a huge help for a lot of people!  Once you get a month or so under your belt and start feeling better is when it is easy to relapse.  We forget about how horrible the withdrawal process is and just use one last time which ALWAYS leads to another and another....You know!  Good luck and keep posting....We all are here to help and support!  Good luck!!!!

[hellc@mst]

Hi there. I think you have worked your taper very nicely. I honestly dont believe your short affair with a low dose of methadone is going to hurt the ultimate outcome. The basic premise behind any taper is that you take less and less over a given time period. Although you have been using 3 different opioid medications, as far as equianalgesic equivalency goes, you have still been tapering. I am not entirely positive but i would equate 150mgs of norco with 25/30 mgs of methadone, so your daily 10mg dose is well below that.

With that being said, do not be suprised if you begin to withdraw once you stop with the methadone altogether. I wouldnt blame any withdrawals you may encounter on the short term methadone consumption but rather a delayed reaction, postponed by interim percocet and methadone doses. I believe your ad hoc taper will have ameliorated the most severe symptoms. It may pay to stop altogether wthin the next few days, if not sooner, rather than prolong the inevitable with an unnecesarily long and protracted methadone taper.

You have done amazingly well til now and  as long as your plan to use 5mgs of methadone is limited to 3 days(maximum) or less, i am confident that you are on the right track. I do have some reservations with this option as i believe any benefits you may feel are barely worth the risk of becoming readdicted to the methadone. However this is your choice and so far you have shown remarkable commitment and fortitude.

Keep us up to date with your progress, All the best Reagards Jeremy.