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When does methadone withdrawal stop?
I am trying to get off methadone. I am down to 20 mg. a day and can't seem to go below that threshhold without triggering massive, weird symptoms. Methadone has a half life of 24 hours...so I still have half of yesterday's dose in my body this morning. I am going to try to taper by 2.5 mg increments. I have a high pressure job that doesn't allow for the distraction of withdrawal sysmptoms and I have no opportunity to take off from work to do this. What are my best options? I have to avoid the anxiety and lack of concentration above all.
thank you Gnarly for your response. My daughter doesn't discuss a lot about her problem with me. She just keeps telling me that I have no idea how hard its been to come down off methadone. Shes right, I never did drugs, thank God. I'm just trying to understand the ifs, ands, and buts of this horrible drug.
hi well coming off methadone takes some time it took me 8 1/2 months to break free and I did it in 1/2 the time the clinic recommended the clinics would rather error on the side of safty then push you out to quickly I agree it all about the money but the withdrawal from methadone is a monster in itself I have kicked every kind of pain pill there is but nothing got me sicker then methadone or lasted as long just know it is possible to get off the stuff how much is she comming off and what is her dose now ?/ keep posting for support it would be great if you show her this site also start your own thread by going to the top of this page and posting a question good luck and God bless.....Gnarly
Never thought I'd be doing this,,lol. My daughter is addicted to methadone and has been coming down at a clinic for about 4 yrs now, I use coming down sparsely, because it seems to be the fix for everyone at the clinic she visits. I feel they are just taking her money and would love to know if there is a faster way to help my daughter. Its been hard for me to watch this, and even harder to see my beautiful granddaughters suffer thru all this with her. Her finances are in horrible disarray and she is now getting busted for driving almost everytime the police catch her coming home from the clinic. Please folks,,any advice would be appreciated. I need help almost as bad as she does.
I JUST NOW READ ABOUT YOUR WD LIKE I'M HAVING AND ALSO YOUR LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP THAT HAD "JUST ENDED" IN 2003 AND I WANTED TO EXTEND MY LOVE AND CARE TOYOU. I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE FOUND YOURSELF IN A MUCH BETTER PLACE IN LIFE RIGHT NOW. I, MYSELF HAD TO LEAVE MY KIDS IN TEXAS WITH THEIR DAD AND MOVE TO OKLAHOMA TO ESCAPE A EX "LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP"(NOT EX HUSBAND) THAT SEXUAL MALISTED MY DAUGHTER AND BEAT ME AND TRIED TO KILL ME MULTIPLE TIMES SO I GUESS JUST SOMETHING IN YOUR EXPRESSION IN 2003 SPOKE TO ME AND KINDA HELPED ME ALITTLE AND I WANTED TO THANK YOU CAUSE YOU REMINDED ME IN THAT LITTLE INSERT THAT WE CANT HOLD IT IN AND SELF EXPRESSION IS IMPORTANT. THANKS AGAIN DUSTY
when i was on the clinic and detoxin , i was gettin dropped 5mg every 7days, , ans felt fine unil i got down to 10mgs , do u think
i should see if theyll let me come down 3 mgs every 7 days to help the withdraw not as horriblle
i should see if theyll let me come down 3 mgs every 7 days to help the withdraw not as horriblle
The best was the sleep cure, clonidine patches and pills with attivan and Darvon in a hospital in L.A.. I slept 8 hours a day and 8 a nite for the first week and was in the hospital for about 28 days, I felt ok when I left
So how did you kick the methadone? Do you think it is possible to go from 20mg over to Suboxone and then a 21 day taper? And still work?
There is no free ride off of methadone by tapering but it's not that bad. The serax is a benzo which can help with the anxiety and is used in detox. You need to get enough of them and some stomach meds like bentyl and imodium and have a week off to kick the meth. Being that you are not a regular addict it won't be as hard to kick as if you were taking it for enjoyment then you are more addicted. all the best
I abruptly stopped taking all my pain meds 31 days ago. Vicodin, percocet, morphine, and methadone. I am still feeling loopy and out of it, although, it seems each day is getting better. I was told that the methadone is probably still wreaking havoc in my body. I still have diarrhea, night sweats, and a newfound headache every day. This is getting very discouraging. My psychiatrist is thinking I may be a candidate for Suboxone. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'll take it.
Methadone sux in most cases unless you stay on it for life. It can have nasty side effects, especially at high doses. I wish everyone the best that is tapering or wants to quit. I did it and it can be done.
My identical twin brother and I are 40 yr old tapering hippies. We have been on methadone for over 7 yrs..Prior to that was a long career in drug use from pot to qualudes, placydils to trips,and tons more my toasty brain cant remember,but opiates came later starting with hydro.s ...20-30 blues daily for a yr. Then due to ignorance and being confronted by my Dr.and other severe consequences....We coldturkey stopped .The dumbest thing we ever did and absolute hell. It took a solid month and a ambulance ride to the ER 5 days in to get through it but we did it. We started opiates again with-in weeks and graduated to shooting oxy's and heroin .We did buprenex when it was only available as injectable and it worked but we were'nt serious but playin games still. Finally with a 2 yr old daughter who's mom abandoned her, we knew it was time to get our **** on track for ourselves and our little girl so we went on MMT. A years ago we tried ibogaine (look it up) it went way wrong and was horrible.We almost died. Its a root from africa that claims to cure addiction and by-pass the w/d's.It is a hallucinogen founded by an addict(Howard Lotsoff) in the 1970's and has been studied at Univ.of Miami by Dr, Mash but its expensive so theres an underground scene but its very dangerous **** and not an advisable detox? If you do it, do it through a legit clinic out of the USA as its illegal here but legal in mexico ,canada,europe,andother places. Anyway here we are tapering and ready.We've gone from 120 mgs at the methadone clinic ,then 3 years ago we found a pain management Dr.and dropped to 40-45 mgs on our own, now in the past month we are at 25 mgs dropping at 2.5 every week but ready to slow it to 1 mg every week or longer and are confident and determined.We dont use any other drugs except a bit of weed and rarely a valium..... maybe ten times or less a month.One twin has cervical fusion and disc disease,and spurs,and spondylosis,the other has the same without the fusion but both tolerate it with methadone dose and advil or rarely an nsaid.But it is always an issue and support is in place for staying drug free after we complete our detox . After reading all the post I thought everyone seems very cool and supportive of each other and I found that to be an awesome tool to have and give support to each other . Good luck to everyone who struggles with their own demons and stay strong after all , we have already been through some ****** hardcore**** !!! so we are strong no doubt .....and will be stronger on the other side of our next battle. Dave & Drew The Twins
Hey waytoohigh, I feel for you. First of all, if you went four days cold turkey coming off methadone, that is quite an achievement. Don't beat yourself up for going back. Who wouldn't go back to the magic pill that takes away the worst flu like illness that there is? What addict stops to realize that the pill is at the root of the problem, especially when suffering the w/d, we just need the relief, right? Keep trying to TAPER, meth is the worst withdrawal. I've done it, I quit cold turkey after trying to taper. I got down to one pill a day. I couldnt hack it and decided to admit myself to detox clinic. They used chlonadine which really does not help at all. It lowers your blood pressure though. I did sleep more though but I could not stop the restless legs thing. That was really bad. I cant tell you enough that you must taper, try staying at one dose for at least 2 weeks. That will give you the least amount of w/d complications. I dont know your height and weight so I cant tell you how many mg. to go down every 2 weeks. I would say 1/2 a pill, regardless of the mg dosage in the pill. Also, be very careful with the valium, you can easily OD, that **** is potent to your cns, and paired with the methadone, it could be lethal. If you taper there is no reason that you should not be able to sleep well and do everything else with only minor w/d. I can tell you that it is not easy but I tapered and that helped. I have experienced w/d from methadone, morphine, oxycontin, codeine and hydrocodone. The worst is methadone, but tapering will help get you through it. I did and it is not easy and I pray for your success. It can be done as I am proof.
A good thing to do, is to have somebody keep your pills and administer them to you when needed. That really sucks having to do that but my wife did that for me. I wouldnt have gotten as far as I did without her. It is way too tempting to have that stuff available to you. There is more of a chance for you to slip if you do it on your own, it is a fact. Dont let me discourage you though, if you went four days c/t you did remarkably well and way better than I could have ever dreamed. Well, take care and keep trying, I am praying for you.
A good thing to do, is to have somebody keep your pills and administer them to you when needed. That really sucks having to do that but my wife did that for me. I wouldnt have gotten as far as I did without her. It is way too tempting to have that stuff available to you. There is more of a chance for you to slip if you do it on your own, it is a fact. Dont let me discourage you though, if you went four days c/t you did remarkably well and way better than I could have ever dreamed. Well, take care and keep trying, I am praying for you.
Hi, I too am trying to taper. And your right-addicts trying to control their intake is a joke. But I can't go through another withdrawl.I screwed up and now I have To taper(15MG) to make my drugs last till the 23rd. If I can live on 15mg a day, I will be able to get a refill.If I screw up and take too many now-I will end up in the hospital-and this time my husband will leave me for sure.I haye this kind of life. I am so tired-it seems hopeless. BOOMER
I think that people truly working in the addiction field know how difficult it is to taper completely off of methadone. It is also known by people with experience that tapering at 1-2/5 mg every third day is the best way until you reach 15 mg. At that time, if you want to suffer the least, and can afford and find your certified MD that has certification and recognition by ASAM?DEA, you can utilize his/her knowledge of medication to complete the detoxification program. It varies with everyone. I expect you will experience some anxiety, sleep problems, and fatigue, the Buprenorphine patients seem to tolerate this diffcult taper with much hope that their is success at the end of treatment.
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Hang in there as best you can whatitistoburn. My wife left me over a year ago and I'm in emotional pain that I didn't even know existed. I've never been so low in my life. I'm about where your at it sounds like. I've tried to kick the methadones four times and failed each time. I've tried to taper and I've failed at that also. The whole thing just stinks. I cry everyday I hurt so much. Not a very up lifting note, but I think I have some understanding of you situation.
Waytoohigh or juano
Waytoohigh or juano
Hi everybody. This is my first time posting to your site. I toyed around with opiates for a number of years, along with smoking pot. I was always able to stop. I was taking mostly Fiorenal, which I considered to be fairly light duty, at least when compared to methadone, which is what I'm on now. My wife left me over a year ago and somehow some methadone came floating by and I scored. The high was great and I got into it right a way (I've been fighting drugs and alcohol my whole life.) Anyway, to make a long story short, I'm trying to get off the methadone now and I'm having a very difficult time. I've tried four times now. I hit this wall at about four days where the discomfort just makes me crazy. I just finished four days of trying to quit, but I didn't make it, once again. One thing is the sleeplessness. Talk about hell, I can
You ask if anyone had the wheezing 'hard to breath thing? I do, whenever I have been in methadone withdrawl. It's awful. What are some of your other creepy feelings? I have been in full blown methadone withdrwl several times. As I posted earlier (above) I am tapering now. I don't know if I will ever get off of this stuff completely, because of the chronic pain, but I sure want to get on a vary low dose, and accually would like to be off of it completely for a while.Give my body a break and see where I am at with the pain. It scares the heck out of me to know what it can do when stopped abruptly!!! There are a lot of "what ifs" invoved if a person is put in certain situations.
Once my Dr. went on vacation, and no one else would prescribe it. I had run out. And you know the rest of the story.Emergency room!! Anyway, I'll say a prayer for you. Good Luck! BOOMER
Once my Dr. went on vacation, and no one else would prescribe it. I had run out. And you know the rest of the story.Emergency room!! Anyway, I'll say a prayer for you. Good Luck! BOOMER
Hey Boomer, Sorry about the painful cysts....I myself have a migraine 24/7 so I can relate to the pain relief temptation. I got over it (for now though) and have been taking a beta blocker. Have you seen a doctor about the cysts? Maybe if you treated the cysts, you could eliminate the pain factor. Most of all, don't beat yourself up about getting off track- it will only create negative feelings and make you want to take more meth. Easier said than done, huh? Maybe now is not the right time to taper-just try to stay where you are?...until you get a handle on the cysts. If you feel strong enough...by all means-forge on!
I'm down to 22mgs but the headaches are a killer. Now i'm wondering if meth is the cause (any narcotics for that matter). I think I'll stay at this dose rather than decrease another 2mgs this week...until I get a handle on my headache issue!
Keep posting-always good to hear how you're doing.
Robyn.
I'm down to 22mgs but the headaches are a killer. Now i'm wondering if meth is the cause (any narcotics for that matter). I think I'll stay at this dose rather than decrease another 2mgs this week...until I get a handle on my headache issue!
Keep posting-always good to hear how you're doing.
Robyn.
Hey hippee- thanks for the response. I belonged to AA once. Just joined because of the pill thing. But, unless you've been down the pill road(and I know they're all chemicals"booze,pills,etc") it's hard to understand.BUT PILLS ARE DIFFERENT THAN BOOZE!!Thats why AA did not work for me.ANYWAY, I DUG THROUGH SOME OF MY STUFF THAT I ACUMMULATED IN AA-AND THERE IT WAS "EACH DAY a New Beginnig". (Daily meditation for woman.) Life is full of new beginnings,isn't it?? I wish there was a NA in my town. It is A SMALL TOWN. And "GOD FORBID" anyone find out about your problem.This sight is going to help a lot. I do have to stay with my plan though-or I am going to be in big trouble. I can't go through withdrawl without ending up in the hospital.Thanks again for the advice. My family is out when it comes to support. (you should be able to control such things!,they think.)I will try the journal.(smiles) BOOMER
hey boom don't beat youself up at all,
take it lite, try to get back to your taper plan today.
and if you don't live up to it .
try , agian untill ya get it.
keep a journal if ya can , it helps.
there iss a daily medatation book , written by 2 woman
addicts back in the early 80's, i used to read it beacuse at the time na did not have one.
it is a really good day by day book, very insightful
and helpful and inspireing. it helped me greatly,
it was like on time every day for me , back then.
EACH DAY IS A NEW BEGINING. check it out.
in the mean time taper slow, and don't beat yourself up.
none of us got here in one day, it take time and when we fall down, we have to just get back up and continue.
peace!!!!!!!!!1hippy
take it lite, try to get back to your taper plan today.
and if you don't live up to it .
try , agian untill ya get it.
keep a journal if ya can , it helps.
there iss a daily medatation book , written by 2 woman
addicts back in the early 80's, i used to read it beacuse at the time na did not have one.
it is a really good day by day book, very insightful
and helpful and inspireing. it helped me greatly,
it was like on time every day for me , back then.
EACH DAY IS A NEW BEGINING. check it out.
in the mean time taper slow, and don't beat yourself up.
none of us got here in one day, it take time and when we fall down, we have to just get back up and continue.
peace!!!!!!!!!1hippy
Thank you Melly & Pammy for keeping me in your thoughts, I have much appreciation and, believe me, it feels good to know people can either relate on some empathetic level or just respond in kind. Right now for me it sucks because I'm pretty much alone where I live (Oregon) my family & friends are all residing in Denver, CO. so life right now is surreal at best. I'm in denial, which I guess is normal, to my situation ("I can't have this! NO WAY!") but I'm getting more tests done (Mon.), I want a second opinion. I feel like I'm losing control sometimes, sometimes even suicidal (I hate to admit that, but thinking about the 'ultimate shot' has crossed my mind and it scares the hell out of me)- I want to score to just numb myself from reality or just finish off reality, but that's so foolish because reality (or whatever) will be there waiting for me in the end anyway, so why bother, right?!! But anyway, I'm going back home in 6 weeks to do kelation treatments to, hopefully, rid myself of the HepC, then onto the HIV... God... Anyway, I'd just like to say thanks, hope everybody is okay and take care of yourselves. God Bless. Bye.
Chris
Chris
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