help

[babybear1969]

I take methadone and Im taking 120 mg and im trying to start detoxing. I was wondering if going down 1mg a week would be too fast?

[gnarly_1]

HI IM with Jeremy you can go a lot faster in the higher doses
it really dosent get tuff tuff till yout belpw 30 you will hit speeb bumps thaat will stop you for a wile here and there but if I was you I would make fast track of it for as long as your body will let you because when your in the lower doses your forced to go slow keep posting and let up know how your doing read all the methadone post you will get little bits and pieces of info from every post I was on the stuff for 6 1/2yr at 150mg and it took me 8 1/2 mo to taper off 822 days clean now buy the grace of God we will help you all we can if you need to talk just messege one of us take your curser and hover it over our name a box will apear click on send a message then its one on one good luck and God bless......Gnarly

[hellc@mst]

Nah. IMO thats not too fast at all.  Thats a 120 week detox plan. I dropped 5mgs per week (coming off 155mgs)  and probably could have made even bigger reductions in the beginning and smaller drops near the end. TBH, I never really felt the reductions until I got to 100mgs and even then I think it was more of a psychological barrier dropping below the 3 figure,100mg threshhold.

Once  I was down  to 70mgs,  I plateaued for  2-3 weeks so my body could readjust before commencing with a modified 5mg per fortnight taper plan. All along, my plan was to transfer to suboxone when my methadone dose was below 30mgs. I eventually transitioned at 22.5mgs and was off the suboxone 10 days later.

All up it took a little over 6 months to complete. I was extremely motivated and determined having been on the methadone for almost 12 years (since I was 20).I was sick of the stuff and couldnt get off  quick enough.  It had served its purpose, providing stability and financial security which allowed me to finish my tertiary studies, find reliable employment and purchase my first home BUT It wasnt benefiting me anymore and hadnt been for the last 7 years (im a slow learner...lol).  I disregarded the well intentioned advice from my doctor and counsellors who all suggested a slower/gentler taper plan with longer readjustment periods.

Ultimately, the speed at which we detox is a personal decision and may be influenced by our commitment,  familial obligations, work, our pain threshold, our ability to  persevere through the discomfort, our desperation etc,etc,etc...  For me,  a 1mg P/W, 3 year detox plan was unacceptably long and drawn out  but thats not to say its not the perfect plan for YOU. It all depends on the individual and should be tailored to suit our specific needs. Too quick and you may relapse to palliate the severe withdrawals/emotional/physical trauma. Too slow and you may become disillisioned/impatient and lose the steely determination you had when you initially began.

Good luck on your journey.All the best.
Kind regards Jeremy (Recovered Addict)
4 years 4 months drugfree thanks to ME!!!