methadone taper, NO ENERGY

[Jenelle2020]

Hi everyone, I posted on the weekend and only got one response so I am posting again, I know that the weekends are slow, people are out and about doing their thing. I am on methadone and have been tapering since the summer of 2010 and now down to 22mgs. I am dropping my dose by 1mg/week. I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms which scares me because at this rate I still have 5 months to go to get off, that is if I am able to maintain dropping one mg/week. I am experiencing hot flashes and some nausea but the worst thing is NO ENERGY! It is horrrible, so bad that it's hard to walk around the house, let alone do anything. This does not happen every day thank God, but it is starting to happen more and more often and when I get it, it is usually for 2 days in a row. From reading the posts on this forum I have noticed that most people experience a lack of energy but that seems to only happen during the actual detox itself. I am taking a few natural supplements, not sure if they are helping or not. Any advise? I will appreciate anything that will help. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of people tapering methadone , at this time, seems most have gone to Suboxone , and I am NOT going there, even though my methadone doctor keeps pushing me toward it. Thanks in advance........Gayle I forgot to say that I am taking clonidine which helps with the nausea and hot flashes.

[Jenelle2020]

thank you very much for the responses, they are appreciated lots!

[weaver71]

I never finished a taper, but when I tried to taper, i would start to feel like you are describing when below 30mg. Energy and insomnia where the worst of it. In hind sight, I should have stabilized at the dose I was on when I felt those symptoms. If I had stopped my taper until my body adjusted, I may have been able to continue the taper at a slower rate. I'm one of those chronic relapses that ended up on subs, but you have been doing this so long, I'm confident you can make it. I used subs for 3 weeks to get me through the worst of it and finished my methadone detox with vitamins. I still believe taper is the best way to go, ct is too intense for most on methadone. A taper success story should be along, just wanted to give my 2 cents worth and push your post back up. Good luck and good job so far.

[CWKavinRAS]

I  hope you have a doctor following you through this. The Clonidine can cause your low energy because it lowers your blood pressure, you should be very careful with it.
Try to notice if your lack of energy is related to your Clonodine intake.