methadone taper

[sassypnksox]

my fiance and i have been together 3 years now.  he is a recovering addict from about 100 or so pills a day(before we met), and has been on methadone for a little over 3 years now.  it's been really tough, becuase i really was kinda prude about addictions, having only done some stupid **** back in highschool.  needless to say i have learned a whole lot in our time together.  unfortunatly he has an EXTREMELY addictive personality (and i don't say that lightly), and has relapsed on me 3, possible 4 times.  for the most part i have learned signs and symptoms of relapsing.  i have stuck by him, even though i am pretty much dead inside from what has gone on.  our relationship has suffered tremendously and it will take me years to trust him again.  we also have two children together.  he is tapering off methadone and is at around 70mg (i believe he was at around 200 or so at his highest).  i really don't get a lot of answers out of people or searches, and i would like to know the "norms" when someone is tapering.  he pretty much falls asleep standing up, doing dishes, acts slightly disoriented, and sometimes his eyes look fisheyed(not focused).  is this normal...what stuff can i expect, and should i be worried?

[wait2long]

you might be right about the 6 month thing, i do know meth clinics make you build a trustsystem  with them before they do much more for you.  and i am always one to say yes for therapy...it always helps in some way, but... it wont work if hes not being honest with you hun, hes got to come clean with you before you start the counseling or he will continue to lie, even at therapy.  i KNOW when my husband is trying to b.s. me, we have been together for 18 yrs. this month, and i always go to his appointments with him because even though he takes meth for pain...hes still an addict first, the pain is secondary now...so needless to say but he has no choice but to be honest...LOL!!   i get prescribed xanax and klonipin for agoraphobia with panic and unbearable anxiety (all from my past drug use, i think) and my husband is always trying to weasel a k-pin from me....NOT!!!!!  all i can say is you deserve honesty, and if he is serious about getting clean he HAS to be honest with not only you but himself first by admitting the problem is still there full force...keep your chin up, peace and love

[sassypnksox]

thanks...i think the 6 month thing might be legit...but i figured that about the k-pins.  the past three days have sucked...he's not as bad as he was when i knew for sure he was messed up...but he just doesn't seem right, and he's hot and cold...one second we are in a screaming match and i'm "crazy" again...and next he has this lovey dovey thing about him...i think normality is a myth! lol  i'm not sure when i can get to the clinic with him...i start back at work, and my schedule is crazy.  thanks so much for all your help!  monday his mother and i are going to an alanon meeting together and i am hoping that helps.  and i think he and i might see a psych for couples counceling too.  

[wait2long]

he is lying to you k-pins are the strongest and the longest acting of benzos...and he knows that and that is why he wants them...also search the house i bet he didnt flush the others or maybe he took them all already.  who wont do a 6 month  taper? the methadone clinic???   that 6 month thing sounds like b.s. to me, but i am not familiar with methadone clinic settings...we dont have any around here....   when will you be able to go to clinic meeting with him so you can get some truthful answers?  i really feel for you, although i am an addict also in recovery and know how you feel...my husband uses methadone also, but for legitimate pain, still dont like it....

[sassypnksox]

i'd like to thank everyone for their help here...and if there is any advice as to signs i should look for or things i can say to make this all better i'd appreciate input.  he told me today that k-pins are the lowest benzo to take while on methadone because they won't get you as high as the other ones...is this true? cause it doesn't sound so from what wait2long had to say.   and apparently they won't do a taper for 6 months at the new place because it's a rule or something there.  i thought you could pretty much be in control of what you want to do as far as up it or taper?  i know they wanna keep people on cause of the money...but 6 MONTHS till he can even go down any?

[sassypnksox]

they did prescribe it to him there...and they handled giving him on a daily basis too...but then i got ballsy when i heard him the bedroom with pills and found that he had gotten a prescription for valium too from an outside doc.  i made his old councelor aware and everything, but that was in the middle of his transfer to the new place, so really it did no good.  and he said that he flushed the pills and i really hope he did.  they have taken him off the pins for a little bit now...but i never knew that it affected meth clients like that.  now i know why everyone and their effin mother try to get them.  i think it's major BS too that they even let 1/3 of the people get it.  i really had a feeling that he wanted them b/c they would make him high too.  i just can't wait to talk to his new councelor.  this is soooo aggrivating!  i just want to see him...and me as well happy for once and "NORMAL".  and i've been good cop and bad cop...i even attempted being in the middle cop.  nothing seems to work

[wait2long]

well that was his problem right there!!!   a very high dose of methadone WITH klonipin is extremely dangerous, and i hate to say it but alot of people on methadone will take a benzo (klonipin) because it makes the high about 6 times better, so he is still using and abusing... he shouldnt have had his methadone dose upped because of going off klonipin...he should have tapered off the klonipin slowly and kept his methadone the same....unless he is getting used to the k-pin and needs more methadone to get high with now?  sorry to say but i would be worried....how long has he taken k-pin? if he has been on it for a while be careful...people have had seizures from stopping a benzo suddenly... actually i am quite surprised that they would even give him a prescription for k-pins while on methadone, did he get it illegally?...if abused it can be deadly....i am sorry hun...i think you need to go to a few meetings with him...take notes if you have to...but you need to find out what is going on...for your own well being and your children also....i am here if you need to chat...