Methadone treatment

[jo1978]

I need some honest opinions please............ I recently started a methadone treatment program. I am doing the 6 month program. This is my 3rd day of treatment. I am starting at one dose of 30mg of methadone. Is this a good number to start with??? TOO HIGH of a number?? PRETTY LOW of a number??? I have hears many horror storeis of people and methadone, about trading one drug for another and all that. But, I have heard many sucssesful and beautiful stories of people who used methadone appropriatley at a good clinic and got clean and got thier lives back. Before I started all this I was taking up to 22 10 mg Norco, or the equivalant in Vicodin. I would on occasion use Oxy if that was my only option, never liked it anymore than the others. Let me know...THANKS ALL..My good thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Thanks for welcomimg me into your little "family" here. Everyone's advice has helped a million times over

[emwave]

I would not let them put you above 30mg.  22 10mg  pills of hydrocodone is equal to about 25mg (max) of methadone (used daily).  Due to the long half life of methadone, it takes about 4 days to build up in your system.

I was in the same position as you and knew nothing about methadone.  Within 4 days they had me up to 100mg -- even though I had made it clear to the doctor that I wanted to do a 2-3 month detox.  I kept complaining to the medical staff that I was falling asleep all of the time -- but it didn't matter to them.  To make a long story short, I forced them to taper me down and then I went into a residential place in FL that uses opiates to withdraw patients from opiate and had no wd at all.  I wish I had done that in the beginning -- it would had saved me a ton of time, money and suffering (tapering off of methadone is not fun).


I don't know your history of opiate abuse, but if you can get by on 22 10mg Norcos then you shouldn't need to go any higher than the 30mg you are on.  How do you feel  after being at 30mg for 3 days?  If you feel ok, I wouldn't go any higher -- the higher you go, the worse the w/d will be at the end of 6 months.  

Contact me any time -- you seem to be in the same position I was in.  While we are all different, facts are facts.  I only wish I had researched methadone before I took any -- I never would have let them get me up to such a high dose.

Most places will allow you to take home methadone after a couple months.  I found that taking it later in the day worked better for me (often I'd take half in the AM and half in the late afternoon).  But I didn't have to start doing that until I got down to about 15-20mg.

Good luck with whatever you decide.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

[Prospero73]

To what Gnarly said, all things that I observed in my son's case, let me add the danger of an overdose, if you succeed in quitting for a while and then relapse.  With the loss of tolerance, it is very easy to take too much, and unconsciousness and respiratory failure happen very quickly, before you (or anyone with you) could do anything about it.

[gnarly_1]

HI jo welcome to the forum...well you had a huge narco habit so I guess methadone is better on your system then that but if I where you I would only use it long enough to come off your DOC...I spent 6 1/2 yrs on the stuff  and deffenetly wouldn't recommend it long term to anyone I started out on a small dose to kill back pain but eventually built
up a tolerance to it and wound up at 150ml at a methadone clinic my body built up a tolerance to that and it was no longer killing off the pain so all I was doing was feeding a huge addiction thats where one of the big issues comes in trying to get off the stuff
I tapered for 8 1/2mo to get off and to say the least it was difficult sometimes it seamed as if it was going to be impossible but by the grace of God and alot of help from this website I finely did it 138days ago...do yourself a huge favor and keep your dose down low and start to taper as soon as you can...the longer and higher the dose the longer and harded the withdrawal its just been over the last 30 days im starting to feel like myself again the P.A.W.S effect is sever with methadone
and its know to hang in there for months after quiting I know it has for me
methadone if used correctly to break free of an out of control drug habit has its place but as for long term take it from someone thats been there there are a lot of side effects with methadone they dont bring up at the clinic...your sex drive will go down to nothing it happens in both men and women  you nod off at the most inappropriate times like during social gatherings and going to the movies ....my wife actually thought I had a sleeping disorder ...then theirs just the fog of narcotics its not a high persay but sorta a fog that you don't realize until you off it you can have night sweats on it and the list goes on and on...it certainly not a way to live life ...I only wish I could get back all the years methadone stole from me ...so if your going to use it ...do it short term get into some aftercare and taper off it as soon as you can the quicker the better but be involved with aftercare so you dont go back to your DOC
when you go off it....hope this gives you a little insight on how not to use methadone...good luck and God bless......Gnarly      

[tellit2her]

Hi jo, I am sure you have done quite a bit of research before entering a methadone clinic. I started at a clinic 2 months ago and started out at 30mg for the first week and then you are out on 40mg 3 days later. Each week you can ask for an increase of only 10mg per week until you reached 100mg, then you can only be on an increase of 10mg per month. Methadone has saved my life, integrity, job, well being, marriage and spirituality after being addicted to opiates for 23 years and I tried everything to stay clean, and the outcome was relapse after relapse.Most people are against this, but we all know what is good for us. Along with just taking methadone the clinic offers me a 90 day IOP, one on one therapy, group therapy, doctor visits and family counceling. Also I attend NA meetings during the week and so far I am doing very well without any cravings or intentions. Sounds like you will be doing well, wishing the best, god bless,, 92 days alive and clean, mike in nc

[Frivolousz21]

You need to start with an amount that allows you to function with a normal life and go down from there....did you consult a doctor?