withdraw off of methadone

[paingoaway299]

I have been on 30 mlg of methadone for at least 8 years now. does anyone know if I stop will i go through withdrawls? i feel its a low does and im very scared. it does work for the pain and its cheep since i lost my health insurance. can someone please tell me anything? I hear its worse than getting off herion, but again im a only 30mlg a day but for 8 years. Thank you for any advice

[anglyngy]

Hello,i am currently on my 2and attempt at Methadone Maintenance Treatment,MMT,the first time i was on MMT was 2006-2009,then I relapsed bk on heroin. I've been on MMT since May 2013 and when used correctly along with other therapies and tools, Methadone is a life saving medication and treatment program. I take 200mgs of red liquid Methadone that tastes like ***, everyday. I am also a certified Methadone advocate, it's my goal to educate others about the benefits of MMT and to end the stigma and false information about Methadone. Now to answer your questions,yes you'll experience withdrawal symptoms if you stop at 30mg, take it slow, what are u in such a hurry to get off of it for? For me at this stage in my recovery I plan to remain on Methadone for life, but that can change in the future. The biggest myths that people believe are true about Methadone are, Methadone rots your teeth, this is false, there's no evidence in any studies that back this up, also when an individual is using drugs, the drugs and combination of poor oral hygiene becomes a lot more apparent when that person gets clean, another myth that I can't stand to hear is Methadone gets in your bones which is why Methadone withdrawal is the worst of all opiate withdrawal, both of these are false. There is not evidence based studies to support that it gets in your bones, Methadone is actually stored in fat cells. As for the horror stories of how terrible Methadone withdrawal
is, please know that methadone withdrawal is the same as other opioid withdrawal. Methadone has a very long half life, considering the individual is on a stable dose, early withdrawal wouldn't kick in until 48 hours since last dose, and full blown withdrawal could take 72 hours or longer since last dose. Since it takes longer to feel the withdrawal from Methadone, compared to heroin or pills which can be as early as 4 hours since last use, also because Methadone is stored in fat cells it can take awhile for it to be out of your system, since the withdrawal symptoms take longer to come on, it's only natural that Methadone withdrawal will last longer then heroin or pills, the withdrawal symptoms are the same as any other opiate withdrawal not worse and not less. Please don't believe everything you see online,and definitely don't expect your experience and withdrawal symptoms to be the same as someone else's. I've come off Methadone cold turkey 2xs, the first time i came off 130mgs, and the second time was 60mgs, and IMO heroin withdrawal was more intense for me then Methadone withdrawal. Also please note that someone's dosage doesn't mean crap, that's thier dose and what works for them, that's why you'll hear a lot of Methadone advocate say there's no such thing as a high dose or low dose its thier dose. The MMT clinics that are more patient oriented and not all bout the money, are aimed more towards each patient, making it a more personalized program. I understand that you are not on MMT. But please know that when people buy Methadone off the street it causes more restrictions, increased dosing fees, fewer clinics are able to open, smaller clinics get shut down hurting a lot of patients, and only adds to the stigma of MMT, just like those individuals that go to pain management to get pills to sell, makes it harder to just get into PM, limiting the types of opiate medication that can be prescribed, doctors loosing thier licenses, etc.  I don't quite understand what your intended purpose is for the Methadone other then you trying to get high on it. If you didn't have a tolerance 30mg would have given you what you're looking for, but since you've got a large tolerance I highly doubt that you'll find you're buzz with 30mg of Methadone. I have a lot of knowledge and take pride in the wealth of information I retain about Methadone and MMT, I strongly encourage anyone that wants more information about MMT you're more than welcome to contact me through Facebook, Angi Gay in Fairmont NC!
One last thing concerning withdrawal, don't pscy yourself into withdrawal, don't get so overly worried, stressed out, obsessed, and anxious about going into withdrawal you'll end up anticipating yourself right into withdrawal. Also if you get your Methadone through a clinic you need to ask them to blind dose you, which is where they'll decrease your dose by a certain amount that you're comfortable with but won't tell you your dose amount, a lot of people get hung up on the mg number and can go from feeling good to being in full blown withdrawal because they found out thier dose amount, it's just a suggestion to help ya you don't have to take it if you don't want it.

[Jaybay]

You're on a relatively low dose of methadone but you'll still need to taper off VERY slowly.  You won't notice it too much inititally but as you get down to the last 10 ml or so there's just no escaping the withdrawal misery.

If you're determined to get off all narcotics, talk to your doctor about a tapering schedule.  There are also medications available like clonidine that can help with the jitters of high blood pressure when you make the final jump.  Gnarly can help you out with that on the substance abuse forum.

Some people look at tapering as just prolonging the torture.  If you're not a true addict (which is a mental issue) then you should be able to control yourself while you taper and not be tempted to spike your dose.  

Try not to be too scared of withdrawal - even mild symptoms.  It WILL stop.  If you drop your dose and get too uncomfortable, just stay at that dose for awhile until you stabilize.  Then drop it a little more.  As you taper, you'll find that each drop in dose needs to be smaller and smaller and farther apart.  That's OK!  There isn't a strict time schedule so do what you need to do to be comfortable.

[marycarmel]

We all have to worry about dependency and possible withdrawals no matter what narcotic we're on.  I've gone through them with Fentanyl (tapering down and could manage but dragged on) and oxycodone a couple of times when I couldn't keep my meds down.  I found the oxycodone pretty tough but I always wind up dehydrated.

If you're happy with the methadone for your pain management, why do you want to come off?  Or are you just trying to find out what it would be like if you chose to come off?

There's sort of an expert on the Substance Abuse Forum here called Gnarly.  He came off methadone and has a lot of suggestions on how to reduce withdrawals, but it does seem to be a bit rough coming off.  I would think stopping at 30 mg is way too high a dose to stop at and it should be a long, slow, as comfortable as possible taper.

I did consider it at one time for pain management but didn't go that route.  Even though you're dependent vs. addicted, you can get a lot of great information on the SA Forum.  You can post your question or even send him a private message.  He is really an amazing man and has a lot of true life experience with this.

Can you afford it with losing your insurance?  If it's worked for so long, I just wonder why you'd come off.  Have you talked with your doctor about it?  He should be able to help you in weaning off if that's what you choose to do.

Best of luck with this.  If you come off it, how will you manage your pain?