Opioids ALCOHOL LOWERS METHADONE SERUM LEVELS, I'm am a MILD ALCOHOLIC who is ON METHADONE

[XxGhEtToLiPZxX]

Hi, I am a minor alcoholic [I drink no more than 8 drinks a day n on average no more than 4-5] n have been on METHADONE for 11 years... I have a DAY DRINKING problem due to mostly being lonely [I have multiple MENTAL HEALTH issues as well which doesn't help my cause] n I have read that drinking alcohol when on METHADONE lowers your serum levels since it is a CYP450 inducer... especially CHRONIC use of alcohol! Would adding a CYP450 INHIBITOR help make up for the alcohols INDUCTION?? Also, does anyone have this same problem!??!?!?? If so, I would LOVE TO HEAR FROM U! THANK U FOR UR TIME FELLOW BLUELIGHTERS!
-YAH's SLAVE

P.S. I wanna be able to drink a few drinks HERE n THERE without it interfering with my methadone.... The main problem is that I feel like I wake up in W/D every morning, F.E. I get dosed @ 8 am n the next day I'm in W/D @ 5am the next day.... actually EARLIER THAN THAT.... sumdays I feel like I am UNDERMEDICATED.... meaning my dose is not high enough [I'm @ 85mg n usually 80-90 is my target dose so it should work fine so it must b the alcohol...] PLEASE GIVE ME UR BEST ADVICE!

 

[Spideronthewall]

I try to stay away from alcohol because I already have my methadone wear off to early as it is and alcohol made3 it worse. So I dunno what to tell you, You may have to increase your dosage until things get better but lower your alcohol intake to a few just to manage your alcoholism and don't allow yourself to get tanked anymore.

 

[sekio]

Drinking alcohol with methadone greatly increases the risk of inadvertent overdose and also methadone's cardiac side effects (long QT interval, sudden cardiac death, arrythmias etc).

Adding in a CYP inhibitor seems reckless; you have no idea how much the potency would be increased by taking one, it could be increased in duration mostly, but if it makes the dose significantly stronger by decreasing first-pass metabolism then you run the risk of ODing on what would otherwise be a "normal" dose for you.

Methadone is a poor drug to try to potentiate with enzyme inhbitors and other sedatives, partly because its half life is already stupid-long (15 - 40+ hours) and partly because of the aforementioned risk of all sorts of Bad Juju with your heart.

"A few drinks here and there" as in a glass of wine or two at Easter, a birthday or two, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.... that may be excusable on methadone. 3-5 drinks a day is obviously another thing entirely. Doubly so if you're on 80-90mg a day.

 

[XxGhEtToLiPZxX]

I agree with u that it is a poor drug to try and potentiate, I was talking of mixing them to sumwut possible counteract the CPY450 induction wit inhibition... Also methadone HAS never [unless on like double doses] lasted longer than 24-28 hours MAX [now I get about 22 MAX out of it]. I APPRECIATE YOUR CONCERN but I AM OK prettas I am QUITE INTELLIGENT and I have always STAY AWARE of WHAT n HOW MUCH I put into my body.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE MY FRIENDS THUS FAR!

 

[XxGhEtToLiPZxX]

BTW I do plan on getting off of methadone AS SOON AS I GET MY ALCOHOL UNDER CONTROL well you know wut I mean...
I drink mostly out of loneliness and stir-craziness so I will start trying to be more SOCIAL! I also am Bi-Polar/Borderline Personality ACTUALLY [they misdiagnosed me even tho I feel I am a combo of both just more Borderline..] n have bad depression as well as bad anxiety and panic disorder.. O also OCD... Anyway, jus' wanted to get that out....

 

[Jabberwocky]

What about something like detoxing or decreasing your alcohol use and substituting baclofen for your alcohol? The only thing is that you'd have to stick to just taking the baclofen and not drinking like you probably are right now, and I don't know if you feel like that would be realistic. Baclofen can definitely work pretty well at controlling some alcohol use disorders.

Are you taking any other meds other than the methadone?

Just an FYI: Taking alcohol, baclofen and methadone together would be a very very dangerous idea, as would mixing alcohol and baclofen (risking OD in the case of the former and the risks of blackout/erratic behavior as well as OD in the latter).

 

[Spideronthewall]

I take lyrica with my methadone rather then benzos because it is safer and I have heard it is useful for alcohol detoxing. Bring it up with your doctor.

 

[Mr.Giggles]

I take lyrica with my methadone rather then benzos because it is safer and I have heard it is useful for alcohol detoxing. Bring it up with your doctor.

But what if his doctor takes him off of his methadone due to safety concerns?

 

[Spideronthewall]

But what if his doctor takes him off of his methadone due to safety concerns?

Go to Family Doctor rather then Methadone Doctor, I'd just cut down first to save from that happening but you're right.
Maybe bring it up as a question, like.....
"Whats you're thoughts if a patient asked you for Lyrica to get off Alcohol while on Methadone? Another patient wanted me to ask so you wouldnt know he's drinking."
Not sure if it would work but anuything is better then doing nothing at this point.

 

[Jabberwocky]

But what if his doctor takes him off of his methadone due to safety concerns?

Chances are a methadone doctor will refuse to prescribe anything other than methadone (until, and this is a big maybe, the patient is off methadone). I agree that the risks of going to the methadone provider probably outweigh the benefits with that.

Go to Family Doctor rather then Methadone Doctor, I'd just cut down first to save from that happening but you're right.
Maybe bring it up as a question, like.....
"Whats you're thoughts if a patient asked you for Lyrica to get off Alcohol while on Methadone? Another patient wanted me to ask so you wouldnt know he's drinking."
Not sure if it would work but anuything is better then doing nothing at this point.

That's eventually how I was prescribed pregabalin. I first started taking gabapentin primarily for anxiety, then started taking pregabalin for the dual use of treating pain and anxiety. Frankly I enjoy gabapentin more than pregabalin, but by the time I started taking pregabalin I had a huge tolerance.

Instead of pregabalin, which is not at all common used to help people get off alcohol, I'd suggest discussing baclofen with your doctor. It's essentially the same thing as pregabalin (I mean, it's a very different drug, but it seems to work in similar ways and has similar effects), but it is used to treat alcohol use disorder, so it would be easier to get than, not to mention particularly well suited to this situation.

Too much baclofen and methadone can lead to an OD however, so one has to be careful about not overdoing it with the baclofen or combining it with alcohol or benzos. I never felt like there was any risk of ODing from methadone and pregabalin or gabapentin, but I don't think it would be very difficult to properly manage one's baclofen intake.

 

[Spideronthewall]

Chances are a methadone doctor will refuse to prescribe anything other than methadone (until, and this is a big maybe, the patient is off methadone). I agree that the risks of going to the methadone provider probably outweigh the benefits with that.



That's eventually how I was prescribed pregabalin. I first started taking gabapentin primarily for anxiety, then started taking pregabalin for the dual use of treating pain and anxiety. Frankly I enjoy gabapentin more than pregabalin, but by the time I started taking pregabalin I had a huge tolerance.

Instead of pregabalin, which is not at all common used to help people get off alcohol, I'd suggest discussing baclofen with your doctor. It's essentially the same thing as pregabalin (I mean, it's a very different drug, but it seems to work in similar ways and has similar effects), but it is used to treat alcohol use disorder, so it would be easier to get than, not to mention particularly well suited to this situation.

Too much baclofen and methadone can lead to an OD however, so one has to be careful about not overdoing it with the baclofen or combining it with alcohol or benzos. I never felt like there was any risk of ODing from methadone and pregabalin or gabapentin, but I don't think it would be very difficult to properly manage one's baclofen intake.

Yeah I'm not all that knowledgeable on alcoholism treatments. I just threw out something I knew from my time reading up on Lyrica after I strted taking it.

P.s.-- I also switched from gabapentin to pregabalin (actually it went clonazepam > gabapentin > pregabalin)