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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Am I taking too much or too little?!: Methadone

Requiem4adream

Requiem4adream

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 2, 2017
Messages
77
Hi ya.
20 year prescription med addict here on day 5 of methadone maintenance treatment (mmt).
Having failed with buprenorphine maintenance, 5 days ago I started mmt. I'm not sure if I'm taking too much or too little plus what's your opinion on dosing twice in the day for maintenance?
I take 15mg 7 a.m then 15mg 3 pm. But a few hours after each dose I feel really tired (a nice kinda tired but I have a family and professional job that I want to function for). My mood is great 24h a day. I have no WD symptoms anymore and feel good appart from tiredness,heavy eyed, bit dizzy n woozy and bit dopey!
My Dr actually tried to get me on 40mg on day 2 but I've just stuck at between 20-30.
I'm smoking too many ciggys! And I'm tired for a few hours each day that's my only complaint. It's been a dream compared to bupe.
So I'm thinking doing 10mg a.m & pm tomorrow. Tbh i really only wanted to dose once a day in order to break those addict habits but if I only dose once it will have to be my a.m & pm dose combined and I will feel high all morning!
What do u think?
Thanks guys
 
I'm genuinely wanting to be successful on mmt and not go about my day very high and/or nodding!
When I was on 8mg buprenorphine 10 years ago , I dosed once in the day and was able to function as head of the family and as a professional woman.
 
If you are serious about it (and it sounds like you are), take the lowest effective dose. High doses are a pain to get off of, and gets you in hot water in the event you are injured or have surgery and need pain relief. I broke my ankle severely when on 380mg/day of methadone and required extensive surgery. Nothing they gave me helped, so they ended up giving me my entire dose intravenously. Ive never been so high in my life, I was frankly scared I was going to overdose but I kept quiet. I was so constipated some filipino nurse called me a junky because I took so long taking a shit. I actually punched her for that, but i was so slow with all the methadone and the IV/cables hooked up to my arm I ended up just grazing her.

Long story short, take the lowest effective dose or you might wind up taking swings at filipino nurses.
 
negrogesic said:
If you are serious about it (and it sounds like you are), take the lowest effective dose. High doses are a pain to get off of, and gets you in hot water in the event you are injured or have surgery and need pain relief. I broke my ankle severely when on 380mg/day of methadone and required extensive surgery. Nothing they gave me helped, so they ended up giving me my entire dose intravenously. Ive never been so high in my life, I was frankly scared I was going to overdose but I kept quiet. I was so constipated some filipino nurse called me a junky because I took so long taking a shit. I actually punched her for that, but i was so slow with all the methadone and the IV/cables hooked up to my arm I ended up just grazing her.

Long story short, take the lowest effective dose or you might wind up taking swings at filipino nurses.
Click to expand...
Do u think dosing twice a day is good or bad? It's good as it keeps daily dose down but bad cos I look forward to it! And it maintains those habits
 
Stick as low as possible because this nice feeling you get at the moment will not last long. 3-4 months tops. Whatever works for you, just don't chase a high!!
 
Requiem4adream said:
Hi ya.
20 year prescription med addict here on day 5 of methadone maintenance treatment (mmt).
Having failed with buprenorphine maintenance, 5 days ago I started mmt. I'm not sure if I'm taking too much or too little plus what's your opinion on dosing twice in the day for maintenance?
I take 15mg 7 a.m then 15mg 3 pm. But a few hours after each dose I feel really tired (a nice kinda tired but I have a family and professional job that I want to function for). My mood is great 24h a day. I have no WD symptoms anymore and feel good appart from tiredness,heavy eyed, bit dizzy n woozy and bit dopey!
My Dr actually tried to get me on 40mg on day 2 but I've just stuck at between 20-30.
I'm smoking too many ciggys! And I'm tired for a few hours each day that's my only complaint. It's been a dream compared to bupe.
So I'm thinking doing 10mg a.m & pm tomorrow. Tbh i really only wanted to dose once a day in order to break those addict habits but if I only dose once it will have to be my a.m & pm dose combined and I will feel high all morning!
What do u think?
Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're taking slightly too much but not enough to be problematic. I'd stick at your current dose or maybe try and take 25 instead of 30.
 
Be careful about getting a methadone habit , kicking smack is like a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to kicking a meth habit
 
Pinprick said:
Be careful about getting a methadone habit , kicking smack is like a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to kicking a meth habit
Click to expand...
Not for everyone. Meth for me is easier to quit then any downer.
Xanax is more addicting then meth.
 
Requiem4adream said:
Do u think dosing twice a day is good or bad? It's good as it keeps daily dose down but bad cos I look forward to it! And it maintains those habits
Click to expand...

For you to feel covered 24 hours a day i'd recommend taking it twice a day. It lasts long time, but not long enough to have you fully covered for 24 hours (in my opinion), particularly at those low doses. Don't worry about seeming like a ritual. Overtime it will become less enjoyable anyhow so you won't really be looking forward to it.
 
negrogesic said:
For you to feel covered 24 hours a day i'd recommend taking it twice a day. It lasts long time, but not long enough to have you fully covered for 24 hours (in my opinion), particularly at those low doses. Don't worry about seeming like a ritual. Overtime it will become less enjoyable anyhow so you won't really be looking forward to it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I feel like I can keep my tolerance and intake down through dosing twice but I don't think Dr is keen on it
 
Pinprick said:
Be careful about getting a methadone habit , kicking smack is like a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to kicking a meth habit
Click to expand...

Yup! Not heroin, but Oxy withdrawal, I felt like utter shit for 6 days. I quit Methadone cold turkey at 60mg and (I'm not exaggerating) I actually felt pretty good for about 10 days but then I was suddenly so sick I felt like I was dying for TWELVE WEEKS STRAIGHT. I was also an alcoholic and chose to wait until I was clean from methadone to taper the alcohol and there's no way I couldda stuck to detoxing methadone without drinking to help (alcohol has the same helpful effects as benzo's with detoxing from opioids).
 
Years back in 2004, I had a friend who had stopped using heroin and was on methadone and he he likes to build up a secret supply in case of emergencies or shortages while he was being really disciplined about cutting down himself secretly at home.

On occasion he would treat me to a 5ml syringe worth. I took heroin probably 30 times in my life spread over years but was never drawn towards it or at any risk of becoming addicted for numerous reasons.

The methadone I used more as a one-off experience to bring relief after heavy MDMA usage but I found that 5 mil was a very powerful dose for myself at the time and and to me was surprisingly recreational to I could easily have gotten into taking it.

In fact looking back I'll say I much preferred wine few methadone experiences to virtually all of my heroin experiences.

But damb, I really feel for all you guys weaning down and suffering in the process.


My friend did get fully clean in the end and has been living a great life since so I hear travelling all over the world doing all sorts of stuff with decent jobs as well.
 
My doctor split my dose at i was only up to 60. I think that made it easier to quit after i stabilized. Stay low and maybe take a little less and split the dose. Try not to stay on to long, the longer on it seems harder to stop
 
There's nothing wrong with splitting your dose if needed. Whatever works best for you is what you should go with, however I know it's hard to say what is definitively "right" for you. I would venture to say that the majority of our family here at Bluelight is American. My point is that in the United States, Methadone is regulated so tightly that it often forces users who would otherwise succeed, out of the program. Enrolling in MMT here means at least 3 months of proven clean time before they will even give you 1-2 days of Take Home Medication or Carries. I mention this as their is a kind of dearth of information regarding split dosing here. It's here, but not as much research material as I feel some of us need to make confident decisions with our treatment.

So yes, even though you don't hear it very often, there's no major difference between the two. Some folks have to take Methadone twice per day, being rapid metabolizers of said drug. To be clear, we are talking about splitting your total prescribed dose and not taking two of your prescribed daily doses in one day.
 
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