hi, i need advice regarding my methadone abuse

[sintric]

Hello fellow bluelighters, I have been coming to this forum for 7+ years in order to research my drug use and I like to think, that my ability to research substances before I indulge has been a contributing factor to why I have never overdosed. But I have recently stumbled upon a problem that I have had no success in changing or fixing, even though it is having major effects on my quality of life. I am a long time opiate user, like many started with prescription opioids thinking they were the bees knees and before long (before I even graduated high school, I am now 26) I was completely physically addicted to opiates and had slowly progressed to using heroin. I am also an IV user and that seems to be the thing I struggle with most. I moved from fargo, nd to the twin cities, mn back in 2014 because I had lost everything and was homeless, my uncle literally dropped me of at Dorothy Day Shelter in St. Paul. the only thing I could think of was to start over and since the heroin was cheaper down here I made the decision to get on methadone, it is also necessary to inform you that there is not a single methadone clinic in north dakota, so moving to st, paul this was really my first chance to give methadone maintenance a try. I have now been on it for over 2 years and for the most part it has helped me get on my feet. I now have an apartment and a job and it has significantly improved my quality of life. Except for the fact that every time I was given my saturday take out for sunday I would always IV the dose that same day leaving me without methadone for the next day, which was never really a problem because of the half life but now that I got an apartment in mankato (90 miles away) my insurance will only pay for a ride once a week so I had to finally accept the takeouts that had been on my doorstep for the better part of a year. The reason I had never accepted the takeouts is because I was worried I would start IVing the dose everyday. And that is exactly what has happened. And since I am IVing the drug, after 24 hours without any I become very uncomfortable and at about 28-30 I start feeling moderate to severe withdrawl. I get my takeouts on thursday and every single week I have been running out by monday afternoon... leaving me 2 days without any methadone and it has caused a severe decrrease in my quality in life. I sincerely want to stop IVing my methadone and have thought about switching over to buprenorphine just because of this. I dont know what to do, if i tell my counselor I want to start coming 5-6 days my insurance wont pay for it. I understand that I have rambled here, but I hope what I said makes sense and i hope someone can give me some advice.... thank u

 

[Moreaux]

Hi sintric! Kudos for getting back on your feet and getting off of heroin! I'm not familiar with your location and how clinics operate there, but can a general physician prescribe buprenophine or do you have to go to a clinic? Is there a fee every time you go to the clinic and your insurance will only cover one visit a week? Is there anyway you can discuss this with your insurance to get them to cover more frequent visits?

A few years ago my insurance wasn't going to cover Vivitrol shots and I explained to them if they didn't cover the shots than they would probably be paying for inpatient treatment for me yet again, and then more intensive outpatient, and then all the follow up visits and sobriety pills. I told them if they could cover the shot for a year it would be significantly less expensive in the long run. They compromised with me and gave me 8 months on the shots. It's worth a shot talking to your insurance, worse they can do is say no.

Along the lines of insurance, would the cover inpatient treatment or is maintenance therapy your only option? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[sintric]

It doesnt have to do with how many times my clinic will cover my visit to the clinic.. excuse me as I am extremely sick, just got out of the shower letting the water just massage me until it turned cold... Its even worse now because I tried to drink away the withdrawls which worked for the short term but just made me feel worse for the long term.. If I get one week take outs, the clinic still charges my insurance 16$ a dose. It has to do with the rides they are providing me to get there. I live 90 miles from the clinic so they said they will pay for no more than 2 rides a week. And as far as they know, im doing good with my takeouts..I am THIS close to going to the ER thats how bad these withdrawls are

 

[sintric]

and a general physician can prescribe buprenorphine.. with a DATA 2000 waiver of couurse.. but my clinic also provides bupe

 

[CfZrx]

When i lived in Mpls in like 2000 there wasn't even a street heroin scene. Things done changed eh? Good luck, I know how much work it is to pull your self out of homelessness.

 

[sintric]

I was 10 years old in 2000... still enjoying life for what it was.. man... I wish I could talk to my 16 year old self...... I feel so shitty right now... the only thing that helps is trusting in God and his message through music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw luckily my roomate gets his takeout today he is on 190 mg and is gonna give me 90 mg until thursday morning.... I need to attend the clinic everyday... it is what is best for me... but it cant happen since i live 90 miles from the clinic.. my only other option is to become homeless again and find housing in the twin cities instead of the mankato, mn area.

 

[sintric]

does vivitrol (naltrexone) actually help reduce cravings?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Statistically speaking naltrexone (vivitrol) does not work very well at reducing cravings for opioid users/addicts/patients. Buprenorphine is a great way to get off methadone, it is becoming the new standard detoxification protocol for that particular purpose more and more (as it should be). Makes the transition a piece of cake compared to CT.

Medications like gabapentin, clonidine and diazepam along with, perhaps, a muscle relaxer like Robaxin, along with a relatively low dose of buprenorphine make coming off even higher doses of methadone very manageable. Of course the more you can taper before you come off the easier the transition will be. There are also protocols to use tramadol and codeine to detox methadone patients, though they are less utilized in America because they aren't as well known, though they work very well too.

It honestly sounds like you'd be better off staying on maintenance for a bit longer though, although I personally found stuff like iboga and DXM very empowering in terms of coming to terms with what I needed to in order to get out of the clinic/pharmacy/psychiatrist environment.

What is stopping you from continuing to dose daily at the clinic so you don't continue to misuse your medication?

Similarly, what would stop you from shooting the Suboxone if you got on that? Unless you got doses daily you'd have even more freedom with that stuff.

 

[sintric]

I have to go once a week because my insurance wouldnt pay for more than 2 rides a week to my clinic. I had clean drug tests so my counselor had no problem phasing me up (was going 5 days a week at 90 miles a trip the average cab ride is 240$... that is upwards of 50,000$ plus so they revoked my rides until I phased up. And I am familiar with shooting suboxone as I have done it but the temptation simply isnt there like it is with the methadone... I get no euphoria whatsoever of bupe. Orally is same as IV for me.. so I would prefer oral bupe. Does DXM help with withdrawals as a psychoactive dose? I have wanted to experience the iboga root more than anything. Those iboga detox places sound legit if you find the right one. There is one in canada i believe is there not?

 

[Erikmen]

I have also used methadone and I can relate with you when you talk about quality life. For years in a roll my life improved substantially using 70 mg a day. Back when I started methadone around 10 years ago Subs weren't really as available as now but the feeling I have is that it's not going to change your routine that much. Both drugs work in similar ways. They block other opiates or make it more difficult to get high but you still need to use it precisely how they prescribe it to you. If you have had that problem with methadone you could probably have the same problem with bupe. But if you know this is different than you should go ahead and give it a try.

The big problem will be staying off of methadone for at at least 2 days before Subs can really work for you. But keep in mind that both medications are very hard to quit. It has to do with the simple fact you are sedated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for years and years. So, if you think that you might want to get off of opiates for good, you may also try to taper them down until you'll be able to jump. It will be horrible for the first few weeks but the freedom you get afterwards is pretty rewarding. And it's definitely worth it. Think of all this dependance you are now having both emotionally but also operationally - all gone. It's doable and I recommend you think about it. Despite of all misery and frequent feelings of sadness I think you are too young to stick with something for life.

We have had some other people here in BL who quit Subs and in other cases methadone. Just look around for mega threads related to this subject and read some of the posts. It may inspire you to think of an alternative that could work!!

Good luck!
Take care,
E.

 

[CfZrx]

Hello fellow bluelighters, I have been coming to this forum for 7+ years in order to research my drug use and I like to think, that my ability to research substances before I indulge has been a contributing factor to why I have never overdosed. But I have recently stumbled upon a problem that I have had no success in changing or fixing, even though it is having major effects on my quality of life. I am a long time opiate user, like many started with prescription opioids thinking they were the bees knees and before long (before I even graduated high school, I am now 26) I was completely physically addicted to opiates and had slowly progressed to using heroin. I am also an IV user and that seems to be the thing I struggle with most. I moved from fargo, nd to the twin cities, mn back in 2014 because I had lost everything and was homeless, my uncle literally dropped me of at Dorothy Day Shelter in St. Paul. the only thing I could think of was to start over and since the heroin was cheaper down here I made the decision to get on methadone, it is also necessary to inform you that there is not a single methadone clinic in north dakota, so moving to st, paul this was really my first chance to give methadone maintenance a try. I have now been on it for over 2 years and for the most part it has helped me get on my feet. I now have an apartment and a job and it has significantly improved my quality of life. Except for the fact that every time I was given my saturday take out for sunday I would always IV the dose that same day leaving me without methadone for the next day, which was never really a problem because of the half life but now that I got an apartment in mankato (90 miles away) my insurance will only pay for a ride once a week so I had to finally accept the takeouts that had been on my doorstep for the better part of a year. The reason I had never accepted the takeouts is because I was worried I would start IVing the dose everyday. And that is exactly what has happened. And since I am IVing the drug, after 24 hours without any I become very uncomfortable and at about 28-30 I start feeling moderate to severe withdrawl. I get my takeouts on thursday and every single week I have been running out by monday afternoon... leaving me 2 days without any methadone and it has caused a severe decrrease in my quality in life. I sincerely want to stop IVing my methadone and have thought about switching over to buprenorphine just because of this. I dont know what to do, if i tell my counselor I want to start coming 5-6 days my insurance wont pay for it. I understand that I have rambled here, but I hope what I said makes sense and i hope someone can give me some advice.... thank u

How about throwing away the needles and adding weed to your oral methadone or sub?