Methadone - 80ml cold turkey

[br84]

I was on 80ml of Methadone for 5 or 6 years and stopped it c/t 15 months ago.

When I first stopped I found it very difficult to sleep for more than an hour or two a night and I was constantly thinking I needed to be back on the stuff during the day. The first two or three months were by far the worst and the RLS did not seem to ever get better.

Also stopped 30mg diazepam c/t after being on varying doses for a few years as well as different benzos for anxiety and insomnia ncluding lorazepam, nitrazepam, temazepam and the z drug zopiclone.

I had been prescribed benzos almost constantly from the age of 19 until 37 so it was extremely difficult stopping these c/t too and I would not recommend it as I had seizures and was sectioned under the mental health act 2 or 3 times due to them thinking I was psychotic when infact I fully believe it was the extreme intense withdrawal causing me to seem this way.

The Methadone c/t seemed milder than the benzo c/t but its difficult to know the w/d diffiferences as I stopped them as the same time. The most annoying thing about the methadone w/d long term I find is the restless legs and agitation or is the agitation part of benzo withdrawal?

 

[Señor Moreno]

What you did is really amazing, be proud of yourself.
That said, it is also dangerous and not advisable, CT from 80 mg methadone and 30 diazepam is something that can end up badly.
To your question, yes, I think Díaz CT adds to the brutal experience of a methadone CT. While mdone on its own can keep you RSLed for months, it's safe to asume that the agitation you described (who had to be terrible) was very, very exacerbated from the benzo cesation. I am not saying that if you were benzo free you were to be relaxed into a mdone CT. God, no. In fact, you probably wouldn't find it easy to relax even using benzos during it, but the cesation of the two drugs at once it's simply too much. The fact that you were sectioned by mental health 2 or 3 times is far from rare, many of us would lost our minds under such extreme conditions.
Again, while I can only feel respect for what you have achieved, I would not advise to try your path to others.
A thing can be factible but that doesn't allways make it desirable. Years ago, I cted from only two years on 60 mgs methadone plus some heroin, while they switched me from a caotic intake of rohypnol to a conservative alprazolam dose that then was also retired after a stupidly fast taper.. As I say, I did it and I can't regret as I had no choice, otherwise, having had another choices, I would hate myself forever for undergoing such traumatic time. We are talking 1996 and I very well remember the hell of it.

 

[ColoradoOpiateGirl]

Holy crap I'm glad you're still alive. It is NOT advisable for anyone to attempt to do what you have done. Tapering is of the utmost importance, ideally under a doctor's supervision.

The agitation and restless legs are a result of withdrawal from both medications. It's been 15 months and you're still feeling this way?


God bless and Godspeed with your recovery.

 

[br84]

What you did is really amazing, be proud of yourself.
That said, it is also dangerous and not advisable, CT from 80 mg methadone and 30 diazepam is something that can end up badly.
To your question, yes, I think Díaz CT adds to the brutal experience of a methadone CT. While mdone on its own can keep you RSLed for months, it's safe to asume that the agitation you described (who had to be terrible) was very, very exacerbated from the benzo cesation. I am not saying that if you were benzo free you were to be relaxed into a mdone CT. God, no. In fact, you probably wouldn't find it easy to relax even using benzos during it, but the cesation of the two drugs at once it's simply too much. The fact that you were sectioned by mental health 2 or 3 times is far from rare, many of us would lost our minds under such extreme conditions.
Again, while I can only feel respect for what you have achieved, I would not advise to try your path to others.
A thing can be factible but that doesn't allways make it desirable. Years ago, I cted from only two years on 60 mgs methadone plus some heroin, while they switched me from a caotic intake of rohypnol to a conservative alprazolam dose that then was also retired after a stupidly fast taper.. As I say, I did it and I can't regret as I had no choice, otherwise, having had another choices, I would hate myself forever for undergoing such traumatic time. We are talking 1996 and

I forgot to say in my original post that I also c/t 7.5mg Zopiclone which I

 

[br84]

Thanks for the replies - i am proud to come off the meds and i also c/t'd 7.5mg Zopiclone at the same time as the diazepam - this was nasty too as I was very anxious and couldn't sleep properly.

The RLS has gone a bit now but not completely as I find i have to always keep occupied to stop the agitation and RLS.

 

[opiofr3k]

Huge respect bro, many years ago i went CT after taking tramadol 5 years, sometimes reaching 2g per day, i went CT being on 1g per day. It was a nightmare, i can't even imagine what you had go through, big mad respect!

 

[br84]

Huge respect bro, many years ago i went CT after taking tramadol 5 years, sometimes reaching 2g per day, i went CT being on 1g per day. It was a nightmare, i can't even imagine what you had go through, big mad respect!







Thanks very much! Congratulations in getting off Tramadol as that must have been very difficult, especially at those kinds of doses!

 

[br84]

To add to the drugs I've stopped cold turkey I somehow managed to stop taking speed and smoking crack - I took both of these drugs very regularly and was spending copious amounts of money on crack.

Does anyone know if crack cocaine withdrawal c/t can lead to seizures or if it is more likely for mine to have been a result of c/t the diazepam?

From what I went through I'd say that i think amphetamines messed my head up nearly as much as the diazepam and methadone c/t and that every morning I'd think about smoking crack - I thought I'd never get off that stuff because it was although it rewired my brain to think about getting more of the drug and not a lot else!

I had been prescribed codeine, dhc, tramadol. Mstcontin, zomorph and then oxycontin from my doctor which was the main cause of me being on the 80ml methadone in the first place.

To make it more difficult I have suffered from drug induced psychosis (schizophrenia) since I was 19 or 20 which first stemmed from smoking copius amounts off cannabis (3.5 - 7g daily) and the main drugs in more recent times have certainly not helped with the speed making it even worse for a time.

Coming off the addictive meds and recreational drugs was like having two psychosis' if that makes sense - it was that bad.

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

Thankfully cocaine* and amphetamine don’t cause physical dependence so withdrawals aren’t a problem.
However you do get strong psychological cravings and (can get) rebound depression and and anxiety from not using.
Also really bad fatigue can be an issue depending on how much and how often you were using.

*Cocaine if used with alcohol (Drinking alcohol, ethyl alcohol, ethanol etc.) at the same time i.e. you have alcohol in your body upto maybe an hour before or after using the cocaine, some will be converted by the liver in to the drug cocaethylene.
This drug is not only a more powerful stimulant and more euphoric than cocaine but it is also far more neurotoxic (Damages brain cells.), cardiac toxic (Damages the heart.) and also increases the risk of sudden death syndrome the next day (Which apparently is x2 for 48 hours after using cocaine.) by either x12 or x24 for 48 hours!
Also it’s physically addictive, like alcohol, benzo’s and barb’s but there’s hardly any if any research done on cocaethylene physical dependence and withdrawal.
So it’s far a different beast with more dangerous side effects!

 

[AlsoTapered]

Given just how commonly alcohol and cocaine are mixed, if cocethylene were more euphoric, I can only imagine the suppliers would have swapped to making it in place of coke.

I know their have been animal models of cocethylene's action, but I cannot find any human trials beyond reports of people mixing alcohol and cocaine. So is it much more euphoric in man?

I don't know.

But if you have reference, I would most certainly like to read it.

 

[Juicewrldfan]

I was on 80ml of Methadone for 5 or 6 years and stopped it c/t 15 months ago.

When I first stopped I found it very difficult to sleep for more than an hour or two a night and I was constantly thinking I needed to be back on the stuff during the day. The first two or three months were by far the worst and the RLS did not seem to ever get better.

Also stopped 30mg diazepam c/t after being on varying doses for a few years as well as different benzos for anxiety and insomnia ncluding lorazepam, nitrazepam, temazepam and the z drug zopiclone.

I had been prescribed benzos almost constantly from the age of 19 until 37 so it was extremely difficult stopping these c/t too and I would not recommend it as I had seizures and was sectioned under the mental health act 2 or 3 times due to them thinking I was psychotic when infact I fully believe it was the extreme intense withdrawal causing me to seem this way.

The Methadone c/t seemed milder than the benzo c/t but its difficult to know the w/d diffiferences as I stopped them as the same time. The most annoying thing about the methadone w/d long term I find is the restless legs and agitation or is the agitation part of benzo withdrawal?

I CT methadone at a similiar dose. If I remember right it was 70ml. To be honest CT methadone was nothing for me but I had only been in the program for 3 months so I had only been taking it daily for that long. Maybe that’s why? Idk

I also CT suboxone from 4mg and again as nothing to me. I know people probably won’t believe me but I’m being seriously for real about all this. And I was on suboxone for 5 years no lie.

Benzos tho. I have never cold turkeyed benzos and yeah that can be deadly. Glad you made it thru safely.

 

[br84]

Congratulations on stopping the stuff! I was on doses starting at 2mg and ended up on 8mg Subutex briefly before being crossed to methadone but I actually preferred the Subs in a way but I wasn't on them long enough to get a proper addiction.

The bzd cold turkey was because I was (at the time) fed up with the methadone c/t as I went psychotic and ended up being sectioned due to this. The main w/d symptom throughout the c/t's for me has been RLS / agitation/ restlessness but it seemed to get slightly better after roughly 12 months. Do you suffer similar symptoms.

I find it very difficult to think now without diazepam as I am quite anxious.

 

[worms are cool]

The most annoying thing about the methadone w/d long term I find is the restless legs and agitation or is the agitation part of benzo withdrawal?

I get incredibly bad rls throughout my body detoxing from opiates, and even coming off of methadone the "right" way (tapering, I lowered myself at home when I hit 5, my clinic was crappy and I wanted to be able to try to quit without getting off the clinic first), and I still suffered. I had it way more mild then when I had rapid detox or the times I tried getting off of heroin/fentanyl, but I felt gross/dirty, sore, and would have to rock back and forth throughout the day to get my body to feel like it was getting away from itself. I went down too fast for myself, only 2mg a week, I didn't stop going at that pace because I was so done with methadone, the clinics, the dependency, and I already felt like it was painfully slow (it was only 2mg and I felt like something was wrong with me for struggling), and after I actually stopped at 3, I would cry for at least a couple months wondering when I would wake up and not feel mentally and physically screwed. I guess my point is, it is very possible to feel all the nasty stuff, especially rls, for awhile on the methadone alone, nevermind anything else. And ever since, I have had a hard time with nerves and bodily pains. I can't be up on Adderall for a few days without feeling rough for a week, though I've been doing coke/amphetamines 2-3 times a month and it gets a little easier to actually do them without feeling sick, I feel drained and pissy for awhile after. I've also been drinking regularly now, and I've noticed a huge difference in how hard these habits hit me since I had been addicted to opiates. Before methadone, I didn't get these feelings pretty much at all besides the typical anxiety and shakes from quitting coke/amphetamine and drinking, and now I suffer from it way more intensely, even though I have been off synthetic opiates and regular opiates for almost a year I believe.

 

[MsDiz]

Given just how commonly alcohol and cocaine are mixed, if cocethylene were more euphoric, I can only imagine the suppliers would have swapped to making it in place of coke.

Because it comes along with higher rate of mortality. Also, why bother when people mix it with alcohol anyway? Makes no sense at all.

You have access to research gate Im sure? Check out https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128131251000556

 

[Bury The Light]

Wow! Congrats on that. This really is some kind of feat. 80mg of methadone is no small amount!

I also always quit opioids cold turkey, when I need or want to. Because it was more comfortable for me than struggling with health care, who treats most of drug-dependent people like scumbags. I managed to do it in my way even with very serious morphine habit (up to 1500mg/IV/day at the end and it lasts a couple of years overall) and I really expected it would probably end me and that time. What astounds me, it's the fact that it wasn't even that bad!! Sure I prefer to not do it any time soon again and it was a horrible experience, but after that I felt like I killed my demons and I won one battle over my addiction - and it was really amazing feeling. Maybe even reminescent in some ways of catharsis.

Of course I do not advise anyone to get off opiates purely on their own, by cold-blooded CT (surely it is better to reach out for proper health care and there's no point in torturing yourself) but I believe that it is entirely possible. I'm not sure about benzodiazepines though. It's probably much better and healthier to taper them off. I was never in full-blown benzo withdrawal but I can imagine that their impact on mental health may be much greater, than in case of opioid withdrawal. Because that second is surely shitty as fuck, but positive mental attitude attached to it can do wonders.

I swear to you that if I had to, I would survive opioid withdrawal a thousand times more, just to be able to repair my life a little bit - and then... return to the same substance that caused it in the future. Because withdrawal is nothing. I despise it with all my might. It's a small price to pay for all that opiates have given me.

 

[AlsoTapered]

Because it comes along with higher rate of mortality. Also, why bother when people mix it with alcohol anyway? Makes no sense at all.

You have access to research gate Im sure? Check out https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128131251000556

doi:10.1007/s002139900363 'Comparison of intravenous cocaethylene and cocaine in humans' actually concluded that cocethylene (SIC) was LESS potent and increased BP less than cocaine but was longer acting. It's specifically mixing alcohol and cocaine that poses the risk, not actually the drug alone.

 

[SmokeyKolegrove]

I get incredibly bad rls throughout my body detoxing from opiates, and even coming off of methadone the "right" way (tapering, I lowered myself at home when I hit 5, my clinic was crappy and I wanted to be able to try to quit without getting off the clinic first), and I still suffered. I had it way more mild then when I had rapid detox or the times I tried getting off of heroin/fentanyl, but I felt gross/dirty, sore, and would have to rock back and forth throughout the day to get my body to feel like it was getting away from itself. I went down too fast for myself, only 2mg a week, I didn't stop going at that pace because I was so done with methadone, the clinics, the dependency, and I already felt like it was painfully slow (it was only 2mg and I felt like something was wrong with me for struggling), and after I actually stopped at 3, I would cry for at least a couple months wondering when I would wake up and not feel mentally and physically screwed. I guess my point is, it is very possible to feel all the nasty stuff, especially rls, for awhile on the methadone alone, nevermind anything else. And ever since, I have had a hard time with nerves and bodily pains. I can't be up on Adderall for a few days without feeling rough for a week, though I've been doing coke/amphetamines 2-3 times a month and it gets a little easier to actually do them without feeling sick, I feel drained and pissy for awhile after. I've also been drinking regularly now, and I've noticed a huge difference in how hard these habits hit me since I had been addicted to opiates. Before methadone, I didn't get these feelings pretty much at all besides the typical anxiety and shakes from quitting coke/amphetamine and drinking, and now I suffer from it way more intensely, even though I have been off synthetic opiates and regular opiates for almost a year I believe.

I just quit methadone cold turkey after nine years. 110 mgs a day. My last dose was August 24th. How long before your brain starting working correctly? I have trouble remembering things and concentrating on things.

 

[Dextro .45]

Wow! Congrats on that. This really is some kind of feat. 80mg of methadone is no small amount!

I also always quit opioids cold turkey, when I need or want to. Because it was more comfortable for me than struggling with health care, who treats most of drug-dependent people like scumbags. I managed to do it in my way even with very serious morphine habit (up to 1500mg/IV/day at the end and it lasts a couple of years overall) and I really expected it would probably end me and that time. What astounds me, it's the fact that it wasn't even that bad!! Sure I prefer to not do it any time soon again and it was a horrible experience, but after that I felt like I killed my demons and I won one battle over my addiction - and it was really amazing feeling. Maybe even reminescent in some ways of catharsis.

Of course I do not advise anyone to get off opiates purely on their own, by cold-blooded CT (surely it is better to reach out for proper health care and there's no point in torturing yourself) but I believe that it is entirely possible. I'm not sure about benzodiazepines though. It's probably much better and healthier to taper them off. I was never in full-blown benzo withdrawal but I can imagine that their impact on mental health may be much greater, than in case of opioid withdrawal. Because that second is surely shitty as fuck, but positive mental attitude attached to it can do wonders.

I swear to you that if I had to, I would survive opioid withdrawal a thousand times more, just to be able to repair my life a little bit - and then... return to the same substance that caused it in the future. Because withdrawal is nothing. I despise it with all my might. It's a small price to pay for all that opiates have given me.

Very true…..opioids (short acting) are very doable, relatively safe, and perfectly fine in 2 weeks. Psychologically is a different issue, knowing you can score anytime and bang a fat shot or whatever…. but physically you’re in the clear

days 1-3 are bad
days 4-10 are horrific nightmare
days 11-14 are uncomfortable but can see the light

2 weeks of hell and you’re fine. Methadone 80mg daily for 10+ years I have no idea and dread it, a slow taper 1mg per day until feel uncomfortable, then 1mg per week? or whatever worked best I suppose. Then when really low I’d add low amounts of Pregabalin 75/150mg / Diazepam 5-10mg / Clonidine 0.1mg - all morning and night, even Cannabis Indica 5mg THC/CBD even split (oil under tongue) …..just for a few weeks then reduced as well to half, then as needed at night if insomnia/RLS muscle aches occure

Benzodiazepines & Ethanol withdrawal can be fatal and a slow gradual taper is advised, Diazepam (Valium) 10mg tablets are the gold standard, 10mg then 5mg, 2mg, 1mg …..daily Clonidine & Pregabalin after Diazepam cessation for a week or so…

 

[Juicewrldfan]

Idk - I just CT a suboxone at 8mg a day and was in 16mg. I jumped off at 8 and kratom takes all my withdrawls away. Can’t say it gets me high but it’s nice.

Dunno about methadone though.