Opioids Methadone Help; how much is enough?

[FinKarma]

Long story short I have been taking about four or five 30mg OxyContin a day for a few years now and I am currently low and taking some methadone I have to stretch them out until my next re-up. So I want to stretch out my methadone and not take too much and run out of those or take too much and just spend the day dipping out, but I also want to be taking enough so that I don’t get ANY withdrawal sysmptoms at all and feel normal like I would if I had my normal oxy dose. What is a good mg dose of methadone (I have 10mg pills) to prevent withdrawal and function normal for somebody normally taking 120-150mg of OxyContin a day? Need some input and help bc conversion charts seems terrible with this that I’ve found online.

 

[FinKarma]

Nobody?

 

[OpiateKiller]

How many do you have? Methadone is very strong and has a very long half-life. Honestly between 30-50 mg should hold you for the entire day. I wouldn’t go over 80 without testing the waters for fears of possible overdose. Best of luck

 

[JessFR]

I would probably start on 10-30mg. Wait an hour and a half and see how you feel. If you don't think it was enough you can take more then depending on how much you have left.

Methadone is very strong though and quite a sedating opioid so be very careful with it. I was surprised that I didn't need all that much even with quite a severe heroin habit.

For what it's worth, methadone clinics here don't start anyone on any higher than 30-40mg. And for an oxy habit they might start a bit lower.

 

[OpiateKiller]

I agree please do not take more than 30 mg within 24 hours to see how you are feeling. My clinic starts all patients at 30 mg regardless of habit

 

[Ganjcat]

When you take the methadone wait unti l you are actually clucking it will be and feel a lot more effective methadone is made to give you maintenance not get you high

 

[FinKarma]

Thanks for the advice, I only have 5mg of methadone per day and one oxy 30mg IR, looks like it'll be a rough week. I don't know that this is enough to keep me out I withdrawal or not. But that's how it goes. I'll worry myself into withdrawal mentally even if I'm not fully there

 

[RedRum OG]

Be very careful taking multiple doses per week. Methadone lasts very long, and varies even further by person. Some people can have 1/2 of a single methadone dose left in their body after a 5 days. You don't have a crazy high tolerance, so be careful. I would imagine you'd take 10-30mg per dose, or if daily probably 10-20mg. If you dont know, start low and slow. 5mg of methadone can kill a non tolerant person. Keep that in mind.

For example, the 1st day I came off heroin onto 60mg methadone I was sick as a dog, not enough. The 2nd and 3rd day I was well, in the middle. The 4th and 5th day i felt high. The whole second week I was a nodding zombie. After taking my morning 60mg a day in that 2nd week, I easily could've had 200mg of methadone built up in my system.

Methadone is great for starving off withdrawals. Use it wisely. Consider ditching the oxy altogether. You'll feel a lot more even.

Good luck with your rough week. You can use loperamide to stave off withdrawals. Not recommended to use near methadone, as they both have a small chance of causing heart issues, which is more significant when used together. But in opiate withdrawals, it is a miracle from heaven.

 

[fightingthetoot]

Yeah meth is strong , 30/50mg should cover most habits but they like to push you up and junkies being junkies go up chasing a high.

But by morning I wake up most days starting to feel the rattles come on, unless I have bento I can last a little longer isn’t proper WD but you know you need it. That’s why it ends up becoming easy to use if your grafting or getting a bit dropped off, light work

 

[TheInvisibleStoner]

Yep. 30mg is more than enough. Even 20mg. Its a strong drug and takes up to a week to completely build up in your system. It also takes 4 hours for your dose to peak. The onset is slow.

If you are in severe oxy (or any opiate withdrawal) even 10mg will take away the worst.

 

[cowboycurtis]

I think other people have already touched on it, but yeah, 30-50 mg has often been my range to at least got rid of WD. Sometimes it takes a bit more to really get rid of cravings, but that dose wil definitely make you relatively comfortable. IME I've found that the first couple days on methadone can be a bit rough, but once it builds up in your system it's easy to skip a day here and there, and I have a fast metabolism too. I would also wait till you're noticeably kicking before you take any and then you can gauge how much you need. To save meds, I would take 1 10 mg at a time until you feel okay. I know 5 mg a day wouldn't cut it for me, but it might for you. If that's not the case I would recommend looking up some short-term taper regiments and start at the lowest dose that keeps you well. I hope you make it to your re-up. I'm so grateful to be past those withdrawals today.

 

[MyrandaK]

I am detoxing from buprenorphine. I have taken it for 4 years. Only 2-3mg a day for the last year. In the last 11 days, I have only had 5mg of bupe. I targeted to zero, but I failed to hit my goal. Never the less, it took 80mg of methadone to get me fully out of withdrawals today. And my legs are still cramping and restless and I still have hard to breath anxiety.
I don’t think anything except for bupe will fix me.

 

[JessFR]

Can anyone tell me what 80mg of methadone would equal if converted to oxycodone?

If memory serves methadone is unusual and tricky to convert reliably to other opioids.

You also have the issue that oxycodone ER releases differently to IR. Methadone itself has a surprisingly variable half life too.

I think you'll likely have to start low and work out how much is roughly enough for you.