Opioids Methadone Mega Thread and FAQ

[Pegasus]

^I guess it makes sense that there's a difference between the two. I, for some reason, have been using the words interchangeably...

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[travelingvagabond]

I have spent over 3 years battling heroin (and an additional year battling pharmaceutical opiates, before finding heroin). I go back and forth between being dead sober and using every single day. My line of work requires me to travel overseas frequently. Sometimes I am gone for as long as six months, sometimes a week. This has also affected my sobriety.

This past summer I went back and forth between using and not using every couple of weeks. I detox using one 8 mg suboxone (although sometimes I only have 1/2-3/4 of a tablet). I take as close to 2mg that I can spare on my first day (I usually wait 24-36 hours, painful but I have found it works the best this way), and then continue to take smaller and smaller pieces for 4-8 days, depending on how much I have, and how the detox goes (I have found suboxone detox is very temperamental). it is not easy, and I am sick during the process - but not AS sick. I don't have health insurance, my friends and I buy suboxone from a street dealer

I moved to the UK recently. I had been clean for a little over a week before moving. I started using the second I got here, but less frequently. Once every 24-48 hours. After about 6 weeks, with my use increasing - I went to a clinic and started a methadone program. I am on 80 mg of methadone daily and have been for about a month. My visa expires in a couple of weeks. I am headed back home for a month (a place where I don't have health insurance). I have started to read up on methadone withdrawal and it sounds awful. I have a high demanding job in the entertainment business, meaning - calling out sick or asking for vacation time is not an option. My question is - with between 2 and 3 weeks before leaving the UK, what is my best option to insure I won't be convulsing and feeling like death when I get off my flight back home? My clinic cannot start reducing my dose until I reach 3 months of stabilized methadone use. I'm afraid if I tell them I am leaving, they will refuse me any more treatment (there is a possibility I am not even coming back to the UK). Can I switch from methadone to suboxone or subutex on my own, and how much suboxone would I need - how long would I need to stay on it?? Or would it be less painful to go from methadone to heroin to suboxone? Should I quit taking methadone right this second? Is there any good way of kicking it? Is anyone familiar with the UK's drug clinics? If I tell them I am leaving on holiday or for work WILL they give me an extended amount of methadone?

I am freaking out! i feel like I should have never gotten on methadone. Any help would be appreciated!!!! Again, I am on 80 mg of methadone, I am leaving the country in 2-3 weeks for at least 3 weeks to a month, w/o a guarantee where I am going next. I will be busy when I get back. I have successfully used suboxone many times (but only kicking with one 8 mg pill at most), and have only kicked cold turkey once (never want to do it again).

Need help!!!

 

[splenda]

I have spent over 3 years battling heroin (and an additional year battling pharmaceutical opiates, before finding heroin). I go back and forth between being dead sober and using every single day. My line of work requires me to travel overseas frequently. Sometimes I am gone for as long as six months, sometimes a week. This has also affected my sobriety.

This past summer I went back and forth between using and not using every couple of weeks. I detox using one 8 mg suboxone (although sometimes I only have 1/2-3/4 of a tablet). I take as close to 2mg that I can spare on my first day (I usually wait 24-36 hours, painful but I have found it works the best this way), and then continue to take smaller and smaller pieces for 4-8 days, depending on how much I have, and how the detox goes (I have found suboxone detox is very temperamental). it is not easy, and I am sick during the process - but not AS sick. I don't have health insurance, my friends and I buy suboxone from a street dealer

I moved to the UK recently. I had been clean for a little over a week before moving. I started using the second I got here, but less frequently. Once every 24-48 hours. After about 6 weeks, with my use increasing - I went to a clinic and started a methadone program. I am on 80 mg of methadone daily and have been for about a month. My visa expires in a couple of weeks. I am headed back home for a month (a place where I don't have health insurance). I have started to read up on methadone withdrawal and it sounds awful. I have a high demanding job in the entertainment business, meaning - calling out sick or asking for vacation time is not an option. My question is - with between 2 and 3 weeks before leaving the UK, what is my best option to insure I won't be convulsing and feeling like death when I get off my flight back home? My clinic cannot start reducing my dose until I reach 3 months of stabilized methadone use. I'm afraid if I tell them I am leaving, they will refuse me any more treatment (there is a possibility I am not even coming back to the UK). Can I switch from methadone to suboxone or subutex on my own, and how much suboxone would I need - how long would I need to stay on it?? Or would it be less painful to go from methadone to heroin to suboxone? Should I quit taking methadone right this second? Is there any good way of kicking it? Is anyone familiar with the UK's drug clinics? If I tell them I am leaving on holiday or for work WILL they give me an extended amount of methadone?

I am freaking out! i feel like I should have never gotten on methadone. Any help would be appreciated!!!! Again, I am on 80 mg of methadone, I am leaving the country in 2-3 weeks for at least 3 weeks to a month, w/o a guarantee where I am going next. I will be busy when I get back. I have successfully used suboxone many times (but only kicking with one 8 mg pill at most), and have only kicked cold turkey once (never want to do it again).

Need help!!!

Can't you switch to a clinic where you are moving? And 80mg of methadone/day is roughly equivalent to 16mg/day of buperenorphine, but you have to be roughly 3-5 days in withdrawals from methadone before taking buprenorphine to not experience painful horrendous precipitated withdrawals.

 

[onlywant2nod]

methadone take homes urgent advice needed

Lol, I know I am very dumb for this but please some people give me some kind advice and support/what to do etc. All us Junkies know how its almost impossible to abuse opiates sitting in front of you, especially in bad wd's.

Well long story short my clinic doctor for a medical reason said what sounds like methadone(which I call deathadone for me)does not agree with me and he after having me go through hell having all these heart and ekg tests etc done, only had bad news for me. Damn I said why the heck can't the stupid dea allow an unlucky minority within an already minority like me have a break and be allowed Morphine or Heroin maintenance? Well he felt for me but unfortunately all he could say was "I can't make up the laws sorry". SO damn I was at 240mg 1x daily of done and I was doing ok until he decided they must cover their asses good.

I was ordered to go down 10mg done every 2 weeks which I forgot how long ago that was, but in junkie time it seems like it was way back this summer. So fast forward to the holding dose of 150mg which I reached finally two weeks ago. Well I've been feeling like shit for the past 2 weeks and this friday I got 7 take home little bottles of 150mg of the clear liquid done. Well Sat when I woke up to dose and sit in front of the computer as usual before my Mom wakes up, I said the hell with it and took two take homes=300mg done. Then my Mom got up and she gave me my 2mg xanax and 20mg valium and I finally felt great.

Then an hour later she wanted me to finish up the last of the yardwork UUUGGGHH before winter, but lucky for me I had no more acheing bones and feeling like shit with no energy, I got it done boom bam just like that. However when we were done and I went inside to take my usual nap, I was starting to feel crappy again, so I took another 150mg take home(3 total in one day!). I figured just like most junkies do(I'll cross that bridge when I come to it since I know I'll run outta take homes before we even go to my brothers an hour away for the damn holiday I hate most.

Sunday came and again I got up and took 2 more take homes, the same routine. Then I realized I only had 2 take homes left and we were supposed to leave on Monday(today). Well when my Mom came home from church I tried to as calmly and nicely tell her about the mistake I had made and how worried I was etc. Well we argued a little but no big deal.

I just got home from the ER a few hours ago because I figured they would get me in quick before my clinic closes because they have odd hours on all days of the week and are closed on sun of course. Well as my luck would have it, I dont know what the hell took so looooooooooonnnnnnnnnggg but when a doctor finally found out I also have bronchitis so thank god I got antibiotics to finally clear that crap up.

Sadly he wasn't able to contact my methadone clinic because they were closed already but the one in the city opened at 4pm and I was still there at that time. I have afeeling the doctor didn't want to deal with it, so he just gave me a script for 9 2mg ativans to take 3x daily to get me through tomorrow until I find out what fate may I be facing.

I have abused my take homes before and was warned that if I ever did it again, I would be kicked right off the program, no questions etc asked. So tomorrow when I get up(tuesday), I have to benzo up before I call and try to stay calm while I tell my counselor at my clinic what I've done.

Wish me luck everyone that hopefully this might be a springboard to me getting off methadone which sucks for me anyhow and hopefully without much discomfort, I can piece my life together again and get back on Subs, which I will forever be kicking myself for making the dumb mistake of switching from suboxone to deathadone in 2006, just to get a few months or so of a good H like buzz.

I will log on here tomorrow morning when I get up before I call while I wait for my benzo to kick in and see if anyone has any good advice, because I'm afraid to tell the clinic, because I know they will just cut me off, but I'm hopeing I can say something like, well heck what am I gonna do? I mean if methadone doesn't agree with me and you people think its causing stress on my heart, why can't the doctor at least after kicking me off methadone at least give me a strong opiate script just enough to last me until methadone is outta my system so I can go back on suboxone?

Well I'm off to bed at 8:45 pm central time

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

Hi

I've done this before and it works, say you've been ill and have vomitted up your meth', you took another bottle which came up and then another which came up. Say the next day you were able to hold it down but you need obivously the 3 replacing.

DO NOT DO THIS OFTEN OTHERWISE YOU'LL FUCK IT UP FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS!

 

['doner]

Hey Opio take it easy on the TH's your just causing misery for yourself later in the week. Been down that rode and learned that lesson, its not worth it.

 

[CrystalMethod2009]

Hi

I've done this before and it works, say you've been ill and have vomitted up your meth', you took another bottle which came up and then another which came up. Say the next day you were able to hold it down but you need obivously the 3 replacing.

DO NOT DO THIS OFTEN OTHERWISE YOU'LL FUCK IT UP FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS!

Agreed. Lie your ass off. The bronchitus thing helps support your story. You were obviously ill in more ways than one. You didn't hold it down. That's your story and you should stick to it. This should work ONCE to keep you from getting kicked off the program. You know, there are those of us that only occasionally abuse opiates, and don't get addicted or have withdrawals. We still have days when we feel like you described with the aching bones and such, ESPECIALLY if we are getting pneumonia or a brochial infection.

 

[Hammilton]

If you're in the US, you pretty much have two, maybe three options.

1. Switch to Suboxone.

2. Switch to Kratom

maybe..

3. Switch to tramadol

I've known that some docs will prescribe tramadol to opiate addicts, but if you're at 240mg methadone, you're pretty much fucked.

 

[thelung]

I'm confused...what's the question?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I'm confused...what's the question?

He wants to know a way he can continue to abuse methadone without coming down. (That's the vibe I got from it anyways...)

-> Methadone Mega Thread

In the future, you should realize that you need to switch away from methadone. If you want to get on morphine or heroin maintenance, LEAVE THE FUCKING US. It REALLY IS that simple. If you can't afford to leave the US, then get off of MMT - save some $, get a job...and then leave the states.

Switzerland and Germany have heroin clinics. I don't know if you have to be a life long citizen or if you can simply move there to participate, who knows? However I don't imagine they would say "oh you moved here for our dope - so no, we won't let you in the clinic...go cause mayhem & chaos on our streets - we certainly don't care if our crime stats increase if you need a fix".

If anyone knows more about Switzerland's and Germany's heroin maintenance program, please speak up.

However, it is probably best for the OP to switch to Suboxone.

Additionally, lying to get more methadone is a horrible idea. You clearly can't use it as a maintenance drug when you're left with just two days' worth of doses...so that means you should probably be given methadone every day by someone who can safeguard it from you.

You still have a ways to go with tapering - using more methadone is only going to raise your tolerance.

Tough out the few days, and then keep tapering lower. Didn't you know how horrible methadone WD's would be when you increased your dose that high to begin with? Did you not talk to any of the other people in the clinic, etc?

 

[thelung]

to get high on methadone you gotta get off of the MMT. MMT "clients" or "patients" or whatever you wanna call them can't get high on methadone, or any other opiate whilst on the MMT program. sucks ; sad but true eh?

 

[onlywant2nod]

Yep I'm pretty fucked, they wouldn't beleive anything I said, so long story short they are suddenly dropping me to 60mg everyday and I no longer will ever be allowed to get take homes again, except the day on sunday when they are closed.

Thank God I got xanax and valium to help me a little, but like one person a few above me said, I would be better off getting outta this crappy country and moving to one where they have Heroin or Morphine maintenance. However do they let you get a good dose or get dose increases so you can get buzzzed?

I know I'm not gonna be at this clinic long since methadone doesnt seem to agree with me so I'm going totry to get my original sub doctor to take me back

 

[thelung]

240 is a pretty high dose to begin with though

 

[splenda]

Yep I'm pretty fucked, they wouldn't beleive anything I said, so long story short they are suddenly dropping me to 60mg everyday and I no longer will ever be allowed to get take homes again, except the day on sunday when they are closed.

Thank God I got xanax and valium to help me a little, but like one person a few above me said, I would be better off getting outta this crappy country and moving to one where they have Heroin or Morphine maintenance. However do they let you get a good dose or get dose increases so you can get buzzzed?

I know I'm not gonna be at this clinic long since methadone doesnt seem to agree with me so I'm going totry to get my original sub doctor to take me back

I'm just wondering, but why are you looking/trying so hard to get a buzz that you messed up your methadone program because of it? It seems like you don't have the right mindset for maintenence and it seems that you'd be 'better' off of maintenence instead of risking the programs that you are in.

I've never abused my take homes and don't plan to because I know that I'm in the methadone program to get stable/to not go through the cycle of getting high and then withdrawaling and etc. Just wondering, are you wanting to be on maintenance or do you prefer still getting high?

 

['doner]

Absolutely^ finding stability in MMT is key in maintanence treatment if you want it and I dont think you do opiobss.....I've been in MMT 6 yrs now, take valium 10mg tid and am totally stable and happy. Best of Luck in what your lookin for onlywant2nod (opiobs.....)

 

[onlywant2nod]

To be honest with everyone and answer their questions,
yes all I want to do is get buzzed everyday on STRONG opiates like Heroin,Morphine,Demerol,Fentanyl etc. Sadly due to the stupid prohibition, I have no other choice but to be in maintenance or if I get lucky and find a good source for stuff, I'll quit maint and leave a spot open for those who really want to be on maintenance for the intended reason.

Sorry I am a waste of space in maintenance programs and I feel bad about it, however if I quit opiates and even if I was successful in getting off opies all together. I know I would be as miserable if not more depressed than I used to be all my life before I found opiates for depression. I can't drink anymore because I have such a tolerance to it that I just start getting sick as soon as I get high, that's why I never drank again when I found opiates saved my liver and life and whole body. Basically what I mean by that is, booze for example, causes more harm to alot more body internal organs than any opiate(except for vicodin or any apap containing opiate which kills the liver if taken like I was taking it).

I honestly wish more than anything else that I could give up my US citizenship and move to the country that is most nicest to live for opiate addicts and who is most kind to people like me. I was told Switzerland and Europe were great. But I have one big hurdle. I'm on disability and haven't worked since 1990 and was 19 then and am now 38 and still not married or found significant other. Also I kind of hate to leave my Mom behind because she would be devistated and she is getting up there in age where caretaking will be needed and least to worry about but I kind of hate to give up, my hobby. I have an equivalency of vintage electronics to fill a big two car garage to the ceiling almost. BUUT I could always sell it on E%%y(what's worth selling) and then donate what's left and move on.

So since Obama got in and now weed is legalizing in alot of states, I am hopeing that soooon they will give me the news as good as hearing I wont mega millions in the lotto that they are getting way more lax on opiate users and allowing minorities like me who suffer from trd(treatment resistant depression), to have easy access to many choices of opiates in order to keep me cozied up and warm and secure feeling, ambitious, love my hobbies like a kid again and enjoy life all over again.

I give my life 5 years for better or worse and if things have not changed one bit, I might just move on.

 

[KnowBudz]

It sounds like what you really want is to be able to get high as you please without consequences. Regardless of where you live, that won't happen. MMT is for folks who have trashed their lives, failed at other treatment modalities, and have the mindset that they will do anything to get and stay clean. If you still crave drugs, that is an issue to address with the clinic.

Life can go any number of ways, and to think that you can never be happy without opiates is a cop-out. It really does happen a day at a time. If you are currently clean, and have the methadone available, why not get all that has to offer? The change needs to come from within.

 

[thelung]

this is a weird situation because methadone (especially at a dose of 240mg, which i think you said was your dose; onlywant2nod) will usually do a good job at curbing cravings and make it so you really don't really think about getting high or using. This makes me wonder, how long have you been on that dose? Maybe you are not stable yet. Remind me, have you gotten kicked out of your MMT program? If not, stick with it and pretty soon, the methadone will take away the compulsion to get high all the time. At least it should, and it (for the most part...)does for me

 

[Princess_Poppy]

side effect of methadone??? numbness in hands

so as some of you know, i started maintenance about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and for the most part this has been going well.

however, the strangest thing has been happening to me over the past few days. in the morning i have been waking up with pain/numbness in my hands and more recently my wrists and forearms. it has been inching its way into the day as well. i am an artist so it really upsets me.

when i got my bloodwork at the clinic back, the nurse said i was hypoglycemic, but she said i needed to talk to the doc for all the details. i am thinking hypoglycemia can be a symptom of diabetes and so can numbness- so it could be something like that. but from what i have read it is called a "neuropathy" and it is a sign of nerve damage my understanding is that medications can cause it in some people. although methadone is not usually a culprit, i did find a couple of side effect lists that mentioned numbness for meth, and i found a post on some random forum of someone complaining of the same thing who had just started MMT.

has anyone else ever heard of anything like this being linked to meth? has this ever happened to any of you, meth related or not. i am pretty freaked out. i don't have insurance and it sounds like a pretty bad situation. i was to get off meth just to see if that is whats up, but i am sure we all know that is easier said than done! wish bupe was cheaper

 

[grungefairy2]

Methadone

Got 10 mg pills of methadone and never done it before. Took half the other night, but just passed out. It might've been cos I had smoked earlier and my high was wearing off (which always makes me sleepy). So my question is...

how much should I take? What kind of high should I expect?

Don't want to take too much and pass out and don't want to take too little and feel nothing.