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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Methadone taper

Malpal0217

Malpal0217

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Messages
11
Hey! I’ve been on methadone for 2 years I have been tapering 2mg every 2 weeks since 60mg I was never higher then 60. I’m down to 8 now and last few nights I’ve had restless legs and arms so bad I could jump out of my skin. I’m looking for advice on how to get through this successfully.
 
Stop the taper until you feel ok then restart would be my advice. Or go back up a couple mg's to feel ok and start over.
At that low of dose I would only drop by 1mg every couple weeks.
I went to fast and ended up using fentanyl just to feel better. I got off it but I should have listened to my doctor and slowed down.
Clonidine helps with the anxiety and sleep somewhat.
Lyrica works for a lot of people.
Try not to overthink, I find thinking of symptoms makes it worse.
Try to exercise if only a walk. Hot baths and stay hydrated.
 
The only reason I don’t want to stop or go back up is because it’s just gonna be longer and harder to get off. Maybe I will try doing 1mg it just makes me upset because it will take so long haha. I was on klonopin now Ativan I also take serequel at bedtime. It’s just so weird because I’ll be fine during the day and then go to sleep for about half an hour to an hour and then be up most of the night with excruciating arm and leg restlessness like nonstop moving and stretching my muscles.
 
Don't be to hard on yourself. You're doing great getting off of it.
The symptoms are always worse at night. Restlessness is my least favorite symptom.
You could try splitting your dose and see if that helps any.
I was in a rush getting off it too and hated stopping my taper but why suffer more for the sake of an extra couple weeks. In the long run its not much time at all and far better then a relapse.
Can you get clonidine? Mirapex is also a drug for Restless leg syndrome and works to some degree.
 
Seconded, don't ve too hard on yourself buddy. You're in the home stretch right now. You've gotta be able to take pride and find joy in what you've accomplished to motivate you in the hard times.

If you find this is a hurdle that is too difficult to get over easily, I would advise thinking about something like Gabapentin (Neurontin).

Gabapentin was an essential part of my getting pff Heroin. I've already discussed this in another thread just a minute ago. I'm a major proponent of "using everything available to you" when trying to quit Opioids, this means therapy, medication, exercise, spirituality... everything.

Anyway, for many, myself included, Gabapentin is the magic bullet for RLS. By the way, RLS is my most dreaded symptom too. It's the worst.
 
Ya man….stay with it, slow the taper if need be 1mg per week etc

Gabapentin 300mg capsules X 6-8 daily as needed or Pregabalin 150mg X 3-6 as needed
Clonidine 0.1mg tablet before bedtime if needed (Amazing anxiolytic and sedative, lowers BP & HR)
Diazepam (Valium) 2-5mg tablets / very low dose (potent muscle relaxant & anxiolytic- Benzo)
Indica Cannabis oil under tongue 5-10mg

these are optional and very helpful. Specify you’d like the absolute lowest dosage possible and stress only as needed and small script, especially Diazepam (Valium) 2mg lowest dose tablet 5 & 10mg …..a 2mg in morning and another in evening would be great combined with Gabapentin/Pregabalin morning/evening and Clonidine at night before bed

Just a thought
 
Keif' Richards said:
Seconded, don't ve too hard on yourself buddy. You're in the home stretch right now. You've gotta be able to take pride and find joy in what you've accomplished to motivate you in the hard times.

If you find this is a hurdle that is too difficult to get over easily, I would advise thinking about something like Gabapentin (Neurontin).

Gabapentin was an essential part of my getting pff Heroin. I've already discussed this in another thread just a minute ago. I'm a major proponent of "using everything available to you" when trying to quit Opioids, this means therapy, medication, exercise, spirituality... everything.

Anyway, for many, myself included, Gabapentin is the magic bullet for RLS. By the way, RLS is my most dreaded symptom too. It's the worst.
Click to expand...
Thanks man I appreciate all your words. I’ll take it all into consideration around here. It’s really really hard to get any type of narcotics even if you are sober they’ll always label you as a drug addict and most likely not prescribe it. It was hard enough for me to get Klonopin or Ativan.
 
Malpal0217 said:
The only reason I don’t want to stop or go back up is because it’s just gonna be longer and harder to get off. Maybe I will try doing 1mg it just makes me upset because it will take so long haha. I was on klonopin now Ativan I also take serequel at bedtime. It’s just so weird because I’ll be fine during the day and then go to sleep for about half an hour to an hour and then be up most of the night with excruciating arm and leg restlessness like nonstop moving and stretching my muscles.
Click to expand...
Theirs a big difference between 20mg a day and 10mg a day when you’ve been taking it a long time, one dose is enough to have it accumulate in your system and 10mg not so much so if you just hold yourself at 8 or 10mg for long enough, a couple months I would say, I think going from that too nothing will be a lot easier than you think . It’s important to stop the taper if it becomes too much and just keep in mind that if you stay at that dose long enough you will get used to it, and if you aren’t used to it yet you shouldn’t rush to go down more. Once you are off completely you are still gonna have changes to get used to so start trying to get used to it now before you are completely off
 
Malpal0217 said:
Hey! I’ve been on methadone for 2 years I have been tapering 2mg every 2 weeks since 60mg I was never higher then 60. I’m down to 8 now and last few nights I’ve had restless legs and arms so bad I could jump out of my skin. I’m looking for advice on how to get through this successfully.
Click to expand...
Restless Leg Syndrome can be erased with Pregabalin if you have access to it. If you do not, Loperamide should erase it given your dosage.
 
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