Methadone Detox

I was taking 70mg of Methadone at a clinic for an opioid addiction. 8 months ago, I decided to taper off and be done with it- and any other natcotic. I tapered all the way down to 3mg and then stopped.
I am now on day 5 and it's not fun. I don't have any desire to take any type of opioid but I haven't been able to eat in 4 days and I sleep 3 hours a night if I'm lucky. The worst part is the RLS. It just.. Sucks to put it mildly.
I've successfully detoxed from Oxycodone way in the past and while the symptoms were stronger, the 4th day I was better.
I tapered from methadone very slow and I did everything they told me to- yet I've still read of people w/d for a month or more. Is there ever a light at the end of the tunnel? I have a life and responsibilities- not to mention I won't survive a month without food. I've lost 13 lbs in 5 days. Please, I need encouragement.

There is light at the end of the tunnel in that eventually you will feel better. I don't know exactly when that will be although I do know it will be a more gradual process than your previous oxycodone withdrawal. The good news is that you tapered down to a small dose so that works in your favor. Imagine if you had jumped off at 70mg! I know its cold comfort but it could be so much worse. Your right about needing nutrition. Ensure or another brand of liquid protein shake would be a good option since you cant get solid foods down. You need to get Gatorade as well. Dehydration and a lack of nutrition will make the withdrawal 10 times worse. What do you have for comfort meds? I suggest getting clonidine, flexeril, loperamide, ibprofin, and a benzo if you think your strong enough to avoid another addiction. Methadone didn't acquire its reputation as a monster drug to withdrawal from for nothing. As I am sure you realize you are in for a fight! I don't want to discourage you but I doubt you will be anywhere near better for at least another week maybe longer. Many people report being sick for 30 days or more and then experiencing lingering symptoms for months.

My experience with long acting opiates comes from suboxone withdrawal. The worst part lasted 14-17 days. then it eased up over the next week. different drugs but they are both long acting opiates so I imagine the time lines are similar.

Thank you for answering- and answering fast. I've been searching the Internet for days trying to find a person who did a slow taper and stopped under 5mg. I really couldn't find anyone lol. I think a big part of what makes this so hard is not knowing when it'll be over.
I did go to the store and got Gatorade and a few ensures to try. Luckily, I do have flexeril and benzos handy and I can say with certainty I don't have any concerns about getting addicted to benzos. I'm not a fan of the way they make me feel but if they can just get me to sleep, I won't even know how I feel lol.
I got pregnant and had my first child while I was stable on 70mg at the clinic. They wouldn't let me taper while pregnant and the guilt ate me up. Thankfully she didn't have any withdrawals or issues with methadone. Having her has changed everything for me. She deserves a drug free mom and that's exactly what she's going to get.
I also appreciate your mention of suboxone. Several people (including the methadone clinic I went to), told me I should take suboxone after I've gone 5 days without methadone. To me, that feels like such a waste of the 5 days I've suffered. I had no idea sub withdrawal lasted that long and they certainly didn't tell me- they didn't tell me methadone withdrawal lasted an eternity either.
Sorry for writing a book, it was just nice to hear from someone who's been here. Thanks again!

No problem! I am glad your daughter didn't have withdrawals but you made the right decision to stay on methadone while pregnant. Tapering could have caused a miscarriage. I am not going to trash the idea of doing a quick suboxone taper at the end of the methadone taper because it does sound intriguing but I doubt it would havde made much difference. Unfortunately kicking a long acting opiate addiction is always going to be gnarly. I suggest you button down the hatches find a baby sitter, call in sick to work ect. Load up on the benzos and other stuff and try to ride it out. You sound determined enough to make it right now but if you find yourself breaking take a big dose of loperamide 10-15mg. It will turn the withdrawals down for a few hours without setting you back very far.

The worst thing about my kick was the not sleeping. I didn't sleep for the first 2 weeks and it just made everything so much worse. It really wore me down. If I hadn't been in rehab across the country from home I would have relapsed. So do yourself a favor and load up on the benzos and flexeril at night to try and sleep.

I agree, no sleep is hell on your mind and body. My worst symptom is now and has always been restless legs. Not sure if you've felt it, but its painful to not move your legs, but youre too exhausted and sick to move them. Then, even if you do build up the strength to move them, you can never move them fast enough to satisfy whatever the hell they are trying to accomplish. LOL I can handle stomach cramps, chills, random hot flashes, digestive issues and everything else but the restless legs make me want to saw them off. I'm hopeful about trying the xanax I have tonight and flexeril in the morning. I'll keep the loperamide in mind if i start losing my sanity lol. I can only assume worse days are coming but nobody walks away from drug addiction without a fight.

Congratulations to you for getting through that. I honestly believe that people who overcome drug addiction are some of the strongest people in this world. Strength doesnt come from what you can do, it comes from what youve overcome.

Hey Lynn.... kicking methadone was one of the most trying things I have ever done. But shit if I can do it anyone can.

I did not sleep at all for around two weeks and then I was able to get three to four hours a night for the first seven months.

Almost everyone (95+%) passes out of the second tunnel in under eight months. Once you make it through this time period you will be amazed at where you end up.. 4 real:D

gabapentin will eliviate the RLS significantly.. If you decide to use this medication I would use the max dose for RLS listed in the tarascon pharmacopoeia

Here is some really good info on paws.

neversickanymore said:

PAWS LINKS
Why We Don’t Get Better Immediately: Post-acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS)
Post Acute Withdrawal (PAW) Excerpted From “Staying Sober” By: Terence T. Gorski
Post-acute-withdrawal syndrome Wiki

Exercise and Brain Neurotransmission
Neurobiology of Exercise
Aerobic Exercise
Exercise 4 Health, Mental Health, and Addiction vs. The Endorphin Factory
Exercise 4 Health, Mental Health, and Addiction vs. I worked all that out
exercise and sleep

Chemicals and supplements to recover from opiate addiction
Diet & Neurogenesis


it is a powerful thing to keep our thoughts positive and here are some threads many of us use to help us do this.
Good things about being off drugs/getting sober
Share Something Positive from Your Day vs. It's All Around You
Today I Am Thankful For... Ver. 4 Infinite Chances in an Amazing World
Daily Personal Affirmations Log Vs IM THE SHIT & NOT a piece a.. not playing me. NOPE
Managing depressive thinking

Here is the mindfulness thread.
Anhedonia MEGA Thread

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I would start an exercise regiment imidiatly.. I know i'm actively hunting the bastard that made the cure for fatigue exercise.. I will find them.

5 down and less then 235 to go.. you got this

Thank you for the encouragement and advice! I've started feeling significantly worse since I wrote the first post. Most of the withdrawals right now are still only moderate except the RLS. That one thing alone is really really Testing my willpower. My husband actually does have gabapentin but I had no idea it could help with RLS. You have no idea how much I appreciate that suggestion.
Im just trying to take it minute by minute at this point. If I give up now, all this suffering will be for nothing.
Nothing against people staying on methadone, but I personally am so done with it. It did save me from my downward spiral into heroin abuse but now that it's served its purpose, it's time to go! Lol

Hey.. you really do have this. Methadone has a crazy long half life. Its also very individual in its expression.

The acutes generally progress in severity until day 10-14.. so you have five down.. very nice work!! I would not take up any aerobic exercise until you are through two weeks. It can cause a adrenal release and this will initially make us feel better, but when the crash comes we often feel much worse.

I would consider adding in a neural transmitter precursor into a strong vitamin regiment. Phenylalanine and tyrosine

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7766968

medications for acute opiate detox

The medications I would explore the use of for detox would be:
>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE< >here<
OR >Lyrica<
OR >phenibut<

>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol
Senokot S is a stool softener and laxative. If you do not want the laxative you can go for strait stool softenerDioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.

(Opi Withdrawal) what is the best comfort meds for opiate w/d?

Your Personal Opiate Withdrawal Arsenal

I would drop the gaba asap to avoid developing any physical dependence on it.. kinda nasty to detox from I hear.

Keep it super simple and try and keep your thoughts in the moment.

I am not surprised your feeling worse. I didn't want to be overly pessimistic in my first post but your going to feel bad for awhile. I suggest you take a moderate dose of loperamide since its testing your resolve right now. Take 6-10mg and see if you get some relief from the RLS. If you have a primary care doctor get him to call you in clonidine. That stuff saved my life during my last kick. It helps that restless feeling a lot by reducing your blood pressure and adrenaline output.

I've heard of using clonodine but I don't have a family doctor right now. I could try to make an appointment or try to get into an urgent care clinic if the relief is worth me trying to shower and change my clothes LOL. I took a 1 mg Xanax about an hour ago and I'm sort of afraid to mix it with gabapentin (I've never taken a gabapentin before but it knocks my husband out cold lol). The Xanax is doing a decent job right now but withdrawals have a tendency to only allow meds to work for a few hours at best.
Crimson, loperamide is Imodium isn't it? I've never taken that either but it is otc right? If it is I'll make my husband go right now to get some. I knew and know now it's going to get worse before better but if I can just get past the acute wds I know I can do it. When I used to do heroin, those wds were INSANE. I had a seizure trying to stop cold turkey- that's how I started methadone :/

Lynn8514 said:

I've heard of using clonodine but I don't have a family doctor right now. I could try to make an appointment or try to get into an urgent care clinic if the relief is worth me trying to shower and change my clothes LOL. I took a 1 mg Xanax about an hour ago and I'm sort of afraid to mix it with gabapentin (I've never taken a gabapentin before but it knocks my husband out cold lol). The Xanax is doing a decent job right now but withdrawals have a tendency to only allow meds to work for a few hours at best.
Crimson, loperamide is Imodium isn't it? I've never taken that either but it is otc right? If it is I'll make my husband go right now to get some. I knew and know now it's going to get worse before better but if I can just get past the acute wds I know I can do it. When I used to do heroin, those wds were INSANE. I had a seizure trying to stop cold turkey- that's how I started methadone :/

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Loperamide is immodium. It is a synthetic opiate analogue that does not cross the blood brain barrier ie doesn't get you high. But you have opiate receptors all over your body. That's why our back hurts your stomach is fucked you have RLS ect. In high doses (20-60mg)loperamide will stop 50-90 percent of withdrawals. I recommend you start at 10mg and see how much it helps. So yeah send him out for the 72 count bottle at walmart its cheap.

An urgent care will give you clonidine no problem. They can also give you something for your stomach so it would be worth it if you got insurance. The gabapentin is fine to mix with Xanax I do it all the time. I think 900mg of gabapentin is a good amount for me. You should start taking a cocktail of comfort meds to get through the next week as this is going to be the worst of it. But you got this! you sound really brave. The very thought of eventually having to come off methadone sends me into panic.

that does not cross the blood brain barrier ie doesn't get you high

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It does cross the BB but is flushed out V quickly. It does have the potential to lengthen your withdrawal time. But many people find it easier to tapper as it does not really produce pleasurable results

Loperamide

neversickanymore said:

It does cross the BB but is flushed out V quickly. It does have the potential to lengthen your withdrawal time. But many people find it easier to tapper as it does not really produce pleasurable results

Loperamide

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My theory is that its such a less powerful drug than methadone that as long as you keep the dose reasonable your not going to prolong withdrawal very much if at all.

Okay, he is going to get some and I'll see if I can find somewhere to see me for clonodine soon. While the Xanax Is helping, I can tell I still won't be able to sleep so I just took 300mg gabapentin to start out and see if it does anything.
Thank you both so much- the encouragement helps so much! the 'counselor' I had at the methadone clinic told me that once you get to 3mg, if you quit, any withdrawals would be mental bc 3mg is such a small amount. Judging by my current condition, she has been very misinformed.

crimson, i think it's a personal decision if you want to stay on methadone or not. I'm doing this because I know without a doubt I'll never use again. Even in the midst of this, I have no urge to do anything. Methadone has kept me from losing the baby weight (ugh) and it makes me lazy and crave sweets like no other. If you ever have a reason to quit, you could do it. You know what's best for you!

Yeah your right its a personal decision. I know that I am not ready to get off yet. Ive only been on 6 months so far. My life has improved dramatically in that time so I am happy for now. I have also been on opiates for 7 years strait so its not like time really matters at this point. I admire your resolve though. I think you will make it fine,

My only warning about the lope is constipation. You have probably had plenty of bowel movemnets recently but if you haven't you might wanna get some stool softners like miralax.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I started with the original OxyContin about 6 or 7 years ago. Started the clinic about 2 years ago I think after I had been on IV heroin for close to a year. 6 months isn't long at all- you're mind is still healing. You should be proud!

Im sweating now but I don't feel restless. I'm going to take the other half of this gab(another 300mg) and I guess I'll find out how much worse I am tomorrow! I'm sure I'd be a basket case right now if I didn't have yalls help. Nobody understands wds but people who've had them..

honestly, I don't even think there's anything in me to get constipated lol. when I start being able to eat again, I'll keep that in mind!

good luck I'm on 55 mgs and getting ready to do ibogaine in about a month to quit methadone;

I've pretty much given up on the traditional route;

the fucking withdrawals NEVER end...

I think its sad how many people decide to get on Methadone without realizing how brutal it really is;

Getting on Methadone was the WORST decision i ever made in my life; but it did save my life at the time;

So I really only tell people if they are bout to die do not get on methadone; because you will wish you died by the time you decided to get off it;

After being on Methadone for a while and the initial honey moon ends you soon become very very very miserable and depressed on the shit!!

If i were you and you hit 5 or 6 days already; I would just suck it up;

Also DEFINITELY force yourself to exercise everyday; You will feel a lot better faster;


Exercise will ALWAYS help; Even if its just light walking do it everyday

Well I took that gabapentin last night and slept from 11:30ish until 10 this morning- that's unheard of for me while in withdrawal. This morning I really don't feel anything except my leg is a little restless. There's no way I could take that gab during the day so I'm thinking of doing the Xanax & flexeril during the day and the gabs at night.. I'll add the Imodium during the day if I have to.
i don't even have chills this morning which is weird. I can't thank you guys enough for the advice. I'm kind of still in shock about how long I slept last night.

Cire, I didn't know methadone had such a long detox until I started it. I was pretty bad off when I started it.. It would've been easier to just withdrawal from it for 3-4 days instead of weeks but I'm not sure I would've had the willpower. Methadone definitely gets your mind right I just wish it didn't stick like it does. It even gets in your bone marrow!

OMG. So this morning I felt good until about 2 hours ago. My stomach is now so screwed up that it's all I can do to take even a sip of a drink. The RLS is kinda under control with benzo and I did take some Imodium. Chills and sweats are back too but they don't really bother me. I'm starving but my stomach is not having it. From previous experience with withdrawals, my stomach has never been like this. This is insane. I'm now getting pissed off lol. I don't think I've ever been as rude to people as I'm being today. It's all I can do to not slap the hell out of them. Since when was rage a wd symptom? Ha

Hot showers.. have your towels and comfy threads laid out ahead of time

Your doing amazing!!