Starting methadone today

So just quickly, meth and heroin addict way back when, clean for 13 years, relapse on oxy and benzos, on suboxone for nearly 4, recent relapse on IV heroin which has lasted 6 months.

So I've decided enough is enough, I'm sick of this life and having to stress every 8 hours, hiding things including track marks from everyone, just all of it. But I'm really physically and mentally unwell and just don't think I can live totally sober right now. So my dr agreed methadone would be a good way to go for now while I work through some stuff.

I have not been taking my suboxone (32mg daily) for quite some time and if I have to its just 4mg here and there. I was hoping to go straight from the H to the methadone as I didn't want the suboxone to block it, but I was too sick during the night and ended up taking a couple of 2mg strips. It helped me go to sleep but I am sick again now.

He is starting me on just 30ml and increasing daily. I am racing to the chemist as soon as they open. With suboxone I had to dose a few times a day, wondering if the methadone, especially at the low starting dose will hold me until tomorrow??

I know nobody can answer that but if anyone has any experience to share that would be appreciated. Also I hope the suboxone I took during the night doesn't make things harder for me as I really don't have anything I can take to sleep and I really, really don't want to use on top of it, I want to give this a good go.

Thanks for reading

hey good luck, i'm really happy that you're making good positive steps to get off the gear.

methadone is so much safer and more stable than street heroin, and all the other things that go along with heroin addiction. please keep checking in and keeping us posted, i hope you're feeling better soon, and that the methadone holds you without too many hassles

Methadone has saved my life where suboxone was a failure. It's great for at suppressing cravings. My only caveat is too be really careful in the first 6 months not too chase the high. That nice warm sedation goes away pretty quickly no matter what dose you go up too. I wish I had stayed at around 100mg.

Thanks SJ . I am determined now I seem to have a plan (including booked appointment with psychs etc.).

I hope it holds me as I'm having it so early in the morning, really need sleep tonight. I'm not sure how much the dose is going up each day as it was 9.40pm by the time I got in to see the dr last night but I will ask the Chemist this morning.

Just saw your reply Cj, thanks. That's a very valid point of chasing the high, it's in our nature yeah? I have never actually even had methadone recreationally so I don't know what to expect and do expect that the suboxone I took will have some effect on it. I nearly made it without having to use it but got severely ripped off on my last batch so ran out.

Will keep you posted

I also found it more appropriate to dose more than once a day when I took buprenorphine, but with methadone I never found it as necessary (I have before with methadone, but it was more because I wanted to enjoy the methadone rather than doing it out of some real need).

You'll probably be a bit uncomfortable (although by no means is this guaranteed) for the first week or two you're on methadone, but from everything I've seen you post I'm glad you have taken this important and significant step in pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Congrats!

AnythingEverything said:

Just saw your reply Cj, thanks. That's a very valid point of chasing the high, it's in our nature yeah? I have never actually even had methadone recreationally so I don't know what to expect and do expect that the suboxone I took will have some effect on it. I nearly made it without having to use it but got severely ripped off on my last batch so ran out.

Will keep you posted

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I had to keep using heroin until I got above the 60mg mark but my tolerance was outrageous. I expect that you will feel the methadone at least a little regarded less of the sub. Either way you need to give it time to build up in your system.

One of the best things about methadone is that it taught me to stop chasing the high. Using it I learned what maintenance really means, which is stability achieved through the very regular and methodical administration of a drug in a very standardized way. It's an incredibly powerful tool. The fact that hydromorphone and heroin maintenance programs in more enlightened places work even better than methodone speaks volumes to the power of maintenance based opioid therapies for long term users.

Hmmm yeah that's what I'm worried about. I guess I will wait and see how I go through the day, just don't want to be up sick all night and be ok for my 5 kids. I was using / spending quite a bit even though it was only a 6 month habit, my suboxone dose wAs high so I started high from the get go

Just had my first dose not 5 minutes ago. How long to kick in and feel a bit better? Tastes like
Crap but better than all the strips I was on.

Sorry TPD, just saw your posts. Yeah last night was hellish so I had to keep taking bupe until I could fall back asleep, it would have just been on he border of being too early since my last H shot but luckily it was ok.

Good to know you didn't feel the need to dose more than once a day on methadone. He is pretty confident I will get takeaways fairly quickly as I did manage my suboxone on weekly pickup and no supervised doses for years, as long as I stay on track.

It takes 30-40 minutes to start working 2 hours until peak plasma level is reached.

Yeah, I normally would notice it kicking in nicely around the one hours mark. One of the clinics I went to was next to a donut shop, and an hour after they the clinic opened each day the shop would fill up with clinic patients waiting for their dose to kick in. A scene played out across America in cities each morning

Good old donuts.

Yeah I actually felt it around half an hour, have been asleep for a couple of hours so feeling much better, just hope it holds me through the night

Felt fine during the day, was very tempted to use by the afternoon but didn't. Achey legs, feeling sick, Etc etc. I did manage some sleep with a lot of Valium and few other things but couldn't get to the chemist fast enough this morning. Looking forward for the dose to be increased.

And funnily enough ran into a dad from school also there for the same reason. Not at all common in our area so I chased after him and said its cool I was there for the same reason and he said he already knew as he had seen me before. Nice to know I'm not the only one, as he said, a lot of high and mighties in our 'affluent' suburb.

I wish I was able to dose later in the day or at night, which I could as the chemist is open until 8pm but I couldn't hold on that long and would probably use to bridge the gap so ill have to suck it up for awhile until we get the dose sorted.

AnythingEverything said:

Felt fine during the day, was very tempted to use by the afternoon but didn't. Achey legs, feeling sick, Etc etc. I did manage some sleep with a lot of Valium and few other things but couldn't get to the chemist fast enough this morning. Looking forward for the dose to be increased.

And funnily enough ran into a dad from school also there for the same reason. Not at all common in our area so I chased after him and said its cool I was there for the same reason and he said he already knew as he had seen me before. Nice to know I'm not the only one, as he said, a lot of high and mighties in our 'affluent' suburb.

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Not being held all day is normal at first. You will get longer relief as you up the dose. Don't give up on it yet

Yeah I assumed so, especially as I did have subs during the night before the first dose. I haven't felt it kick in at all today but I don't feel sick either so that's good. Just worried as the subs never held me all day which is why I ended up on 32bloodymg. As soon as I split it, it worked fine, just not for cravings. But as TPD said, methadone was different in that regards and last night wasn't as bad as I anticipated.

Nope, definitely not giving up . I see the dr again tomorrow night so the dose will increase from Friday. Determined not to use though I could have easily last night.

AnythingEverything said:

Yeah I assumed so, especially as I did have subs during the night before the first dose. I haven't felt it kick in at all today but I don't feel sick either so that's good. Just worried as the subs never held me all day which is why I ended up on 32bloodymg. As soon as I split it, it worked fine, just not for cravings. But as TPD said, methadone was different in that regards and last night wasn't as bad as I anticipated.

Nope, definitely not giving up . I see the dr again tomorrow night so the dose will increase from Friday. Determined not to use though I could have easily last night.

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I had the exact same issue you described when I was on suboxone. Upping the dose never brought down the amount of cravings. Methadone was the opposite. Once I got to 80mg it was like flipping a switch in my brain and I never had another craving.

That is good to know. I have awhile to reach 80. If I had stayed on the 32mg suboxone I'm guessing my dose would be higher, although he did mention something about being the law to start on 30 as it affects everyone differently and overdose is more likely than on subs, and hard to tell exactly someone's tolerance. I will see him tomorrow night and hopefully we will crank it up. I do feel like using still but I'm determined not to. Just feel empty and bored and definitely something missing that's for sure.