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Opioids Methadone and benzos

Be careful mixing benzos with any opiate, methadone/suboxone are dangerous to mix with benzos, but so is hydrocodone...

The OP has been taking methadone for years, so he's probably got a respectable tolerance to opiates. I agree with his statement on the NSAIDs, by the way, they're basically useless. Please be careful, start low and slowly move yourself up in dosage. Methadone is very sleepy (at least for me) in the first place, I see no point in adding benzos to it, but that's just me.
 
PLEASE take it easy with methadone and benzos

i've been on methadone for a year now..... Just recently though I started mixing benzos with it. Anything VALIUJM, KOLNOPIN, MOSTLY XANAX THOUGH. .

Dear mzjralynn,

Your cavalier attitude scares me! 8o

I really recommend that you adopt a more sensible strategy if mixing benzos with methadone.

SO many people have died from precisely this combination and we'd all hate to lose yet another Bluelighter to a needless overdose.

PLEASE take it easy and if you must mix benzos with your methadone then try to stick to one AT A LOWER DOSE than you'd normally take it if you weren't on the methadone.

Methadone + An "anthing goes" attitude to benzo consumption = DANGER.
 
I go to a methadone clinic in new jersey. im on 120mg everyday. Im 30 years old now and have been using H and going to clinics for about as long as Ive been legal. I go to the clinic once a month and pick up my monthly methadone in one shot. I recently went to see a doctor and was talking to him about taking xanax for legit reasons. I am going to talk to my counceler before taking but wanted to throw the question out there. If a Dr prescribes me xanax can I take them and still have no problems at the clinic. PS im not going to abuse them just take them as prescribed.

Which clinic in jersey do you go to? Every clinic seems to have different regulations regarding prescribed benzo use. At the clinic I go to, also in New Jersey, the doctor is 100% anti benzo. If you fail a urine for benzos you're royally fucked. Even prescribed benzos aren't really allowed, I think the only way you can take them is if you had been taking them for a long time, before you started going to the clinic. I had a script for ambien written for me, and the doctor said I couldn't even take that while I was thhe clinic since it is so similiar to benzos. If I failed a urine for benzos I would have gotten my 7 take homes taken away, just like that.

The concern of major respiratory depression from methadone plus benzos is very real. But, benzos are my number 2 drug of choice, and have taken them combined with my methadone many many times, and always been fine. (Just making sure I never failed my monthly Urine for benzos) I'm not saying it is safe, though, but if ou keep your dose low and have a tolerance you should be OK.
 
Should be ok is not really good enough. I have lost five close friends to methadone and benzos. The major issue is the long half-life so what you od off isn't even always what you took that day. It is the high levels built up in your blood stream, then what you took that day, and then a little 2 or 3 mgs of xanax on top.
You are fucked up have fun, then when you go to sleep and your body naturally reduces breathing ontop of your already low breathing your autonomic center of your brain shuts down from high dose opiates, so natural set things like breathing is no longer controlled by your body it is up to you to breath and thats right you were sleeping. You never wake up. That is very real and normal
 
I was on 120mg of methadone and took 30mg of xanax and 20mg of ativan but people with lower tolerance should do more like 60 to 80 of metha 4 to 10mg of xanax and 2 to 8 mg of ativan
 
That's way too much benzos in the post above me. Just my opinion based on my experience of course. I was on a high daily dose in MMT, and I found that benzos had a "higher" effect on me when on methadone. I'd be very careful. The respiratory system is finicky.
 
Ok I'm on 200mg methadone 1x daily from the clinic and my psychiatrist has had me on a handful of different benzo's over the past few years. I am not only on 200mg done now but 2mg xanax 3x daily. Here's what I dont understand.
I've never got much of a "buzz" of anykind while on valium, ativan, clonopin or now xanax. I've been on xanax for a year or little more now and I dont notice anything on it. I seem to have a very odd body chemistry. One time 2 years ago when I was at a different clinic I hated the people at, I was at 240mg done everyday, plus valium 10mg 3x daily. Well this one thanksgiving I doubled up my takehomes one or two days in a row, I got a buzz but sadly not a rush or "glow" heroin like buzz.

That's 240mg+240mg= a whopping 480mg and the 10mg valium 3x daily back then. I was worried, but my Mom and brother were there and we were all together, so I would have spoke up right away if I suddenly nodded and felt OD coming. But all I got was a nice buzz but nothing what I expected.

Honestly my psychiatrist said to me when I first started mmt in august of 2006 "that's great to hear its working great for you, do you think maybe you dont need the valium or any benzo's anymore" I was afraid and told him that I felt it would be better to "leave well enough alone". I'm surprised that the old clinic and the cool friendly clinic I'm at now, both allowed me to be on the benzo's but are keeping a close eye on me with ekg and echo tests since heart probs run in the family on both sides UGGHH!!.

I can't go over 200mg, per my new clinic due to my darn skip in my heartbeat "sort of like an engine misfireing alot every so often".

What do some of you who are more experienced than me have to say?
would I feel better on my 200mg current dose of methadone liquid, if I tapered off the xanax alltogether?
Also sadly since I still crave a buzz, I found a nice "combo" I take 2 or 4max at a time 50mg diphenhydramine per gelcap sleeping pills and I do that because it gives me a nice buzzy effect through the night and seems to potentiate the methadone.

I was advised a few months ago that this is a BAD combo, I wound up in the er, in a horrible "nut ward wing" at the hospital and still suffer some flashbacks from that hell that I got outta right before thanksgiving. I swore I would never take sleeping pills again.

Yet sadly here I am "living on the edge" again, just a week ago I broke down and bought the same bottles of sleeping pills I was taking before. However this time, I have not "gone crazy" inotherwords just gobbled em up almost every night for a month. I am now able to feel and listen to my body's senses on when to lay low on them for a few days etc.
I just took 4 sleeping pills last night and felt nice and buzzy half the night, but then I would wake up and feel kind of sad and then go back to bed and try not to think about anything and that trick always helps me fall asleep again real fast.

I sure as hell dont want to wind up pukeing my brains out from taking them too long when I ended up in the er because of it. So I know I'm walking on very thin ice. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can very accurately gauge when I should stop the sleep aid immediately to avoid a repeat of "hell"?
I had cottonmouth last night from the total of 200mg diphenhydramine I took, felt like I had smoked weed before bed but the sleeping pills cause the cottonmouth for me. I have a feeling, my body is giving out a warning to lay low, so I'm not going to take any tonite.

One last thing, howcome I puked so bad finallly after a month of using diphenhydramine a few months ago, even though I quit them ct for 4 days? I was vomiting for another 3-4 days in the nut ward too and suddenly it went away and I got my appetite back. What's with all the pukeing?

Only thing I can think of is that since I took the pills for a month, that maybe the diphenhydramine finally built up so toxic in my system that it potentiated the methadone and the xanax and caused something close to an OD. Thank God that didn't happen though.

Sorry for the long story, wish me luck and thanks in advance for anyones helpful advice.
 
i am currently on 110mgs of sweet syrupy foulness and when i take benzos, its the only time i can actually feel an opiate like buzz. i think the combo is just enough to "bump up" the methadone. Kpins are my fav bc i still get panic attacks sometimes and they take care of the anxiety but dont grog me out too much, its like that clear lifted feeling i used to get....ahh memories...wouldnt it be great to have zero tolerance for a week lol? get high off a 10mg percocet haha
 
sorry to come off as a bit uninformed about certain drugs, but I need a little help from any folks who may be able to help. i'm inquiring about the potential harmful effects of mixing methadone and lorazepam (Ativan). Scenario: methadone consumer for nearly five years, 380 mg for the past year/daily. Ativan mixture of 4 mg with methadone. Could this be fatal? what would the first effects usually be? does anyone out there personally know of fatalities produced from the mix of methadone and Ativan? Please help.
 
^ Take half the dose of Ativan with your methadone and see.

You can always take more, but never take less when you swallowed it...
 
factfinder2

thanks Loulou. Actually, I'm a lawyer and I'm investigating the death of a person who was using 380mg of methadone daily. She had been given 4mg of Ativan the day she died, after dosing with the methadone. Her drug history is not entirely known, but she had been getting the methadone legally for about five years. At the hospital, she went into respiratory depression and her heart failed. This is a sad loss for a family. I promised them that I would investigate, but I need to understand more from methadone users. Thank you, folks. Any info will be used to help prevent future losses of this kind.
 
380mg of methadone is a huge dose, even daily (ie. the person is tolerant to a certain point).

I wouldn't imagine taking ANY benzo with a dose this huge, let alone 4mg.

edit: sorry, I didn't see the methadone doseage in your first post.
 
thanks Loulou. Actually, I'm a lawyer and I'm investigating the death of a person who was using 380mg of methadone daily. She had been given 4mg of Ativan the day she died, after dosing with the methadone. Her drug history is not entirely known, but she had been getting the methadone legally for about five years. At the hospital, she went into respiratory depression and her heart failed. This is a sad loss for a family. I promised them that I would investigate, but I need to understand more from methadone users. Thank you, folks. Any info will be used to help prevent future losses of this kind.

This is very sad. My condolences to her family. I have something to say on the matter that may or may not help you out.

I've been on methadone now for close to 16 months and for about 6 months now I've been taking 250mg daily along with 0.5mg of Xanax 3x daily (I've been on the Xanax for close to 6 years).

You'd think that by now I'd be tolerant to both the benzo and the methadone but I still catch myself falling asleep at times. Also, I've been told that for the past year or so, I now snore (sometimes loudly) when I sleep. I find this disturbing because ever since I've had my tonsils and nasal polyps surgically removed, I was told I don't snore anymore.

My point being is that I totally agree with what others have said in this thread (because I seem to be experiencing it first hand) that methadone and benzos don't mix well at all. Even if you're tolerant to both, when you mix them, they seem to potentiate each other in terms of sedation and respiratory depression in a way possibly not usually seen with other opiates/opioids.

As a result of what I've experienced, I've begun to taper (lower) my methadone dosage by a small amount each week or bi-weekly. That's how scared I am of this.

In my opinion (I'm not a doctor), this poor girl died because of the extremely high dosage of both medications combined. I believe she was at a dosage range where the therapeutic index is so narrow (the therapeutic dose is very close to the toxic dose - due in part to the extremely high dosages of both (adverse side effects are more pronounced), but also due to the synergistic effect I spoke of) that chances are that a large majority of tolerant patients would not survive that combination at those dosages.

Methadone is also known to affect the heart directly (it causes lengthened QT intervals which for some patients can be dangerous). This is why (clinics here anyways) require that patients have an ECG done at the start of treatment with methadone and also every additional 100mg of methadone prescribed to that patient (i.e. 2nd ECG if patient begins to take more than 100mg daily; 3rd ECG if that patient is now on 200mg daily; 4th ECG at 300mg, etc.).

Again, it's always sad around here (since we focus on harm reduction when using drugs at BlueLight) when someone dies from drug use and therefore I'd like to extend my sympathies to the departed's family. May she rest in peace.
 
Factfinder2

Thank you so much Ro4eva and Loulou. As a lawyer, I always try to go to the best source, and what I've found so far is that the consumers offer better information than do the doctors themselves. The docs try to find a way to blame the consumers for their behavior.......a kind of shrug-off to the problem........with little sympathy to the loss of life. Anyway, I'm doing this investigation pro bono and I told the family that I would work to get some kind of answer. One more thing..................this poor girl went to the emergency room the day before she died. The ambulance report stated that she was having a seizure. The hospital released her (in dirty clothes) several hours later. My research into medical journals shows that she either went into a drug-induced seizure from an overdose, or, she was experiencing withdrawal. I don't know which it was. She went to the hospital the next day, with 380 mgs of methadone and was administered 4mg of Ativan. She died soon thereafter, leaving behind a mother and a five-year old daughter.
All sympathies posted here are sincerely appreciated. Any additional insights or theories are welcome. I'm seeking closure for the distressed family involved.
Factfinder2.
 
Probably the best thing to do at this point would be to wait for toxicology results to see what drugs the pathologist finds in her system and go from there.

Regardless, 4 mg of lorazepam is a very high therapeutic dose for a tolerant patient, let alone someone who isn't. Makes me wonder if she was a regular benzo user (prescribed or illegal).
 
Sounds like you have a very high tolorance to pharmasuticles period. I was on 240 a day throughout the day from pain management and took a lot of benzos. NOT TO GET HIGH just to take the edge off. NOW my METH clinic just started do detox me because I don't have a RX for them. It's nothing more then their fear of being sued if I die. I have been taking valum for over 30 years and methadone for eight and I'm still here. ONLYWANT that's a lot of shit at one time but your still here right? EVERY INDIVIDUALE HAS A DIFERANT BODY CHEMITSRY LIKE YOU SAID. I am so sick of this counrty an the state of NJ ever since they changed the laws in 2007 and took the 40mg tabs off the public market so the goverment can get their greedy hands on the kickbacks everything went to shit. This goverment is a joke. Look at other countrys, Do they have the crime we do because of drugs not being leagle? if our goverment cannot control everything then their not happy. AND WE SUFFER.
 
380mg of methadone is a huge dose, even daily (ie. the person is tolerant to a certain point).

I wouldn't imagine taking ANY benzo with a dose this huge, let alone 4mg.

edit: sorry, I didn't see the methadone doseage in your first post.
yea no Fucking shit fuckkk. 380mgs of methadone is just Way too much methadone but it is true some hiv patients on mmt may require higher than normal doses on certain hiv meds. Ativan is Very intoxicating to me and Im on xanax and mmt. I neverhad any issues with benzos and methadone at All. But Ativan makes me Stumble. Its tbe Only benzo that makes me just feel tired and its funny because some think its weak. if the dead girl had no benzo tolerance and was seekung a buzz which pisses me off when you are on a mmt program tbh sorry my personal feelings then that could easily cause respitory depression.
 
Sounds like you have a very high tolorance to pharmasuticles period. I was on 240 a day throughout the day from pain management and took a lot of benzos. NOT TO GET HIGH just to take the edge off. NOW my METH clinic just started do detox me because I don't have a RX for them. It's nothing more then their fear of being sued if I die. I have been taking valum for over 30 years and methadone for eight and I'm still here. ONLYWANT that's a lot of shit at one time but your still here right? EVERY INDIVIDUALE HAS A DIFERANT BODY CHEMITSRY LIKE YOU SAID. I am so sick of this counrty an the state of NJ ever since they changed the laws in 2007 and took the 40mg tabs off the public market so the goverment can get their greedy hands on the kickbacks everything went to shit. This goverment is a joke. Look at other countrys, Do they have the crime we do because of drugs not being leagle? if our goverment cannot control everything then their not happy. AND WE SUFFER.
dude the tabs and th shit is fucked because people who are on mmt like to think that it doesnt matter if they try to catch a buzz then die and make the drug look bad while responsible people suffer from the end result as well. I really think taking benzos to get abuzz is wack. its clearly not smart with methadone especially to the inexperienced
 
I'm in NYC on the clinic, 80mg a day with 2-3 sticks (2mg Xanax bars) sometimes I throw in a .3mg Catapress(Clonodine). The blood pressure pill is a way to get a nice nod once your Benson habit gets large. Just. Be careful ODs are commonplace among my methadonian circle in Manhattan

Also whoever said the 40mg wafers orange and white are off the market that's incorrect my clinic gives me orange 40mg wafers and an acquaintance of mine is perscribed them.
 
That's way too much benzos in the post above me. Just my opinion based on my experience of course. I was on a high daily dose in MMT, and I found that benzos had a "higher" effect on me when on methadone. I'd be very careful. The respiratory system is finicky.

I know this is a bump, but I found this thread using search/google and DON'T LISTEN TO THIS GUY. I REPEAT DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS GUY.

Most people who dont have a tolerance to benzos shouldnt even be taking more than 1 mg. If you have a 2 mg bar then make sure u only take half first to see how you feel. Xanax are REALLY strong and if you make the mistake of what I did and start taking 2 bars at once then your going to fuck up your tolerance and need to take that much everytime if you build up a tolerance by taking 2 at a time. People I know take 1 mg football or break a 2 mg bar in half and that is more than enough.

Why do you think they prescribe .25 mg, .50 mg and 1 mg footballs. Because they are strong as fuck.

Just like this guy said. IT IS WAY too much. I personally need 2-4 mg to even feel bars since I fucked up and always thought you needed more than 1 bar to get fucked up on them and now I am hating my self for doing that as I LOVE bars and it makes me jelly that my friends can take 1 football and be fucked up. Even stopping for a year I still need to take 1-2 bars to feel fucked up.

This guy that bluelightbeam quoted is an IDIOT for saying someone else might need 4-10 mg of bars would be ok. Especially mixed with methadone.
 
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