Opioids Methadone Mega Thread and FAQ v 2.0

[-Guido-]

Everyone at the clinic i go to say that since they switched from vista pharm methadone to methadose liquid from malinckrdkt they arent being held the same by the same mg. I try and tell them its the same fucking drug with just different inactive ingdredients. Is this all in their head or is there any truth to this? So many ppl have raised their, i feel fine. I dont get it. I think its just junkie miscommunication which is everywhere at the clinic i go to.

It's fucking placebo. Supposedly my clinic has the best Methadone compared to other clinics patients say. 8)

 

['medicine cabinet']

Yea i agree the only difference between the two brands is the preservatives they use. But no its all " shit iz wack yo, it aint holdin me they give us this weak shit" when i try to explain methadose is brand name methadone they look at me like im crazy. What brand of meth u get guido, u know?

 

[ganeal]

I have gone down in the last month at the clinic from 105mg/day to 80mg'day and the 23rd will be my last day at the clinic. The very next day my Dr will be Rx'ing me only 20mg day of the 10 mg tablets. I have decided just to make the jump then instead of continuing to decrease at the clinic. I know going from 80mg's to 20 will be hard,but I have some lyrica too. had anyone ever gone from 80 to like 20 overnight? Maybe it won;'t be as bad as going cold turkey? I tried to get my dr to give me at least 40 mg's day but he was not flexible at all and I am just grateful he is giving me 20 mg's a day. I just wish I would have never started because worrying about the wd is just so overwhelming!

 

[brentgardner]

What is the best way to detox from methadone at home???

 

[brentgardner]

I am so scared of the withdrawl!!! Last time i detoxed from done, i ended up in the hospital. I thought i was gonna go crazy. And in the hospital, of course they didn't help me at all. Gave me a little clonodine and tylenol and sent me on my way. I thought i was gonna jump out of my skin for 2 months!!!

 

[brentgardner]

I'm on 80mg a day at the clinic. If i should decide to stop, what is the best way???

 

[Opiator]

Can't find a methadone clinic in my area or a doctor who has a license to prescribe it...what can I do to get on it and off the shit I'm on?

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

I'm on 80mg a day at the clinic. If i should decide to stop, what is the best way???

You can't just flat out stop an 80mg methadone habit..

If you're stabilized on that dose at a clinic and want to come off, tell them and they'll start the process of tapering you down. This takes a while, especially if you really don't want to go through a lot of pain kicking, so they cut your dose down very gradually.

Can't find a methadone clinic in my area or a doctor who has a license to prescribe it...what can I do to get on it and off the shit I'm on?

Almost every city has a methadone clinic at least semi close by. Where are you located that you're saying no clinic exists?

Have you looked up suboxone doctors in your area? That is another option if methadone is unattainable, sometimes it's preferable even if you have access to methadone.

 

[Scottadone]

Is it safe to IV pure methadone? Sounds stupid I know, but I actually have access to it right now hence why I'm seriously asking. I got some of the pure liquid that they mix in with your orange juice or whatever. I know IV Methadone is nothing special IV, but is it safe?

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Is it safe to IV pure methadone? Sounds stupid I know, but I actually have access to it right now hence why I'm seriously asking. I got some of the pure liquid that they mix in with your orange juice or whatever. I know IV Methadone is nothing special IV, but is it safe?

It's not really any less "safe" than injecting any other opiate.. just be very careful not to dose too much.

But like you said, IV methadone isn't very exciting for most people. I've heard people reporting better experiences from plugging it. Much safer as well.

 

[Scottadone]

^I'm actually realizing it's horribly unpure, as this pharmacy's methadone purity for some reason it only 50% (60mg 'done = 30mL). So obviously I'm not/can't bang this, 30ml?! I'm just curious why it's so unpure, as the liquid is not viscous and does look pure, like water, like it could be IV'd.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^I'm actually realizing it's horribly unpure, as this pharmacy's methadone purity for some reason it only 50% (60mg 'done = 30mL). So obviously I'm not/can't bang this, 30ml?! I'm just curious why it's so unpure, as the liquid is not viscous and does look pure, like water, like it could be IV'd.

Ok that does not really make sense. "Pure" methadone would be methadone hydrochloride with nothing else, no binders, fillers or flavours, etc. Pure methadone hydrochloride dissolved in nothing but water would still be considered "pure", and how much water is used does not affect the "purity" - maybe you are thinking of potency? Having 2mg dissolved in every 1 ml of water does not make it "horribly impure". "Very diluted" perhaps. The problem is if you intended to take a large dose that would be an awful lot of water to inject. The even bigger problem is how do you know this contains only methadone and water?? AND, how do you know it's 60mg in 30ml?? What exactly does it say on it? (Does the label have a DIN number?)

This seems weird. The way a pharmacy in Ontario makes methadone is to either:
A) Make a stock solution containing methadone hydrochloride powder in distilled water. Typical stock solutions are 10mg/ml or possibly 5mg/ml. Not 2mg/ml. 2mg/ml or 1mg/ml are typical concentrations for the solution being given to the patient, which is normally the stock solution mixed in Tang or Crystal Light. Some pharmacies might mix other things into it as well or instead. You would NOT want to inject it if it has something other than methadone and water in it.
B) Use a premade stock solution such as Methadose, then mix it with Tang etc. There are 2 kinds of Methadose, if your's is clear it could be one that contains methadone hydrochloride, citric acid anhydrous, purified water and sodium benzoate. This solution is 10mg/ml. To my knowledge these added ingredients should not be unsafe to inject, although citric acid is not good for your veins.

Regardless of whether or not you plan to inject it, it is vitally important that you find out for sure the concentration of this methadone. If you think it's 2mg/ml so you drink, say 30mL of it for an intended dose of 60mg (what is your tolerance by the way??) but it turns out to actually be 10mg/ml then you would actually be taking 300mg which could easily kill you.

 

[Znegative]

But like you said, IV methadone isn't very exciting for most people. I've heard people reporting better experiences from plugging it. Much safer as well.

This is completely accurate. I have never seen the type of oral methadone that's clear (or supposedly just methadone diluted in water) though I've heard of it. However, I wouldn't bang it especially if you don't know exactly how concentrated it is (1mg/mL or 10mg/mL- I know it comes in both concentrations, I get the 10mg/ml cherry), and even then, IV methadone is not worth it. I can say I feel (with authority) that it has no benefits and only disadvantages. First off, unless you're injecting a really large dose, you're not going to get a rush..what happens is you get instant wd relief, and then about 20 minutes later it peaks (the highest dose I've shot is 50mg). I have had a huge addiction to needles for years, and I honestly think IV buprenorphine is more satisfying. If you want a quicker onset and still play it safe, plug (rectally administer) your methadone. It begins to hit in 5 minutes and it peaks after 15. It's much more euphoric (not to mention safer-even pure methadone is a bit corrosive on the veins), and it also lasts as long as oral administration. The absorption rate is a little bit lower than it is when consumed orally, but the quick onset makes up for it. Methadone is best administered orally and rectally.

 

[BigG]

I know this is a slight deviation from topic but after nearly 10 years on methadone taking anything up to 540mg a day (prescribed dose was 200-400mg but I often took more :-( ). Ive just switched to fentanyl patches. After experiencing meth withdarwls many times I was a bit nervous but ive found the switch to be relatively painless especially once I got over 150mcg per hour of fent patches. I did however find methadone to be a fantastic analgesic possibly due to its NMDA agonist properties as well as its high mu receptor affinity. My problem with it was I tended to abuse it to try to gain a high hut you do reach a point where the side effects become intollerable ie. extreme sedation and fucking ridiculous constipation. Obviously the high doseage didnt help but if I never see another methadone bottle invmy life it will be.too soon!!! Ajyone else had much experienfe with high dose methadone for chronic pain?

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

That's an outrageous dose of methadone..

 

[BigG]

Yeah I know it is mate. Ive been a competitive bodybuilder for over 20years and I dont know if my high lean bodyweight contributes to my higher tollerance of not (probably doesnt). Anyway ive never overdosed and have doje some fucking stupid things before. The big downside is that my toelrance is now through the roof and find it hard to get decent pain control anymore......... My own fault of course.

 

[ganeal]

Methadone is a crazy drug!! Meaning it is so dang long lasting..I began to taper one month ago. I was at 105mg/day. I went down to 95 for a week no problem...then wnt down to 90 for a week,no problem..then went down to 80 for 2 weeks and then on the second week on 80 I began to get withdrawel at night about 12 hours before I had to redoes at 6 am...I am going to rethink this tapering thing and try like hell to find a pain dr to give me around 60 to 80 mg's a day...I know that may be hard but it's cheaper than paying th md clinic 400/a month!

 

[bwanajzj]

Mental conditioning is a very powerful thing and not something you can deliberately control. If the medication tastes different, the brain could interpret it differently, causing a "nocebo" effect, like the opposite of a placebo effect. This is a real phenomenon. However, differences in so-called "inactive" ingredients can actually make a difference in things like absorption rates, which some people could be more susceptible to or more affected by than others. OD doesn't allow "which brand is best" type discussion as it generally only leads to speculation and is subjective, so that's all I can really say.



I don't think anyone usually starts out on those kinds of doses, they gradually raise them over time. For some clinics it is their policy to just keep raising the dose until the person stops doing heroin and stops complaining about having cravings for heroin. I have heard of people starting on 25mg and over a period of years getting it raised up to 200mg. BUT there are also HUGE differences in the way different people metabolize methadone, and in the potency of street heroin. 20mg of methadone would absolutely have NOT alleviated my withdrawals if I was shooting .5-2g of heroin a day. I metabolize methadone rapidly and it didn't last for 24 hrs for me unless I took high doses (I ended up taking it 2-3x a day in small doses instead but that's not an option for many people). So bottom line, everyone is different and many people also end on on doses much higher than would be necessary to merely alleviate withdrawals from their original opiate habit. People can think they are supposed to feel high from the methadone and feel distressed simply because their mental addiction is not being alleviated, or people are told that methadone should eliminate their desire to use opiates. But really, after being on a stabile dose for a few months all it normally does for most people is alleviate withdrawal. You get a tolerance to methadone too. I think a lot of people expect methadone to make them feel how heroin did and think they are not taking enough when it doesn't.

Do you think people complain about dope cravings to get more methadone to sell, so they don't have a problem paying for the dope habit on the sideline? My experience is that a lot of people who go to clinics are fine at the 20-40mg mark, some of course higher, but they are prescribed much higher doses and just sell off the rest to get money for smack. Once they receive enough methadone from the clinic to afford their dual habit, they stop complaining about cravings. This is not the case for those serious about quitting street drugs and properly following their ordinated MMT, but how many of you out there get a prescribed dose that is above what you actually need to feel fine? Because I can also get sufficient effects from methadone at 20mg, coming from a 0.5-1g/day dope habit, and methadone never seems to cease cravings for dope, just keeps me from being sick. That is why I prefer buprenorphine at low doses, because it completely rids me of cravings and doesn't have the lethargic effect of methadone (which heightens my anxiety and cravings sometimes), on the contrary, bupe has an energizing and anxyolitic effect.

 

[BigG]

Not really sure about that got mine in Britain where its free and wasnt replacing street drugs. Infact all my dope was prescribes courtesy of the good old NHS. Also never had the connections to sell it too even ifbi wanted. Also if properly dosed it should block the mu receptor sufficiently that dosing with h woyld be pointless

 

[Chris84]

Not really sure about that got mine in Britain where its free and wasnt replacing street drugs. Infact all my dope was prescribes courtesy of the good old NHS. Also never had the connections to sell it too even ifbi wanted. Also if properly dosed it should block the mu receptor sufficiently that dosing with h woyld be pointless

I found it took at least 60mg before the blocking effects were noticeable, and it's not really blocking, it over saturates the receptors so there's no room for more opiates. I'm on 30mg at the moment and when I do heroin the methadone just adds to the high.