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Any Methadone Success Stories Out There?

Jabberwocky

Frumious Bandersnatch
Joined
Nov 3, 1999
Messages
84,999
Please give em' to me! I'd appreciate it, as a potential candidate. Thanks in advance.

  • How did it would out?
  • How long were you on it?
  • I assume you worked with a doctor?
  • I also assume therapy of some sort accompanied it? What was this like?
 
Haha, sorry for the double post... But...

I get a kick out of the fact that maybe, well, tomorrow I'm going on Suboxone as opposed to methadone. Although I don't mean to discount the drug outright, this has got me thinking, "Maybe there aren't in fact any methadone success stories out there?"

:p
 
I know someone who was on methadone for the last 4 years he's about to come off it after a ten year addiction to h. I know someone that tried methadone for a while decided to switch to subs, I think it depends on the person,and what works better for them. There is hope no matter which road u go. Down Best of luck to you
 
My best friend is the only Methadone success story that I personally know of.
He had been a Heroin addict for 4 years before being prescribed Methadone.
He started on his Methadone script in 2004.He was still using Heroin on top of his script for 6 years.
Then he just decided that as of New Years Day 2010 that he would no longer take any Heroin and only take his Methadone.
He stuck to it as well,he has not used since January 1st 2010.
He is also my flatmate so I know that he hasn't had a sly smoke at any time. He can sit in a room with me while I am having a toot and he doesn't feel tempted to use at all.
He said that he will never use again as it holds no interest for him at all now and I believe him.
He is still on a script being steadily reduced,currently on 40ml a day.
He was prescribed through our local drug and alcohol service. He had no other therapies to help him apart from talking to a keyworker every week or 2.
I am so proud of him cos at the height of his addiction when he was injecting he really hit rock bottom.
He lost his job of 15 years then followed his home. At one stage he had to feed himself from the bins out the back of the local bakery.
It was not nice seeing my best friend that low even though I was at my lowest also.
So he is 2 years clean now and turning into a fat lad and it is so good to see him back to his old self.
I just need some of his determination myself so that I can join him.
 
theres none done to subs same deal as heroin to done..we allways want to stay on it even if the name changes and the strength is weaker..we fooling ourselves.cold turkey after down.then hard work rebuilding oneself if we have the true desire..
 
Its hard to peace with oneself..i came here to complain and spill my guts about how terrible i feel ..and here i am writing for some reason to you.i have been down for over si x months now then i see you with an arrow up sign..and theres a small answer..thank you.
 
My best friend is the only Methadone success story that I personally know of.
He had been a Heroin addict for 4 years before being prescribed Methadone.
He started on his Methadone script in 2004.He was still using Heroin on top of his script for 6 years.
Then he just decided that as of New Years Day 2010 that he would no longer take any Heroin and only take his Methadone.
He stuck to it as well,he has not used since January 1st 2010.
He is also my flatmate so I know that he hasn't had a sly smoke at any time. He can sit in a room with me while I am having a toot and he doesn't feel tempted to use at all.
He said that he will never use again as it holds no interest for him at all now and I believe him.
He is still on a script being steadily reduced,currently on 40ml a day.
He was prescribed through our local drug and alcohol service. He had no other therapies to help him apart from talking to a keyworker every week or 2.
I am so proud of him cos at the height of his addiction when he was injecting he really hit rock bottom.
He lost his job of 15 years then followed his home. At one stage he had to feed himself from the bins out the back of the local bakery.
It was not nice seeing my best friend that low even though I was at my lowest also.
So he is 2 years clean now and turning into a fat lad and it is so good to see him back to his old self.
I just need some of his determination myself so that I can join him.

THIS is so FUCKING AWESOME to hear! Although I decided to go the Suboxone route, I really appriciate your input here maxa. Thanks again!

And friedwill, well, to be honest I'm not totally, 100% clear what you were trying to communicate in your double post there, but I feel for you. I might just had read over it too fast. In a rush. I'm been known to misunderstand people before :\ I can be a lil' dyslexic when I wanna be ;)
 
I was on methadone for 5 years. Tapered off 2 years ago and never looked back! There are people who get off of it.
 
I would like to say that methadone for me was a saviour, and can be for many ppl if you use it properly like its intended. I did not use smack whilst on the done, oh hang on , I did for the first few weeks while I was trying to adjust. What I believe is very important, is that u dont use done as a substitute, I know many ppl get thier dose when they cant get any H or use it on top of thier done, which is just giving you twice the habit.

I didnt feel that was the way to go, as it sort of defeated the purpose of me going on done, anyhow I continued not to use and reduced my dosage weekly, it took a year for me to do this from start to finish, and when I was down to one ml I came off, I had minimal discomfort, and I think it took about 2 months before all the usual crap of withdrawing subsided. but true to say it was much much less severe.
reducing like this, I feel caused the least amount of fuss. The hardest part was dealing with my thoughts of it, this is where counselling is important I think. I managed to stay clean for about 8yrs, albeit I did get pregnant which helped me stay clean.

But almost 3yrs ago I had the inkling again, the thoughts of getting on started to come back strong, and I thought if I got on just that once it would satisfy that hunger, Well you can almost guess the rest, I have been using again, some weeks are worse than others, I feel one never really gets the monkey of thier backs, it just goes into hiding.

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I will always be a drug user, and thats okay, so long as I control it and not the other way around, so getting back to the original question , yes there are success storys , I know mine was with methadone, good luck to anyone out there who chooses to use done, its not evil, its just how you choose to use it
 
reducing like this, I feel caused the least amount of fuss. The hardest part was dealing with my thoughts of it, this is where counselling is important I think. I managed to stay clean for about 8yrs, albeit I did get pregnant which helped me stay clean.

...

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I will always be a drug user, and thats okay, so long as I control it and not the other way around, so getting back to the original question , yes there are success storys , I know mine was with methadone, good luck to anyone out there who chooses to use done, its not evil, its just how you choose to use it

Thanks for the feedback. I completely agree with you about the counseling bit - especially early in, although I find the opioid replacement therapy helpful in its own right, the counseling I'm receiving makes a world difference. Of course, it took me more than six months to find the kind of counseling enviroment that worked well for me, but at least I've finally found it.

And about coming to terms with always using drugs, well, I am tempted to agree, but with a caveat. In my case, a certain dissociative NMDA-antagonist and nootrpoic racetam combo got me clean initially and through the acute phase of w/d - in many ways this saved my life. Now, I'm using bupe to stay clean. Although not all drugs are for me, I have likewise come to terms with the fact that I cannot realistically try or believe I can life a life totally void of drug use or "recreational."

I mean, I don't discount the possibility that one day, for some amount of time, recreational or any other kind of drug use might not play a role in my life. The point is that, although that possibility will always exist as just that (a possibility it nothing more), such a strict program, of complete and absolute abstinence from all drug use and all recreational drugs, across the board, is neither a realistic nor ideal or utopian goal. I have come to the conclusion tht complete abstinence, although possible, without a doubt so, isn't something I should necessarily strive toward. I don't find it realistic, practically speaking. I also don't find it desirable.

Another lesson that I've learned through struggling with addiction is that, well, the drugs themselves aren't so much the problem, at least not so much as the consequences of my using certain drugs. It's nothing inherent or instrinsic to the drugs, in and of themselves that is the issue. It's that when I use the drug, for whatever reason, history shows me that bad things will likely happen. This doesn't apply to ALL drugs though. In fact, the list is pretty easy for me to define. Iono... In other words, using heroin will, as it already has, undoubtedly lead me down a dark, dark path. In order to live a life I find acceptable, however minimalistic my conception of it might be, I simply can't expect that I can use opioids willy-nilly like and not suffer correlated consequences. At least, especially given my current situation.

For the future? Who knows. I'm too fucking scared from what I've gone through already to want to even tempt fate and repeat the misery. I have found that I can use only certain substances that do not, how do I say, enhance or promote anti-social/negative/nonconstructive behavior such as deception and manipulation. I actually find that certain drugs (ketamine, DXM, piracetam/nootropic racetams, thc to a degree, etc. etc. and I would like to try MXE one of these days) actually holds the potential to enhance my well being. Past experiences, such as with DXM, actually have allowed me to see the world more clearly, from new and different, if sometimes rather strange, perspectives. Certain drugs thus produce effects that make it easier for me to live a more mature, harmonious, honest and well balance life, sometimes to a degree that I couldn't even have previously imagine possible.

I'm not saying the positive new changing in my life of late have been simply the result of using any one or more magic bullet drugs. No, not in the least. Rather, just as using certain drugs (i.e. heroin) went hand in hand with self-destruction, certain other drugs go hand in hand with a sort of self-respect that, I must admit, I found at first to feel almost foriegn. That's the point. To a degree, maybe, certain drugs are a problem. But THE problem still isn't so much the drugs. THE problem is destructive/self-destructive behavior. Such behaviors I have now come to associate as the result of the use and eventual addiction to certain drugs, and to this I pat myself on the back. One's plan of action doesn't count for much when one hasn't accurately identified the roots of the problem.

I don't know, maybe this is getting to sound kinda stupid simple. Simple stupid can be a good thing though. I like simple, even if I find complicated beautiful in its own way.
 
I agree with the behaviour side of drugs, that was a very good and valid point, I did not think of that and now that you mention it, I can see that. Because it did fuck up my life (using again) Im at the point where the bank wants to reposess my house, all cuz I was too busy scoring and not caring about keeping the payments up, I wont go in to detail now,
what I want to say is Fantastic for you that you have gotten your life together, its a hard road kinda but worth it
well done best of luck to you :)
 
Good luck finding any success stories about MMT. If you cannot live without using then I suggest using bupe. Methadone should be used as a last resort. I went to a clinic for a year and wasted a few grand. I finally switched to bupe and now I am tapering off of it. I honestly have never heard of one single success story regarding methadone...
 
wiggi - that's basically what I was thinking when I created this thread, that methadone wasn't as good an option as bupe. turns out, esp in my case, I was right. bupe has worked fantastically, so fuck whatever else. however, I am still interested in the original query.

I mean, rare though they might be, I'd be interested to here if, why, when and how methadone replacement therapy or something similar works for people. It's a big wide world out there, after all.

elz - :( I'm so sorry about all this shit you have to deal with. It's good you realize why it's happened, but it still sucks you have to suffer through it! I recently got out of some long standing old medical debt, which sucked more than I like to remember, and that didn't even involve anything related to repossessing any of my property! So, THANK YOU for the kind words, and feel free to pm me if you ever need a listener/reader or just wanna chat.
 
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