• 🇬🇧󠁿 🇸🇪 🇿🇦 🇮🇪 🇬🇭 🇩🇪 🇪🇺
    European & African
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • EADD Moderators: axe battler | Pissed_and_messed

Painkillers that help during Methadone reduction

S

SearchingForIt

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 20, 2017
Messages
8
Hi Guys,

I am slowly reducing my Methadone amount. I am currently on about 20ml, and its after that point I start getting issues. I normally start getting back pains/leg pains, and I start feeling very down as I reduce my dosage. I need some advice about which painkillers which will help me in pain relief in terms of back pain and any other pain.

I am assuming I am allowed to ask for advice like this. I am not looking for pain killers that are addictive, because I don't want to replace one problem with another.

Another thing I should say is that I am a Brit, but I am currently abroad, so if you tell me the UK/US name I may be able to find same or similar product abroad.

Thank you.
 
Obviously you do not want to go anywhere near poppies, and as (IMO) acetaminophen has little to no use as an analgesic then, by process of elimination, non - steroidal anti - inflammatory drugs are your best option.

The good news is that they work really well with regards to withdrawal pains caused from discomfort for narcotic / morphine - esque painkillers. I personally have found ibuprofen to be surprisingly effective in helping to alleviate discomfort of this manner, although it does not magically remove these symptoms in the same manner as re-dosing with an opiate / opioid.

Although I find all of the NSAID drugs effective for all manner of analgesia, I would imagine that Naproxen may bring the most relief, as unlike aspirin or ibuprofen, UK patients can only obtain oral preparations of this drug on prescription. Wherever you are in the world it may be worth investigating this particular medicine as it may be easy to obtain and despite it's considerable potency it has no psychoactive effect, making it as non addictive as the other non - steroidals I have mentioned.

Hope you find some relief my friend.
 
Don't write off paracetamol (acetaminophen, Tylenol) out-of-hand. It's very subtle in its effects but some people do actually find it works for them. One thing it is not, which other pain-relieving drugs can be, is a stomach irritant. Aspirin just makes me boak, and ibuprofen sits uncomfortably with me. Don't be tempted to increase the dosage, though; paracetamol is especially hard on the liver.

Herbal pain-relievers (where legally available; some jurisdictions ban such things on grounds of poor repeatability, or just guilt-by-association -- after all, Papaver somniferum is a plant .....) may well contain willow bark (Salix sp.) which is the naturally-occurring form of aspirin, and no less a stomach irritant for susceptible individuals.

Note that I have heard real horror stories of people travelling with pain medications -- even fairly benign GSL ones -- and would never advise trying to transport any kind of pain reliever across an international border without a doctor's prescription.
 
Thanks Steve and Becoming Julie thank you for your input and advice. The truth is, and this is going to sound weird, most addicts take any drugs they can find, I hate even taking Paracetamol or Ibuprofen. The only drug that has consistently drawn me is Heroin, not even Methadone is attractive for me. I wish it wasn't so. I wouldn't even have a joint if someone paid me, because it makes me feel depressed and a bit paranoid nowadays. Anyway, I don't think I need pain killers straight away, but I will soon, in a matter of days. I bought myself back down to 15ml yesterday from 20ml of methadone. I hope to stick with 15 for 7 days and then go down to 10. The problems always start for me after the 2nd day.

I am going to go to the local pharmacy here today, and get some iboprofen and a few other pain killers. I have to be very cautious in taking anything here because if something were to go wrong its not like London, an ambulance won't be here in minutes and I'll end up with a huge bill, and I don't think travel insurance will cover it. But the truth of it is, I wouldn't be able to get this many days without using H if I didn't go away for a bit. So although the decision may not be smart, I didn't have many options because I had already spent a fortune on treatment centres.

One other thing. I am normally a relatively positive person. As far as I know I don't suffer from any low forms of depression or anything like that. But as soon as I go to 20ml and downwards, I am so down mentally, its almost as if time slows right now for me. And I am in a negative spiral of thinking, where I am constantly fighting myself to stay positive, watching TV and so on just to pass the time etc. Is there any form of temporary medication I can take to counter what I call this mental or psychological downward spiral? I think more than just the pain, which is bad, but the mental state often convinces to try and find stuff, which I would rather not do.

Are there any anti-depressants that I can take, that help with this? I have never taken any anti-depressants in my life, so don't know much about it. I would be against taking any power anti-depressants.

The truth is if I can get off Methadone/Heroin, it would be like winning the lottery or something. Right now it feels like a big mountain to climb.
 
Just chipping in my two cents worth, I find Vimovo (which is an anti inflammatory) works well.

It also has something in it which coats the tummy so you don't get the same discomfort with your normal Ibuprofen.

I am in SA so not sure if this overseas but I believe the active ingredients are Esomeprazole and Naproxen.
 
SearchingForIt said:
Thanks Steve and Becoming Julie thank you for your input and advice. The truth is, and this is going to sound weird, most addicts take any drugs they can find, I hate even taking Paracetamol or Ibuprofen. The only drug that has consistently drawn me is Heroin, not even Methadone is attractive for me. I wish it wasn't so. I wouldn't even have a joint if someone paid me, because it makes me feel depressed and a bit paranoid nowadays. Anyway, I don't think I need pain killers straight away, but I will soon, in a matter of days. I bought myself back down to 15ml yesterday from 20ml of methadone. I hope to stick with 15 for 7 days and then go down to 10. The problems always start for me after the 2nd day.

I am going to go to the local pharmacy here today, and get some iboprofen and a few other pain killers. I have to be very cautious in taking anything here because if something were to go wrong its not like London, an ambulance won't be here in minutes and I'll end up with a huge bill, and I don't think travel insurance will cover it. But the truth of it is, I wouldn't be able to get this many days without using H if I didn't go away for a bit. So although the decision may not be smart, I didn't have many options because I had already spent a fortune on treatment centres.

One other thing. I am normally a relatively positive person. As far as I know I don't suffer from any low forms of depression or anything like that. But as soon as I go to 20ml and downwards, I am so down mentally, its almost as if time slows right now for me. And I am in a negative spiral of thinking, where I am constantly fighting myself to stay positive, watching TV and so on just to pass the time etc. Is there any form of temporary medication I can take to counter what I call this mental or psychological downward spiral? I think more than just the pain, which is bad, but the mental state often convinces to try and find stuff, which I would rather not do.

Are there any anti-depressants that I can take, that help with this? I have never taken any anti-depressants in my life, so don't know much about it. I would be against taking any power anti-depressants.

The truth is if I can get off Methadone/Heroin, it would be like winning the lottery or something. Right now it feels like a big mountain to climb.
Click to expand...

Suggesting a range of OTC painkillers is one thing buddy - recommending more complex psychoactive treatments (anti - depressants, anxiolytics etc) is something we cannot do - this is what doctors are for as they can provide a comprehensive assessment of your needs and prescribe appropriately. I am not attempting to be flippant - we do not allow 'what drug should I take' questions and the reasons above should hopefully give you some idea as to why. There may be complex treatments and drugs that are available without prescription in your locale and it would not be responsible of us to even think of recommending drugs that can have serious side effects, that can be in themselves extremely addictive and which may result in further psychological or physical harm. This is why it may be best in the long term if you return to the UK yo get all of this sorted out properly - you sound as if you have the motivation to stop using poppies but methadone or other substitute drugs are often not enough on there own and may prove more effective when combined with other drug or psychological therapies.
 
steewith2ees said:
It's my personal opinion - other folk do get good effect from this drug but I only rate it as useful for controlling temperature caused by fever
Click to expand...

Ditto Stee. I find it TOTALLY ineffective as an analgesic and much prefer ibuprofen.

@SearchingForIt: it's not painkillers you need mate, you need to slow your rate of methadone reduction. Dropping from 20 to 15ml is a significant reduction and is bound to cause moderate discomfort - which is just setting you up for a relapse. I would advise no more than a 2ml drop per MONTH, down to 10ml, then in 1ml per month increments down to zero. It's a long and drawn out process, but gives you ample time to adjust both physically and psychologically to each drop. Believe me, it works. The last thing you need to do is rush a methadone taper - that's just totally counterproductive...
 
Last edited:
Hi Guys,

I think I'll take Fubar's advice and do a slow taper with normal pain killers. Since being here I haven't used, even though I located it. Its been the longest of "self controlled" not using in a long time. So far I have reduced it down quite a lot, on what I considered was a slow process. But maybe not slow enough. I have reduced from 20 to 15 now, and I am on my 4th day of 15, and this time the discomfort has been much less. I was planning on staying on 15 no more than 7 days. Maybe I'll stretch it to 14 days, and then start dropping by 2ml and then 1ml when I get to 10.

I will use normal painkillers to ease the pain if it feels bad.
 
SearchingForIt said:
Hi Guys,

I think I'll take Fubar's advice and do a slow taper with normal pain killers. Since being here I haven't used, even though I located it. Its been the longest of "self controlled" not using in a long time. So far I have reduced it down quite a lot, on what I considered was a slow process. But maybe not slow enough. I have reduced from 20 to 15 now, and I am on my 4th day of 15, and this time the discomfort has been much less. I was planning on staying on 15 no more than 7 days. Maybe I'll stretch it to 14 days, and then start dropping by 2ml and then 1ml when I get to 10.

I will use normal painkillers to ease the pain if it feels bad.
Click to expand...

Yeh, that's the way to do it fella. It's all about percentages innit? I.E. dropping from 100ml to 95ml constitutes a 5% reduction - which is a piece of piss. However, dropping from 20ml to 15ml is a 25% reduction - that's a hell of a drop and you need to smooth that curve out for your own sanity. Best of luck mate... <3

Edit: what I've advised assumes that your methadone linctus is 1mg/ml which is standard in the UK. If this isn't the case in your location, please adjust the quantities accordingly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top