Heroin (Oh no not another taper plan question!?)

[Bambooshoot]

Hi guys. Right I'll get right to it. I have managed to come down from 1g/day IV heroin habit to about 200mg-400mg/day. I have 100mg of oral methadone solution and would like to ease withdrawal as much as possible. Is it possible to start on a small dose like 10-20 mg and do a rapid taper for maybe 5-7 days then jump off with minimal discomfort? I have had an IV habit ranging from 200mg-2g/day for about 4 years. I have some hash and chloropromazine to help when the time comes to jump off... Any suggestions on how best to do this would be much appreciated.... Thanks guys.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Using the methadone to taper with is obviously going to be better than just flat out stopping but, 10-20mg's of methadone is a very low dose, granted your habit isn't that big right now on account of your tapering, so it'll definitely take the edge off.

If you have 100mg's of methadone you could do a taper like:

Day 1: 30mg's
Day 2: 20mg's
Day 3: 15mg's
Day 4: 10mg's
Day 5: 5mg's
Day 6: 2.5mg's
Day 7: 2.5mg's

 

[Bambooshoot]

Can you recommend a good starting dose considering my moderate tolerance right now and how much to reduce by daily before jumping off? I should also say I have no tolerance to methadone and very little experience with it. In my 7 years of use I have only used methadone 4-5 times in doses no higher than 40mg to tide me over. Thanks Mr Scagnattie. EDIT; sorry I posted before I seen your edit. Thank you.

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Can you recommend a good starting dose considering my moderate tolerance right now and how much to reduce by daily before jumping off? I should also say I have no tolerance to methadone and very little experience with it. In my 7 years of use I have only used methadone 4-5 times in doses no higher than 40mg to tide me over. Thanks Mr Scagnattie.

Well you only have 100mg's.. so if you want to be able to taper and have the jumps between doses not be crazy high, then you really can't start higher than 30-40mg's. But with your habit size right now that is probably a fine dose.

Edit: Okay, I see that you posted that before you saw I wrote the taper plan.

Yeah, I feel like a taper like that would work well for you.

 

[bunge]

^
This.
Ive nothing to add on the methadone taper front as thats looks like a good taper plan.
I would advise to avoid taking the chloropromazine (unless your scripted it of course) unless you are desperate for sleep.

A few days worth of a z-drug or benzo would be better as it will ease muscle pain and spasm and aid sleep while giving a bit of seizure protection.

The issue with chloropromazine is that its neuroleptic and carries a seizure risk, ataxia and other movement disorders (all the tca's have these issues). It will likely make any RLS ten times worse as well.

Also, some people think sedation equals relief from anxiety (always an issue in WD), the problem is you can have a panic attack while being so sedated you cant physically move (trust me, ive done it myself).

The hash however should be a massive help and as long as it doesnt raise your anxiety levels id advise bedrest while smoking copious amounts...and lots of fluids of course!lol
Good luck.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Coming from someone who successfully done a hash taper with my D.O.C, I'd strongly suggest doing a taper with a long acting opiate (preferrably one that doesn't get you high due to time release). I used OxyContin, swallowed whole and sucessfully managed to taper with that ( I had oxynorm too then and I felt every time I took one it was getting me high and only lasting 4 hours MAX, so I only tapered with OxyContin 12 hour prolonged release - "old formula" made by Mundie Pharma.

I have tried to taper with heroin funnily enough in the past by doing small bumps just enough to keep me out of severe w/d, found it very tiresome due to how short acting it was.

Hope that helps. :D

 

[bunge]

^
I think thats what the OP was planning on using the methadone for.lol
Got to say though that ive got respect for anyone that manages to taper from oxynorm with oxycontin and suceed.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

It was tapering from oxycodone in general (used to chew and sniff the oxycontins and norms). Thanks. Financial stress was a big motivator (I'm a jew lol).

To the OP: Why not try a loperamide taper ? Really is as effective as methadone in my eyes at high dosages. Perhaps try and taper with that. It's nice cos the pills are 2 mgs, so you can be very precise with your decrements.

Disclaimer: For the record I did go and undo that month and a bit of hard tapering with an H binge. So will have to do another one agagin soon. Just needs me a lot of OxyContin 40s and 80's.

 

[Bambooshoot]

@ bunge, yeah I am prescribed the chlorpromazine anyway.. And does really help with sleeping, the insomnia drives me crazy. Also I had a really limited budget so I got what a could and am trying to work with it I suppose. The hash is a lifesaver actually it really helps with the cravings. Also thanks for the info on the chlorpromazine I was unaware of the seizure risk I must look into the side effects. @whosajigg, I'm in the UK we can't buy the big tubs of loperamide here. They only come in boxes of 12 and didn't have the money to order online... Like I say trying to work with what I can get. Luckily I can get some Valium from the doc too so hopefully that'll be a nice wee help along too. Also good going for trying a H taper!! In theory it works great but in practice I would find it impossible to only to only take enough to sort me if I had more. Thanks for replies and input guys. ((paragraphs seem to disappear when posting with the phone. :/))