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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Opioids For those who have cold turkey off 100+ mg of methadone, how bad was it really?

OpiateKiller

OpiateKiller

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Feb 14, 2019
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I’m curious to hear personal accounts of cold turkey off of methadone. How long did the withdrawals really last? We’re you forced? (Jail) ?
 
I reduced from around 80 down to 10 over weeks then quit. I was fucked for about 3 weeks.
U gotta jump from 100?
 
I got hit with narcan while on 380mg of methadone (i was on a bunch of phenobarbital and a paramedic hit me with narcan despite me being wide awake and pleading to not do it). Felt like i was thrown into a freezing fast moving river. Never been so cold in my life; yet simultaneously my skin was on fire. Within minutes I started shitting myself uncontrollably. They released me after a few hours. Had to walk the 3 miles home and then took nearly a gram of methadone. Whats interesting is that it wasn't nearly as psychotic as cold turkey IV heroin withdrawal, but im sure it would have progressed to delrium eventually. Yet, narcan only kicks out methadone temporarily due to half-life differences. That said it was horrible and incredibly painful, the fastest I've ever gone from fine to awful. It was like being in a car accident.

If i ever came across that guy I'd cut his thumbs off. Fortunately I don't remember his name or face. I can still remember the weird, cold taste in my mouth.

Also, when I moved to australia for a while i was forced to drop from 340mg to 180mg (the most they'd give me). That drop was quite unpleasant.
 
Soso78 said:
I reduced from around 80 down to 10 over weeks then quit. I was fucked for about 3 weeks.
U gotta jump from 100?
Click to expand...

No I don’t have to, I’m on 120 mg I’m probably gonna do a 10 mg drop a week till I hit 20 or 30 then just quit. Hopefully starting soon I get a few weeks / months off of work so I can focus on getting off of opiates. As much as I enjoy methadone I need my real sex life baxk
 
I wasn’t on 100mg, just 60. First week was bad, and then things got really bad after that first week. I was in a detox and then I threatened to kill myself if they wouldn’t let me leave. From detox I went to a crisis stabilization unit where they weren’t so friendly. Finally got out after 3 days there and finished detoxing at my moms house. It took me about a month to get back to full speed. Best of luck if you’re gonna try!
 
I kicked off 65mg 2 months ago. It was pretty brutal man. Still sick of course. I came off 3mg once and this was 20x harder. Would not recommend it. Also kicked off 45mg when I was your age and while it sucked, I recovered very fast. But there were no benzos or alcohol involved on that one.

Don't forget you are drinking too. Your brain its getting more methadone and more liquor than you think. Once you drop the methadone your GABA will tank, and you will need 3x the drinking to stay out of withdrawal (also methadone hides alcohol withdrawal so if you don't get withdrawals from alcohol now, its because you pretty much cannot while drinking that much methadone.

At 65mg I was drinking 12+ beers a day. Didn't think for a second I had any alcohol issues. Until the methadone was removed...alcohol withdrawal came full force on top of the methadone withdrawal.

Unless you want to experience the hellish shit ever. Get off the liquor 100% and taper down the methadone to something reasonable before jumping (sub 30mg).

I knew a guy that kicked off 120mg cold. He went nuts from it.

Methadone acute withdrawal from any dose is 45-60 days. Followed by 3-4 months of PAWS. Around 6 months you are 90% However compounding it with benzos and / or alcohol its longer.
 
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TheInvisibleStoner said:
I kicked off 65mg 2 months ago. It was pretty brutal man. Still sick of course. I came off 3mg once and this was 20x harder. Would not recommend it. Also kicked off 45mg when I was your age and while it sucked, I recovered very fast. But there were no benzos or alcohol involved on that one.

Don't forget you are drinking too. Your brain its getting more methadone and more liquor than you think. Once you drop the methadone your GABA will tank, and you will need 3x the drinking to stay out of withdrawal (also methadone hides alcohol withdrawal so if you don't get withdrawals from alcohol now, its because you pretty much cannot while drinking that much methadone.

At 65mg I was drinking 12+ beers a day. Didn't think for a second I had any alcohol issues. Until the methadone was removed...alcohol withdrawal came full force on top of the methadone withdrawal.

Unless you want to experience the hellish shit ever. Get off the liquor 100% and taper down the methadone to something reasonable before jumping (sub 30mg).

I knew a guy that kicked off 120mg cold. He went nuts from it.

Methadone acute withdrawal from any dose is 45-60 days. Followed by 3-4 months of PAWS. Around 6 months you are 90% However compounding it with benzos and / or alcohol its longer.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the input. Yeah I don’t think I’ll just jump anytime soon definitely at least going to taper the best I can. Alcohol needs to go away too, which I have been cutting back which is good.

I was in jail with a guy coming off of 180 mg. I saw him for something like 17 days until I was moved units. I think he had eaten a handful of food trays in that entire period. He was suffering badly. Looked bloody awful and would hear him dry heaving often. Don’t think he died though would have seen it on the news or heard about it. Still, God bless that guy. Awful.
 
Yeah even just the withdrawals from 40mgs is brutal. I couldn't imagine how jumping from 100 would be. but i guess the shorter time youre on it, the easier it would be to kick once you taper down. Ive been on methadone for 4 years come march and I was once at 120mgs, im finally down to 40, but the wds are starting to get bad, especially when I wake up. been going down by 5mgs a month.
 
I went to a clinic that was run by the county public health department. Then I landed in jail. This clinic for some reason did not have a relationship with the county jail, so I was kicking 100mg cold turkey. It was my first time on methadone, thus it was my first time experiencing the withdrawal symptoms.

Funny thing, the same RN's who dosed people at the methadone clinic also worked at the county jail I was in. I remember when I started to go into a strange clonus thing; I couldn't hold myself still, and luckily the jail RN on duty remembered me from the clinic, and took pity on my ass. She phoned the medical provider on call and I was given Lorazepam 2mg PO q4-6hrs.

Going off methadone cold turkey is a mind fuck, it's physically hellish, and it's something I would recommend avoiding if at all possible
 
OpiateKiller said:
I’m curious to hear personal accounts of cold turkey off of methadone. How long did the withdrawals really last? We’re you forced? (Jail) ?
Click to expand...
I got a new cellie in a prison reception center once that I immediately knew was dope sick..diarrhea, sneezing, runny nose, insomnia, ect....so I asked him if he just got busted(parole violators usually went straight to prison and were often WDing)...he said no, that he had been in jail for around a month before coming to prison...so I said oh,you must have got some dope into the jail since you are still kicking like a MFer....he said no,he had been on 180mg of methadone for the last 2 years and was STILL kicking that bad after a month...
 
Literally living hell😈

DO NOT COLD TURKEY OFF 100mg METHADONE

AT 80mg+, I cut my dose in half and the worst hell of my life; except Benzodiazepine wd and multiple Tonic Clonics

Go down SLOWLY

AND IF YOUR SEX LIFE IS Not FINE AT 30-40mg, you have got other problems
 
Lorne??? said:
Literally living hell😈

DO NOT COLD TURKEY OFF 100mg METHADONE

AT 80mg+, I cut my dose in half and the worst hell of my life; except Benzodiazepine wd and multiple Tonic Clonics

Go down SLOWLY

AND IF YOUR SEX LIFE IS Not FINE AT 30-40mg, you have got other problems
Click to expand...

I can't go down slowly ): im in rehab.

And I was still busting nuts on 140 mg but I do roids
 
@OpiateKiller i saw my friend jump from 20 to 0, she was on 70, and dropped 5 a week, until 20 where she jumped, and she was sick as a dog for 2 weeks, realllly sick, physically and mentally, even with daily pregabalin and diazepam to help, and as much booze, weed and ketamine I could get her to take, she really suffered.
It was horrible to watch and almost disturbing, and I am not easily disturbed.
I saw people coming off of all kinds in rehab - but nothing came close to seeing her come off methadone. It was like she was straight up possessed at some points.

Good luck
 
How is rehab going?

For methadone and benzos rehab is a tricky thing. Hopefully its a 6 month rehab minimum.

www.benzoinfo.com

Why Prescribed Benzo Patients Shouldn’t Go To Detox or Rehab

This article explores five reasons why benzodiazepine detox or rehab facilities are inappropriate for withdrawing compliant, prescribed benzodiazepine patients.
www.benzoinfo.com www.benzoinfo.com

Would make sense. Coming in on a benzo, coming out mind twisted as fuck on 4 other things. Should be illegal.

Methadone a bit different. But it would need to at least be 6 months.

How are they taking you off the methadone? @OpiateKiller Like a taper, then to subs or something?
 
TheInvisibleStoner said:
How is rehab going?

For methadone and benzos rehab is a tricky thing. Hopefully its a 6 month rehab minimum.

www.benzoinfo.com

Why Prescribed Benzo Patients Shouldn’t Go To Detox or Rehab

This article explores five reasons why benzodiazepine detox or rehab facilities are inappropriate for withdrawing compliant, prescribed benzodiazepine patients.
www.benzoinfo.com www.benzoinfo.com

Would make sense. Coming in on a benzo, coming out mind twisted as fuck on 4 other things. Should be illegal.

Methadone a bit different. But it would need to at least be 6 months.

How are they taking you off the methadone? @OpiateKiller Like a taper, then to subs or something?
Click to expand...

Hey brother here is what they have done for me thus far. It's day 7

Day 1 I did 50 mg of methadone IV and half a gram of heroin / fentanyl (I hate flying and wouldn't have done it if I wasn't loaded)
I also took 4 mg of lorazepam for that flight.

They gave me clonidine, gabapentin, a muscle relaxer, tovodol? torodol? (some prescription IV NSAID) and gabapentin.

They've had me on 20-30 mg of valium a day and 30 mg of temazepam at night because I told them I had a pretty good benzo and alcohol habit,

I really didn't get sick until 5 days after I got here. On day 3 and 4 they bridged me from methadone and fentanyl with hydromorphone (Diluadid) just to get me through they only gave me 2 mg for 2 days though so a total of 4 mg IV though so I'll give them that.

Today is day 7. They have successfully bridged me from methadone to subutex. They started with 1 mg 100 hours post dose. then 2 mg 104 hours post methadone use. I got pretty sick on that 2 mg it sent me into a slight precipitated WD.

Now though they're going 18 mg to 16 to 14 to 10. ( of subutex ) Today is the 10 mg day.

I tried to push for a faster and lower dose taper and the doctors and nurses who have been here years really advised against it. They said once your trying to catch up in severe WD subutex might not you save and they didn't wanna have to IV 4 mg of a diluadid cause then I'm just back tracking.

The Dr. said Day 5 I can make the decision on the drop. He said it's not as important as the first 4 days because we have you basically inducted and entirely saturated. I mean I feel pretty fine honestly I'm not even sick right now.

So the rest of my sub tapers looking like 10 mg to 4-6 mg to 2 mg to 1 mg to 0.5 mg to quit.

I've argued with the Dr I told him look guy, I wanna be fucking sick right here . Not in my next rehab thats not medically staffed or trained.

He told me it it's not gonna be that bad. But if it is that motherfucker can expect a hell of a phone call from me telling him he shoulda let me cut the taper sooner.

In my eyes eventually when the subs are gone I'm gonna be basically full blown WD. but he said it's not gonna happen. So we'll see.

I was supposed to go to a 90 day program I'm abandoning that going into a sober living home in my home state once I leave this detox (Total of 12 days here)

I know I'm still gonna be sick. But at least I won't be in a fucking Colorado rockie 10,000 feet in the air with the nearest hospital probably a 2 hour heli ride away.
 
I dropped off 110mg of methadone cold turkey and I was living in a world of hurt for a long time, took me nearly 2 months before I could really do anything I was basically an animated corpse stuck to a mattress only thing I would manage was to crawl to the toilet or shower to power shit and vomit. After the first month I was ready to bite the big one and called a friend who gave me a 60mg morph tablet, this was a reprieve although only a very short one. If you go off that kind of dose cold turkey then be prepared for one of the most unpleasant times of your life. Time to getting over it seems to vary from each individual but my withdrawal was a long and painful one. After that experience however I will never be going back to that program have been told that the done gets into your bones and all you can do is push through it and pray that your withdrawal is not going to be as long as some other poor people have to endure. I wish you all the luck in your journey, you're going to need it.
 
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