Opioids Methadone Mega Thread and FAQ

[debaser]

^ Nice post.
Yes I have a question: does methadone block other opiates at a daily low maintenance dose of say 10mg?

 

[lovethoseopiates]

Yes. If you are taking it everyday it will block other opiates. Now I can say that other people who I knew from the clinic said that the only thing they could 'feel' to some degree was if they took heroin. I personally have taken almost every other opiate except heroin so that one I can't personally confirm. I also can say that while on methadone and after my surgery, I went home with percocet (oxy) and I believe I did feel a tiny bit from those but nothing from the dilaudid or any form of hydrocodone.

 

[Tchort]

^ Nice post.
Yes I have a question: does methadone block other opiates at a daily low maintenance dose of say 10mg?

For the majority I would say no. Most of the people I used with who were on doses lower than 60mg a day were able to abuse opioids- and did so regularly. A former friend at 37mg could shoot 2 bags of Heroin to get high, like he did before going on MMT.

It's all about cross-tolerance, and 10mg Methadone/day is not much of a tolerance. The anecdotal reports and the literature are pretty specific: the cross-tolerance induced 'blockade effect' starts between 60mg-80mg in most people reliably.

There will always be people who are exceptions, who can abuse opioids at high doses and can't abuse opioids at low doses.

 

[lovethoseopiates]

Hi everyone, im waiting in line to get either Suboxone or Methadone.
I would love some indo how methadone makes you feel thr fist 1-6 months nto 5 years.'

Ive taken Suboxone illegal to try and stay of the heroin,. were on bupe for about 2 years and i just get a little more energy and mood lift from Bupe in long term.

How does Methadone make You feel (i prefer if someone who has been in the program for an while would give me some do his time here)

Thanks!

When I first started MMT, I had been addicted to pharm opiates for about 4 years thanks to a back injury, then surgery. I had to do something because things were so bad I was literally hurting myself to get pills. Anyway, at that time MMT worked great for me. I felt "normal" and could function normally. My issue was that after about 2 years, I started to get that 'itch' to get an opiate high again and I started mixing other pharms with it and it was a big 'ole mess. I was on MMT three separate times in the last 10 years. Each time it started out fine for a while, but (see above). Now the last time I was on it, after about a year I decided I was going to take more that I was supposed to thinking i would get high, but of course all I did was waste it and then had to go a day or two without any. Now that is one thing that is good about methadone is that I could go a day or two without any type of withdrawal because it stays in your system so long. The downside to that is when you decide to come off MMT the withdrawal is HORRIFIC and worse than any other opiate withdrawal I've ever experienced. The last time I went to detox to get off of methadone I was there five days, and the worst of my withdrawal didn't even start until after I got back home.

That was my experience with MMT. I personally don't want to get back on it because I know ME and I know what would end up happening.

But people who are terribly addicted to heroin or any pharm opiate and can't stay off of them any other way, methadone can be very helpful.

 

[onlywant2nod]

WOO HOO,
I'm back on mmt and doing great now, no more intense "rageful and manic episodes alot anymore". I'm so relieved that I dont have to deal with that stressful "manic mood" all day long anymore and am interested in hobbies etc again.

 

[BrokedownPalace]

WOO HOO,
I'm back on mmt and doing great now, no more intense "rageful and manic episodes alot anymore". I'm so relieved that I dont have to deal with that stressful "manic mood" all day long anymore and am interested in hobbies etc again.

Good stuff, man. I'm glad to hear it. Stay strong !

 

[Theblarneystone]

I read something about how in the 90's they started putting traces of chloroform in methodone, not for its anesthetic value, put for the sole purpose of "discouraging iv use". The chloroform would just destroy veins, and despite the health damages of poor circulation, because they are secondary veins it would make people literally kill their veins to the point where they could not find any to inject into. It also hospitalized some people because of the vein damage, but hey, nothing makes an addict discontinue his abuse like sneaking some shit in your drugs that damage your body. Hearing this was very shocking, especially because it was not even told to patients (I guess the rationale is that if you sneak an iv, we conveniently forget to warn that it will destroy your arms). Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else had heard this, and if this practice has been discontinued or not. The source of this was from an informative pharmaceutical description within the physician community, and this little factor was not disclosed to patients. If you have never heard of it in the first place, you probably don't really know if this practice is continued or not, but if anyone does know please post reply. The curiosity is overwhelming.

 

[BrokedownPalace]

I read something about how in the 90's they started putting traces of chloroform in methodone, not for its anesthetic value, put for the sole purpose of "discouraging iv use". The chloroform would just destroy veins, and despite the health damages of poor circulation, because they are secondary veins it would make people literally kill their veins to the point where they could not find any to inject into. It also hospitalized some people because of the vein damage, but hey, nothing makes an addict discontinue his abuse like sneaking some shit in your drugs that damage your body. Hearing this was very shocking, especially because it was not even told to patients (I guess the rationale is that if you sneak an iv, we conveniently forget to warn that it will destroy your arms). Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else had heard this, and if this practice has been discontinued or not. The source of this was from an informative pharmaceutical description within the physician community, and this little factor was not disclosed to patients. If you have never heard of it in the first place, you probably don't really know if this practice is continued or not, but if anyone does know please post reply. The curiosity is overwhelming.

I found a little bit of info, using google.

Chloroform is a flavouring (and scent) that has no psychoactive effect. When used as an anaesthetic chloroform can damage the liver and kidneys, but the amount of chloroform used in methadone is very small (below 0.009%) and there is no evidence of it being harmful. Sugar-free methadone does not contain any chloroform at all.

Source: http://www.exchangesupplies.org/drug_information/the_handbooks/the_methadone_handbook/methadonehbk/whatisinmethadon.html

 

[butcher_ss]

Methadone & working?

I have a question for people who take Methadone (or other opiates) daily.

I am on 10-20mg Methadone for over 2 years now, but the problem is that I have social-anxiety so I'm prescribed Klonopin (2mg - 2xday) and during late afternoon when both of them kick-in I feel really sleepy, and if I don't lie even for 20 minutes and 'nod', no coffee or energy drink helps.

Soon, I will get a job and don't know how will I be able to concentrate, not feel drowsy or sleepy (and am worried about pin-point eyes too).

So, how do you opiate users manage to work 40+ hours a week, not nodding and without being noticed that you are on something?!

 

[splenda]

I have a question for people who take Methadone (or other opiates) daily.

I am on 10-20mg Methadone for over 2 years now, but the problem is that I have social-anxiety so I'm prescribed Klonopin (2mg - 2xday) and during late afternoon when both of them kick-in I feel really sleepy, and if I don't lie even for 20 minutes and 'nod', no coffee or energy drink helps.

Soon, I will get a job and don't know how will I be able to concentrate, not feel drowsy or sleepy (and am worried about pin-point eyes too).

So, how do you opiate users manage to work 40+ hours a week, not nodding and without being noticed that you are on something?!

Although you are on a low dose of methadone, mixing the two (benzos and methadone) obviously can cause drastic over-sedation and instability as you have noted. The point of using methadone either for opioid addiction maintenance or pain management is to get to a stable level where you aren't feeling pain/aren't withdrawaling/feeling comfortable but not over-sedated and feeling too high.

So either your dose of methadone or your dose of Klonpin needs to be reduced. It seems that it would be more effective to reduce your Klonopin dose as it is the Klonopin that is making you drastically over-sedated it seems. How often/when do you dose the methadone? Can you take a lower dose of Klonopin or abstain from taking Klonopin in the day when you need to be able to function?

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^Good thoughts. I'm not sure when exactly you dose, but if you dose them close together, simply spreading them apart alone may be beneficial. Search around and you'll see many reasons why benzos are not recommended long term though so you may want to seek out other options to manage anxiety.

I think should go into the methadone mega thread....

 

[butcher_ss]

I was prescribed Methadone because I was abusing Codeine. It is good because I'm taking a legal drug and don't have problems with the law (and not to mention that I was taking Codeine without CWE-ing it - very dumb I know now, who know how much I have damaged my liver?); but it's bad because now I am addicted to one of the strongest opiates.

I take 10mg of Methadone in the morning & I feel fine the entire day.

I will try to take 2mg of Klonopin, instead of 4mg a day from tomorrow and see if that helps.

Thank you very much for the quick replies and if anyone has anything to add please do so.

 

[stuckinaloop]

I have a question for people who take Methadone (or other opiates) daily.

I am on 10-20mg Methadone for over 2 years now, but the problem is that I have social-anxiety so I'm prescribed Klonopin (2mg - 2xday) and during late afternoon when both of them kick-in I feel really sleepy, and if I don't lie even for 20 minutes and 'nod', no coffee or energy drink helps.

Soon, I will get a job and don't know how will I be able to concentrate, not feel drowsy or sleepy (and am worried about pin-point eyes too).

So, how do you opiate users manage to work 40+ hours a week, not nodding and without being noticed that you are on something?!

I am on 80mg methadone..for almost 3mo now. I work exactly 39.5 hours every week. I don't find my self nodding into oblivion at my dose, if you are on 15-20mg you should be fine..the benzos might be the culprit.

In my case, I don't have a tolerance/dependence to benzos, so when I take a Xanax at night for instance, I will be very tired the whole next day (even though I do sleep like a baby). So I try and avoid benzos during the work week other wise I will be nodding out (more of a tired not not an opiate nod) at my desk).

Basically, I dose at 7am, get to work by 8am and the methadone gives me energy..atleast for my 8-430 job. I am a little groggy when I get up, but by the time I get to work I am wide awake.

When I get out of work all I wanna do is go smoke weed. So I have become a lazy fuck lately and just end up going home after work. I don't find my self "partying" or chillin with friends much since I've been on meth (and h). I don't know if I like it. I do know that methadone made my 'sweet tooth' worse and I am eatin candy like a madman.

 

[nasir~]

methadone withdrawal

i have done 120mg methadone from friday till today because i was in a lot of pain. no real previous opiate-tolerance.

will i have any withdrawals?
thanks:D

 

[Pegasus]

^No, just possibly a bit of a rough landing...

 

[boboni]

I am new to this site and wanted to get some advice on weening off methadone. I had a 6 month long stint on heroine and have never withdrawn by myself, I ran out of money and went right to a methadone program - been on it since December 2009. They tried to keep me on it for at least a year, but I insisted on weening down and off of it ASAP. I'm now down to a dose of 36 and dropping 4-5 per week, does anyone have any advice on making this as confortable as possible? I heard the mental addiction may cause me to run right back out there and get some dope if i really don't need it. I heard a story of a guy doing a blind dose (the nurse takes your dose down at her discretion and everntually you are given a fake dose to trick your mind) and there was a substitute nurse one day and she said to the guy "oh, you've been on the placebo for 2 weeks now" and he fell into horrible withdrawl immediately. I never liked opiates, coke was my love - but one day I woke up after a few days of partying with my BF and I was sick - I kept going to the spot every day until it was affecting my job and I got help. I want to get off of this soon and I;ve heard scary stories about withdrawl from methadone and how it's stronger of an addiction than heroine. That is so scary to someone who couldn't even kick dope.

 

[boboni]

I am on 80mg methadone..for almost 3mo now. I work exactly 39.5 hours every week. I don't find my self nodding into oblivion at my dose, if you are on 15-20mg you should be fine..the benzos might be the culprit.

In my case, I don't have a tolerance/dependence to benzos, so when I take a Xanax at night for instance, I will be very tired the whole next day (even though I do sleep like a baby). So I try and avoid benzos during the work week other wise I will be nodding out (more of a tired not not an opiate nod) at my desk).

Basically, I dose at 7am, get to work by 8am and the methadone gives me energy..atleast for my 8-430 job. I am a little groggy when I get up, but by the time I get to work I am wide awake.

When I get out of work all I wanna do is go smoke weed. So I have become a lazy fuck lately and just end up going home after work. I don't find my self "partying" or chillin with friends much since I've been on meth (and h). I don't know if I like it. I do know that methadone made my 'sweet tooth' worse and I am eatin candy like a madman.

I've never nodded from methadone - I work a 40 hr week and have gotten myself down to 36mg and dropping. My BF is in the program with me and he is up to 90mg and he sometimes looks a little fucked up mid-afternoon, but for the most part, methadone doesn't have a negative affect on people who use it properly. MY BF has put on a lot of weight since he started taking it. Have you found yourself gaining weight with your sweet tooth, could it be the weed making you snack?

 

[Pegasus]

I am new to this site and wanted to get some advice on weening off methadone. I had a 6 month long stint on heroine and have never withdrawn by myself, I ran out of money and went right to a methadone program - been on it since December 2009. They tried to keep me on it for at least a year, but I insisted on weening down and off of it ASAP. I'm now down to a dose of 36 and dropping 4-5 per week, does anyone have any advice on making this as confortable as possible? I heard the mental addiction may cause me to run right back out there and get some dope if i really don't need it. I heard a story of a guy doing a blind dose (the nurse takes your dose down at her discretion and everntually you are given a fake dose to trick your mind) and there was a substitute nurse one day and she said to the guy "oh, you've been on the placebo for 2 weeks now" and he fell into horrible withdrawl immediately. I never liked opiates, coke was my love - but one day I woke up after a few days of partying with my BF and I was sick - I kept going to the spot every day until it was affecting my job and I got help. I want to get off of this soon and I;ve heard scary stories about withdrawl from methadone and how it's stronger of an addiction than heroine. That is so scary to someone who couldn't even kick dope.

I've been there and done just that. Dropping a few mg at a time is the perfect way to go about this IMO. Dropping 2-3mg at once was a barely perceptible change for me, and I would do that about twice a week if I remember correctly. Once you get to lower doses or if you start to really feel poorly, you should probably go a bit slower over this portion of the taper. You can also start skipping days in between doses once you get down to a low level: for example, you lower your dose to 5-10mg and stabilize at that dose for awhile (you want to be stable at this dose because you're about to be spreading it over 48 hours instead of 24), and then skip as many days as you can and not feel horrible. I suggest one day here and there, followed by every other day, and then eventually every third day at the lowest dose you will be taking before dropping off completely. I highly recommend you doing this (skipping days) over the last period of the taper because it allows your body to adjust to not having methadone given to it daily before you make the drop off completely. The withdrawals are very drawn out from methadone because of the pharmacology and the long half-life, in particular, but this allows much of the withdrawing to be done during the taper, especially during that skipping days portion I describe at the end.

Good luck, and be sure to ask any more questions you may have!

 

[Pegasus]

I've never nodded from methadone - I work a 40 hr week and have gotten myself down to 36mg and dropping. My BF is in the program with me and he is up to 90mg and he sometimes looks a little fucked up mid-afternoon, but for the most part, methadone doesn't have a negative affect on people who use it properly. MY BF has put on a lot of weight since he started taking it. Have you found yourself gaining weight with your sweet tooth, could it be the weed making you snack?

A lot of people get the sweet tooth side effect from opiates... Completely normal!

 

[donnie080208]

according to the methadone briefing papers (available online ), which are given to u.k. drug workers 50mg is the min. amount neeed to overdose for a healthy non- tolerant adult (if taken alone). I think 10mg is way too low for most NT person to get a reasonable high and the overdose potential is over stated by many (unless mixed with other resp. depressents benzo's etc..). methadone is a fairly safe drug for tolerant users also , i know many icl. me who have taken triple their normal maint. dose, with no ill effects