Opioids Quitting Methadone

[8L4YN3]

Hello guys.
This is an open call to anyone who has some worthy answers for my questions.

I've been at 110mg of methadone daily for about 4.5 months now. I want to begin the long journey of reducing and getting off of opioids completely eventually very soon, but i know this isnt going to be some easy feat. But possible, easily possible.

My basic plan is to follow a slow reduction plan of 5-10mg reduction per month, maybe more maybe less, depending on how i react to that, havn't really thought much about that as i dont even know what to expect from reducing my dose 10mg or whatever. However, the plan is to taper right down to 20mg methadone daily, then at this point i would take 3-4 days off methadone, or however long it takes to be sick enough, and then start buprenorphine at the lowest dose that will hold me.

My basic idea is that bupe has an easier withdrawal profile even at equipotent doses of methadone, so the idea is that i can use bupe to keep me well, while the methadone can now begin to leave my body once and for all. Then reducing the bupe as slowly as it takes..

The basic idea being taking a 110mg habit and turning it into a .5mg buprenorphine habit and then jump from that. Take a huge habit, slowly turn it into a much more managable addiction..

My only concern is that i might be prolonging the inevitable? What do you guys think? To my knowledge it will be much better switching over to bupe once i can, but obviously i dont want to make this harder for myself.

Thanks people.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I think you have a good plan.

I would start by decreasing your methadone dosage by 10mg until you need to decrease by 5mg instead. Then, get to as low as you can before going completely off of methadone.

Then, getting onto a lower dose of buprenorphine (possibly using a short acting full agonist as a half way point between the two ORT regimens) will be much easier to come off of completely.

I would plan to give yourself enough time on buprenorphine to be able to work through the methadone withdrawal comfortably, but also not so long as to gain an undesirable dependence on buprenorphine.

Try to evaluate at 1 month on buprenorphine, see if you can gradually lower your dose and come off of it. You might need more or less time depending on your individual unique biochemistry.

 

[jerlin09]

Deaths occur more frequently at the beginning of treatment in methadone programs; they are usually a cause of excessive doses (i.e. erroneously estimated tolerance) and they are affected by concomitant diseases (hepatitis, pneumonia). Methadone generally entails the entire spectrum of opioid side effects, including the development of tolerance and physical and psychological dependence. Respiratory depressions are dangerous. The released histamines can cause hypotension or bronchospasms. Other symptoms are: constipation, nausea or vomiting, sedation, vertigo, edema.


Drug Rehab

 

[8L4YN3]

^Yeah i'm very aware of all this, thanks for trying though. Almost seems like some automatic webbot thing...

Captain_Heroin the advice is much appreciated mate, thankyou.

 

[TheLostBoys]

If you dont mind me asking, what kind of opiate addiction did you have before starting the methadone or were you doing the methadone to get high?

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Yes, TAPER TApER TAPER ! I jumpedd off at 70mg daily for a long time. A long hard road it has been, Iregret it. Please taper it'll be so much easier.

 

[ollieideal]

u have a reasonable enough plan but if u can get down to 20m a days try getting df118'd or dhc slow release 120mg they r fucking ace 4 getting off meth

 

[mr. mudd]

^ what does it mean to be df118'd?

you have a reasonable plan, and it'll go very well for the first 50-70 mg for sure. after that I think you'll need to slow down. I was able to taper down from 120 to about 60 before it got to me. I got sick of every taper making me unable to sleep for a long time. so I started supplementing. bad. you'll probably be better off than me, though, and it's definitely worth a try.

if it gets to be too much I would try to jump onto sub from about 30-40 mg. stay at 2-4mg and hunker down. take a week off work, take a bag of baths. take two bags of baths. with epsom salts. by the end of the week you'll probably be sleeping enough to get by.

it's going to take a long time, but that's the deal we make when we opt for methadone and sub.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

DF118 is dihydrocodeine.

 

[8L4YN3]

If you dont mind me asking, what kind of opiate addiction did you have before starting the methadone or were you doing the methadone to get high?

codeine first off as a teenager at 15, then slowly slowly on pills here and there for a few years, had a little iv heroin habit, but to be honest, i think i got on way too much methadone, 110mg... See i didn't quite understand methadone, and assumed i could keep driving up my dose to retain this subtle glow i would feel.

I exaggerated everything, i remember i went to my doctor and got instantly prescribed 400mg oxy a day because i wanted off heroin and had 2 weeks wait before detox. Then in the clinic i exaggerated everything to get the highest dose i could believing i could feel mildly opiated daily, but of course it dosn't feel like this at all after a few months on any dose of methadone.

Methadone is a great drug, but it is very very serious. And i don't think it should even be used for people who arent chronic longterm addicts. Like i've heard of people going on methadone for oral oxycodone habits, like 150mg a day, small habits, or even like hydrocodone habits. And i think thats just very sad, i understand the difference between a pain patient switching their meds.

But yeah methadone aint no joke as i think we all know, but like it really should only be used by chronic addicts with no other realitic choice.

Though i believe in free access to drugs, so i dunno. I just wish the medicos had explained methadone to me, instead of just trying to scare me with lies which i debunked with my own research... And i read a million times about methadone, but it seems i had to be on it myself to realise what it's like.

Anyone who has a habit of any kind to opioids seriously dont just jump to longterm methadone or buprenorphine maintainence.

The worst thing about methadone for me is the underlying fear that some natural disaster could occur in my city disrupting my supply, and causing me to go cold turkey. I have had a couple borderline traumatic experiences when i drank too much methadone too early and had 4 days until i could dose, so it always sits in the back of my mind. Like i wonder about addicts in japan and shit. Or like in northern australia, queensland which was decimated by floodwaters and cyclone yasi, i know for a fact theres alot of opioid users there and i cant help but wonder you know...

I dont know if i could handle being dope sick with total chaos ensuing around me.

Anyways thanks for the advice guys.

Upon thinking about the plan more, i beleive this plan is okay like y'all do too. I will taper reletively slow as i'm not a hero, and i'm prepared to take a year + to do this so yeah, i'll judge how i feel and what pace i can go.

And like yeah like i said in the initial post there my main concern was that buprenorphine could be just extending my pain, though logically this didn't seem right to me, because obviously i could switch to buprenorphine, w/d's covered while methadone detoxes from my body, then i can continue to taper, and like the thing is that with buprenorphine i can taper down to a much lower overall dose of opioid than i could with methadone.

I mean even if i was switched to the 1mg/mL solution when i get down to 5mg or less(hypothetically of course if i wasnt going to use bupe), like whats the lowest realistic dose i can get 0.1mg, 0.1mL.... Thats really the lowest you can practically go, and bupe i can in theory taper down to a much lower level, actually i guess the methadone could always be diluted, so solutions are always best for dosing like this, but i think you guys would agree overall buprenorphine is alot better for the last part of quitting this habit.

Thanks guys, we have hands down the best forum here, fucking proud to be a part of it.

 

[affasd]

man I have thought the same thing(about not being able to get methadone, like if the economy collapses or some shit haha, I've even had a few dreams to where something happens and I can't get my methadone) I have been on 130mg for a few months, been on it for almost 6 months total now. And it has been amazing for me, I finally have control of my life back, I tried quitting with everything and even tried suboxone maintenance and nothing could keep me free of opiates, let alone other drugs. But with methadone I have been free of all drugs since a couple weeks into the program and even made me not want to smoke cigs anymore, and I finally have enough control over my life to be applying for jobs and I am going back to school in the fall. So far haven't got a job(been looking for bout 2 months) but have been getting interviews so I am hopeful of that, but either way I'm gettin back into school.

But yea I have thought extensively about how I am gonna get off with the least amount of misery possible even though I plan on staying on for at least about a year total so 6 months more before I start tapering and I have no problem taking a year to taper down, even though I have a long time to go I still have to have a plan because I know I can't stay on it forever as much as I would like to.

What I figured was similar to your plan, slowly slowly taper the methadone, than either switch to subuxone and taper that, or taper some shorter acting opiates like vicodin. Than after the suboxone or vicodin taper I may look into something like kratom or tramadol or codeine or immodium, then when I finally make the jump whether it be from the subs or vics or if I go the next step to kratom or immodium or codeine than I will have a shitload of clonidine, benzos, sleeping aids, vitamins and supplements, otc pain relievers and do anything else such as sit in a hot bath all day.

In fact I have always wondered if someone with a hot tub on here has ever quit opiates, I would think that sitting in the hot tub all day would make it a lot easier, maybe I will go to a hotel when the time comes lol.

and yea the suboxone is a good idea for sure for the reason you said and also because it is only a partial agonist so the overall withdrawal symptoms shouldn't be quite as bad. But the only fear I have of that is it also is a very long acting opiate like methadone, and I'm not sure whether it would be better to quit a low level sub habit or to go on the shorter acting opiates and have a shorter but more intense withdrawal, which is why I included maybe getting on vicodin or kratom or codeine at the end of my taper, all though when it comes down to it I will most likely just use the sub as it will be less hassle to get and like you said you can get down to crazy low doses on it.