Opioids Am I ridiculous? Plan for Methadone Detox.

[Orchidoveride]

So! This is my very first time posting up here, although this site and you bluelightees have indirectly aided and assisted me in answering many questions that my real world peeps would bitch slap a princess for. This time I really needed to get some proper feedback for a specific issue...... Here's whats up:
I've been on EVERYTHING all my life. Mainly OPIATES. I'm an IV user of heroin, carfy, dilaudid, and whatever else will ease the sick if I'm on a particular bad run. I've had long stints on Suboxone and Methadone. I have literally never been clean EXCEPT while in jail. I have been to rehab a bunch. I'm a soldier to this gruesome game and I am so effing SICK of it.
To make a long one littler, I have spent the last 5 years with the best man I've ever known, and the patience he has shown in all of this is heart wrenching. Aaaaaaaaahhhhh, the damage an addict can do..... He had given me one more chance and I had been a pansy about 'the sick'. We were new to the area and while out buying immodium I discovered a treatment center was just 10 min away from our house, and so got on the methadone clinic behind his back. People ask me at the clinic, "how have you been here for a year and a half without him knowing?" How cunning an addict can be.... Once again. Heart wrenching.
I'm SICK of this LIE. There is no question I'll lose everything if I don't claw my way out of this. I obviously cant be sick for a month at home. I'm lucky enough right now with my mental health issues and covid, my horticulture business is dormant, so I have TIME. What I'm wondering, is if I get off of methadone, and run the dope game conscientiously for 4-5 days, can I run through a quick 10 day suboxone detox? Would it take longer for the methadone to leave my system than that? This idea came from a method used on me in 2012 to bounce from methadone to suboxone. I was given 10 30 mg oxy per day for 4 days, 5 on the last day, then 12 hours w/o and I was clear for bupe. Cheaper method would be H, and what if I didn't stay on the subs? Has anyone tried this? Does anyone have any input?
I know the best answer is HONESTY. I'm looking for ways to kick that are as quiet and comfortable as possible. Im worried as HELL about the long acting opiod factor here. Thanks guys.

 

[JessFR]

Well, to answer your question, it probably takes a couple of weeks for methadone to properly leave your system.

If I understand what you're asking, you're asking if you can switch to a short acting opioid, let the methadone leave your system, and then let the short acting opioid wear off so you can switch to subuxone, and then taper off it?

I think the logic makes sense, although if your goal is getting entirely off opioids, it might make more sense to taper down off methadone directly. Ooor, taper down methadone, then switch to a low dose short acting opioid for a short period of time to let the methadone leave your system, then jump straight off that.

If I may ask, is there a reason you need to get off methadone at the moment? What I mean is, is there a reason you can't tell your guy that you're on it?

I ask because, what you describe sounds a lot like where I was some years back. I had a relationship of 5 years, and my actions in my addiction wound up causing it to fall apart, just like you fear. About a year after that I managed to get off heroin, but only by switching to methadone. And it has improved my life immeasurably.

I truly believe that I'd never have been able to get off and stay off heroin otherwise. I think that even if I'd tried, I'd still have ended up with the same outcome. But if I had managed to get on a proper dose of methadone at the time, and I'd been in the right frame of mind, perhaps it might have been avoided.

I'm not you, you're not me. I don't wanna recommend an option for you just because I think it was right for me.

It's just that I've seen a lot more people remain stable of methadone or subuxone, than remain stable entirely clean.

Opioid replacement therapy is by no means an ideal solution I know. I just don't want you to wind up with the outcome I did.

Good luck with whatever road you choose.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Trying to get off methadone by switching back to heroin is doomed to failure IME. There's a reason that a long acting opioid is used as a heroin substitute - it provides stability by dosing just once a day. As Jess said, your best bet is to stick with the methadone and do a slow taper. It works. But you have to be disciplined and not use any other opiates/opioids on top - this will only delay the process and risk making things even worse.

Good luck...

 

[tacodude]

Will they really be disappointed you went on methadone? It's not like you did it to abuse, but because you knew you wouldn't better stable without and at least this prevented you from using something on the street as well as it gave you much needed stability. Unless you want to do an extremely slow ween where you'll likely need to split dose at lower doses to not get sick during the day.

Can you possibly talk to him and approach him acknowledging that while you needed to do this for recovery you knew that hiding it was wrong, but was not sure or ready how to come foward fearing you'd lose what was so special to you yet also acknowledge that you realise that the battle to get off completely is not something you should do alone even if you could as it wouldn't just be difficult to hide your sickness, but unfair, and you'd rather let him know so he can be the support you will definitely need especially in the beginning after hoping off completely. Like would he really be upset if you asked him to support your recovery? To keep an eye out for relapse that drug counselor don't have enough opportunity to catch? To tell you that you're strong enough when the human condition tells you that you're not?

If he isn't understanding then he honestly might not be the right guy... I mean upset and disappointed is one thing, but if your goal is stability and recovery rather then escaping and getting high then there's no reason he shouldn't be supportive especially after developing such rapport with you.

 

[Nicocastillo7]

I was also ashamed to tell my mother about my relapse a few days ago, I thought she would be mad at me because i had been clean for 2 weeks, and I did tramadol, oxy and morphine again after my birthday, I was very embarrassed to confess, but I did , and it was much better than continuing to hide that I was taking oral morphine all day to avoid getting sick, even some days I could not get meds and you could tell that I was abstinence, she noticed it but I refused and said it was a simple flu maybe It was much better to be honest with her, now she is giving me methadone in the correct dose and she does not judge me for having relapsed, if that person really loves you, she would not judge you, much less get mad at you

 

[Etterwonde]

Honesty works best, in my experience. I have a 100% honest bond with my mother and I'll tell her when I have relapsed. She supports me because she knows I want to get off of the Methadone as well, ultimately.

I am currently going to try the same route (was on Methadone for about two months, will try to switch to a shorter acting Opioid, and then go from there; although I might opt for Kratom instead of Suboxone). The reason I want off of the Methadone, is because I get chest pains and shit from that stuff, and it also makes my already severe apnea even worse...

Also, it's good that you feel guilt. You should. You have lied to the guy for a long time (even if it was to stay off of the dope). But I won't judge. A lot of the people here are addicts who can relate to a certain extent...

Good luck!

 

[tacodude]

Hell my parents buy 35$ a day worth of the local garbage bay area BTH (about 0.7 g) to use to manage pain they know I utalize IV because I've made every effort to pursue methadone, suboxone, detox, etc only stabalizing with a proper regimen and actual pain treatment mainly massage therapy and physical therapy that none of the above treatment provides and due to the "opioid epidemic" I'm never provided a proper pain managenent regimen even if I detox and provide clean urine. Now I'm not happy this is my situation even though I'm greatful they understand, but my point is that honesty can go a long way in making a difference.

 

[G_Chem]

Hell my parents buy 35$ a day worth of the local garbage bay area BTH (about 0.7 g) to use to manage pain they know I utalize IV because I've made every effort to pursue methadone, suboxone, detox, etc only stabalizing with a proper regimen and actual pain treatment mainly massage therapy and physical therapy that none of the above treatment provides and due to the "opioid epidemic" I'm never provided a proper pain managenent regimen even if I detox and provide clean urine. Now I'm not happy this is my situation even though I'm greatful they understand, but my point is that honesty can go a long way in making a difference.

Interesting that your parents are so accepting of you managing your pain with IV heroin. I think folks might argue there’s other ways that may be better, such as at least not IV use, but I can still understand it.

With that .7g how much is that in terms of doses? How long have you been using heroin in this way for pain management? I’m curious to know more details.

-GC

 

[Orchidoveride]

Thanks for your thoughts Jess.
When I met my fiance, he was fresh out of rehab for meth, and had been hooked to the rush of the life mostly I think. When things went badly, he was pragmatic. He took care of it, like a pest problem. We were together for about 6 months when he told me he wanted zero drugs in his life. He HAD told me that before, but I had interpreted it as in, illegal drugs, and he had never specified. At that time, I had abstained from any illegal drugs, and was prescribed suboxone, Ativan, and Adderall. So he went to pushing me hard to get off. So it went for years, until I broke. I was down from 3 8mg strips/day to 1/4 strip/day. I wound up falling off hard. There was a series of "never again or I'm gone"s and then he moved far away. I stopped, got sick, followed him, still sick, found the clinic....

I'm a monster.

After writing this and reading some of the comments though, I do realize dope isn't the way to go.

Well, to answer your question, it probably takes a couple of weeks for methadone to properly leave your system.

If I understand what you're asking, you're asking if you can switch to a short acting opioid, let the methadone leave your system, and then let the short acting opioid wear off so you can switch to subuxone, and then taper off it?

I think the logic makes sense, although if your goal is getting entirely off opioids, it might make more sense to taper down off methadone directly. Ooor, taper down methadone, then switch to a low dose short acting opioid for a short period of time to let the methadone leave your system, then jump straight off that.

If I may ask, is there a reason you need to get off methadone at the moment? What I mean is, is there a reason you can't tell your guy that you're on it?

I ask because, what you describe sounds a lot like where I was some years back. I had a relationship of 5 years, and my actions in my addiction wound up causing it to fall apart, just like you fear. About a year after that I managed to get off heroin, but only by switching to methadone. And it has improved my life immeasurably.

I truly believe that I'd never have been able to get off and stay off heroin otherwise. I think that even if I'd tried, I'd still have ended up with the same outcome. But if I had managed to get on a proper dose of methadone at the time, and I'd been in the right frame of mind, perhaps it might have been avoided.

I'm not you, you're not me. I don't wanna recommend an option for you just because I think it was right for me.

It's just that I've seen a lot more people remain stable of methadone or subuxone, than remain stable entirely clean.

Opioid replacement therapy is by no means an ideal solution I know. I just don't want you to wind up with the outcome I did.

Good luck with whatever road you choose.

Well, to answer your question, it probably takes a couple of weeks for methadone to properly leave your system.

If I understand what you're asking, you're asking if you can switch to a short acting opioid, let the methadone leave your system, and then let the short acting opioid wear off so you can switch to subuxone, and then taper off it?

I think the logic makes sense, although if your goal is getting entirely off opioids, it might make more sense to taper down off methadone directly. Ooor, taper down methadone, then switch to a low dose short acting opioid for a short period of time to let the methadone leave your system, then jump straight off that.

If I may ask, is there a reason you need to get off methadone at the moment? What I mean is, is there a reason you can't tell your guy that you're on it?

I ask because, what you describe sounds a lot like where I was some years back. I had a relationship of 5 years, and my actions in my addiction wound up causing it to fall apart, just like you fear. About a year after that I managed to get off heroin, but only by switching to methadone. And it has improved my life immeasurably.

I truly believe that I'd never have been able to get off and stay off heroin otherwise. I think that even if I'd tried, I'd still have ended up with the same outcome. But if I had managed to get on a proper dose of methadone at the time, and I'd been in the right frame of mind, perhaps it might have been avoided.

I'm not you, you're not me. I don't wanna recommend an option for you just because I think it was right for me.

It's just that I've seen a lot more people remain stable of methadone or subuxone, than remain stable entirely clean.

Opioid replacement therapy is by no means an ideal solution I know. I just don't want you to wind up with the outcome I did.

Good luck with whatever road you choose.

 

[Orchidoveride]

Wow, Thank you so much.
Just..... thank YOU.

Will they really be disappointed you went on methadone? It's not like you did it to abuse, but because you knew you wouldn't better stable without and at least this prevented you from using something on the street as well as it gave you much needed stability. Unless you want to do an extremely slow ween where you'll likely need to split dose at lower doses to not get sick during the day.

Can you possibly talk to him and approach him acknowledging that while you needed to do this for recovery you knew that hiding it was wrong, but was not sure or ready how to come foward fearing you'd lose what was so special to you yet also acknowledge that you realise that the battle to get off completely is not something you should do alone even if you could as it wouldn't just be difficult to hide your sickness, but unfair, and you'd rather let him know so he can be the support you will definitely need especially in the beginning after hoping off completely. Like would he really be upset if you asked him to support your recovery? To keep an eye out for relapse that drug counselor don't have enough opportunity to catch? To tell you that you're strong enough when the human condition tells you that you're not?

If he isn't understanding then he honestly might not be the right guy... I mean upset and disappointed is one thing, but if your goal is stability and recovery rather then escaping and getting high then there's no reason he shouldn't be supportive especially after developing such rapport with you.

 

[Ignio]

Do not use heroin between the two. As long as you have been tapering pretty hard on the methadone and have at least moderate withdrawal symptoms when you switch you should be through physical withdrawals 5 to 7 days at most after the switch.

I have done a taper starting at 120 mg Methadone removing 10 mg every week untilI reached 60 mg methadone then I waited another week and slowly added 2 mg Suboxone every half our until I reached 20 mg Suboxone.

But you need someone watching you during the switch. If your withdrawals are too mild you might getI very bad and need a doctor. But if you have the right amount of withdrawal very very few gets it bad enough to need a doctor. But do not be alone anyway the day you switch. And taper the methadone quickly in a dosage appropriate to the dose you have gotten used to.

 

[tacodude]

Interesting that your parents are so accepting of you managing your pain with IV heroin. I think folks might argue there’s other ways that may be better, such as at least not IV use, but I can still understand it.

With that .7g how much is that in terms of doses? How long have you been using heroin in this way for pain management? I’m curious to know more details.

-GC

That 0.7 obviously isn't pure to say the least. While something like poppy pod or seed tea would be a better option; financially and just in regards to preperation needs and limitations of my space IV heroin was the cheapest and easiest. Unfortunately I'm in the bay where the dope is 10%-20% pure at my best guess while I've heard someone say 40%, but I doubt it; and I'm worried they've gone back to cutting even the BTH with fent. I'm waiting for a gram of #3 I ordered off the darknet I can hopefully use nasally as well as ODSMT I want to use to ween off once I stabalize my daily life routine more, but it's a struggle especially with everything going on. To say the least it took a long time to get to this point I wish it never had to get to

Edit: You're not a monster Orchidoveride... You're human. There's nothing wrong with struggling. I think he'll see the difference between using methadone for maintenance and recovery vs your old poly substance script between the most abused substances including the very risky opiod and benzo combination. Again... If they can't see that and your need for support they're not right for you. They might also just not be ready to be supportive needing to take care of themselves and might ask for space so don't hold it against them if that's the case as they're in recovery too. Just be patient and understanding and they should do the same if they really care about you.