Opioids Can you usually feel your methadone kick in while you're on maintenance?

[Bomb319]

I know that the majority of people on MMT feel "normal" when they take their dose; that is there's no discernable high as there is with heroin or oxy, etc. at least not after tolerance has developed and your dose is correct.

I've been on MMT for about 3 months now (150 mg now but worked up to that every couple weeks or so), and when I take my dose in the morning (especially on an empty stomach), I do feel a fairly strong euphoria perhaps equivalent to taking 4-5 Percocet back when I had no tolerance. It also gives me a boost of energy and good mood, so I feel like going out and doing stuff whereas I didn't just prior to dosing. These effects kick in about 40-60 min after I dose, and often are accompanied by drowsiness which can be strong enough for me to want to sleep, particularly if I slept poorly the night before.

Anyway, I do feel "high" from it in that sense. It's hard to describe. It's not a rush of course like heroin, but it feels good, like sinking into a warm bath, and theres a sort of hard to describe "sweetness" about the feeling and high. If I'm sedentary, I can normally feel this for a few hours after my dose. After that, I still feel better/normal, but it's harder to discern other than a pervasive itching which seems to develop throughout the day and particularly toward evening. I also can strongly feel the dose in my arms and legs in waves. Again it's hard to describe, but it's a good, relaxing feeling that is roughly opposite to RLS.

Even though I know this dose is high, I've been taking methadone long enough now to have tolerance to any real euphoria, I would have thought. Is it normal to still be feeling this good from it? I'm a very fast metabolizer too - even at 150 mg, after about 22-24 hours I will start feeling quite crappy, yawn a lot, teary eyes and even have sneezing fits, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Although I very rarely use anymore (VERY THANKFULLY I don't feel the need to, which is a godsend and makes me thrilled - I never thought in a million years I'd be able to refuse a shot) when I do have as little as a HALF POINT of extremely pure heroin, I do indeed feel the rush and lingering effect, which I was certain would be impossible with 150 mg methadone daily and such a small amount of H. Thoughts? Would it perhaps be prudent to try and decrease my dose while it wouldn't be as detrimental, or are these effects fairly typical and some people just tend to become "higher" on methadone more than others?

 

[The Doc.]

Lots of people get really high on methadone and actually end up enjoying it even more than heroin. I've seen a few threads started by people saying they get higher on methadone than on heroin..

 

[Bomb319]

Well everything I read before I started said that methadone just makes you feel normal, and if you do get euphoria from it, it will go away once you've been on the program for a couple months since daily dosing will build tolerance to these effects. Everyone on these forums seems to say that too.

But yes, I do enjoy the feeling of methadone just as much, if not sometimes more so than heroin. First of all I never have to worry about missing. Second, heroin purity and quality vary widely and it's often super expensive and/or hard to find. Although I did and do always somewhat enjoy the ritualized behavior involving the needle, getting money, seeking it out and doing it, methadone makes me feel good enough and without worrying about missing, that I can more or less forget about using. Only the highest quality heroin lets me feel any effects, and they are much shorter lived than they would be if I wasn't on the done of course. Like I said though, I still find it strange that a bit under a point can still affect me, as I was told a dose of meth that high (150) would certainly block pretty much any opiate I did, let alone just 0.1 g of it. What I really want to know is if this feeling is likely to last now that I've been on MMT for nearly 3 months, or if it too will fade. Feeling this does have a lot to do with how successful I am at avoiding H, obviously. A bit of a high makes me feel like the H is no longer needed, while if I just felt normal I'm sure the desire to get high would creep up again...

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Depends on what dose you're at. Lots of people are idiots on methadone, and keep upping their dose, chasing a high, and they just nod out and sleep all day.

But, it's normal to feel a slight euphoria after you first dose, that lasts for a few hours. But, you shouldn't be loaded, ya know? If you're nodding off and shit, you're on too high of a dose.

 

[tricomb]

I do, but I keep my dose way lower than most, I don't let myself get hooked on more than 40mg methadone at at time and usually am using it for rapid detox, but I've used it for "maintenance" for chronic pain in extended time periods at varying doses and the higher the dose, the less you notice it kicking in, and the more it becomes a going from being extremely dope sick, craving your DOC, tossing and turning until you get your next methadose. Crawling back to the clinic.

I always feel mine kick in via the tablets orally and/or rectal administration, they kick in very fast for those who aren't acute users of it, which is when it tends to take like, up to 1.5-2 hours to reach the first wave.

 

[Niksput]

Check my thread, it may interest you:

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads...und-a-way-to-beat-the-slow-onset-of-methadone

 

[Bomb319]

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate your thoughts and input.

I just dosed an hour or so ago, and again I am really quite euphoric. It's not like I'm nodding per se, or even tired. I just feel a creeping but powerful good feeling that's almost "sweet" although I know that's not the best term to use. It's just hard to describe. You know how all opiate highs are not created equal? Sometimes if you have no tolerance and use fairly shitty dope, you feel it but the high isn't that good. Then other times, you get really strong and clean dope which even though you feel the same way as the other, the actual subjective feeling of it is so much better. I don't know why it's so hard to describe, but that's what the 'done does for me. I have a clean, good feeling euphoria that's hard to get with weaker pills or lousy dope. It really helps me stop using H, so I really hope I don't end up building permanent tolerance to this altogether. I won't increase my dose any more, even though since I'm a rapid metabolizer, I do feel somewhat sick when I approach 24 hours since last dose. Well, sick being relative...I mean yawning, fairly lethargic and sometimes even some sneezing fits. Nothing NEAR as bad as it would be after another couple days, or being dopesick. You tend to get spoiled with this I find, in the sense that you don't want to experience any WD ever again, and are more sensitive to even slight symptoms.

Do you guys know what I mean though when I try to describe the type of euphoria it gives? It's like breathing out a sweet sugary rush almost, combined with sinking into a warm bath.

 

[Pill__Head]

Man, all I can say is I wish my methadone did that. Im currently at 70mgs, and this seems to do like, nothing for me in the sense of getting high, or even making me " better " throughout the entire day, im basically withdrawing everyday, man my DRs suck.

I even double my dose some days, will eat 140-150mgs, and this will keep my withdrawling for the day, but I feel almost nothing in the sense of an 'opiate high'. I could eat sugar pills and get the same high.

IDK what's wrong with my body, but I have suchh a high tolerence to every damn substance on this earth it seems....sigh..

 

[fizzymk]

I know that the majority of people on MMT feel "normal" when they take their dose; that is there's no discernable high as there is with heroin or oxy, etc. at least not after tolerance has developed and your dose is correct.

I've been on MMT for about 3 months now (150 mg now but worked up to that every couple weeks or so), and when I take my dose in the morning (especially on an empty stomach), I do feel a fairly strong euphoria perhaps equivalent to taking 4-5 Percocet back when I had no tolerance. It also gives me a boost of energy and good mood, so I feel like going out and doing stuff whereas I didn't just prior to dosing. These effects kick in about 40-60 min after I dose, and often are accompanied by drowsiness which can be strong enough for me to want to sleep, particularly if I slept poorly the night before.

Anyway, I do feel "high" from it in that sense. It's hard to describe. It's not a rush of course like heroin, but it feels good, like sinking into a warm bath, and theres a sort of hard to describe "sweetness" about the feeling and high. If I'm sedentary, I can normally feel this for a few hours after my dose. After that, I still feel better/normal, but it's harder to discern other than a pervasive itching which seems to develop throughout the day and particularly toward evening. I also can strongly feel the dose in my arms and legs in waves. Again it's hard to describe, but it's a good, relaxing feeling that is roughly opposite to RLS.

Even though I know this dose is high, I've been taking methadone long enough now to have tolerance to any real euphoria, I would have thought. Is it normal to still be feeling this good from it? I'm a very fast metabolizer too - even at 150 mg, after about 22-24 hours I will start feeling quite crappy, yawn a lot, teary eyes and even have sneezing fits, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Although I very rarely use anymore (VERY THANKFULLY I don't feel the need to, which is a godsend and makes me thrilled - I never thought in a million years I'd be able to refuse a shot) when I do have as little as a HALF POINT of extremely pure heroin, I do indeed feel the rush and lingering effect, which I was certain would be impossible with 150 mg methadone daily and such a small amount of H. Thoughts? Would it perhaps be prudent to try and decrease my dose while it wouldn't be as detrimental, or are these effects fairly typical and some people just tend to become "higher" on methadone more than others?

Yep, Ive been on methadone for years and still get the feelings you mentioned, It does put you in a good mood, makes you want to go out, gives you that everything is good and fine feeling (even if its really not).

I get a script for done, but I abuse it and take too much, (to feel better), and when I run out, I have to wait a few days for the meth to run its course then I use H in between the times before I can refill my script.

Kinda weird, when Im on the methadone, I like it, but when I start doing the H each month, I then prefer that to the methadone,since its generally a better high, but if I had to choose, Id take the methadone, but only because of the cost of H every day.

I will say though, methadone withdrawls are the WORST thing I have ever felt....they are really really bad and last for loooong time, so point is, if you have them....MAKE THEM LAST AND DO NOT RUN OUT!!! I try telling myself that every month but as soon as I get a full pill bottle, Im like a kid in a candy store! LOL

I pay $25 to get my methadone script filled, so compared to H, thats a real fucking bargain!

 

[Bomb319]

Well I know that you're supposed to feel "normal" as in not dopesick, but not high from methadone which helps you get a normal life again. However, to truly take away the cravings for H, you would think that most people get SOMETHING from the meth, otherwise simply feeling normal would likely cause a desire to feel the opiate high again at some point, would it not? I know that for me personally, it would me much harder to not use if I didn't feel what I do with the meth. As it is though, the feeling I get when my dose first starts to kick in is at least as good as fairly good quality H, and perhaps better when you take into account the fact that I don't have to shoot (and often miss), pay a ton of money, and most importantly of all, know I get it EVERY DAY. That is by far the best part of it all for me. I went through such hell for years when I would start to feel withdrawal, know I had no money, do whatever it takes to get it despite feeling like shit, wait for connect to load or be free, often spend hours trying to meet connect, have to find public bathroom to sketchily try and hit a hundred times, instantly feel better and have no cares in the world, run out again that night, and repeat. For years. So.fucking.horrible.

As I said, I have no cravings to speak of for other opiates on my meth dose. If there happens to be very good dope around and I have money for it anyway (and easy quick connect) then I might buy a bit. I still do feel it if it's good, just not as long, and no sense of urgency or sickness if I don't. In fact, I prefer NOT using because if I do that for a day or two, the meth will not be as effective for the next couple of days. This way the meth alone hits me perfectly well. I'm even starting to have dreams of being out and not being able to get my meth, or running out etc. Basically the same as dope dreams when I'm quitting. That's probably because as I sleep, my dose is wearing off and I have the lowest blood levels of it all day while I'm sleeping.

What's significantly worse is that I've developed a habit of buying coke (crack) to fill the void left by seeking and scoring, and because I can feel it. I have nowhere NEAR the affinity for coke as I do for opiates, so it's not quite as catastrophic, however I recognize that it's a bad habit, costs me money I need to be saving, and all in all halts my progress. If I don't have access to it however, I'm not sick like I would be with dope, so it's a different beast. But still, I really need to stop buying any drugs whatsoever, start paying back my debts and saving money. I need to work, and/or have goals in life so I'm not sitting around bored, and finding ways to score a drug I don't even really like that much.

 

[RoboRobot]

I had the same feeling for awhile. I was on my methadone program about a year. I was taking 120 mg, but like most places, they started me at 30mg and raised me 10mg a day until I felt fully well for 24hrs.
I loved getting up at 4:30 and getting my dose, and i am NOT a morning person.
After, Id be in a productive mood and make music.
I also got a great job.

Of course, the feeling didnt last all day, but it was still a "content" feeling.
Though its expected, once us opiate addicts get a decent dose in us, that we feel "better" because we just went from "low" to "normal."
Regardless, methadone is a strong opiate, so it DOES make sense. Just no rush.

After about 3 months or so (not sure on the exact time,) after I was done raising my dose and was stable on 120mg for a couple months, it stopped having that effect so much. i STILL enjoyed taking my dose, gave me a nice productive skip in my step, if not just for staying well and flooding my brain with mu-agonists, but I really wasn't getting much of a change in perception at all, if not maybe just placebo. Not like at the beginning. Id feel normal.
The good thing about that was then I was able to start titrating my dose lower, so I could one day get off or not be so physically dependent, without "fear" of losing that "good" feeling.

I hate talking about this as I just went to TWO clinics this week for intake and had complications, i have no idea how Im gonna wait this weekend with no money no opiates. finally on insurance so I dont have to come up with money outta pocket, I NEEDA GET DOSED! (sorry for off-topic)

also, once my tolerance was considerably lower and I wasnt using methadone maintenance every day, I felt a nice buzz of it, just like any opiate naive or someone not used to methadone.

 

[Bomb319]

^^^

Why not make some seed tea, or if just wanting to not be sick, Loperamide? Always worked for me in the pre-meth days.

I suppose when my tolerance does peak in the coming months, once I get take-homes, I can self-titrate lower so that I have a little extra once or twice a week in addition to lowering my tolerance. I don't wanna fool around with it TOO much since I really do want to stay in the program to stop using, but at the same time I can't imagine never getting buzzed again, ya know?