HELP!! My methadone clinic is trying to kill me!

[king bee]

go to a pain doctor and ask for methadone for pain management. most people i know get 90-120mgs a day, which only costs about $50 at most pharmacies btw. the doctor bill is usually $100-200 a month, plus $25-40 for your monthly urine test. depends which one you go to.

there are also doctors who are registered 'addiction specialists' (suboxone doctors)

when methadone is prescribed as treatment for addiction, the dea limits your prescribed dose to 40mgs a day. when its prescribed for pain, you get as much as you need.

10mg methadone tablets is probably the most widely available pharm on the street btw. very cheap too.

 

[The Hebrew Hammer]

Just be thankful that you have the OPTION to go to that clinic man.

If things were really that much worse than being on dope, why not just switch back to dope?

I have been on MMT before and know that you can change your dose lower any time you want, simply by asking your counselor the day before, or by not drinking all of the methadone they give you in your cup.

But seriously, its not that bad, they dont MAKE you do all that stuff. They require you to abbide by rules in order to have access to their service.

They arent evil mate, certainly not trying to kill you.

And if they are, stop going.

 

[slackboxed]

Hebrew hammer, I wish I could stop going. I would if I could but my body is so chemically dependant on methadone that if I don't get dosed within 24-36hrs of my last dose it could be fatal. Heart arthmia, stroke even seizures could come from this shit. It's definitely not safe to just not go.

As I said earlier, the only other clinic nearby is an extra 45minute drive eachway. That's if there's no traffic but ask any New Yorker and they'll tell you about their monday-friday commute, especially if they drive.

My probation officer has made methadone part of my drug treatment plan which is why that woman is telling me it's not a priority to get me off of methadone. My clinic does weekly dose changes, not daily. You gotta submit a dose change during the week and then on a Tuesday they submit it and it changes on a weds. If its not the correct dose, forget it you're stuck like that for a week.

I get drug tested by the methadone clinic, my drug class, my probation officer and occasionally my probation officer's lackey so getting back onto heroin doesn't seem possible. My criminal possession charge was for alprazolam so that could be another factor everyone is refusing to help me with any sort of medication.

king bee: I was under the impression that pain management clinics will not provide methadone to clinic patients or anyone thats not in some kind of medical crisis. I didn't think they gave that shit to junkies like me

 

[jstudly07]

Bup?

Okay, I'm confused here isn't Methadone Bupephorphine the same thing you are talking about I'm on 140mg and they detoxed me to 80mg when they detected ambien in my system on a urine test, and i felt like I was going to die then, but if there is another drug besides Methadone(Bupephorphine) I'd love to know.

same problem with me , i was in a closed clinic goiin off heroin with methadone , reucing the dose every day.....i took my dose at about 8 in the morning , at 9pm i get withdrawl......methadone sucks , in my opinion bupe is best , because with bupe i dint even feel the reducin until 2mg and less , and that from 16mg at the start. meaning from 16 to 2mg in 2 weeks i felt no withdrawl!! first symptoms appearing after 2mgs and less....

 

[nerozero]

Methadone is methadone, buprenorphine is buprenorphine. They are completely different compounds.

 

[OXYChopper]

I've had catscans, I've had bloodwork done, i've had xrays. Every fucking test in the book at that hospital. The clinic has all my records. They know every single time i've been sick, other than getting dosed with methadone I am as healthy as an ox. There's no way I'd have something wrong with me within weeks of a cat scan or blood work, especially when things have been going like this, and they even know im going through this.

I feel their practices are unprofessional, and possibly criminal but how the fuck could I ever prove that? It is the methadone clinic's word against the word of a methadone junkie that THEY got hooked.

EDIT:

Wouldn't a potentiator also do more harm than good? When I was smoking weed on methadone, it intensified the methadone but it also intensified the next morning withdraw symptoms by a lot.

Also, I'm not really looking for support and hugs. I was really looking for people who know more about methadone than me because as anyone can tell from this thread im getting to the end of my ropes here. this daily sick shit has to stop

ok this is bad seems like your living in a hell that never burns but always blistering, when i was comin off my HEROin i did it with a friend he went methodone and i went subs

he is still an addict

im not

you need to find some pros that care and can relate
not these drug dealers in lab coats

i mean at this point i would not even care what was makin me better subs or done
but is obvious there jerkin you around cause your not a person in there eyes your a junkie that is tryin to get high and i can tell that your super intent on kickin this fuckin crap, but the way they are treating you...it seems like they would relize that making you go threw hell for over a year might make you loose hope of ever quitting and relapse would be INEVITABLE

you are stronger than me i wouldnt have kept up this dog and pony show that has cost you over 20k
see someone else you gotta, anything other advise is wasted type

 

[John_Burrows]

Am I the only one who thinks this story sounds a little, um embellished?

You have to walk around with a plastic because you're puking every couple of seconds?

You're visibly sick and in distress and all anyone does is tell you to fuck off and go someplace else?

I have a feeling there are parts of this story we're not hearing...

 

[Nightlites]

Yup. New clinic or get on subs.

Pretty much your choices there.

Or continue going to the original clinic/ ER...

I'm not sure if you have tried subs before, but I was doin 10-15 bags a day and 4 mgs holds me with zero withdrawls whatsoever...

And I just started on them 2 weeks ago, haven't tapered down any.

So 2 when I wake up and 2 before I goto sleep and I'm a happy campa...

 

[slackboxed]

Am I the only one who thinks this story sounds a little, um embellished?

You have to walk around with a plastic because you're puking every couple of seconds?

You're visibly sick and in distress and all anyone does is tell you to fuck off and go someplace else?

I have a feeling there are parts of this story we're not hearing...

I wish. The only part of the story I can say was embellished a little was the fact that im sick ALL the time. There are a few hours a day where I am fine, probably right after i get dosed till around 11am so figure three to four hours a day where I am not feeling like someone is taking a knife and removing my organs from my stomach. I've been on this narcotic for over a year, taking a high dose EVERY SINGLE DAY. No shit im going to react like this after that much methadone. Evey morning I walk in there after throwing up and sweating my balls off. They dose me and within seconds I feel better. It doesn't last that long anymore though.

My doctor has told me that any methadone-related illness needs to be dealt with by the methadone clinic. The clinic has told me that by law the methadone doctor can only prescribe methadone. If I go into the clinic throwing up and they see me throw up, they won't dose me with methadone. They'll actually tell me to take a hike and go to a hospital. The Emergency Room has treated me so many freaken times for this methadone-related illness. Now they won't touch me. They won't even give me an IV for fluids. They have told me that I need to get to a primary physician to treat me for tis daily problem. Going to the ER is also VERY expensive since I don't have health insurance. This shit is costing me between $3,000USD and $7,000USD depending on the tests they do PER VISIT to the ER. I've been to the ER twice in the last week. This is so sick and disgusting the way they are treating me.

I don't know WTF im going to do. It's looking like im going to wait until im off probation to get treated with Ibogaine. I think im on too much methadone to even try suboxone or subutex yet. I'll keep you guys posted. I've been lowering my dose 1-2mgs every other week. there's an inpatient rehab in my city that requires you to be on at most 45mgs of methadone before they allow you to enter the program.

I need help guys. I live in NY. anyone that knows anything about methadone up here please I need some guidance or a plan or just point me in the right direction. I don't know what to do if nobody can tell me =[

 

[Foul Play]

I hate to say it, but you're not doing yourself any favors by going to that clinic every day.
The way I see it, you have few options.

- Switch to another, more liberal (and probably private, and more costly) clinic. That might mean a 2 hour drive each way.

- Find methadone on the street, and hope you can find enough.

- Switch to buprenorphine.

- Continue the path your on, and pray for the best.

- Contine the path your on, finish your probation, and go back to using.

If I were in your shoes, I'd switch to bupe. Since bupe will allow you to dose when you want, you would solve many of your problems. The only problem with bupe is getting your tolerance down to a level that will hold you, and allowing your body to adjust to it. I'd find a doctor who is willing to understand the situation, and prescribe you a strong short acting opioid for a week or two to allow you to make the transition easier. This is easier said than done because it's not technically legal. It's possible, but it will take finding the right doctor.

 

[dokomo]

I hate to say it, but you're not doing yourself any favors by going to that clinic every day.
The way I see it, you have few options.

- Switch to another, more liberal (and probably private, and more costly) clinic. That might mean a 2 hour drive each way.

- Find methadone on the street, and hope you can find enough.

- Switch to buprenorphine.

- Continue the path your on, and pray for the best.

- Contine the path your on, finish your probation, and go back to using.

If I were in your shoes, I'd switch to bupe. Since bupe will allow you to dose when you want, you would solve many of your problems. The only problem with bupe is getting your tolerance down to a level that will hold you, and allowing your body to adjust to it. I'd find a doctor who is willing to understand the situation, and prescribe you a strong short acting opioid for a week or two to allow you to make the transition easier. This is easier said than done because it's not technically legal. It's possible, but it will take finding the right doctor.

This pretty much sums up your options.

I think this thread has pretty much ran its course, and it wasn't honestly OD material to begin with. I'd highly recommend checking out The Dark Side for support, encouragement and experience There are a lot of great contributors there who have been through difficult times, as you're experiencing now.