I need advice from a professional

[Icomeforhelpty]

and when I say "professional" I mean anyone smarter than me (shouldn't be tough)

So for the last year and a half I've been taking opiates, I started taking them for knee pain and I just never quit. I loved getting high and becoming really talkative and it seemed like nothing else mattered. But honestly I never became heavily addicted - taking 30-40mg of hydro or Oxycodone on a good day and 50-70mg on a bad day. But when I would stop, I'd be sweating, my legs would hurt, I'd few very fatigued and sneezing constantly. Oh and angry and just down right mean to people, but then 12-24 hours later I'd find my high and be perfect again.

Well I got tired of being high and for the sake of being able to properly eat and deficate I decided to try to quit. For the past 2 weeks I've stopped using oxy and hydro and I started on methadone because I noticed that I didn't get high but for a lot less money/product I could take 10-15mg of methadone and feel no withdraws all day.. Now I'm on methadone, only 10mg a day can get me through.

Well now, I'm going somewhere for very hard physics labor for 3 months straight and I won't have anything available to me for 3 months. So I'll be going from taking a lot of hydro, oxy to taking small amounts of methadone for 2 weeks, down to hopefully 2.5-5mg a day and finally to NOTHING at all. I have 5 10mg meth left and I think I'm going to taper down to 5mg a day and then 10mg a day.

What's the best way to do this? What should I be expecting while I'm without? How long will those affects last?? Is it possible because I take so little of the methadone, I could just not have any withdraws physically??

Please help, thank you.

 

[Erikmen]

I think you could try to treat your addiction and not going straight to MMT. If you had a greater tolerance or perhaps after having tried to come off by yourself few times through some medical assistance, therapy, group support etc, fine but I believe it's a bit soon for that right now.

Addicts normally turn to methadone after having gone through tough situations, which involves higher amounts of opiates on top of previous failures when trying to quit. I see it as a last resort/ option when you have exhausted all other means to come off of opiates, heroin in a lot of cases. And also when your tolerance has already gone up to the roof.

Methadone tratment is often called liquid handcuffs as it's very difficult to quit and most people I know tend to take it for a life time. I suggest you try to get clean while you are still in the very beginning of what could potentially be a longterm addiction. I am speaking from my own experience. I only used methadone after a decade using very strong opiates. Due to my tolerance I was using simply too much - enough to OD everyday as I did eventually.

Methadone treatment may also increase your daily intake with time and it's the type of medication that stays in your blood stream for almost 72 hours, so when you quit the withdrawal may take much more than the usual 5-7 days which would be the case if you stop now.

I am sorry for the pessimist post but trust me you are better off coming out from you usual hydro, oxy 30-50 mg rather then coming come off methadone. Or worst, staying in methadone gradually in greater dosage for a long time. Even 10 mg could be difficult if you use it for a long period.

The good news is that you have never become a heavy user (your words) and your firts withdrawals won't be as intense. It will be short and accute. But we can help you with that. To be honest, I didn't even know they'd give you methadone considering your case.

I wish you you good luck. Feel free to send me a PM if you need more info r help.

 

[SunSpot]

Methadone tratment is often called liquid handcuffs as it's very difficult to quit and most people I know tend to take it for a life time. I suggest you try to get clean while you are still in the very beginning of what could potentially be a longterm addiction. I am speaking from my own experience. I only used methadone after a decade using very strong opiates. Due to my tolerance I was using simply too much - enough to OD everyday as I did eventually.

Methadone treatment may also increase your daily intake with time and it's the type of medication that stays in your blood stream for almost 72 hours, so when you quit the withdrawal may take much more than the usual 5-7 days which would be the case if you stop now.
.

^^^I'm with Erikmen in opinion, in fact I'd say jump off now, just go CT and never look back. Doesn't even matter if the (probably medium) WD will cause you to suck at that job. Just don't get drawn into opiates any further, especially the long acting ones. One tip: be prepared to sleep bad!

 

[Jabberwocky]

Erikmen gave spot on advice. If your goal is to get off the methadone, get yourself some gabapentin or pregabalin and clonidine, and it will make it way easier. But if you feel like you still love opioids, you really should continue on methadone, but make sure you are going to a good clinic with a strict structured program that will hold you accountable. We hard core junkies need to be held accountable, this much I have learned for sure. When I do my own thing I tend to crash and burn, and I am getting kind of tired of that, you know?

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Odds are, you'll have some mild withdrawal symptoms. The longer you're using, the worse they get.

Let us know when you're out and how it goes for you, be safe

 

[neversickanymore]

Just a heads up that methadone withdrawal does not start until like day 2.5. You should be through the acutes in ten to 14 days.

The hard physical labor will eventually be really good for your recovery. But initially your energy level may be low. Get some good vitamins and eat as well as you can.

You can do this. Your going to feel kinda rough for a bit, but that will pass.

As far as a taper I would drop down right away to the lowest dose you can deal with. Try five mgs per day.

For a methadone taper to work well we need to drop out dose one every two weeks. Given the limited amount you have I you obviously can't do this. So I would get as low as you can go.. maybe even try 3mg per day until you run out then just jump from there.

 

[Erikmen]

^ Absolutely.

Considering you've been talking 10mg that won't be as bad. I think you could try to stop the sonnest possible. The longer you use the harder it gets, but I still think that would be the best opportunity to do this. The perfect timing.

I am glad you decided to take this initiative now rather then later, your saving yourself a lot of trouble.
Even if you feel a bit lethargic during and after this, remember this is temporary and that you are living behind something that has a potential to make you stuck to MMT which I don't think is the case for you.

Keep us posted, and good luck!

 

[Jackson Smith]

I heard no mention of WHAT withdrawal symptoms, so be prepared for the big D (diahrrea) and nausea, plus the shakes. I would NOT recommend benzos (Klonopin/clonazepam or any other "azepams". They can be really tough to get off - particularly the clonazepam. I am a pharmacist, and, in trying to wean my pharmacist wife off it, she went back to drinking after a 20 year hiatus. I know CT is tough ,,,, but it doesn't create another problem!

 

[neversickanymore]

I would NOT recommend benzos (Klonopin/clonazepam or any other "azepams". They can be really tough to get off

This is very true trading an opiate addiction for a benzo one is not the way to go.

medications for acute opiate detox

The medications I would explore the use of for detox would be:
>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE< >here<
OR >Lyrica<
OR >phenibut<

>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol
Senokot S is a stool softener and laxative. If you do not want the laxative you can go for strait stool softenerDioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.

(Opi Withdrawal) what is the best comfort meds for opiate w/d?

Your Personal Opiate Withdrawal Arsenal

I am a pharmacist, and, in trying to wean my pharmacist wife off it, she went back to drinking after a 20 year hiatus.

Being a pharmacist im not sure how much you may learn from this but you might pick up something helpful

BENZODIAZEPINES: HOW THEY WORK AND HOW TO WITHDRAW (aka The Ashton Manual)

 

[SunSpot]

Neversick, you're a pharmacist? That's wonderful, not to get too far OT but what would you recommend for chronic high bp in an otherwise very healthy person? The bp is probably due to a scared kidney; drs gave me beta blockers which kinda worked, but caused side effects. Quitting opium has made it shoot sky high, though now it's 15 points lower after i also quit vaping.

Anyways to the original poster i just want to repeat again that long acting opes are just the devil. For heaven's sake if you gotta abuse, at least get something fun! My WD was (is) bell and all i did in the end were maint. Doses. If you want to feel permanently euphoric eat ganja edibles, did that for a half year and it was a lot funner than 'poids.

 

[neversickanymore]

No jackson Smith and his wife are. My sister is a pharm D, but no not me. How long have you been clean. Often times clonidine is used to control adrenal spikes in acute withdrawal and that's a blood pressure medication.

 

[Erikmen]

This is very true trading an opiate addiction for a benzo one is not the way to go.

medications for acute opiate detox

The medications I would explore the use of for detox would be:
>Clonidine< DOSED EVER FOUR HOURS..

one of either
>NEURONTIN< >HERE< >HERE< >here<
OR >Lyrica<
OR >phenibut<

>A BENZO BUT JUST AT NIGHT<
>a nsaid<
>melatonin<
tylenol
Senokot S is a stool softener and laxative. If you do not want the laxative you can go for strait stool softenerDioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate.

(Opi Withdrawal) what is the best comfort meds for opiate w/d?

Your Personal Opiate Withdrawal Arsenal





Being a pharmacist im not sure how much you may learn from this but you might pick up something helpful

BENZODIAZEPINES: HOW THEY WORK AND HOW TO WITHDRAW (aka The Ashton Manual)

Perfect!

 

[blue28]

Given that you are about to start 3 mos worth of physical labor I would be concerned that the aches and pains of your w/d's(among other symptoms), would be exacerbated by the work you're doing- making it unbearable to the point of having to resort to whatever opiate "med" is locally available. If continuing the methadone at 10mg or less is a consideration, at least for those three months of hard work, have you considered using Suboxone? Given your methadone dose you could probably do really well on 1-2mgs Suboxone total per day, in divided doses to manage pain if that becomes an issue. I personally had a lot of success switching from exactly 10mgs methadone to 2mgs Suboxone per day. I stayed on it for six weeks then tapered down to zero mgs on weeks seven and eight. On day 2 of no Suboxone I had nasty anxiety but over the next 24hrs it subsided. During my taper from 80mgs to 10mgs of methadone the doctor I had preferred to use Tizanidine instead of Clonidine (both are alpha blockers) because the Tizanidine doesn't seem to wipe people out quite as much or lower blood pressure as much, while doing a great job helping with the symptoms of acute w/d's. I used the Suboxone as a taper med because as a partial agonist, my tolerance didn't grow while taking it. With full agonists like methadone, my body just always seemed to need more and more no matter how high the dose got. Depending on how prone you think you are to liking benzos, I would be really careful about going down that road. I was on Klonopin for 22 years and can't imagine going through those w/d's again- not sure I'd even survive it. I've also heard horror stories from folks coming off of Lyrica(Pregabalin) as well, although over a very short period it seems like it could be very helpful. My personal experience with methadone from a clinic was infuriating. They put a lot of emphasis on getting people dosed high enough to prevent illicit opiate use, including the structure of daily attendance, u/a's, counselor appts, group meetings etc. At the clinic I attended I received very little help with tapering my dose down. I had to make an appt with the clinic dr every time I wanted to lower my dose, and if I had to pause a taper, I couldn't restart it without waiting to get in to the dr again. The clinic doc was only in two days per week from 5am to 9am for 500+ patients, and new intakes got preferential treatment for obvious reasons, so there wasn't a lot of support for folks wishing to detox and leave. That was also a for-profit clinic, so I guess enough said. As far as the Suboxone's concerned, the best data I've found regarding dose conversion; the maximum possible agonist affect produces an equivalent of 60mgs/day Oxycodone or 30-40mgs methadone, and that max agonist effect is achieved at around 2-4mgs depending on how well one absorbs it through the oral mucosa. Beyond 4mgs Suboxone, there is supposedly no further stimulation of the opiate receptors, no matter how much more you take. Despite this, some people do seem to have better results at doses over 4mgs for some reason. I just know personally, it didn't take any more than 2mg to keep me more than stable when switching from 10mgs methadone. It was probably more than I needed. I wish you luck and safe going whatever you decide to do.

 

[Erikmen]

Changing from Methadone to Suboxone, despite of the chemical different structure is more or less the same problem IMO/E.

OP (Icomeforhelpty)has a chance to get out of this for once and for all. Once you start with Subs, I don't believe this situation will not get any different. We have lots of people trying to get out of that as well. These replacements are the last resource, and I think he can try to quit on his own with all assistance he can get before getting hooked on worse situations which will later be more difficult to come off.