Opioids Jump off methadone at 9mg / 5mg ?

[adder]

I've taken methadone for a long time now as a substitute almost since I stopped my last long binge back in 2009. I've always had problems with tapering off the last 10-15mg, besides I need split-dosing, otherwise I'm in withdrawal after ~16-20 hours (no, I'm not on the MMT programme, I split it myself this way). I've been taking opioid for quite a long time and started at a young age. Anyway, I got rejected wherever I went for help, programmes are full here, so it's hard to get in line even.

I decided to taper it off completely instead, a desperate step but I don't really have money to pay money to some junkie who turns my money into some shite on the black market. I didn't stop shooting up for no reason. If it only made space for people who really need help, I guess I would be a goddamned asshole, go to the clinic and report all of them but they even have therapy groups where they "shine off" what they took last week.

I've always had problems with tapering the last mgs of methadone as I mentioned. I know withdrawal sucks and nobody would really want to go cold turkey with methadone but if my dose lasts me only half a day, then maybe 9mg / 5mg wouldn't be something I couldn't kick?

It's all because I got stuck here with with this dose and instead of feeling better, I feel more and more fucked up each day and start craving for a proper shot after all this time. I smoke marijuana for nausea and mood, I have problems with stomach, I'm cold and sweaty in the morning, I have runny nose, well, as a matter of fact, this is already like feeling weak withdrawal every day despite drinking the syrup. If it wasn't for marijuana, I get short of for a few days every week or two (then I must take more methadone of course...), and clonazepam, I probably wouldn't even get down to 9mg / 5mg.

Sometimes you have to do it the painful way, I guess. Don't you think?

 

[tricomb]

Sometimes jumping off is the way you have to do it. Not everything can be painless, the addiction that lead up to your methadone wasn't a free lunch. It takes time for your body to readjust to endorphin production and for your mood chemicals to restabilize.

I would recommend picking up a script for Clonidine, it's regularly prescribed for opioid withdrawal as it eases many of the symptoms by, IME, up to 40-50%.

I'm also all for the mass consumption of cannabis, extracts if possible like hashes and keifs and oils. I've found that it helps tons with cravings and withdrawal symptoms. As for the benzodiazepines, I don't know how good it is, but I've definitely taken them during cold turkey WD more often than not. Checkout this thread man

 

[adder]

There's only one psychiatrist in the only clinic for addicts and he never seemed to be willing to help me out. So I don't think he would even prescribe me clonidine. His way to taper off 160-200mg morphine / 40mg levorphanol was prescribing me tramadol (and kept saying in Germany it's used in programmes, I've never heard of that)... It was back in 2009 and I visited him after that time too (last time was last year in June). I even begged him for buprenorphine if he is so against methadone for me because I had/have no intention abusing either drug. Besides he knows I'm also addicted to clonazepam, so I don't think he would give me a script for clonidine. I guess his negative approach was caused by me showing I'm not like most addicts who had no idea about how different opioids work. But he wasn't the only one to turn me down. This is how it is here. The main problem here is little methadone compared to needs, there's a lot of addicts who can't enter the programme just like me...

Concerning cannabis, I don't have contacts for hash or oils in Poland and there's really not much choice. Sure it helps, it made tapering down easier like it numbed some part of withdrawal plus I had my mind off all these things that drive me crazy during withdrawals. But I ran out of it every week or two and then have to wait a few days and then I see how bad I'm adjusted mentally for the dose. Like yesterday, it was my day 4 on 9mg + 5mg but I couldn't bear restless legs in the evening and took 15mg instead of 5mg. Today I'm out of weed, woke up in the morning and had to dose more methadone and clonazepam too to drive a car. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I drive high, it's just that after all these years I could cause a disaster much easier not taking either of drugs than having taken them. I'm against driving after drugs, well, I was a passenger during an accident a week ago and it was because the driver consumed 8mg of clonazepam during the previous night and 2mg like 30 minutes before driving, clearly the driver's fault... I wouldn't feel 10mg much because of the tolerance but I try staying at the lowest dose making me feel all right, nothing getting me "high".

Yeah, I know... I have done opioids for a long time and I had something from it. Now it's time to pay for it. But I'm worried that I relapse on day 4-5 if I stop methadone abruptly. I experienced methadone withdrawal in the past and I hated it for symptoms increasing in intensity so slow, I guess "concentrated" but shorter pain is better. I always freaked out during withdrawals and that's why I'm worried about coming back to using morphine i.v. because it's still there waiting and I've got other strong opioids in powder with lab quality so if I got into some serious pain + mind screwing reflections, I wouldn't have it almost at hand. Thus there could be not enough time for me to think twice before doing something stupid.

Ah, well, right now I'll have to up methadone dose for the time with no marijuana. No way I could go cold turkey right now. I tried various ways to get off this shit and I'm running out of ideas. And damn, it was such a low dose.