• Welcome Guest

    Forum Guidelines Bluelight Rules
    Fun 💃 Threads Overdosed? Click
    D R U G   C U L T U R E

MEGA MERGED METHADONE THREAD...All methadone clinic talk in here

Which dose are you planning on switching back to on methadone? It seems like at this point it would be best for you to stay on methadone for the rest of your life.... Do you agree? It just seems like the amount of time that it would take you body and mind to learn to work normally without methadone would take so long that it wouldn't be worth it. I'm not trying to sound discouarging by saying that though.

Oh, and was your intention of switching to subutex to taper off of that instead of continueing to taper with methadone? Or were you looking to use the subutex for maintainance?
 
Tommy, you aren't being discouraging at all. In fact, it is such a relief to get an answer like that. My intention, stupidly I now realize, was to get on sub and taper off. I got down to .5 mg and when trying to make the next drop, the RLS, resltess arm (something I'd never felt before) and all the other symptoms were too much for me. I have come to the conclusion for me and my husband (61 years old with health problems, he is still on methadone, didnt make the switch with me) it will be a lifetime thing. I used to go to another drug site and would regularly get the shit kicked out of me for being a loser for not tapering off. On that site it's be clean or you're no good. I see nothing wrong really with needing a maintenance drug. I take insulin for diabetes also. I believe that after 40 years, the brain will never reset itself or it will take years. Who can deal with that? Not I. I don't know if I mentioned that I also have alot of health issues. Bessides being diabetic, I have chronic bronchitis, COPD, asthma (too many years of smoking). I take meds for blood pressure and cholesterol. I have a stent in a coronary artery which was clogged. I have no desire to go through w/d's. I did it several times when in my teens and 20's from heroin. It wasn't fun and I imagine with these long acting drugs like methadone and sub, it would be hell. I function well so what's the point? I was fooling myself when I started subs and thought I would be able to taper. After 33 years of methadone and 10 years before that on heroin, I don't think I could handle it and my brain wouldn't start working right for years if ever. It just took me some time to accept this fact. So many people say if you're on anything, it's no good and you're no good. I have finally learned to respectfully disagree. (Not to mention that I believe most drugs should be legalized anyway). It is a pleasure to find a site where people are NON judgmental. Everyone is different. Some can stay clean. Some need maintenance. Some just enjoy getting high. Who's to judge?
 
In addition, I find methadone to be a far surperior drug to sub. They are equally addictive with long half lives which means w/d's will last forever. The thing of it is, with sub, if I were to need surgery, they wouldn't be able to give pain meds. You need to be off sub like 5 days before a pain med will work. In an emergency, you are screwed. I shoulda done the research before making the switch. I unfortunately did it after. I was on 25 mgs. of meth before the switch so will try to stabilize around the same. This is below the blockage dosage so pain meds would work. I might need to start higher to counter the sub in my system. Don't know for sure but my goal would be to get to a dose between 20 and 30... I am 60 years old so I've definitely aged out of the running around, looking to cop, doing crazy things to get it stage. I just know I need an opiate in my system to live.
 
Great posts bev49. I hear you. we aint all got the same views on "clean" and how it really means to be 'clean' and you got to live and let live , not everybody is gonna be able to, or want to, or even need to be that "100% clean" route so we dont tolerate no judgemental bull from folks who thinks everybody needs to do it how they did it. I also believe that some people just need to be on somethin, and there aint a damn thing wrong with that if its true for you. No hatin here. thanks for ur posts.
 
Thanks so much for that, lacey. After participating in this other site for over a year, and getting insulted by some people left and right, it is really appreciated. I felt I had something to offer especially people on methadone but certain posters were always putting me down for my opinion about maintenance opiates. We are just as good as anyone else, just need something to get by. I'm glad you liked the posts and if you have any other questions about my bad feelings about sub, I'd be glad to respond. I guarantee you in a few years, there's gonna be an uproar because they are touting sub as the wonder drug for getting clean. They are dosing people too
high (less really is more with sub - when I started on 16 mgs. I couldnt sleep and was nervous and jittery, when I got down to 4 is when I got normal). But still, sub is 40 times stronger than morphine even though you don't feel it that way. And it has a ceiling effect so its not like the more you take the better you feel. It's the opposite really. I don't understand how an opiate can be 40 times stronger than morphine and not fuck you up, but it's true. I guess its the "partial" agonist that makes it that way.
By the way, Lacey, what part of Jersey are you from? I'm from Queens, NY, born and raised in the Bronx but lived in Toms River during my first marriage and having relatives in Teaneck and Marlboro.
 
Methadone

G'day (sorry, but that's what you expect from people in Australia, yes?) I've just started on a MMT (methadone maintenance treatment)program
I'd appreciate and look forward to your comments and advice. I don't know much about methadone, apart from WD problems, but I really would like to find out from BLers who've used it, how it works, whether, like all opiates, you develop a tolerance and need more and more....which just leads to "the nod".
Have I made the right decision, in your opinions?

I had to do something about my supposedly legal opiate abuse, ie. I didn't use the street to buy my drugs. They were prescribed by the same doctor: that's right, not even doctor shopping!I realised that I had a BIG problem when I went thru' my 1st major WD. Because I ate my oxys (200 mg daily for chronic pain) early and my doctor was on leave. I live in a small city in Oz and impossible here to see another doctor for controlled drugs. So from ~ 250 - 300mg OC to nix for 5 days. I obviously got thru'it, but I never ever want to go anywhere that living hell again.
From then on I reduced my OC use by 5mg daily week by week, until I reached 20mg bd. But it meant I started buying OTC stuff with enough codeine in it to make the diff. Liver and kidney damage is a definite possibility when you're desperate enough to go down this path.
Finally I took control of a situation which reminded me of my slide 4 years ago into the oblivion of alcohol. I am now on a low dose MMT which actually works.
You can't imagine what a relief it is after 40 years of low (and high very high) level opiate abuse which started with Palfium tablets washed down with brandy for period pain when I was 14!
Some of the stuff I've read here on BL makes me think I'll be considered stupid to swap one opiate for another, but as I've lived for this length of time with an addiction that was never going to leave me and I'm not brave enough to face the world without my "opiate veil", I made the decision to use methadone and don't intend to change/taper/WD or anything else for the forseeable future.
I just need the advice of some of you advanced BLers out there please? I'm on 25mg dose and have been for 4 days now. Will the slight, but vaguely pleasant feeling stay with me for at least the 12-15 hours after I am dosed? I'm having trouble sleeping, but that's cos I stopped the 10mg Diezepam I was taking before. I also have 150 mg Lyrica for chronic pain. I was told by a D&A nurse that Subutex would've been a better option, but my research indicated that for a longterm user and abuser of opiates, like myself, who is 54 this year and "looking forward" to more knee and hip replacements (I've had 2 already) due to a rare and painful autoimmune disorder, MMT would give me the slow buzz I have always needed (obviously I'd prefer the euphoric buzz of OC, but those days are over) and control my pain.
Cheers, Kanaffa from Oz.
 
Methadone/MMT: your opinions please please

G'day (sorry, but that's what you expect from people in Australia, yes?) I've just started on a MMT (methadone maintenance treatment)program
I'd appreciate and look forward to your comments and advice. I don't know much about methadone, apart from WD problems, but I really would like to find out from BLers who've used it, how it works, whether, like all opiates, you develop a tolerance and need more and more....which just leads to "the nod".
Have I made the right decision, in your opinions?

I had to do something about my supposedly legal opiate abuse, ie. I didn't use the street to buy my drugs. They were prescribed by the same doctor: that's right, not even doctor shopping!I realised that I had a BIG problem when I went thru' my 1st major WD. Because I ate my oxys (200 mg daily for chronic pain) early and my doctor was on leave. I live in a small city in Oz and impossible here to see another doctor for controlled drugs. So from ~ 250 - 300mg OC to nix for 5 days. I obviously got thru'it, but I never ever want to go anywhere that living hell again.
From then on I reduced my OC use by 5mg daily week by week, until I reached 20mg bd. But it meant I started buying OTC stuff with enough codeine in it to make the diff. Liver and kidney damage is a definite possibility when you're desperate enough to go down this path.
Finally I took control of a situation which reminded me of my slide 4 years ago into the oblivion of alcohol. I am now on a low dose MMT which actually works.
You can't imagine what a relief it is after 40 years of low (and high very high) level opiate abuse which started with Palfium tablets washed down with brandy for period pain when I was 14!
Some of the stuff I've read here on BL makes me think I'll be considered stupid to swap one opiate for another, but as I've lived for this length of time with an addiction that was never going to leave me and I'm not brave enough to face the world without my "opiate veil", I made the decision to use methadone and don't intend to change/taper/WD or anything else for the forseeable future.
I just need the advice of some of you advanced BLers out there please? I'm on 25mg dose and have been for 4 days now. Will the slight, but vaguely pleasant feeling stay with me for at least the 12-15 hours after I am dosed? I'm having trouble sleeping, but that's cos I stopped the 10mg Diezepam I was taking before. I also have 150 mg Lyrica for chronic pain. I was told by a D&A nurse that Subutex would've been a better option, but my research indicated that for a longterm user and abuser of opiates, like myself, who is 54 this year and "looking forward" to more knee and hip replacements (I've had 2 already) due to a rare and painful autoimmune disorder, MMT would give me the slow buzz I have always needed (obviously I'd prefer the euphoric buzz of OC, but those days are over) and control my pain.
Cheers, Kanaffa from Oz.
 
Bev49, thanks for your post. I'm like you and after nearly 40 years of prescription and OTC opiate abuse, I find the relief of methadone amaxing. Not to have to wake up each morning and worry about finding some opiate relief.
Can you check out my post about meyhadone plz and let me know what you think. I'm on my 4th day @25mg and it's obviously going to take some time for my body to absorb the drug. At the moment, after 10 - 12 hours, I start to feel I need something. Is my dose too low? I'm seeing my doctor again on Wednesday and want some more info from you BLers who've been on methadone for a while. Thanks and cheers, kanaffa
 
Hi Kanaffa, I live in NYC and have always loved all "down under" people. Great sense of humor and not as stressed as we are. Anyway, onto the subject. And this is my personal opinion only. Sub is not a good choice if you need something for pain. It is notoriously a poor pain reliever. Sub is not a good choice if you might need pain management in the future as it seems short acting opiates don't cut through it, it binds to the brain receptors that tightly. If you've decided that you want replacement therapy long term, methadone is the way to go, I truly believe. I rarely used perscription drugs, heroin being my DOC. Methadone saved my life. AIDS became a big issue while I was on methadone and not sharing needles anymore was a good thing not to mention the fact that I had OD'd seriously more than once, had been arrested more than once and my whole life revolved around chasing the bag. Anyway, 25 mg. is a relatively low dose and I'm sure you'll need to go up. Most of my years on methadone I was stable at 80. The last couple of years I'd weaned down to 25. Once you reach your stable dose, different for everyone, you will sort of get used to it. You won't be nodding off (unless you mix meth with benzos or take extra, not suggesting either but some people do that) but I found it always gave me a burst of energy and good feeling which I don't get from sub at all. If you haven't realized it yet, I HATE sub and wish I'd never made the switch. I'm kind of old and fear needing pain management at some point and being shit out of luck. You don't build up a tolerance with meth where you need more and more and more. At s ome point you're just fine and cravings seem to disappear. By the way, I was on methadone for over 30 years and my thoughts are that I'll be going back on because I don't like sub and I no way, at age 60 with a 44 year opiate addiction, can get by with nothing. Feel free to ask me anything else you want to know about meth, sub or anything..
Bev
 
Just started methadone - need some advice!

Hi, I am new to Bluelight. I just started methadone 2 days ago to come off 300mg oxy/ occassional H. I have never felt so sedated and tired in my life... day 1 I almost fell asleep driving home and slept for 18 hours. Today, day 2, I could barley get out of bed. I am wondering when this will go away? They started me on 30mg methadone, and I go back to up the dose Wednesday. I work tomorrow and wonder if I will be able to make it through the day. The doc did not warn me I would feel so tired and useless. Any advice on how long I can expect to feel this way would be very appreciated! Or, is this not normal and should I call the doc to come in sooner then Wed?

Thanks so much!
 
^ @quittingcanadian methadone can be very sedating for some people untill you get used to it. id expect it may take a few weeks to feel more energetic. im not sure how high a dose 300mg OC is as its not sold over here, so i cant comment on if your tolerance is very low or not, which the tiredness could suggest.
 
donnie080208 said:
^ @quittingcanadian methadone can be very sedating for some people untill you get used to it. id expect it may take a few weeks to feel more energetic. im not sure how high a dose 300mg OC is as its not sold over here, so i cant comment on if your tolerance is very low or not, which the tiredness could suggest.
Click to expand...

300mg is a HUGE dose, im suprise 30mg of methadone will hold him actually, after about 2 weeks the sedation wears off
 
Atlien3 said:
300mg is a HUGE dose, im suprise 30mg of methadone will hold him actually, after about 2 weeks the sedation wears off
Click to expand...

Eh, it is and it aint. Maybe for a person who aint familiar with it and dont have much of a opiate tolerance, I mean the kind of tolerance that you get from long term shooting up opiates and years of abuse. Once you using for a while, 300mg really aint that big in the whole scheme of things. It is a big dose but I dont think that calling it a "HUGE" dose is all the way fair. When I was bootin dope, and lots of other ppl that i knew was this same way, i went thru times without dope where i used 300mg of oxy and could not catch a high to save my life. I felt better, i felt 'unsick' and all that but i just felt normal. couldnt catch a nod, couldnt feel high, didnt feel shit except that i wasnt sick, and it took me 2 80's to just get to borderline feeling-ok territory.

So Im sayin that for some people 300mg is big for a OXY dose. But a 300mg a day oxy habit is equal to less than a bun a day of dope, u feel me. So in the big scheme of things 300mg of oxy per day, is actually on the lower end of the spectrum of the junkies who show up at a clinic, u feel me?

I aint suprised that 30mg is holdin him, actually. methadone is a real powerful drug and I have always found that pills are way easier to use OST for than dope. meaning that you need lower doses of bupe and methadone to replace a oxy addiction than u do for dope. thats just in my experience, the oxy demon is way easier to tame with replacement drugs. U should stay on the lowest dose of Done that u feel good on and realyl get the good efects on. if you still having cravings on the regular u need a higher dose but stay as low as u can once u get there dont try to get high by upping ur dose or u wil turn into a fuckin slug and sleep all day. I was taking naps every afternoon for a while til i got my shit stable.


Especially if you are feeling THAT sedated on 30mg, you might not even need to up your dose.

Like i said, it seems weird but oxy seems to have a weird conversion with methadone. like you need very little methadone per oxy dose.

I remember when i only did pills and i would only do like a 80 a day back when i had this little tiny "I am not gonna get addicted to dope again, so ill do oxy, and i aint gonna get addicted to oxy so i will only do low doses!" kind of habit, and one methadone could actually make me feel not sick thru out the day.

When your body aint used to methadone its very very strong and u will get a lot out of it. over time ur tolerance goes up and it aint such a wonder drug no more but I would say that if you are holdin at 30mg then stick with it. you need way less methadone per XX milligrams of oxy than you do when you try and convert a heroin habit to methadone so just enjoy that fact that u barely need shit to feel well and run with it, dont up your dose if u dont have to. u should not feel that fucked up and high off that small of a dose so just remember that lower is better as long as it is keeing u feeling ok.
 
Believe it or not, when I first got on methadone in the mid 1970's, you had to prove IV heroin use through having tracks on your arms. It was a long time before they started even allowing pillheads to get on methadone. I was addicted to H and still remember that sedative feeling the first two weeks where I just nodded my ass off... (memories, memories)....Within 2 weeks I was adjusted. I think some people getting on methadone now don't really need it. It's like shooting an ant with a blowtorch. But if there is no way to get off the pills I guess methadone is a good thing but stay on the low dose as Lacey said. You should really be okay.
 
bev49 said:
Believe it or not, when I first got on methadone in the mid 1970's, you had to prove IV heroin use through having tracks on your arms. It was a long time before they started even allowing pillheads to get on methadone. I was addicted to H and still remember that sedative feeling the first two weeks where I just nodded my ass off... (memories, memories)....Within 2 weeks I was adjusted. I think some people getting on methadone now don't really need it. It's like shooting an ant with a blowtorch. But if there is no way to get off the pills I guess methadone is a good thing but stay on the low dose as Lacey said. You should really be okay.
Click to expand...

Same here ; for the first 2 or 3 weeks on the methadone program I was literally stoned off my ass all day every day. Eventually your body adjusts to the dose though...Currently I'm on 95mg/day and I've been at this clinic since August 2009. %)
 
lacey k said:
So Im sayin that for some people 300mg is big for a OXY dose. But a 300mg a day oxy habit is equal to less than a bun a day of dope, u feel me. So in the big scheme of things 300mg of oxy per day, is actually on the lower end of the spectrum of the junkies who show up at a clinic, u feel me?

I aint suprised that 30mg is holdin him, actually. methadone is a real powerful drug and I have always found that pills are way easier to use OST for than dope. meaning that you need lower doses of bupe and methadone to replace a oxy addiction than u do for dope. thats just in my experience, the oxy demon is way easier to tame with replacement drugs. U should stay on the lowest dose of Done that u feel good on and realyl get the good efects on. if you still having cravings on the regular u need a higher dose but stay as low as u can once u get there dont try to get high by upping ur dose or u wil turn into a fuckin slug and sleep all day. I was taking naps every afternoon for a while til i got my shit stable.


Especially if you are feeling THAT sedated on 30mg, you might not even need to up your dose.

Like i said, it seems weird but oxy seems to have a weird conversion with methadone. like you need very little methadone per oxy dose.

I remember when i only did pills and i would only do like a 80 a day back when i had this little tiny "I am not gonna get addicted to dope again, so ill do oxy, and i aint gonna get addicted to oxy so i will only do low doses!" kind of habit, and one methadone could actually make me feel not sick thru out the day.

When your body aint used to methadone its very very strong and u will get a lot out of it. over time ur tolerance goes up and it aint such a wonder drug no more but I would say that if you are holdin at 30mg then stick with it. you need way less methadone per XX milligrams of oxy than you do when you try and convert a heroin habit to methadone so just enjoy that fact that u barely need shit to feel well and run with it, dont up your dose if u dont have to. u should not feel that fucked up and high off that small of a dose so just remember that lower is better as long as it is keeing u feeling ok.
Click to expand...


Although I will admit an oxy habit is easier to kick than an all out dope addiction, dont downplay all pills. Kickin Opana made a heroin kick seem like a walk in the park. I could use a bun or more a day and get on subs and feel great. Switching from opana to subs is pretty much impossible without a transition period of like 4 days of feeling like utter shit. I think opana makes diesel look like vicodin lol. My opinion tho..
 
Thanks, Bev49. Some ppl who get dosed at same place as me say sub is the only way to go for ppl with 1/2 a brain. They were both on methadone and reckon it's for losers. IMO it's a personal thing and each of us prefers sthg different. I'm seeing my doc today and will ask to go up slightly as after 8 hours or so, the pain from my joints(autoimmune prob where my cartilage is breaking down all over my body) comes back and I feel like using stuff again. My doc b4 said I metabolised meds very fast, so this also cld be my problem. I get a slight warm buzzy feeling after an hour or so that only lasts for 2-3 hours. Does this feeling continue or is it just a transition from OCs to the done? I'm very impressed with the 'done so far. Now I just need to get my dos fixed up. let me know Bev49 how you go with your changeover and wish you well. I can't understand poor quittingcanadian having sleep issue with meth. Sorry that sounded judgemental, but I wasn't sedated at all by my 25mg dose and as they took me off benzos at the same time I started methadone, the longest I've slept for is 3 hours. Small price to pay for getting another drug out of my system.
Cheers from Oz, kanaffa
 
Kana, that is one of my pet peeves and it's government caused. When methadone first came out like 50 years ago, the powers that be decided the lump everyone together in a clinic setting so you had active junkies together with half assed clean people together with working people all congregating at one place for the few hours a day the clinics stayed open. Neighbors didn't like having meth clinics in their neighborhood and you couldn't miss one with people outside selling their bottles and buying and selling pills. So, this is why people say people on methadone are losers. Sub is exactly the same shit, just as addictive, probably worse because pain meds don't work if you really need them. I have tried to drop my sub dose and the RLS and restless arm make it impossible. So that's where the "loser" rep comes from. You can get sub in the privacy of a doctor's office once a month. Does that make one more or less a loser or winner? I think not. If they allowed doc's to perscribe methadone for addiction (and not just pain) I think alot of folks would jump of sub in a second. As far as sedating, I was pretty fucked up my few 2 weeks on methadone (way back in the mid 70's).. Ahhhh, the good old days... I adjusted pretty quickly and settled on a dose of 80 mg. At that time you couldn't go abovew 100. Now they take people wayyyy up into the stratosphere.. It's an individual choice - sub or meth - my personal opinion is meth and I'm sorry I made the switch. THe problem I havfe going back is I was picking up oncve every two weeks and now, after almost 2 years, I am sure I'd have to start from scratch - 6 days a week...... yuuuckk.
 
Personally, my decision to go the methadone clinic I feel was a very beneficial choice. I was at the point where my heroin addiction was spiraling out of control, and due to a string of bad things that had happened in my life over the past couple of yearse I was virtually at rock bottom. I had no money, my father had recently passed away, my girlfriend of almost four years left me, and I had found out I had a fairly life threatening disease.

Rehabs didn't work, suboxone didn't work, and cold turkey sure as hell didn't work. Finally I got accepted into the clinic, and now, almost a year later, things could not be better. I haven't used dope since I started, my illness is getting much better ( cancer ), and financially my mother and I are much better off.

Not only the fact that I stopped using helped me, but the counselors, nurses, and the doctor at my clinic are incredibly helpful in battling the mental aspect of my issues and addiction. The other patients have also been very helpful, having some like minded individuals with clean time to talk to has been very helpful.

Now I have heard plenty of negative stories regarding methadone and clinics, but personally, thye decision to join the clinic has honestly saved my life. If you use it how it is supposed to be used, and take advantage of the counselors and psychiatrist and whatnot, there is no reason that youi cannot benefit from it too.

On the other hand, if you end up abusing the system, like continuing to use on top of the 'done, selling take homes, not giong to your counselors sessions, or generally justnot giving a shit, then obviously it will not work how it is supposed to.

Whatever you choose, I wish you luck and if you have any other questions or something or just want to chat about methadone feel free to PM me.

-Mike
 
The last time I was on MMT it lasted 15 yrs and I was only able to get off after switching to Suboxone. You will have a "honeymoon phase" in which you will like it a lot and if you choose... will eventually be able to manipulate your takehomes to get a good buzz at least a couple of times a week... especially if you use benzos with it which is dangerous. Some people really like booze with it.

The bottom line is if your street opiate use is out of control and your life sucks... it can be a good choice. Expect your sex drive to go down a lot of people gain weight.

If I could go back to the 1st time and last time I was offered MMT... I wouldn't say no... I'd say HELL NO! But then who knows what would have been the results or consequences....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top