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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Methadone and Alcohol

S

SPDemon420

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
466
Location
North East USA
I know its extremely unsafe to mix these two, however I've been on suboxone for about 2 years(down to about 3mg a day), and drink nightly (4-6 beers) - if I was to take 20-30mg of Methadone after 24 or so hours without bupe, would drinking 2-3 beers be risky as far as respiratory depression goes?
 
We can't say without knowing your tolerance.. you're right, in general it is an unsafe mix. Methadone has a crazy-long half life too so that makes matters even worse..

If you're not experienced with methadone, despite the fact that you are on suboxone I'd say stay away from any alcohol especially your first time.

Are you taking the methadone recreationally or switching from suboxone onto methadone maintenance?
 
Sorry, figured 2 years of bupe would have some sort of lasting tolerance effect - ive done Methadone a few times normally at doses of 10-15mg, but figured I'd need more because of the bupe - also, I was going to be using it as a combination between recreation and maintenance. I dont take bupe legally (LONG story), and am about to run out, im using it to replace the bupe(for a short period of time) so I dont get sick, but also wanted to be able to feel it a bit.
 
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Ah it will have lasting tolerance, I am just incredibly cautious when it comes to methadone.

Methadone isn't hugely recreational - more sedating than anything else. I'd wait a bit to see how it affects you before you add anything else. Hope it stops you getting sick :)
 
Also, if you have never taken methadone before, it may not work at all for you. I learned this when I first started methadone 9 lifetimes ago, I was so dopesick cause my source got busted and a friend pulled a favor for me and got me on a free clinic immediately . They started me at 40mg, I went home waited waited waited and NOTHING . No relief at all. I went back the next day, just as dopesick and the second dose totally knocked out my dopesick. I've heard different reasons for this, but have never researched it so I don't know the truth about why it happens this way. I'm sure google could shed some light on it, though .
 
^ Jesus I hope that isnt the case. I mean ive taken it before, but probably only 10-15 times max, I definitely enjoyed it, and loved how long it lasted, but I've never used it for maintenance before. I was hoping the 60mg I have would be enough for at least 2 days, but we shall see.
 
nsauce said:
Also, if you have never taken methadone before, it may not work at all for you. I learned this when I first started methadone 9 lifetimes ago, I was so dopesick cause my source got busted and a friend pulled a favor for me and got me on a free clinic immediately . They started me at 40mg, I went home waited waited waited and NOTHING . No relief at all. I went back the next day, just as dopesick and the second dose totally knocked out my dopesick. I've heard different reasons for this, but have never researched it so I don't know the truth about why it happens this way. I'm sure google could shed some light on it, though .
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Methadone's slow acting; slow to kick in, but stays around the body for a loooong time relatively speaking. It's effects are cumulative. 40mg ain't a massive amount. It's about what you'd be prescribed if you were shooting a bag or two of H a day. It may be that you needed a higher dose to start to stave off withdrawal, and if you were already rattling at that point, it would take time for you get any relief from it.

Wouldn't advise drinking on Methadone at all. There's the issue of respiratory depression as you say, and the risk that you'll puke in your sleep and drown in your own vomit, which of all the ways to go out strikes me as one of the least pleasant.
 
Methadone's half-life is 24-36 hours - so if you have 40mg, 20mg or so will still be in your system 24 hours later, so if you take another 40mg on top your overall dose will be the equivalent of 60mg..

This could explain why you didn't feel it the first day but you did the second, nsauce..
 
I suppose that is possible. I had between 1/2g and 1g daily habit at the time . Then in 2006, after I had been off H for years, and had no tolerance at all, I came across 1 40mg biscuit and it knocked me completely out . If I were SPDemon420, I would wait until I started feeling w/d from bupe before I took the methadone. This would maximize the possibility of feeling the done. I won't speak to the alcohol part, though .
 
yea bupe lasts SUCH a long time that id wait till you started to feel kinda shitty to take the meth. you want to be able to feel it and you also want to maximize the effect since you are using it in place of sub to stave off WD. since you are down to 3mg it shouldnt take too long to get it out of your system, as for mixing with alcohol i dont know how you do it. every time i would have even a beer or two when i was on bupe maint. it would make me sick as shit. i mean verge of puking feeling like shit sickness that was directly from the alcohol. now on methadone i still cant drink, its like opiates have made my body sensitive to alcohol. even these days if i drink a sip of wine it makes me feel sick. its like the poisonous alcohol is even more toxic for some reason. but i digress... If you have to drink id start with a beer or two, that combo is a notorious killer because of the slow onset. you may take 30mgs of methadone and not feel it for a few hours and pile on the drinks and then once the methadone and alcohol start to peak you can go out and not wake up. start small and be safe.
 
^ Haha, yeah idk, its never really bothered me - I normally drink a 6 pack of 6%-8% Gearys beers after work, but I used to be a pretty bad alcoholic (as in a liter or 2 of vodka or whiskey a day), so chances are I dont feel the nausea like most because of my alcohol tolerance - but yes, I planned on waiting an hour and a half before drinking a beer, and limiting it to 3. I am still an alcoholic of sorts(6-8 beers a day, which isnt TOO much, but I always have to have one in my hand) and get pretty bad anxiety, so I need to be able to sip on something, but I wont be pounding beers.
 
Make sure you take it steady - I appreciate that you have an opioid tolerance and an alcohol tolerance, but be careful :)

Glad you've cut down on the drinking - I won't lecture you but I'm sure you know it's still not good to be drinking 6 fairly strong beers a day.. it's certainly better than a litre or two of vodka though!
 
I am in MMT on 110mg daily of the 'dones... Just stopped at maintenance status today as my dose is probably too high anyway by 20-30 mg... I mean I could get by with 80 I think just as well, but the cravings may still exist so nevermind the 110 is not a big issue to me... I hope. Its only 2 months in on it so far... so its still relatively new to me in a way. I never thought I would get that much daily though ever... ever... ever... but hey my life has been together for the first time in a long long time so to speak. And for the main reason I replied to topic... I drink on methadone but only really at night sometimes (not even really recently, moreso the first month until I moved into a friends house where alcohol is not really used at all and looked down upon by my friends mother... which is understandable due to her situations with it in the past... however I only drank at night maybe six 5-7% alc. by vol beers at the most and went to bed afterward. I never had any problems whatsoever... even one time on my this summer, I got smashed like hell on everything in the bar that night while on the done, but again I dosed early in the day, so I was not "peaking" on the methadone... it is only at its transitional glow feeling (kicking in to plateau time frame) that it feels anything remotely "good"... like a buzz I mean. I rarely get that 4 hour glow anymore unless I take cimetadine a couple hours prior to dosing.


OOps long paragraph. Just don't drink while you're waiting for the 'done to kick in especially if you're new to the medicine at all. If you're clearly on the drug for a good 6-12 hours first and feel okay, drink slowly, or you know at a comfortable pace and don't get crazy with it and you should walk away fine every time... just be aware of your body and pay attention to how you feel... plus it helps to know your tolerance and whatnot.
 
It should he fine as long as you dont go overboard with either substances.
Stories on dieing from mixing downers and methadone can make it seem scary but in reality you should be fine.
 
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