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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Methadone for pain? Why or why not?

Sentience

Sentience

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 15, 2009
Messages
2,203
What are some of the pros and cons of using Methadone for your long acting pain med? Why would you or wouldnt you use this as a drug of choice for actual moderate to severe chronic pain?

How bad are the WDs compared to other drugs?

Most importantly, what else is there now? Oxycontin is gone. MSContin is shit. Opana is obscure, but sounds interesting......am I missing any that are commonly used for chronic long acting pain among class 2 drugs?
 
I was perscribed Methadone by a quack doctor for fake pains. we both knew i had no pain. he said he could only give me 4 10mg pills per day because the FDA guidelines for methadone for pain were that doses in the 100 of mgs of meth that are used for maintenance should not be used. i dont know if thats true thats just what he said. as for a long acting pain reliever it works well. i took it when i had ear infections and it worked for over 10 hours. also i could still get high from banging my oxys and dilaudid cuz methadone doesnt have much of a blockade effect until your dose exceeds 40mgs, and i only took like 10mg pill per day if i had to wait an hour or 2 before i met my connect for pills to bang. Other than the long acters that you mentioned there is much else that has a half-life above a few hours. but remember even morphine IR has a relatively long half-life of 7-8 hours, compared to oxy which like 4-5 and dilaudid/hydromorphone which 2-3.
 
Methadone is very effective in treating chronic pain, but it has a very long half-life and will cause the most hellish withdrawals you can image. The acute withdrawal from methadone can last weeks. But if you plan on taking it the rest of your life, then it is a very good option for pain control. The only other ER med for pain relief other than those you mentioned I can think of is Exalgo, which was released not very long ago. It is hydromorphone ER.
 
yes the withdrawals last considerably longer than other opioids. I have withdrawn from an oxycodone/hydromorphone/heroin habit, and from a methadone habit. with the first i was thru the worst by day 4-5, with the methadone i was still in the very worst on day 9, and i couldnt take it anymore so i went out and got a script of 30 15mg Oxy IRs from a quack doctor to make the rest of it more tolerable. i was fine after i got the 15s, i was able to inject 15mg at ever increasing intervals of time and come off relatively smoothly, but i think this is just because my body had been starved of any opiate for 9 days before i started this. If i had not broke down and gotten the Oxy IR, i am convinced that my withdrawal wouldve still been going on at day 15 and MAYBE finished by day 18 if not 20. oh yea, keep in mind, this hellish 9 day withdrawal, was only from taking 40-50mg of methadone per day. i cant even imagine what people who get kicked out of methadone program who were taking like 100-200mgs a day go thru. i honestly think that kind of withdrawal would probably drive anyone insane.
 
Sentience said:
What are some of the pros and cons of using Methadone for your long acting pain med? Why would you or wouldnt you use this as a drug of choice for actual moderate to severe chronic pain?

How bad are the WDs compared to other drugs?

Most importantly, what else is there now? Oxycontin is gone. MSContin is shit. Opana is obscure, but sounds interesting......am I missing any that are commonly used for chronic long acting pain among class 2 drugs?
Click to expand...


Pros: Strong.
Very effective for L.T. pain.
Very long half-life.
Cheap.

Con: WDs- Due to the long half-life, WDs are hellish.
Sedating- At least for me, Methadone is the "most" sedating opiate.
High CNS suppressor- Can effect breathing, quite pronouncedly.
Potentially dangerous while abusing and/or combining with other meds. Methadone don't provide an intense "high" like many other opiates. This can fool one into thinking they have a substantially increased tolerance. As a result, one can end up taking too high of a dose, chasing a high, and ending up in an OD situation.


Oxycontin is gone

Since when?

OC is readily available. Since you are referring to pain management, and NOT recreational, I am assuming you have no need to "crush" the pills. If that is the case, the new "OPs" should do just fine for pain control.

Best
 
Methadone works GREAT for pain, but I would rather not deal with the WD. I would venture to say that methadone works better than Opana for pain.

So, I say not for me. Also my dr says it cleans the opiate receptors and makes your regular pain meds work better.. so he puts people on a cycle of methadone... but he doesn't keeo you on it forever because the wd is so hellish.
 
Nobody will prescribe oxycontin anymore from what I hear. I also hear rumors of it going off the market, as the name brand messed up their new formulation, and there is no generic...Roxis are still on the market, and they work better for my pain than MSContin.

MSContin is really shit as far as I am concerned. It gives me a better buzz than methadone, but does little for my pain. I would overdose before my pain was gone with morphine, but Methadone leaves me clear headed and relatively pain free. Oxy takes care of the occasional breakthrough.

I switched back to MSContin and this is hellish. Every day of my life feels worse than the withdrawals people talk about.

Surgery might be an option, but they are not even 100% sure whats wrong. They THINK gallbladder, but there is no objective evidence of stones....BUT I have Crohns, a history of pancreatitis, and my gallbladder spasms and wont drain at normal rates....so they estimate no better than 60% of success with surgery and a chance I will be worse....and the really fucked up part? They want to ween me off drugs after my surgery, and I dont even know if I will be in more pain later compared to now.

I think its reasonable to assume that I will be on pain meds for a long time. Maybe the rest of my life.


I dont think Methadone is good for people trying to kick all opiates, but it might be an option for people who cant or wont get off opiates.....if surgery doesnt work, I might be in the category of people who might need to be medicated forever.
 
I feel like I would cut my belly open and remove my own gallbladder this instant with a swiss army knife if I thought it would make the pain stop. I only get 60mg of MSContin and the same amount of Roxi's, a reduction from before. its not working out very well.

A few pain free hours would be nice. Maybe an entire nights sleep.
 
Sounds like Methadone does work, so this is the route I would take.
As far as coming off of the 'done, I would do the following. I would switch to a short-term opiate, i.e. OCs, Dillies, etc.
Stay on this a few weeks, until the body adjusts, and then taper off of the short-term drug.
This won't be easy, but will be better than coming off Methadone, directly.

Of course, you could also take the Suboxone route, to accomplish the same end result.
Either way will avoid the direct WDs of Methadone.

Best
 
My liver is already at risk from a drug called Tysabri...Do you think the toxicity of Methadone is anything to worry about?

I definitely get better pain relief from it.
 
Sentience said:
My liver is already at risk from a drug called Tysabri...Do you think the toxicity of Methadone is anything to worry about?

I definitely get better pain relief from it.
Click to expand...

Methadone, as with many opiates, are considered quite safe, aside from the obvious addiction/abuse issues.
I don't feel you would have any more problems, as compared to the other, widely scripted opiate meds.
 
Methadone withdrawls are the worst experience in the world. I was on 80mgs for 2 years and had it not been for the Suboxone, I would have done something drastic coming off the methadone.
I tell everyone I can DON'T EVER,EVER,EVER GET ON METHADONE.




Sentience said:
What are some of the pros and cons of using Methadone for your long acting pain med? Why would you or wouldnt you use this as a drug of choice for actual moderate to severe chronic pain?

How bad are the WDs compared to other drugs?

Most importantly, what else is there now? Oxycontin is gone. MSContin is shit. Opana is obscure, but sounds interesting......am I missing any that are commonly used for chronic long acting pain among class 2 drugs?
Click to expand...
 
Methadone is the best pain drug that I have ever tried. Thru scripts and illicit use i have tried oxycontin, opana, hydrocodone, and dilaudid, and heroin and out of all of them methadone does the BEST for killing pain.

For a high, for the recreational effects, for any of that shit you may be lookin for it aint the top. but for pain methadone just kills it. It dont reduce pain, it dont kill pain, it fuckin ANNIHILATES it.

Im scripted 90mgs a day, and I still get breakthru pain pretty regularly but its much more bearable than it ever was when i took other meds.

The cons been listed here, it can be very sedating and make you sleepy if you already tired or if you aint used to it, but as far as pain control its really the fuckin best. it lasts long enough, and its HEAVY, when you take it, it just hits you so hard, you can feel it beating the hell out of your pain. For me oxys and other meds are too "light"....they reduce pain, they take the edge off, but its like they just cant squash the pain like methadone can, it just comes right in and stomps the fuck outta your pain. I would definately recommend it if you aint found other meds that really do it for you.

the thing is, the doses required to really do that might be higher than your doc wants to prescribe at first. i dont know your tolerance or your regular doses, but if you are undermedicated with methadone you aint gonna feel the same relief that you would if you were on the right dose that is enough to give you all the benefits. for me , on 90mg i can still feel pain thru the dose but when i had to cut my dose becuz somebody robbed a few days worth of pills from me, and i had to take like 60mg, i was hurtin really bad. so at lower doses you aint gonna experience that really great effect that Im talkin about but hopefully you will have a compassionate dr. who aint afraid to give you the dose that will help you.

Plus, its suuuuuper cheap. It costs me like 42 dollars for 270 10mg pills, and i aint got no insurance or discount or nothing, thats the full price for the whole month. WITH insurance im sure it would be pennies a pill. it beats the hell outta the cost of drugs like oxy, dillys, etc.
 
Sadly in canada it's actually pretty hard to get methadone prescribed for pain. I have tried to get it in the past for pain but many doctors don't even know tthat it's used for pain here and doctors have to have a special license to prescribe it here and the way they are handed out is complete bullshit. I have had trigeminal neuralgia since 2004 and ive been on everything from codeine to fentanyl for it. Right now i take morphine which usually works ok especially combined with the gabapentin and also the weed that i buy.

I would like to atleast try methadone for pain because it's supposed to be the best for neuropathic pain, it lasts a long time and theres no sense in shooting it up unlike morphine or worse dilaudid. So it might solve 2 problems i have at once.
 
Sentience said:
Nobody will prescribe oxycontin anymore from what I hear. I also hear rumors of it going off the market, as the name brand messed up their new formulation, and there is no generic...Roxis are still on the market, and they work better for my pain than MSContin.
Click to expand...

Any rumors that you've heard about it coming off the market are false. I have no idea where you've heard that. I heard "rumors" that the new OP's may be taken off the market because some sort of side effects due to the new formulation or whatever and switch back to the original OC's but I don't believe that. Regardless, OxyContin is not coming off the market. Sure it is probably hard for you to get and people you know but many people are prescribed it. It is reserved for chronic pain though, not moderate.

Methadone is great for long lasting pain relief. I was on it for a couple years (for opioid addiction) and found it helped with my pain better than any of the other many opioids I was on, which was probably all of them. It has a long half life which makes it great for "chronic" pain.

The cons are that it is easy to overdose on when taken in large enough doses, especially with other medications like benzodiazepines. It can slow down your breathing. The biggest con though is its addiction potential and nasty NASTY withdrawals. I don't know how I survived mine. The initial withdrawals last for weeks but they still persist for up to a month. I felt like I was in Hell, literally, I hallucinated that I was. Blah.

But if you feel like you will be on pain killers for the rest of your life (which isn't good) than Methadone is the way to go. Its great for chronic pain.
 
i was on methadone for heroin addiction. as far as for pain management i wouldn't think it would take care of intense pain. it comes up slowly and lasts a long time. i was taking over 100mgs in one dose in the morning. by 5pm i was nodding out on the couch. i didn't feel any "high" from it but then again i was used to a heroin high. and when i started to detox it was uncomfortable. i detoxed at 3mgs every week i think and when i was down 40mgs from my normal dose i became very irritable by the end of the day. i was also having difficulties sleeping. from what i understand the WDs are very difficult.

so methadone for pain relief in my opinion would not be a good idea. the side effects were difficult to handle and the dependancy is too much.
 
there ARE generic oc's, my friend gets them. like everyone else said the w/d from methadone is probably the worst from any opiate
 
Oxycodone quick release comes in generic. I am prescribed those. The slow release oxycontin is no longer available in generic, and there are supposedly problems with the new formulation of oxycontin.
 
Call Me"PRIEST" said:
i was on methadone for heroin addiction. as far as for pain management i wouldn't think it would take care of intense pain. it comes up slowly and lasts a long time. i was taking over 100mgs in one dose in the morning. by 5pm i was nodding out on the couch. i didn't feel any "high" from it but then again i was used to a heroin high. and when i started to detox it was uncomfortable. i detoxed at 3mgs every week i think and when i was down 40mgs from my normal dose i became very irritable by the end of the day. i was also having difficulties sleeping. from what i understand the WDs are very difficult.

so methadone for pain relief in my opinion would not be a good idea. the side effects were difficult to handle and the dependancy is too much.
Click to expand...

If you aint experienced it as a treatment for pain tho, how can you say this?

I am prescribed it for chronic pain, its the best ive ever had. You do realize that for people who got these issues they usually have a regular pain med and a fast acting med for 'breakthru pain', so the slow duration aint a bad thing.

Second of all, the way methadone works is that it builds up in your system over time. When you take your dose in the morning, the dose you took yesterday aint gone yet, it aint like you will be in withdrawals when you wake up or be in severe pain. Sure the effects wear down a little bit but you still got a large amount of methadone in your system. If youre havin bad pain before you dose you can take your breakthru med while you waiting for the methadone to come on.

The long acting effects of methadone are the thing that makes it great for pain becuz you aint got to constantly keep dosing all day long. you take it, it knocks your pain right the fuck out, and it stays down for a long chunk of the day before you need to redose again, if you do, depending on your situation.

Oxy and shit like that has such a short period of relief you got to be constantly taking it, its shit for PM, imo. it takes too much of it to really get relief, the kind of doses that doctors dont want to write for. when you aint at the right dose, it dont matter how good the medication is, you gonna feel pain and its gonna suck. becuz so many doctors aint willing to write the type of doses that people who take oxy for pain truly need they end up bein undermedicated and if the drug aint available enough to be effective, then it aint that good of a treatment option.

becuz methadone is powerful at lower doses, becuz its less of the 'darling of the DEA' to want to pick on, and becuz its so long acting, its a good option for people who aint had much success with other pain meds.

your experience of being on it for MMT really aint that relevant to the discussion if you aint got no pain issues -- you dont know its effects on pain or how it works to treat pain so how can you say how it works for pain, you can only say your experience with it as a maintenance drug. I aint saying you shouldnt post or that your post sucks or w/ever just pointing out that you really cant answer the topic based on the shit you assume without having the experience.
 
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