Opioids Methadone Mega Thread and FAQ v 2.0

[Gozlinchick]

How bad would it be to jump off at 67mg? I have about 3-4 days of take homes saved up. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to not have to go to the clinic anymore?

 

[crzydiamond]

It would be bad. Well--how long have you been on it? Have you stabilized?

I came off about 50 mgs cold turkey in 2002 when I got locked up in a county that did nothing for you. They assumed it was like heroin wd and you'd be ok in a few days. But...it lasts sooooo long. It took 32 days to be back to somewhat normal as far as sleep/eat/energy. The first 14 days I could barely lift an arm to comb my hair. You have the worst RLS but no energy to move to alleviate it. And 8 weeks later I still had sneezing fits.

The best way to come off of methadone --successfully--is to taper slowly and let your body acclimate. You didn't get yourself into this situation in a week. You're not going to get out of it in a week.

I have done this kind of taper and it is pretty much painless

If you are currently stable, start dropping maybe 5 mgs a week. You won't notice that. You can easily get down to 20-30 that way. Then go to dropping like 3 mgs a week. I had to stop around 20 mg and let body adjust. Then I went down 1 mg a week. Til I hit 4 mg I again had to re-stabilize. But then you go down those last few mgs and you're done.

But unless you want to suffer for a month, have no access to any other opioid (cause you will end up getting/using anything you can to feel better), or have no choice --like jail--then HELL NO do not jump off at your current dose!!

 

[thelung]

It would be bad. Well--how long have you been on it? Have you stabilized?

I came off about 50 mgs cold turkey in 2002 when I got locked up in a county that did nothing for you. They assumed it was like heroin wd and you'd be ok in a few days. But...it lasts sooooo long. It took 32 days to be back to somewhat normal as far as sleep/eat/energy. The first 14 days I could barely lift an arm to comb my hair. You have the worst RLS but no energy to move to alleviate it. And 8 weeks later I still had sneezing fits.

The best way to come off of methadone --successfully--is to taper slowly and let your body acclimate. You didn't get yourself into this situation in a week. You're not going to get out of it in a week.

I have done this kind of taper and it is pretty much painless

If you are currently stable, start dropping maybe 5 mgs a week. You won't notice that. You can easily get down to 20-30 that way. Then go to dropping like 3 mgs a week. I had to stop around 20 mg and let body adjust. Then I went down 1 mg a week. Til I hit 4 mg I again had to re-stabilize. But then you go down those last few mgs and you're done.

But unless you want to suffer for a month, have no access to any other opioid (cause you will end up getting/using anything you can to feel better), or have no choice --like jail--then HELL NO do not jump off at your current dose!!

I hate the fact that most jails have this stance! "Oh they deserve to be in agony they're just drug addicts" . You can't even get Tylenol in jail when you're coming off methadone! Around where I live (western Washington state, usa), a few of the county jails do offer methadone dosing if you're already on a maintenance program to begin with, which I think is most definitely a step in the right direction. We need methadone dosing for ALL established MMT patients in ALL jails in the US!

 

[szuko000]

My exit day is like 2/24 and i am happy to report 0 withdrawals. My story goes intake at 30mg up to 90 about 14 months ago. Stayed at 90 until about 6 months ago and rapidly dropped 10mg every 3-4 weeks down to 20 and then went down by 2mg a week from there. At 8mg now down to 6 on friday, 4mg is the lowest i can go.

I will be straight up surprised if i get more then fractured sleep as a result of withdrawal. I do not get anything other then my body wakes me up at 7am now so if i go to bed at 2am and randomly wake up in the morning i can predict without looking it is 7-730am and not much later. In fact on my days off from work i am elated if i wake up at 9am. None of it bothers me i can get sleep aides but i will wait until i am off completely before doing that.

I am so happy that both myself and my former g/f have had 0 issues coming off methadone, she was up to 90 and down to 0mg off the clinic in 11 months total. Intake in Jan. of 2015 exit in December of 2015, the program really helped her in so many ways and myself too.

 

[Gozlinchick]

It would be bad. Well--how long have you been on it? Have you stabilized?

I have been on it since Dec 3, 2015

 

[belfort]

Just thinking of when I detoxes off methadone..I was only on 80 mgs but the detox lasted many months..I remember not sleeping well, very high anxiety, lethargy and anhedonia..it was awful because it never ended, months and months of endless dysphoric..it really took a toll on my sanity..I remember barely making it through only to go right home and crash..I could not kick methadone again..

 

[belfort]

After reading most of this thread it's clear to see everyone is all over the board in feelings about methadone. The "Stigma" I guess will never go away.. But as a long time user of methadone (9yrs, I get monthly take homes only go to clinic once a month, never a dirty ua) I can say it saved my life. No one would ever be able to tell I'm on it unless I told you. The ppl I do tell hardly believe me. I work own a business and function just as any "normal" person does. So I believe methadone is a personal choice and I wld never judge anyone for doing it or staying on it. My only suggestion is do reasearch and know what your doing. If your going to try to get high with it be careful, it builds and can kill even heavy opiate users..

I'm for whatever works for that person..if methadone keeps you stable and not seeking out other drugs, then stay on it..I just got do sick of going to the clinic, and I had zero sex drive on methadone and was living in my opiated bubble..I slept too much and was not the person I wanted to be..emotions are definitely dulled on methadone..when u kick, that becomes very apparent..that always haunted me too, knowing one day I'd have to face the withdrawals

 

[Blake777]

Ok...so ive been on methadone for two months legitimatly from a clinic and was offered a job for a construction company. I filled out w2 forms and was given the job pending a physical and a drug screen. I failed for methadone and presented my prescription so all good rite?... Wrong..its been 3 weeks and nobody will call me back...my ? Is ..can they legally taje their offer back because of my prescription?

 

[Gozlinchick]

Blake777 I am not sure?? But I think every state has laws about hiring, firing, ect... I wouldn't even know who to ask. Where do you live?

 

[Gozlinchick]

72 hours off methadone (67mg) and I don't feel too bad! Lack of energy, a little emotional, sneezing, but honestly not bad 《yet》

 

[muie]

1. Cardio toxicity - the reason why upping your dose past 120mg requires you to get an ECG. You need an ECG every time you want an increase, for example on 130mg to increase to 135mg, or 120mg to increase to 130mg which would be done in 2x 5mg, each time requiring an ECG. My dose is 180mg so since 120mg I've had an ECG, 13x by my calculations. A chemical relative called LAAM was used for maintenance in Europe but it is no longer used specifically because of the cardio toxicity concerns. LAAM & Methadone are very close chemically, like codeine is to morphine, so what holds true for one should hold true for the other.

2. Medical emergencies - a blockade dose is anywhere from 70mg-90mg, on the high end of the blockade you will probably feel something if you were to use IV/IM or smoking (say you shot H or smoked fentanyl, the rush is reduced but the sedative effects are there and the nod will still be present). MOA has a lot to do with weather its effective or not, as well as the potency of the opioid used...usually only heroin and fentanyl are strong enough to use. In the case of a serious medical emergency that requires pain medication you can ask many people at the clinic who have had extremely high amounts of pharmaceutical grade morphine/hydromorphone and they never felt a thing due to their methadone. In that case you can't be sent home with a bottle of Percocets, nor will slamming heroin do anything. The only thing that will work is more methadone. Don't be naïve and think the doctors will work around your addiction and give you sufentanil (sp?) or something really potent like that. Godforbid you need pain medication when you are on methadone as no doctor will ever prescribe you more methadone for pain. Tramadol, tapentadol and Demerol are the most likely 'band aids' to help with your pain. I've been on 100mg methadone and 12hrs later between me and one other guy smoked an entire 10mg duragesic patch in a record time of 5-10min...usually that would make me pale & throw up, this time even had drank before doing it and proceeded about my business as if I had a cigarette - nothing at all.

 

[Blake777]

Gozlinchick...thanx for replying..i live in south louisiana.. I guess ill have to check the laws but i heard in a few places its not a black and white subject....i just wanna go to work.. Jezz!!

 

[NateJW]

Hey guys I thought about making a new thread but I decided just to stick this in here and see If I get my answer first.

I got myself in a bit of a pickle, I started mmt a couple months ago, I'm at 60mgs now, but I used dope alot because it wasn't holding me at first, and now I'm right at the edge of the blocking effect you get from higher doses, I barely feel the dope at all, and even if I get the least little rush, it's gone very quickly. So once I started noticing this I thought, Guess I should just stop using dope right?

Well now I start getting sick towards the end of the day, early evening, and by the next morning I'm in full blown withdrawal, it takes everything in me to get to the clinic to get my next dose. So I use most nights after work, even though I barely feel anything at all, but im not sick and I wake up in much more milder withdrawal. So basically instead of using the methadone to get right I've just made my addiction that much worse.

So does anyone have any advice for breaking out of this cycle? Did I explain it well enough?

 

[B33nTh3r3]

My opinion would be to up your dose of methadone until ur stable and not using anymore.. stabilize for awhile. Then start going down if u can.. just my 2 cents..

 

[B33nTh3r3]

Anyone in Tucson that can or wants to talk about methadone?..

 

[BigG]

I was prescribed 180mg of methadone from the pain clinic (in the UK) for a chronic pain problem. Anyway I really wanted to get back to work (I'm a paramedic) but obviously couldnt do that on such a high dose of opiates since the laws in the UK have currently changed and impared driving due to prescription drugs has become a criminal offence (let alone driving a Group 2 vehicle
i.e. an ambulance). Anyway I didn't want to do a long drawn out taper and I had two months before work restarted so I decided to kick cold turkey. Big mistake....it was absolute hell. The withdrawals persisted for months and months (I did this last July). Its now 10 months on and I'm only just getting back to normal. I'm glad I did it as work is going great and I've recently got a promotion but I wouldn't recommend doing it like that to anyone....

It was hell.....

 

[B33nTh3r3]

Congrats on sticking with it!! That's amazing bro.. seriously I am envious of you for being able to do that. You shld feel amazing. Stick with it dint ever go back.. great job bro..

 

[BigG]

Congrats on sticking with it!! That's amazing bro.. seriously I am envious of you for being able to do that. You shld feel amazing. Stick with it dint ever go back.. great job bro..

Thanks man!!

I honestly dont think I could do it again though. I'd been in pain management for many years on high doses of morphine, oxy, fentanyl, etc.. and then methadone ....I was also on pregabalin and diazepam and kicked both of those at the same time...

Like I say it was incredibly tough. The withdrawls were different to say morphine in that I didn't have any vomiting and diahorria wasn't too severe but the crippling anxiety, insomnia and general dysphoria were something else...

I would never to back on methadone in a million years. It did help my pain but is such an awful med to kick if you've been on it for any length of time at a high dose.

It undoubtedly helps those who's street opiate use has become out of control in that it provides some stability but for anyone else who plans on coming off it then I think a slow taper is much more doable.

Thanks again though bro!!

 

[Runtoparadise]

Well done you tough Mofo!! Welcome back it's good to see u posting again!

Cannot believe the torture you must've gone through, ten mths is an awfully long time to feel kinda normal.

I had ten days off opiates for chronic pain & crashed badly & went on subs. Not to go too far off topic but I'm now on 36mg & wouldn't change it for the world! It's taken my pain easy & I can participate in life.

I get it that you did it for your career & that's extremely admirable!!

Congrats dude, on kicking the big bad 'done & getting that promotion ?

You did good man

Rtp xx

 

[BigG]

Thanks RTP!!!

I'm now a ......

Things are going great!!

Pleased the subs have finally got your pain under control....chronic pain sucks...

I just have to live with mine unfortunately as no way am I'm ever taking opiates again...

I just have to use NSAIDs, heat packs and the like....