methadone/MMT: for and against opinions needed please

[kanaffa]

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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.

 

[kanaffa]

MMT and post-op pain

Hi, it's me, kanaffa again.
Also, I need to know how they deal with a MMT person who needs major surgery, as I will shortly, as in another hip or knee replacement.
When I was on 100 mg OC daily and had my 2nd knee op, the anaesthetist mied up a "cocktail" (his words. not mine) of Tramadol, Clonidine and my usual 100mg OC for post-op pain. After the spinal sedation wore off, I was in agonising pain and then went into full blown paranoid delerium as a result of an obvious allergic reaction to the Tram. I had to be attached to a monitor and virtually tied to the bed, as I kept trying to escape, convinced they were trying to kill me. Had to stay in hospital for nearly 4 weeks and the pain was unbearable, only alleviated by a morphine shot now and then... I realise that pain relief post-op is hard when you're on 100 mg oxy daily, but will it be just as bad with methadone?
Cheers, kanaffa from OZ

 

[fluxy]

ive been in methadone 3 times, and bupe about 5 times. im 29.

first time when i started i was a codeine abuser, about 2000mg a day, and 10mg valium.

never touched a needle or had an s8 drug or even heroin, but the sickness was what made me do it too.

at age 20, worst decision ever. it was a blase decision, but i cant believe the consequences of it. basically: STAY AWAY FROM EVERYONE YOU MEET THERE AND ASSOCIATED WITH IT. i went from low level abuser to looking, talking and acting like "them". those methadonians i hated so much.

9 years later, and off a bad oc habit, its given me some much needed relief, after 18 months of hopping on and off bupe. so i think its best your on MMT now, you need the buzz factor. eventually youll noitce for only the first couple of hours each day as your dose comes on if it high enough, and maybe hang out slightly before each dose sometimes, and sometimes not.

Its SO complicated that i cant describe it so brief. but i have much to say about my 9 years on and off this. (4 or five years off in between there somewhere)

PM me

fluxy

 

[kanaffa]

Thanks, fluxy. I'm not able to PM you, as I've just joined up on BL. I'm only vaguly feeling the methadone, but gather it needs to build up in your system. How long does it take before it's thoroughly saturates the body, so you feel it and stop having cravings for OCs? I'm om 25mg daily and see my doctor again on Wednesday? Should I ask him to increase it? If so to what? Don't worry about staying away from methodonians. I get dosed at a different time and at a smaller pharmacy so I can stay clear.
How long before ypu build up a tolerance? Will I start craving OCs again like I used to?
Any info much appreciated. kanaffa

 

[smackem]

That is a pretty low dose of methadone. Don't do what I did: I was so scared of becoming a methadone zombie that I intentionally kept my dose too low (around 30-40mg of methadone for a ~500mg to 1g a day OC habit). During this time I used on the side and didn't get the intended benefit from the methadone. Although it did make my life better, I didn't get ALL the benefit.


Fact is, every study ever done says you will probaly need more methadone than you a receiving now. Don't be surprised if you relapse. I know you are scared of becoming strung out on 200mg of methadone a day, but at least give yourself a chance for success. The thing about methadone (at least for me) is this: Yea methadone WDs suck. But guess what, you NEVER HAVE TO WD. All you have to do is stay out of jail. And when you want to go off, just go down a milligram a day. Or fuck, if you are one of those real whiney people saying 'I can never get off methadone...' Just go back to slamming tar/heroin or whatever. At least you made your life better for a period of time.


This isn't really advanced drug discussion material, but good luck anyway mate.

 

[dread]

I would recommend buprenorphine over methadone any day. Far less side effects, and much easier to taper off when you feel like it.

 

[homeydontplaythat]

i am a chronic opiate abuser. i am on buprenorphine and honestly, it does not help with cravings. i compulsively take my bupe throughout the day in a pathetic attempt to catch some kind of buzz. i know methadone would be a better choice for me but there are not any clinics around me and i dont want to go to one everyday. also, many people i know on done really have not gotten any better. they still use, get high of their take homes, and have gained like 50-100 lbs from when they started done.

all i know is that after 5 yrs on bupe, with maaaany breaks, it does not take away the urge to consume something to feel good. i increased my lexapro from 10 to 15mg and i feel so fucking flat emotionally. i want to get high. really badly.