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Opioids Methadone OD signs?

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PinK~cloud

PinK~cloud

Bluelighter
Joined
Jun 5, 2009
Messages
681
Location
NW USA
Hey all,
So today I made the stupid fucking decision to take 20 mg methadone. I had snorted 90 mg of oxycodone a little over a week ago and tolerated it just fine, so I thought I could handle the 20 mg of methadone.

Anyway, its been 4 hours since I took it. I dont have blue lips or anything, but my heart rate feels really shallow. My blood pressure is like 150 over 90, and my heart rate is like 101. I'm just tripping that my heart is going to stop or something.

Think I'll be okay? I'm nervous to go to the hospital if it's not going to be a problem. I really don't want to start unnecessary drama, but itd be better than dying.

Thanks for the advice.
 
I was on suboxone for 3 years. But I got off it about a month and a half ago. I've taken opiates about once a week since. I tolerated 90 mg of oxycodone well but this feels like its really making my heart rate shallow. I'm not tired or anything, but my eyes are pretty small.
 
you will be fine then, just drink a lot of water and relax. if you really are that paranoid then dont go to sleep yet until you feel comfortable. but other than than dont worry
 
my hands are pretty clammy. I'm just worried that if I sit down and chill out my heart will slow and stop. Fucking anxiety, its such a bitch. I've had like 5 cups of coffee, I bet that isnt helping
 
yeah thats not helping. you are making your heart do two things at once. just chill out bro. ive had the hands too before. nothing to worry about. just dont go to sleep until you feel alright. drink WATER lol not coffee.
 
Aye! Would it be okay to sleep after 6 hours and 37 mins from taking it? I feel like I would have OD'd earlier on, in a sort of way like uncontrollable sleepiness that makes me pass out and stop breathing. But at the same time I feel like I have labored breathing and I'm kind of forcing myself to keep going.
I have dry mouth, my face is kind of pale, my eyes are constricted (though not pin pricks), and i'm slightly itchy, plus I am kind of nauseas. My last BP rating was somewhere around 150/90, with a heart rate of 82.

I feel so fucking stupid posting this because I never let myself get tripped out or anxious. It's just that after taking the stuff and feeling so weird, I went online and read about all these deaths from doses as low as 10mg. so thats why I"m worried.
 
Best thing to do is get someone to sit with you or check on you while you sleep, so if you did stop breathing or something they would be able to call an ambulance. Then you can rest easier too, knowing someone's watching out for you. Is that possible for you?

Methadone overdoses don't always happen right away, absorption varies from person to person so it's difficult to tell you exactly when you don't have to worry anymore. I'm assuming you haven't taken any other drugs or drank any alcohol recently? That can make things a lot worse. The respiratory depression methadone causes can last for a long time.

EDIT: Didn't realize it's been 2 hrs since you last posted. I'm hoping you are ok and it was just anxiety, it often is. Please let us know that you're ok when you wake up <3
 
Thanks swimmingdancer. I've actually been laying in bed with the light on. I keep setting my alarm for 15 minutes later. I haven't drank any alcohol or taken any other depressants. Unfortunately I don't really have anyone to check on me. I have a killer head ache, so that's helping keep me up. its too bad, i didn't realize it would be sketchy 9+ hours into it. i want to sleep so bad but am worried =/
 
I don't mean to make you feel more worried, but I don't really see how setting your alarm is going to help. If you were going to have serious problems from taking too much, you would pass out and stop breathing. If you weren't breathing, I don't think your alarm would get you to start breathing again.

Are you thinking that if you keep waking yourself you can check your breathing and heart rate and if they get too low you would call an ambulance before it got to the point of being life-threatening?

I think you're going to be ok, but I can't be positive of course. I did find one site that said the therapeutic effects of methadone generally peak in 1 to 6 hours and start subsiding at 5 to 12 hrs in people who just took methadone once (as opposed to chronic dosing), but the problem is that methadone's peak respiratory depressant effects typically occur later and persist longer than its peak analgesic effects, and those are the ones that we are concerned about. I haven't been able to find averages for the peak and duration of respiratory depression. It probably varies a lot.

I kinda think your only real choices here are to either A) get help or get someone to hang out with/watch you, or else B) take a fatalistic attitude in that you probably can't save yourself from ODing merely by trying to force yourself to stay awake or by worrying about it, so you might as well relax and get some sleep. I'm sorry, maybe option B isn't really HR but I don't know what else to suggest.

ETA: I'm going to go to bed myself but if you want I can try to check and see if you're ok or have posted again, I know sometimes it just helps to have someone to check in with.
 
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Thanks buddy. I appreciate the long feedback and support, and the offer to check in. You should get some sleep!

Anywy, The alarm thing was just to keep myself from falling into too deep of sleep. Probably stupid but I figured it could possibly help. Who knows tho!
I like the idea about the attitude. I probably should just chill out and sleep. I'm fairly positive I won't OD while I'm awake. I'm doing fine as is while I'm still up. The only worry for me is that I'll pass out, fall into a deep relaxing sleep and then possibly fall short of breath. I'm no longer "forcing" myself to breathe though, so I'm feeling more optimistic about my body's unconscious regulation of my vital functions.
We will see what happens tho. Currently at 10 hours since I dosed. I will be sure to update this if all goes well and I end up okay.
Thanks for all the support guys
 
Hey man. It's 8:15 am over here. I'll be awake now for the day. I have used opiates for 7yrs (a nasty addiction. Just finished inpatient round two and relapsed... ). You can PM me if you feel like talking. I'll check in every so often. I too think you'll probably be fine. Just try your best to calm down and def syop w the coffee or caffeine in general.
 
I'll keep this open long enough for the OP to come back and let us know they're alright, but in the future this is not OD material, Bluelight is not an emergency service. If you feel that you might be experiencing an overdose, then a few things must happen. One, if your alone, (fatal mistake) you must seek immediate medical attention, if you're in the USA, call 9-1-1 ideally from a land line so that if you go unconscious the dispatcher will be able to see where you're calling from. Two, if you are alone and have naloxone, administer it, keeping in mind that you can give Narcan intranasally.

In a legitimate overdose, often there will be no time for an individual to do anything to resuscitate themselves. An alarm going off every 15 minutes will keep you from falling asleep maybe, but that sure as hell does nothing to keep you alive. Shit, most people that have naloxone (Narcan) on hand go unconscious before they're even able to recognize that they're overdosing, let alone able to administer the opioid antagonist.

Lessons to be learned:
1. Methadone is extremely potent and is not to be fucked with, people tend to underestimate it's potency and the long duration of action can be very unnerving for those who aren't used to it.
2. Never get that high when your alone.
3. Don't try new potent opioids alone.
 
i ended up passing out around 7am and sleeping until 12:30. I feel kind of stupid in retrospect for posting such an anxious thing. I considered deleting the post, but changed my mind. Hopefully some newbie will read it and realize that methadone is nothing to fuck with. I've done opiates for years. sometimes in doses so high that I can't even keep my eyes open. but NEVER before have I felt so much respiratory depression from one.
Thanks again for being there for me everyone. Sorry for using it as an "emergency" service. I"ve posted on and off here since something like 2009 and never had to do it. My apologies.

Moral of the story: the dangers of methadone really don't out-weight the possible recreational effects.
 
I thought that 20mgs was a small dose... Glad you are OK but I think your panic ruined your high.
 
Long acting opioids kind of suck just because of this. Better to not abuse them especially in the evening. I couldn't sleep either if I knew I had active methadone in the system, it just has such a bad reputation.
 
rob007 said:
I thought that 20mgs was a small dose... Glad you are OK but I think your panic ruined your high.
Click to expand...

20mg is a pretty big dose for someone that isn't used to methadone.

Last summer I was using at least 40mg of oxycodone daily, more if I could afford/get it. My connection was dry at the end of the month so I got some methadone to hold me over (bad idea).

I did 10mg (oral) and it snuck up on me hours later, I was very sedated and nodding out. Almost set my bed on fire because I was smoking at one point and nodded out. This wasn't a pleasent kind of nod either due to the sedation.

I was sick on my stomach the next day and threw up my supper about 20 minutes after eating it.

Do not under estimate methadone, I though I could handle 10mg and it was way too much. I should have worked up to it slowly. Methadone takes a long time to peak, and that's where the danger is if you are looking to get high off of it. People re-dose too soon and by the time it peaks hours later you're in trouble.

I can not stress enough that using methadone to get high is a bad idea, but if you are going to do it make sure you give it the proper respect and take things very slow.
 
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