Methadone Question

[trichr0me]

I am about to get on methadone, i have nothing in my system, does methadone give you a herion like high? Like does it actually get you high?

Thanks

 

[Beebs]

You usually need to provide some sort of evidence that you are an opiate addict to get on methadone maitance.

 

[trichr0me]

no i have that

 

[trichr0me]

I have a methadone maintinece intake on tuesday, im just wondering , will i feel like im high on opiates when im on methadone... thier gonna start me out on 30mg..

thanks

 

[diacetyldeath]

There are at least two other threads ON THE FRONT PAGE with this information in them.

Methadone is only subtly different than any other full-mu-agonist opioid (morphine, heroin, oxycodone, etc.) -- in terms of analgesia, euphoria, and all of the other opioid effects, it is NO different. It can be used (with proper dose conversions) in place of any of the other full-mu-agonist opioids and can be stopped later and the same doses of the earlier opioid substituted with little to no subjective difference in result to the user.

So yes, if you're opioid naive or if you take a dose enough to overcome your tolerance, you'll get high.

Some things to be careful about:

Methadone's half-life is around the 36-hour mark -- 9 times longer than the other 1st-generation opioids (heroin, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, et al). So you will be fully affected for at least 24 hours, likely a bit into 36 hours too. Also, it takes about an hour to feel it at all (unless you're IVing, but don't IV Methadone, it has the best oral bioavailability of any opioid I know of), and it takes FOUR hours to peak, so DO NOT REDOSE until at LEAST four hours and only if you're SURE that you need more. A lot of stupid people die of methadone overdoses each year.

Methadone is pretty strong, but recent research has shown that it's actually stronger for tolerant patients than for opioid-naive patients. Do you have a tolerance? If not, I wouldn't take more than 10mg, 15 if you want to nap the whole day. If so, let your tolerance be your guide, but like I said, you'll have to wait between experimenting because of its incredible half-life.

Which reminds me, just because you stop FEELING it doesn't mean it's not still there in your system -- with a 36-hour half-life, 1 dose of methadone is not actually completely eliminated until 4-6 days AFTER the dose. Which means if you take a dose, and take another one of the same amount the next day, and another one of the same amount on the third day, the second day's will feel stronger than the first, and the third's stronger than the second, due to the fact that the previous doses are still in your system. Another reason lots of dumb people OD.

Good luck; be careful.

 

[trichr0me]

Thanks for all that information (from the last poster) i appreciate it... But yah i was using 160 - 200mg of oxycodone daily untill 3 months ago. And i can't dose myself because i have to go into the clinic every morning to take my dose, and i will not be using any other narcotic drugs along with it. Also, im in Intensive outpatient, I'm just doing this because i need to save my life and learn how to live with out using drugs. And eventually i want detox from methadone with suboxone with in 10 months and be free from opiates for the rest of my life.

Thanks again for the information.

 

[diacetyldeath]

I have a methadone maintinece intake on tuesday, im just wondering , will i feel like im high on opiates when im on methadone... thier gonna start me out on 30mg..

thanks

Oh. If you've already got a habit, it's a different story. Once you titrate up to the dose that makes you feel comfortable with no cravings or withdrawal symptoms, for the first month or two, you'll feel a sort of "glow" for 3-5 hours after your dose -- a mild-to-moderate high. Nothing like a "rush," but pleasant.

That "glow" slowly trails off until by around month 6 of treatment you don't really feel anything at all. I have been on it for16 months now, and while I definitely have no withdrawal symptoms and am motivated enough to do work, live my life, etc., I certainly never feel "high" or euphoric (unless something euphoric is happening to me).

That's all assuming that once you're titrated up to your proper dose, you stay there. If you continue to use while on methadone, your tolerance will keep increasing, and (as long as your clinic lets you anyway) you might be increasing your dose each time you get a dirty urine with opiates (if you do). Obviously with each dose increase the "glow" returns for a while.

I wouldn't advise *trying* to deceive them with the goal of getting a higher dose than you need... Methadone's onset, at least for me, is much drowsier than other opioids, and compared to other opioids in its class, Methadone is very strong mg for mg. I think that if I had started the program and gone up 10-15mg past where I am now, I probably would have fallen asleep driving home -- and I don't mean nodded, I mean actually passed out. A methadone dose that's too high will basically leave you drowsy and lethargic -- a little euphoria, but nothing like heroin or oxymorphone or hydromorphone.

Once you've been in treatment for a while, if you get enough clean urines to get take-home doses, and can be disciplined enough to take half your dose now and then when the day isn't going to be that stressful, you can save the rest "for a rainy day." Make sure you've been using methadone for a while before you start experimenting with this and don't do it more than once a week because your tolerance still start shooting up like with any other opioid, but if you take, a bit more than what your dose is now and then, it can give you a nice, very long-lasting, mild euphoric pleasant high. If you choose to try it, make sure to start low and work your way up -- no more than once a week -- til you find something pleasant. Again, it's easy to OD, and because of the long-ass half-life it's more involved to treat someone in methadone OD (Narcan -- the stuff they inject to remove agonists from the opioid receptors in the brain and replace them with antagonists, which revives opioid OD patients -- only has a half-life of around 50 minutes, so if you are in methadone OD, they have to re-administer Narcan every 3 hours or so; if they didn't, the methadone (since it's still hanging around after the narcan is eliminated) just ODs you again.

Good luck. Be safe.

 

[trichr0me]

I didn't mean i have a tolerance, i havent done any sort of opiate/opioid for 3 months...

 

[diacetyldeath]

I didn't mean i have a tolerance, i havent done any sort of opiate/opioid for 3 months...

Ok in that case, do NOT start at 30mg! If you have been opioid-free for 3 months... 30mg will lay you out. Start at 10.

But more importantly, why do you need it at all? You should be out of acute withdrawal by far, and halfway through the nebulous phase of post-acute withdrawal syndrome (although some folks don't ever get past it). I would recommend a course of treatment that does not involve a narcotic of any sort -- why become physically readdicted if right now you're only psychologically addicted (which I'm assuming you are, or why would you be seeking treatment?)?

Most if not all clinics require a POSITIVE drug screen for opioids before they will admit you to their treatment program. I'll say it again -- POSITIVE. Opioids need to SHOW UP in the drug screen or you will not be admitted. Short of popping another oxycontin before you leave that morning (the last thing in the world you should do if you're serious about quitting), you won't be able to start a methadone treatment program.

If I were you I would seriously take a look at some of the non-narcotic treatment options available for opioid addicts and recovering addicts. I don't know your financial situation, but if what you've said so far is true, I Imagine that one of the best things you could do for yourself right now is to get away -- not only from "the scene" e.g. previous dealers, sources, doctors, whatever, but also from your daily life -- a change in routine. A vacation, if possible. If you're phemoninally rich, check yourself into one of those inpatient treatment centers (aka RESORTS) on the east or west coast and relax for a month. If you can't afford a vacation, maybe visit a friend or family member that's at least a few hundred miles away for at least a week. Take some time to think, to reacquaint yourself with whatever it is you like to do that isn't drugs.

I know you haven't told us much about your situation, and that's fine, but no matter how big of a narcotics problem you have/had, if you have been opioid-free for 3 months, the last thing you need at this stage is more narcotics, even if they're offered under the guise of "addiction treatment." This is another reason I hate our society's drug policy so much. The ignorance is staggering and it ends up hurting some of the people with the best chances of recovering.

Anyway, this is all just my advice -- no need to even consider it if you don't want to. But in terms of Methadone, if you're opioid free for 3 months, your tolerance is barely anything -- 30mg of Methadone will have you sleeping for the rest of the day into the next one. Depending on your personal chemistry it could even cause some respiratory depression/hypoxia or other OD symptoms. Start with 10mg. And seriously consider just not going the Methadone route at all.

A happy medium might be to try to treat your symptoms with non-narcotic medication that you don't find recreational? For example, on those few occasions that I got past acute withdrawal and found myself in the miserable, unmotivated, depressed, don't-want-to-move-but-have-to-in-order-to-continue-surviving mood that comes afterward, I found that low doses of amphetamines (e.g. Adderall) and even less occasionally, benzos (if I couldn't sleep or if I was really stressed) would help me through the worst. Obviously you don't want to trade one addiction for another, but I've never found "uppers" recreational at all, nor benzos, so there's little danger in my case. Depending on your symptoms there are a lot of meds out there with low addiction potential or even with addiction potential that you may not find recreational. I'd have an honest talk with a doc you can trust -- maybe not your usual one, if you're worried about word getting around. *shrug* Like I said, I know very little about you, but I'd hate to see someone 3 months clean start taking a tremendously potent schedule II narcotic under the guise of "treatment."

Good luck-- be safe.

 

[nile420]

Don't do it, Methadone will only make it 10 times worse, trust me, i'm on it right now, 95 mg a day for the last 4 months, i would give anything to go back in time and stop myself from getting on MMT, IT IS HELL.

and it's not worth it, waste of money, yeah you get high for like the first 2 or 3 weeks, but thats it, unless you keep going up on your dose, but that just puts you deeper into the stuff, and harder to quit the higher you go.

it makes me sick when i have to drive to the clinic these days, i hate it, it's like a prison knowing that one day something could happen and prevent me from making it to the clinic to dose, then i would be sick as a fucking dog, like i was when i tried to stop it all together, it put me in the hospital. baaaad time that was. horrrid.

i can't explain this enough to you, DO NOT DO MMT.

 

[johnnyb420]

if you have three months clean it would be a huge mistake to get on mmt

maybe you should try suboxone if you are still craving


you are just going to put a new monkey on your back and trust me methadone is not nearly as enjoyable as oxy or heroin

some people like it but those are peole who cant get real drugs and arenot tring to abstain

quiting methadone is fucked it takes forever to get through the acute withdrawel stage the only reason to get on done is if you are activly abusing and want to stop useing



what do you plan on doing takeing oxy or hydro to test positive??

ask around at the program i bat no one will tell you that it is a good idea

 

[johanneschimpo]

Methadone is only subtly different than any other full-mu-agonist opioid (morphine, heroin, oxycodone, etc.) -- in terms of analgesia, euphoria, and all of the other opioid effects, it is NO different.

Are you sure about that?

Try to compare methadone vs. heroin/oxyocodone in terms of euphoria - not even close!


(I'm speaking in general, there's always exceptions to every rule)

 

[trichr0me]

I was already approved with a clean UA, all they wanted was my history of withdraweling at a hospital.

And at this point honostly if i don't get on some sort of opioid i will relapse, and i gotta stay clean for 10 months (2 UA's a week) and if i fail one its prison for 24 months, so im gonna take the risk of the methadone addiction, it's better then going to prison....

 

[rachamim]

Will you get high? Depends on what you consider "high" to be. If you mean heavy sedation, as in nod, yep. If instead you mean "euphoria," as most opiate/opioid users do, the answer is a resounding no.

It is impossible to gain euphoria from methadone due to its chemical structure. To suggest that it si no different than any other opiate/opioid in this regard is plain incorrect.

This is one of the huge reason why OST was green lighted in the fist place.

"Don't do it." Do not listen to others, even me. You need to decide fro yourself. Is your life spinning out of control? Are you tired of trying to come up with your daily fix? Methadone might be perfect for you. If instead you have a very light habit and/or little time as an addict, you might wish to look into Bupe/Sub, another from of OST.

It is not 10 X worse. The withdrawal is at least twice as long but it is very, very mild compared to heroin withdrawal.

"Only get high for 2 or 3 weeks..." Also wrong. If your idea of a high is a nod devoid of euphoria, one stabalised you will continue to nod for more than a year, sometimes alot longer.

Yeah, driving to the clinic and all the related rigermorole is a pain but is it less pain than hustiling everyday and knowing that most days, after you take that "wake up," you will be hard pressed to get money before the sickness that will inevitably hit you after a mere 4 to 6 hours. I found methadone, even with the clinical nonsense, to be much better than going through that hellhole of hit and miss everyday.

Methadone enabled me to live a very "normal" life. It has helped many others as well. The thing that turns people off is the long withdrawal but that is mostly based on old wives' tales.

 

[Danguba]

The thing that turns people off is the long withdrawal but that is mostly based on old wives' tales.

Often the problem is that people who enter into a withdrawal were either abusing it (buying methadone off patients) or were kicked out of the program for some reason (not appearing there, aggressive behavior to other patients/staff). That way WD will indeed hit you harder than if you slowly decreased the dose under medical guidance (in program I'm in that means 5mg decrease every 2-4 weeks). Of those who finished the program and their dose was 2,5mg before abstaining, I have heard no complaints.

 

[MethaContin]

There are at least two other threads ON THE FRONT PAGE with this information in them.

Methadone is only subtly different than any other full-mu-agonist opioid (morphine, heroin, oxycodone, etc.) -- in terms of analgesia, euphoria, and all of the other opioid effects, it is NO different. It can be used (with proper dose conversions) in place of any of the other full-mu-agonist opioids and can be stopped later and the same doses of the earlier opioid substituted with little to no subjective difference in result to the user.

So yes, if you're opioid naive or if you take a dose enough to overcome your tolerance, you'll get high.

Some things to be careful about:

Methadone's half-life is around the 36-hour mark -- 9 times longer than the other 1st-generation opioids (heroin, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, et al). So you will be fully affected for at least 24 hours, likely a bit into 36 hours too. Also, it takes about an hour to feel it at all (unless you're IVing, but don't IV Methadone, it has the best oral bioavailability of any opioid I know of), and it takes FOUR hours to peak, so DO NOT REDOSE until at LEAST four hours and only if you're SURE that you need more. A lot of stupid people die of methadone overdoses each year.

Methadone is pretty strong, but recent research has shown that it's actually stronger for tolerant patients than for opioid-naive patients. Do you have a tolerance? If not, I wouldn't take more than 10mg, 15 if you want to nap the whole day. If so, let your tolerance be your guide, but like I said, you'll have to wait between experimenting because of its incredible half-life.

Which reminds me, just because you stop FEELING it doesn't mean it's not still there in your system -- with a 36-hour half-life, 1 dose of methadone is not actually completely eliminated until 4-6 days AFTER the dose. Which means if you take a dose, and take another one of the same amount the next day, and another one of the same amount on the third day, the second day's will feel stronger than the first, and the third's stronger than the second, due to the fact that the previous doses are still in your system. Another reason lots of dumb people OD.

Good luck; be careful.

Methadone gives me a 'slight' high and I NOD OUT ALL FUCKING DAY...........

 

[phr]

Are you sure about that?

Try to compare methadone vs. heroin/oxyocodone in terms of euphoria - not even close!


(I'm speaking in general, there's always exceptions to every rule)

I agree with jc on this one. The euphoria, and recreational aspects, of methadone doesn't come close to the shorter acting mu agonists.

Yeah you could get "high" and nod out on methadone, but it's a different experience. That's why people still try to use other opiates on methadone, or they take benzo's while on it. If given a choice between heroin/morphine/oxy or methadone, I think most experienced opiate users will choose the former, hands down.


To the OP... Hopping on methadone, and to a degree bupe, is a big decision. You'll have to go to the clinic daily, you'll have to go through some form of counseling, you'll be tested for drugs, etc. It's not worth getting on methadone for the high.

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't do it. But that's just my opinion. Like rach said, it is your decision.

 

[MethaContin]

I agree with jc on this one. The euphoria, and recreational aspects, of methadone doesn't come close to the shorter acting mu agonists.

Yeah you could get "high" and nod out on methadone, but it's a different experience. That's why people still try to use other opiates on methadone, or they take benzo's while on it. If given a choice between heroin/morphine/oxy or methadone, I think most experienced opiate users will choose the former, hands down.


To the OP... Hopping on methadone, and to a degree bupe, is a big decision. You'll have to go to the clinic daily, you'll have to go through some form of counseling, you'll be tested for drugs, etc. It's not worth getting on methadone for the high.

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't do it. But that's just my opinion. Like rach said, it is your decision.

Methadone IS AN MU aganost, But they WOULD NEVER DISPESDER IT TO ADDICTS LIKE THEY DO METHADONE, Shirt you have to go up to the window Upwards of 6 times a day....................................

 

[phr]

Methadone IS AN MU aganost, But they WOULD NEVER DISPESDER IT TO ADDICTS LIKE THEY DO METHADONE, Shirt you have to go up to the window Upwards of 6 times a day....................................

I never said it wasn't a mu agonist.

I'm kinda confused by everything after the first comma. I don't know what you're trying to get across.

 

[bludragonfly]

The thing that turns people off is the long withdrawal but that is mostly based on old wives' tales.

I strongly disagree with that statement. I spent 2 weeks in a hotel room praying to die from Methadone WD (then spent 2 more feeling like shit). If you want to stop using opiates, just suck it up and stop. I know that sounds harsh but believe me it is not nearly as harsh as the agony of methadone WD.