Opioids methadone short term taper

[Chris R]

been on methadone for just about a month, started at 20mg/ml then went up 10 every 4 days until reached 80. 20 was enough to hold me but i kept going up thinkin id get a high out of it, boy was i wrong. now im starting to go down, im at 60mg/ml and not suffering atm.

.. my question is, since ive only been on methadone for a month, can i continue to taper super fast seeing as I didn't even get a chance to stay at higher dose for long. im trying to jump down 10mg/ml every 4 days, thats my plan. is this feasible seeing as its only been a month and I didnt stay at the high doses for more than a week or two. can i drop down super fast, i wanna be completely clean and wanna do everything in my power to avoid a methadone addiction thats greater than 20mg/ml. help/advice?

(as a side note, when i started MMT i only had a quite mild addiction, no terrible withdrawals or anything, ps; i'm in in Canada if that makes a difference.)

 

[Jabberwocky]

i think that you can reduce 10mg every four days, or even detox faster if you wish. do you have the methadone as tablets or in liquid form?

you could even reduce even more rapidly if you're feeling up to it. try immediately cutting 10mg and reduce by 10mg a day. you might feel uneasy for a bit but you'll start to settle into your new dose.

REMEMBER: you can always dose higher if you're really feeling awful. its always worth giving it a shot to reduce as quickly as you can if you feel up to it.

it's a shame you went into methadone maintainance. my god is it a bitch. i don't understand how they give this stuff out to addicts - it's awful.
in canada do they have alternative treatments availiable? in the UK they are allowed to prescribe dihydrocodeine for maintenance therapy and its much easy to detox from as well.

 

[Znegative]

It takes about a week to stabilize on a single dosage of methadone (meaning for the built up methadone of past dosages to reach their peak plasma concentration), so according to my (horrible) math, you've only been on 80mg for a little over a week as it is.

I honestly don't think that you should have too hard of a time kicking this, the key is to kick it now though..It would be worth your while to suffer the short term consequences of doing a super fast taper (and possibly switching to Bupe to finish it off when your low enough) than to do a gradual taper and allow your body more and more time to get used to the methadone (which will happen despite decreased dosing).

 

[Chris R]

ok, now i see the replys. i was on bupe originally for 2 week period but switched to methadone cuz i thought the full agonisdt would be more suitable in helping me stop doin junk on the side (hydromorph iv). I see the doctor every 4 days and i can pick whatever size reduction i want. its liquid, no tablets. but whatever i choose to reduce it by, i cant change my mind and go back until 4 days later. so the drop needs to occur every 4 days. i'm on 60 now, i see the doc thursday, what do you think would be the most extreme drop i could do, (got some lyrica and a few temaz if all hell breaks loose) but i was thinking to drop to 40mg in the next 2 days. Doctor has called me a lunatic for droppin more than 10mg every 4 days, but i honestly think i can handle it cuz its only been a month. he's a smart guy, but i don't trust all his ideas. so for this thursday, is 40mg reasonable? higher/lower? i wanna get to 20 within the next month no matter what.

 

[Jabberwocky]

i think that you can do it. i suggest you pick up your normal 60 dose - just in case, and try to dose 40mg. if all hell breaks loose you can dose the extra 20mg.

you can also use the lyrica to potentiate the methadone and make it feel more potent for the time you drop the dose.

it may be a bit painful but you can do it.

 

[Chris R]

20 (4days) - 30 - (4 days) - 40 (4 days) - 50 - (4 days) 60 - (4 days) 70 (4 days) - 80 - (4 days) .. then dropping

dropped to 60 after 4 days of 80.. and now i wanna jump to 40mg's in the next 2 days (if this info helps at alll in any way)

** one more side note, after a month of the described dosages ive listed. if tomorrow i were to stop cold turkey, does someone wanna throw out a guess as to how long it would take to completely detox off the meth and get back to a normal opiate-free state. (ive been using for 4/5 years never suffering bad withdrawal due to proper spacing out of binges and taking breaks etc. gettin on methadone was the stupidest thing ive ever done, although in the last month i have accomplished so much gettin my life back together, and for that one reason i thank MMT. but theres no fuckin way in hell im gettin chained to a pharmacy. i wanna get back to just taking (high dose) lyrica, thats my DOC thats never fucked me.

 

[Znegative]

Okay, my bad..I agree with Synthetix. Lyrica/Neurontin both help a lot when tapering down off of opiates. I think you would try and make the jump to 40, like I said it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[Jabberwocky]

if you cold turkeyed tomorrow from methadone you'd experience about 2-3 weeks of agonizing withdrawals that are completely not worth it. like i said i don't understand why people prescribe this stuff for maintance, it's fucking awful and the withdrawal lasts longer and is worse. i really don't suggest doing that however i do suggest going straight down to 40mg - even tomorrow. you could even get down to 30mg i think and use lyrica to mitigate some of the withdrawal.

do you have access to dihydrocodeine? if so i seriously suggest you get ahold of some and start to substitute the meth for dhc. while you're on meth, adjust by tapering down meth but adding a higher dose of DHC - say 100-200mg per 10mg you drop. the withdrawal from DHC is MUCH more manageable, easier on the body and can be done quickly without much pain or suffering. as you're on methadone though you will need at least two weeks to completely substitute.

trust me getting down as fast as you can is the best solution. you can do it it just might be a bit painful for a day or two while your body adjusts to a lower dose BUT it is do able.