Methadone Vs. Subs,Dosing,Energy Levels

[Ripamaru]

It won't be any time soon as it will take a long time of leveling off and tapering down.

I am not as worried about relapse now. I am highly motivated to get off the opium dependence at some point. I don't want to drop $400-600/mo on this for the rest of my life either.

I will be tapering down veerrrryyy slowly off the methadone when the time comes in hopes that I can make it as painless as possible, 1 to 2 mg a week at most.

I want to know from anyone that has experience with it whether it's better to taper down and switch to subs or just try to drop off the done 1mg at a time until I'm out.

I once kicked at 10-20mg and it was a month of living hell, including losing over 40lbs and not eating/sleeping at all......followed by depression and emptiness that caused me to relapse. At the time though I didn't know that the depression was normal and could eventually go away.

Any advice on how to go about this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mister right]

Be Careful what you wish for!!!!

Hey guys,
I too am currently on subs, by my doctor only lets you stay on it for 1 year and this month is a year for me. I'm down to 4mg a day, but I've been screwing up alot lately. I was on methadone maint. for 2 years awhile back and things started off great. Then my clinic started to pull all kinds of shit and I ended up dosing down and switching over to subs. Well, and I know most opiate addicts know this, but let me tell you from experience. The withdrawl from methadone is like NOTHING you have ever,ever,ever experienced in your lives. Like one dude said he doesn't plan on getting off of it, well then that's probably the best route for him. I have no idea where I'm going from here, I will get my last sub script in 2 weeks and I'm already using 1 or 2 times a week. Good Luck to everyone.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

K'd out, how did you go about moving from MMT to SMT? I want to eventually get off of everything so I am thinking about switching to subs once I taper down to a small dose of done. Was it a painful process for you? What advice can you give me?

I had to taper down to 30mg of Methadone before I could switch onto the Suboxone. Then I had to wait 48 hours because I needed to be going through withdrawals before they could judge what dose I should start out on. I went back in 3 days and they would increase the dose.

 

[Ripamaru]

I had to taper down to 30mg of Methadone before I could switch onto the Suboxone. Then I had to wait 48 hours because I needed to be going through withdrawals before they could judge what dose I should start out on. I went back in 3 days and they would increase the dose.

How has the sub been for you? Have you been able to handle the cravings without using other opiates?

My goal is to get off altogether at some point......Is it realistic to think that I could taper down to a small amount of done, switch to subs, and taper off completely?

Or is it better to just try to taper all the way off of methadone?

I really don't want to spend the rest of my life on maintenance, I am only 26 and I know a few people that have been going for decades. I would rather do that than relapse again but I want to be able to quit altogether and live somewhat normally.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

How has the sub been for you? Have you been able to handle the cravings without using other opiates?

My goal is to get off altogether at some point......Is it realistic to think that I could taper down to a small amount of done, switch to subs, and taper off completely?

Or is it better to just try to taper all the way off of methadone?

I really don't want to spend the rest of my life on maintenance, I am only 26 and I know a few people that have been going for decades. I would rather do that than relapse again but I want to be able to quit altogether and live somewhat normally.

I'm only 27. I was put on the Methadone when I was 23. Switched over to Suboxone when I was 25. I was using just about daily since I was 16. So out of 11 years on opiates 4 of them I've been on maintenance! I need to get off maintenance myself. I've been doing better with Suboxone, as with Methadone I relapsed because I always wanted that "feeling" and Methadone could almost provide...just a little but enough to get me craving again.

With Suboxone that feeling is gone. I don't feel like I'm on an opiate. But I've tapered off it for 7 days but I relapsed because the time wasn't right. But I think to myself, "when will the time ever be right". So I keep putting it off but I'll tell you this, withdrawals from Suboxone are nothing close to those of Methadone. Not at all.

 

[Ripamaru]

I'm only 27. I was put on the Methadone when I was 23. Switched over to Suboxone when I was 25. I was using just about daily since I was 16. So out of 11 years on opiates 4 of them I've been on maintenance! I need to get off maintenance myself. I've been doing better with Suboxone, as with Methadone I relapsed because I always wanted that "feeling" and Methadone could almost provide...just a little but enough to get me craving again.

With Suboxone that feeling is gone. I don't feel like I'm on an opiate. But I've tapered off it for 7 days but I relapsed because the time wasn't right. But I think to myself, "when will the time ever be right". So I keep putting it off but I'll tell you this, withdrawals from Suboxone are nothing close to those of Methadone. Not at all.

I know how it is. I actually dropped off of methadone once and went through a month of hell only to relapse within 2-3 months.

My story is very similar to yours. I started on opiates at 15-16 and started methadone at 24. Your right that the done gets you just enough of an opiate high to make you want more, I avoid the urge because I know that the done won't let me get high off of anything else and taking more done won't make me feel any better (just give me a headache and/or put me to sleep + leave me without a dose later).

I am glad to hear that the sub WD isn't as bad. I don't think I would survive another month long done WD like before. I lost over 40lbs that time and now I am only 145lbs at 5'10" so I don't have another 40lbs to lose.

If I can get to the point where I am stable without feeling like I am on opiates I think I can quit.

How did the sub WD go for you when you dropped off? Is it possible to taper the sub down to a point where the WD isn't that painful and you can eat/sleep some?

 

[SubDude]

But I've tapered off it for 7 days but I relapsed because the time wasn't right. But I think to myself, "when will the time ever be right"

Trust me on this one... you'll know when the time is right. The motivation might be a good woman, puking all over yourself in a homeless shelter, or a song or movie that strikes a chord. It can be anything... good or bad. For me it was my 3 yo young daughter sitting the in back seat asking daddy if he was sick as she watched me shoot up some coke. That kept me straight for 5 1/2 yrs. But at least the next time I quickly went to ORT, so it depends.

I hate ORT but hate WD's so much more.

ORT... I'd like to punch out and kick the shit out of it while it's down on the ground. Just to let em know I'm still the boss.

WD's... I'd fucking empty 10 full clips into that with my m-16.

Or maybe it would be vice versa... IDK

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

How did the sub WD go for you when you dropped off? Is it possible to taper the sub down to a point where the WD isn't that painful and you can eat/sleep some?

I tapered from 8mg to 4mg in one month then 4mg to 2mg in another month and 2mg to 1mg in another month. All that was very easy until I got to 1mg I started feeling mild withdrawals, not too tasty, watery eyes, sneezing, runny noes and some chills. Once I got completely off it the withdrawals I experienced the most were insomnia, muscle aches and pains, anxiety and chills/sweating. They weren't severe, I'd say moderate but enough to be problem some. The worse was the muscle pains. The withdrawals started to kick in around the 2nd day. I made it to 6 or 7 days. Like I said, I didn't feel the time was right. The most of them went away after day 5, after that they sort of lingered, were a little milder. I'm not sure how long they last because I went back on but probably 7-10 days I'd guess just by assuming how they were going but I can't be sure. But they were mild to moderate, not severe. I could have really used some muscle relaxers and it would have been a little easier.

And SubDude, thanks for that. Good to know a time may come. Maybe if I end up getting married. I am in a pretty serious relationship as it is. But I'm sort of scared of marriage to tell you the truth

 

[Ripamaru]

I tapered from 8mg to 4mg in one month then 4mg to 2mg in another month and 2mg to 1mg in another month. All that was very easy until I got to 1mg I started feeling mild withdrawals, not too tasty, watery eyes, sneezing, runny noes and some chills. Once I got completely off it the withdrawals I experienced the most were insomnia, muscle aches and pains, anxiety and chills/sweating. They weren't severe, I'd say moderate but enough to be problem some. The worse was the muscle pains. The withdrawals started to kick in around the 2nd day. I made it to 6 or 7 days. Like I said, I didn't feel the time was right. The most of them went away after day 5, after that they sort of lingered, were a little milder. I'm not sure how long they last because I went back on but probably 7-10 days I'd guess just by assuming how they were going but I can't be sure. But they were mild to moderate, not severe. I could have really used some muscle relaxers and it would have been a little easier.

And SubDude, thanks for that. Good to know a time may come. Maybe if I end up getting married. I am in a pretty serious relationship as it is. But I'm sort of scared of marriage to tell you the truth

Thanks again, Were you able to eat at all during the WD?

My biggest fear in quitting is a repeat of the massive weight loss I went through during methadone WD.

I lost over 40lbs in a month and in over a year I have never gained any of the weight back. I am only 147lbs right now so I can't possibly afford to lose any real weight again or I might not live through it.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Damn, that's a lot of weight to loss! I didn't have much of a problem eating but that is just me. I used to be really skinny but lately I've had to watch my weight and usually hungry so Sub withdrawal helped me eat less but didn't significantly make me loss weight. I had a lot of problems eating from Methadone withdrawal, couldn't keep a single thing down!

 

[Ripamaru]

Damn, that's a lot of weight to loss! I didn't have much of a problem eating but that is just me. I used to be really skinny but lately I've had to watch my weight and usually hungry so Sub withdrawal helped me eat less but didn't significantly make me loss weight. I had a lot of problems eating from Methadone withdrawal, couldn't keep a single thing down!

I smoked a ton of weed during the month of WD too and I still couldn't eat anything or sleep at all....

After a month I could eat and sleep but only with the pot. It took another couple of weeks before I could do either without help.

I thought that when I went back on the done I would be fat and happy again but I am still too damn skinny.

I was out of methadone for a week before getting into this program and when I started I weighed myself and was scared to death when I saw the scale say 135.....

I have been eating a lot of fast food and drinking 2 or 3 ensure plus shakes for weight gain every day and am now up to 147 but I seem stuck there.

I need to gain more weight before I even consider tapering the done.

 

[CfZrx]

Hi Everybody! I'm gonna visit a sub doc. I take 60 mg morph sulphate daily. Do you think I can get better pain relief from a dose of sub than this small morphine dose? Thanks