Methadone while on Zoloft

[shpongle1987]

I have the oppritunity to take some methadone. Never done it before and dont have too much of an opiate tolerance. I heard some bad stories about people dieing while mixing these two drugs but that was when they were used in extreemly high levels. If i was going to use it i tihnk i would only take about 5-10mg for threashold effects and just to be safe seeing that i am on 50mg's of zoloft daily for the past week and a half. Any one have any informaation on this and wether or not it is safe as long as used in low dosages? Or is mixing methadone with zoloft jut a huge no?

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

Take your zoloft regardless. Be careful with methadone. You might only need 5 mgs of it.

 

[effie]

Interaction checkers like this one suggest thsat there can be an increase in sedation/respiratory depression, so I would be inclined to only take 5ml too and be careful, although it is not something I have heard of before (SSRIs interacting with opioids and increasing the respiratpry depression)..

Remember how long methadone lasts and be careful not to take any other CNS depressants (benzos, alcohol etc) for 24 hours at least after dosing.

 

[doveshavedied]

my ex is Rx both zoloft and methadone and theres no interaction but like the others have said dose carefully

 

[THC2LSD]

I think both Zoloft and methadone can prolong your qt interval, this can cause an arrythmia called torsades de pointes, which is often fatal.Usually qt prolongation isn't a problem til around 200mg with methadone, but some are more sensitive than others.

I've take methadone with celexa which is similar to zoloft and am fine, and if you keep the dose of the methadone low(10-20mg, won't need anymore if you don't have a tolerance) you should be fine.

 

[effie]

Yep you are correct. Although not hugely common (antipsychotics are better known for prolonging the QT interval) both those drugs can occasionally do it. It becomes a real issue if you already have a syndrome called long QT syndrome which is rare but my ex had - he died after suffering a fatal arrhythmia after being started on antipsychotics. So I would advise anyone who is on a medication which is well-known for prolonging the QT interval to have an ECG done..

Anyway, that was a bit of a side track - if you're only planning a low dose you should be fine. Just remember that methadone lasts for a LONG time and can be very dangerous to people with low opiate tolerances so start really low and don't mix it with any other CNS depressants (benzos and alcohol or other opioids..)

 

[shpongle1987]

I took 15 mg liquid (which was weird, didn't expect liquid) and I was absolutely fine. Thanks for the responses!!

 

[effie]

It's (almost) always liquid here in UK. And very green. No idea about elsewhere..

Glad all went okay! I'll close this but if you (or anyone else) have any queries/anything else to add shoot me a pm.