methadone withdrawal problems

[alabamabrown]

hi. about a month ago I started a rapid detox off 14ml of methadone. it went down one ml a day for fourteen days. for the first few days it wasnt so bad. it got hard from about 6ml onwards. by the time we got to zero ml we were really poorly and it got worse each day for about a week. once the really bad wothdrawal symptoms had eased off I still felt awful. every day I told myself tomorrow would be better. but every morning I was just as bad. my heart was beating out of.my chest and I had a massive headache all the time. I was crying and emotional and so exhausted I could barely walk the dog. eventually I lost all motivation to carry on. I was dreaming about using heroin all the time and eventually cracked and found someone who could help me score. I used the tiniest bit as I was scared of overdose and immediately felt relief. it made me feel happy and relaxed and energised. I have had a tiny bit every day since, only once a day, just to enable me to function again. I wont go back on methadone as I dont think I could do the withdrawals again. im hoping I can keep my tolerance low and not get stuck back in the cycle of using more and more. I don't really know what else to say or where to go from here. I just want to feel normal x

 

[hikfromstik]

Methadone WD is so drawn out it can be discouraging for most . Are you wanting to just get off methadone or all opiates ? Its gonna be hard not getting back on H the way your doing it. H is so short acting your gonna prolong the WDs . I have read were people got on other short acting opiates for a few months to let the methadone leave their system totally, then quit the short half life stuff later to speed the WDs up . Either way your gonna pay the piper eventually. Good luck on your journey

 

[alabamabrown]

Methadone WD is so drawn out it can be discouraging for most . Are you wanting to just get off methadone or all opiates ? Its gonna be hard not getting back on H the way your doing it. H is so short acting your gonna prolong the WDs . I have read were people got on other short acting opiates for a few months to let the methadone leave their system totally, then quit the short half life stuff later to speed the WDs up . Either way your gonna pay the piper eventually. Good luck on your journey

I definitely want to get off the methadone and I would like to be able to just use a small amount of heroin to ease the withdrawals now and then to be able to function.I know I will get some withdrawals off the heroin too but im hoping that im using such a small amount that they wont be as bad as they would have been if I had stopped when I was using a lot. I also hope that they will be much shorter than the methadone withdrawals. the last month has been a nightmare. my recovery workers didnt prepare me for just how severe or long lasting the methadone withdrawal would be. they gave me the impression it would be a few days of being ill and then I would be fine. the reality was that every day I woke up just the same as the day before. I felt like my heart and soul had been destroyed and my.body felt like it had shut down. I would like to think I could use heroin now amd then. famous last words I know. but my finances and situation prevents me from getting large amounts. my problems got really bad before bwcause I got involved in dealing so had access to unlimited supplies. this time is completely different because I dont have the money or the access to the same amounts. I will have to limit my use to only very small amounts and think I will be able to handle the withdrawal off heroin better now ive suffered a methadone withdrawal. with any luck they will be over faster when I do habe them x

 

[alabamabrown]

for the last four days in a row I have been injecting a tiny bit of heroin which eases my withdrawal symptoms temporarily. im trying to leave twenty four hours between and wait until I feel really bad before giving in to my urge. I am going visiting my parents at weekend because I see my children there once a weeek at their house so I need to feel well enough to face it. during the last month while ive been on methadone detox I have been too poorly to go, which is one of the main reasons ive ended up relapsing. during the week I live in a caravan in a different town and dont see my family, so I plan on using as littlw as possible over the weekend in order to function and thwn when I am back in the van on my own (with my partner though who I live with) I will let myself get sick for a couple of days. im hoping this will keep my tolerance as low as possible. im hoping that the methadone withdrawal will gradually improve and then eventually I will need less and less heroin. I know this sounds like a silly idea. I just couldnt carry on feeling so bad for so long. has anyone else tried using small amounts of heroin to ease methadone withdrawals with success and without just replacing the methadone addiction for heroin? x

 

[Jabberwocky]

What about comfort meds?

If you could find some gabapentin and clonidine even it would go a LONG way to help you get off the methadone (although keep in mind, that's just detox - you'll also need to plan for what comes post detox, or else you're likely to resume using again).

Ideally comfort meds would include buprenoprhine, diazepam, gabapentin, clonidine, IBU, and some sleep aid.

I've never heard from anyone who has found success going from methadone to any dose of heroin. I know they're out there, but your situation doesn't make that seem very likely to work well. You won't know unless you try, but do have a backup plan just in case it doesn't work.