Methadone withdrawl help!!!!

[heatherneedshelp]

Ok, so I am very new to this but I need some help! I have been taking Methadone for about 6 months, I am taking about 40mg a day, I am trying to quit and I am wondering what to expect. Do you think I will have BAD withdrawls even though I have only been on it for 6 months total, I have been getting it from a friend, I don't go to any clinics. I have one 8mg suboxone that my friend told me to break it u into small pieces. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT!

 

[heatherneedshelp]

Can anybody help me??????????????

 

[ErikTheRed]

WD from 40mg is going to be a pretty nasty and long ordeal. You will have BAD withdrawals.

You might want to consider switching to Suboxone if you're not in a position to go through full blown withdrawal right now. When MMT patients switch to Subs, they often do so at your daily dose, 40mg. Try doing a search, there are tons of topics which will be very informative to you.

 

[kooterlover]

I suggest the suboxone method. I remember when I had to withdrawl from Methadone and H in jail. It wasn't fun. I got out in a few days so I got well right away, and I never did methadone again, the funny thing is methadone is supposed to help you get off H but it's just a substitute. That is why I think subs is better and Doctors can prescribe it and I know in sunny So Cal it is $7 a pill without insurance. (its more expensive in a little places).

By the way you have the most beautiful name, its my wifes.

 

[MindOverMethadone]

what I would do is take that suboxone, break it into eighths (break into fourths, then break those in half). When you find yourself feeling sick, place a small piece under your tongue and keep it there for as long as possible. See how you feel when you're out of the subs. You should only need to dose every two days or so... Don't worry, the subs kick in pretty quickly.

 

[Lord]

Your withdrawal won't be the worst of the worst, but it'll be tough.
Cold turkey and it will be a few days of hell, but things will probably clear up within a few months.

I suggest you taper for about two months, or taper for one month and go on suboxone. First week, reduce to 30mg. Second week, reduce to 25mg, third week 20mg, fourth week do 15mg, fifth week 10-15mg, sixth week 10mg
seventh week 5-10mg, eigth week 5mg. You can add 2-4 weeks of extremely low-dose use (5mg or less), which will be mild withdrawal on its own but will smoothen the actual withdrawal even more. Then come off completely and the withdrawal will be greatly reduced compared to cold turkeying, or you could try suboxone somewhere along the way and see how you feel afterward, whether you still feel the need to use or not.

 

[oliphill]

I came off a large heroin/methadone habit, it wasn't nice. Is there anyway you could get some more suboxone and do a 2 weeks

I would recommend getting to an na meeting, gain some hope which will give you the courage to get through it!

Good luck

 

[*Venus*]

I agree, it will hurt (understatement of the year) and one sub won't be enough.

I came off 35 mgs of MMT and a healthy dope habit and felt as shitty six weeks later as I did early in WD. If you can't handle it, I would seriously consider looking into a sub doctor.

Get to meetings for support, take a lot of hot baths. Hang in there!

 

[SAMCRO]

I would strongly suggest getting even lower then 40 mg before Sub induction. 20-25 is better but max they say should be 30 mg's b/c no matter how much suboxone you take the ceiling effect is equal to 30 mg of methadone. GL!

 

[stuckinaloop]

@@SAMCRO that is 100% incorrect information you are spewing. The ceiling effect of suboxone is equal to way more than 30mg methadone.

They recommend being at 30mg methadone before switching over. I have read countless stories of people switching over to bupe at 100mg + methadone.

I personally was on 80mg methadone for about a year. When I switched over to bupe I stabalized at 12mg (less than half of the ceiling dose). This is not hearsay, this is a personal first-hand experience.

The key is waiting until the methadone is out of your system to take the bupe. I switched to heroin for 4 days, then waited 36 hours after my last dose of dope, and took the buprenorphine. 1.5 pills of Suboxone (12mg) held me nicely, and I was able to taper down to 2mg over about 2 months pretty painlessly.
-------------------------------------------

@@ the original poster.

40mg methadone will give some pretty nasty withdrawals (though as long as you stay hydrated you will not die )

Personally, I think it would be in your best interest to go one of 2 routes.

1: taper down as low as you can get before jumping off, if that is not an option I would go with option 2
2: switch to buprenorphine, stabalize, and taper over a month. IMO it is worth the $ for a doctors visit and prescription. other wise you are going to spend a solid 1.5 months just being sick.

I don't wanna rain on your parade, but 1x 8mg sub is a drop in the bucket. You NEED to get your hands on some more if you are going to go the sub route. I mean 1 is better than none. If you are going to use it, to get teh most out of it, I would cold turkey for as long as you can (a minimum of 4 days), but the more the better, then dose 1mg a day for 8 days. It might take the edge off..but personally for a 40mg habit, it would be ideal to have 1x 8mg suboxone per DAY.

 

[SAMCRO]

@@SAMCRO that is 100% incorrect information you are spewing. The ceiling effect of suboxone is equal to way more than 30mg methadone.

They recommend being at 30mg methadone before switching over. I have read countless stories of people switching over to bupe at 100mg + methadone.

I personally was on 80mg methadone for about a year. When I switched over to bupe I stabalized at 12mg (less than half of the ceiling dose). This is not hearsay, this is a personal first-hand experience.

The key is waiting until the methadone is out of your system to take the bupe. I switched to heroin for 4 days, then waited 36 hours after my last dose of dope, and took the buprenorphine. 1.5 pills of Suboxone (12mg) held me nicely, and I was able to taper down to 2mg over about 2 months pretty painlessly.



Ummmm so if I read your post correct then you didn't even transfer from Methadone to Suboxone since you used a short acting opiate (heroin) in between. It depends how long a person has been on Methadone but if it is for a significant period of time then it is definitely best to be at 30 mg or less and then wait 72 hours after last methadone dose. I'm sure some people can transition from higher dose of methadone but the thing is most people will find it hard as fuck to wait until all the methadone is out of their system before taking the Suboxone which will often lead to percipitated withdrawal.

As for the ceiling effect there really isn't a comparison to any dose of Methadone since they are totally different opiates but I've found that its pretty close to equal to 30 mg methadone. Of course everyone is slightly different and I do believe I began my post with I SUGGEST doing this so plz stop telling me I'm spewing misinformation.

 

[SubDude]

There is no valid way to really compare the potency of a full agonist like methadone to a partial agonist like suboxone. In fact I've not found any good comparison/conversion charts that includes suboxone.

others that don't include

http://codeine.50g.com/info/facts.html
http://www.globalrph.com/narcoticonv.htm

I've seen the following posted elsewhere on BL but no link reference included

* 10mg Oxycodone PO
* 15mg Hydrocodone PO
* 4mg Hydromorphone PO
* 20mg Morphine PO
* 90mg Codeine PO
* 0.5mg Suboxone

=====================

#Pain Killer Equivalent Doses (Oral)
1.2mg.............Buprenorphine (Bupe)
200mg............Codeine (Tylenol 2, 3, 4, etc)
30-60mg.........Diacetylmorphine (Heroin) (orally it = morphine, IV/IM/insuffilated it's 2x as strong)
100mg............Dihydrocodeine
30mg..............Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lorcet, etc)
7.5mg.............Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
37.5µg............Fentanyl (not sure on this one, anyone know the oral dose equivalence for Fentanyl?)
4mg................Levorphanol (Dromoran)
300mg............Meperidine (Demerol)
10-20mg.........Methadone
30-60mg.........Morphine
20mg..............Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet)
10mg..............Oxymorphone (Numorphan)
200-300mg.....Propoxyphene (Darvocet)
150mg............Tramadol (Ultram, Ultracet)


#Pain Killer Equivalent Doses (IM)
0.3mg.............Buprenorphine (Bupe)
130mg............Codeine (Tylenol 2, 3, 4)
5mg................Diacetylmorphine (Heroin)
65mg..............Dihydrocodeine
N/A.................Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lorcet, etc)
1.4mg.............Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
0.1mg.............Fentanyl
2.0mg.............Levorphanol (Dromoran)
75mg..............Meperidine (Demerol)
20mg..............Methadone
10mg..............Morphine
10mg..............Oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet)
1.0mg.............Oxymorphone (Numorphan)
N/A.................Propoxyphene (Darvocet)
N/A.................Tramadol (Ultram, Ultracet)

A couple of yrs ago [after 15+ yrs on MMT] I was quickly tapered down to 40mg and switched to 12 mg suboxone [after 3 days on clonodine/benzos] and was OK. But now I'm on .5mg of bupe and essentially feel no different than when I was on 12mg.

 

[SubDude]

FYI... longer posts are easier to read with more paragraphs. Sorry you had to go thru that and the advice was good. Keep posting... there is plenty of support here. Good luck with your next move!