Methadone

[RACECAR11]

I love methadone. i take it for fun a few times a week. just 20mgs.
i have been doing this for a few years now

Is this bad? is this worse than taking pain pills at random?

what do you think?

its cheap and does the job - Can it really be that bad to take a few domes every now and then????

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

Methadone is an opioid. I'm assuming by "pain pills" you mean other opiates/opioids so, relatively speaking, it is the same. Methadone is long-acting (especially compared to say, oxycodone or hydrocodone) so even if you're skipping a day between dosing you still have it on your system.

While some people are able to "chip" on avoid a habit with opiates, eventually it can (will) sneak up on you.

 

[SaosinEngaged]

Any opiate use can and will, in most cases, escalate into a full blown addiction. You're really risking a hell that's purely unfathomable to you now, but I assure you, is quite real.

I started "recreationally" using oxycodone for a year or so, and another year later I was a dependent, desperate addict.

You are your own master. You have Pandora's box in those pills. What you do is up to you, but I'd stop it now before you end up like the rest of us. You don't "quit" using opiates once you've acquired the taste. It consumes you. And at that point, truly and permanently getting free from them is a monolithic challenge, orders of magnitude more difficult than anything you ever thought possible.

I've endured the pain of 300+ mg Daily oxy habits, and let me tell you, the thought of methadone wd makes me question if I'd prefer suicide.

 

[Jackeh]

I don't think it's as bad as "taking random pills", in that case you might not know what you're getting and it could be dangerous. Taking methadone every day recreationally won't be safe either, you can end up with a serious addiction and withdrawals when you try to stop - I'm sure you don't want that.

 

[hatrix]

As long as you're spacing it out with days, literally DAYS, in between it won't be any more dangerous than taking another opiate such as oxycodone regularly.

I took methadone recreationally a couple times. It was pretty nice. The long duration is great, but also terrible if you want to dose again the next day. You definitely DON'T want to do that having a low tolerance, you could end up ODing.

 

[thesameoldfears]

Methadone is an opioid. I'm assuming by "pain pills" you mean other opiates/opioids so, relatively speaking, it is the same. Methadone is long-acting (especially compared to say, oxycodone or hydrocodone) so even if you're skipping a day between dosing you still have it on your system.

While some people are able to "chip" on avoid a habit with opiates, eventually it can (will) sneak up on you.

This. With methadone the tolerance/addiction will sneak up on you because it is so long lasting, so you need several days in between doses to avoid it.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Methadone is an opioid. I'm assuming by "pain pills" you mean other opiates/opioids so, relatively speaking, it is the same.

I wouldn't consider it on the same level as any other opioid actually. In addition to what you mentioned about it staying in your system a long time, which has risks such as being able to get physically dependent on it with less frequent use compared to other opioids, there are also the following risks:

- if you do get physically dependent, withdrawal is longer-lasting than any other opioid, and many people consider it subjectively worse than withdrawal from other opioids (although this may mainly be because WD lasts so damn long, I know that was the hardest thing for me)
- it takes a long time to take effect, which can lead to redosing when it isn't wise to do so
- it builds up in your system because the half-life is so long (if you take it again before the previous dose is eliminated you can OD on an amount that would have been ok had you not had any methadone in your system)
- the respiratory depression lasts longer than the high, so people often go to bed seeming fine and don't wake up
- also due to the respiratory depression lasting so long, people often will take more methadone or other drugs assuming the methadone has worn off (other CNS depressants exacerbating the respiratory depression)

OP - If you've been taking it a few times a week for years now I would hazard a guess you are already physically dependent, at least to a degree.

 

[Pagey]

^This.
The problem with methadone is that even leaving a few days between each use isn't sufficient because the drug stays in your system for such a long time. I'd speculate it's probably one of the easiest opiates to get addicted to, physically at least. I mean if you've been diong this for years, you must be quite addicted already. I'd really encourage you to get off it, as using any opiates that often is really just playing with fire.
Methadone withdrawals are supposedly the absolute worst of all opioid/opiate WDs...not to deter you but rather to encourage you to get off them before becoming even more dependant.

 

[Serotonin101]

methadone half life is around 24 hrs. so after 24 hrs half is left in your system. so in your case, after a day you got 10mg, 2days 5mg and then you redose so now you got 25mg, then 12.5mg, then 6.25mg and redose that day to 26.25. so on your second redose (last of the first week) you now have an extra 6.25mg in your body. its exponential growth as well so you may have a huge amount in your system. I recommend tapering down and getting off of it.

 

[MyNamesJeremyS]

The idea that there is "no harm in 'recreationally' taking methadone" is flawed on many levels. As someone who who was, at one point, on 190mg of Methadone/day, I BEG YOU to stop taking it. I really cant give you any better reasons than the ones posted above (especially by swimmingdancer), but I am simply offering friendly advice. Even when I was down to low doses(10-40mg), the SLIGHTEST decrease was noticeable, practically intolerable and LONG lasting. Each decrease of 1mg at a time was TORTURE. Please don't go down this path. I realize it's cheap, but find something comparable that has a much shorter half life and will be much easier on your body. Whatever you decide, please be safe and DO NOT MIX BENZOS WITH METHADONE.