Nasty headaches on Methadone Maintenance

[DrapedUpDopedOut]

Hello fellow Bluelighters!
I started on Methadone treatment this past Thursday and have been doing well.
No complaints besides one, the damn extremely painful headaches! I tried searching around on here and haven't found anything regarding this, so please forgive me if this has already been discussed. I was told before when I was on Suboxone that I should stick to a gluten-free diet because it would help to release the "binding" action in my system and flush the opiates out a little better. I have been eating gluten free foods for the past 24 hours and have noticed no difference. I'm not sure if it may take longer or whatever, but the headaches are still so severe . They happen all day long, except in the very first few minutes when I wake up in the morning, simply because I haven't dosed at that time yet. I am only on 40mg/day at the moment, so it's not like I am doing too much. Has anyone else ever had this situation? And if so.. what did you do to fix it? Please give me some kind of advice, I can't stand this much longer, and it makes me just feel like going back to other drugs lol, even though I won't regardless. Thanks all!

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Headaches is not an uncommon side effect with Methadone. You'll just have to deal with it. Take some Tylenol. Butalbital is a barbiturate that helps prevent migraines. It helps pretty well but I wouldn't suggest taking a barbiturate with Methadone.

 

[DrapedUpDopedOut]

Thanks, I guess. That's unfortunate to know that there isn't something that can help me out. I have a kidney stone and crappy liver, so tylenol/aspirins/ibuprofen are not good for me. I can take them moderately, but a few months ago I was taking them daily (1000mg acetaminophen/day, if not 1500) for about 6-8 weeks straight until one day at work I jumped on top of a pallet/skid and then jumped off another from 10-12 feet up and later that night I was pissing blood. That continued for the next few days straight and scared the hell out of me, so I don't like to do aspirins/NSAIDs and such.
Any other natural things you may be able to advise for me or is that your best go?

 

[grrr8Dane]

K'd-OUT-in-AZ is right on - there's not a lot to be done in this instance, considering that cause of your headaches. You could give something like Feverfew a go. Feverfew is a prophylactic that is really only helpful in the prevention of migraines and it takes approximately 3 weeks to take effect. It is possible that it will not help at all, but if you're desperate, it's an option. There's also Willow Bark, which is what salicylate pain relievers are derived from, though given your aversion to Aspirin, it may not be a great choice for you.

One thing to consider: staying adequately hydrated. Chug some water.

Best of luck to you.

 

[izzy66]

if you can split your 40mg into two 20mg doses that may stop the headaches but yeah i know... at mmt it's a once a day dose.
best of luck to you.
-izzy

 

[DrapedUpDopedOut]

Thanks grrr8Dane and izzy. I will do some research into both of the things you mentioned, Dane. However, yesterday was the first day I asked them to increase my dose, just thinking that since MOST people are on 60-100+ mg/day, that I should be too. I think I guessed wrong. I started off on 30mg for 5 days, then raised to 35mg and that seemed to be doing great for me, even though I was still having to deal with minor headaches.. But the past two days is what really killed me since I told them to raise me to 40. I guess that 5mg difference really fucked me over. I almost didn't even go into the clinic today because of how bad I felt. I went though, and told them about my problem, and got doctor authorization to decrease back down to 35 and now I feel fanfuckingtastic. Minor head discomfort, but nothing like how it was before, and it's not even really a "headache". I think my body has just gotten used to the drug now, and 35mg/day may be my satisfactory dose. Thanks again to all of you who chipped in some advice!

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

That would be great if you could keep at 35mg/day. When the time comes to get off it will be much easier. Trust me, I raised my dose all the way to 135mg/day and it was damn near impossible to do. The withdrawals were so severe that I had to switch onto Suboxone maintenance. You may be saying that Methadone will be something you'll be on for the rest of your life but eventually there will be a time that you decide to go off. 35mg/day will be easier to taper from. You just started though so you may end up needing to up your dose a little more later on but just don't go up "too" much. Just a suggestion. Be safe.

 

[kokaino]

It could be a methadone side effect, or it could be something else. I would tell this to your methadone doctor just in case it's not something more serious, especially if you are on other medications or doing street drugs. You can never be too cautious when it comes to your health because the littlest thing can turn out to be something serious, so I advise you to mention this to your doctor.

In the meantime, take some ibuprofen (Advil; Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) for the headaches and see how that works out for you. Ibuprofen and naproxen are great OTC pain relievers (probably the best OTC pain meds), much better than acetaminophen (Tylenol) that's for sure. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is very bad for your liver and most opioid addicts don't have the best liver conditions to start with, so I strongly advise against this OTC pain med. Ibuprofen begins to have a negative effect on your kidneys when you have been taking it for a very long time and in big doses (600 mg +), otherwise it's a very safe medication.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

It could be a methadone side effect, or it could be something else. I would tell this to your methadone doctor just in case it's not something more serious, especially if you are on other medications or doing street drugs. You can never be too cautious when it comes to your health because the littlest thing can turn out to be something serious, so I advise you to mention this to your doctor.

In the meantime, take some ibuprofen (Advil; Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve) for the headaches and see how that works out for you. Ibuprofen and naproxen are great OTC pain relievers (probably the best OTC pain meds), much better than acetaminophen (Tylenol) that's for sure. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is very bad for your liver and most opioid addicts don't have the best liver conditions to start with, so I strongly advise against this OTC pain med. Ibuprofen begins to have a negative effect on your kidneys when you have been taking it for a very long time and in big doses (600 mg +), otherwise it's a very safe medication.

Out of all those pain meds I'd always suggest Ibuprofen. It works very well for the aches I get in my body. It also works well for my headaches but I don't need to choose one of those for headaches, as any of them seem to work.

 

[DrapedUpDopedOut]

That would be great if you could keep at 35mg/day. When the time comes to get off it will be much easier. Trust me, I raised my dose all the way to 135mg/day and it was damn near impossible to do. The withdrawals were so severe that I had to switch onto Suboxone maintenance. You may be saying that Methadone will be something you'll be on for the rest of your life but eventually there will be a time that you decide to go off. 35mg/day will be easier to taper from. You just started though so you may end up needing to up your dose a little more later on but just don't go up "too" much. Just a suggestion. Be safe.

Thanks dude, I will most definitely be trying to keep my dose as low as possible, and still get the proper effects out of it. I don't think my body will build up a great tolerance to this shit, because when I was doing dope/OCs/various opiates, I'd get a tolerance like crazy in NO time at all. Within two weeks of shooting dope, I went from 1 bag a day to 1 bag an hour. 6-8 bags a day. But anywho, I hope my tolerance stays around this level and I do not have to up my dose. 35mg seems to be working great and I love that. Your 135mg seems crazy lol, at least for me anyway. Shit I've heard of people taking 275-300mg a day, which is absurd. And once I read about a guy who was on nearly 2000mg a day which seems fucking impossible, but you guys can find him too

And as far as the pain relievers, refer to post #3 of this thread.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Thanks dude, I will most definitely be trying to keep my dose as low as possible, and still get the proper effects out of it. I don't think my body will build up a great tolerance to this shit, because when I was doing dope/OCs/various opiates, I'd get a tolerance like crazy in NO time at all. Within two weeks of shooting dope, I went from 1 bag a day to 1 bag an hour. 6-8 bags a day. But anywho, I hope my tolerance stays around this level and I do not have to up my dose. 35mg seems to be working great and I love that. Your 135mg seems crazy lol, at least for me anyway. Shit I've heard of people taking 275-300mg a day, which is absurd. And once I read about a guy who was on nearly 2000mg a day which seems fucking impossible, but you guys can find him too

And as far as the pain relievers, refer to post #3 of this thread.

Same here, tolerance to OC's and heroin grows much more rapidly for me than Methadone. It didn't take long for me to go from 80mg oxycodone to 240-300mg WITH heroin. I begun using heroin as an alternative to oxycodone because it was so damn expensive but eventually I begun using both at the same time. Now THAT was pricey, I had to get rid of many things and do some really bad stuff to support my habit. I was using about 6-8 bags of dope also with my oxy. I never thought I'd be using as much as I was, I made an old promise to myself that I would never use heroin but I broke that promise pretty quickly.

Yeah, I didn't need to be on 135mg. The only reason I kept raising it was because I still wanted to feel sedated all the time. But tolerance didn't build as fast as dope/OC's.

 

[DrapedUpDopedOut]

Right, I hear you on that.. I truly think methadone is a miracle drug for those who use it properly. And it sounds like you have began to use it the way it's intended. What is your dosage at now? Oh and about being sedated.. I don't necessarily feel sedated, but I feel extremely tired all day and get the "cant see too clearly" thing most of the time throughout the day, and become very very tired, like the feeling I got after doing dope all day and just wanting to sleep afterwards. Idk, those are the main parts I don't like.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Right, I hear you on that.. I truly think methadone is a miracle drug for those who use it properly. And it sounds like you have began to use it the way it's intended. What is your dosage at now? Oh and about being sedated.. I don't necessarily feel sedated, but I feel extremely tired all day and get the "cant see too clearly" thing most of the time throughout the day, and become very very tired, like the feeling I got after doing dope all day and just wanting to sleep afterwards. Idk, those are the main parts I don't like.

I've switched onto Suboxone maintenance. I take it properly. I had to taper my dose down to 30mg before I could make the switch. I made the switch because the Methadone was making me too drowsy during the day. After "another" car accident I decided I needed to get off of it. I take 4mg of Suboxone daily now. It doesn't make me all tired, in fact it is stimulating.

 

[invisiroll420]

Its what we call a opie headache its from extended periods of time on opies buddy for real cause the metha is super long acting ur prolly gonna need a asprin regimine i used to get mine to real bad specially once u hit like 18+ hour mark ur so opied out all day even my eyes hurt from being pinned out shit i could barley see most the time i couldnt read very well now i am pleased to say the nuggbone is opie free and the way to be its fuckin hard real hard, i give u props for meth maitanece but honestly ur just trading one for a worse to be blunt and honest i would sub in a short acting opie for the meth for a few days and cold turkey the short acting because the longer on the meth the worse the wd. Subox is even worse i wd for 4 1/2 weeks wasnt til i promptly did a short acting n jumped off that that i did a super quick 5-6 days sickness n just manned up n got thru it with some mental help. a few zannies but not in a addicting fashion ohh and zannies and nite quil will work wonders for sleep in wd. But def try to get off all the long acting they eat ur body up fuck ur mind and will cause even worse withdraw. I am not condone using short acting opies but honestly much much easier to CT it, and thats the real only way to do it. And my heroin habit was 600 a day (striper girlfriend) i had a habit i know sick. I actually had to get a blood transfusion cause of withdraw ripping my stomach and causing internal bleeding which cause projectile vomiting of blood like exorsist style. Please trust me i know my dope, meth and subox. Its rough but honestly think of the work u go thru to get meth or dope or subox use that same effort to get clean and it can happen buddy.

 

[invisiroll420]

much luv from the murda mitten aka detroit-nuggbones

 

[kokaino]

Out of all those pain meds I'd always suggest Ibuprofen. It works very well for the aches I get in my body. It also works well for my headaches but I don't need to choose one of those for headaches, as any of them seem to work.

Yeah, ibuprofen is a great pain reliever. I have fibromyalgia and I don't get opioids, even though Lyrica does very little and is crazy expensive. I take ibuprofen, and I'm on 130 mg of methadone a day - so that sort of helps. I'm still trying somehow to get some opioid pain med for my fibro and it seems impossible right now.

 

[K'd-OUT-in-AZ]

Yeah, ibuprofen is a great pain reliever. I have fibromyalgia and I don't get opioids, even though Lyrica does very little and is crazy expensive. I take ibuprofen, and I'm on 130 mg of methadone a day - so that sort of helps. I'm still trying somehow to get some opioid pain med for my fibro and it seems impossible right now.

I also have fibromyalgia. Lyrica seems to help me but I'll also take Ibuprofen when the pain gets bad enough. The pain is usually manifested from my anxiety (or the other way around, not sure) so some sort of benzo would really help but my doctor won't give me anything. Opiates are out of the question for me because I'm on Suboxone (although I've heard that Tramadol still works when combined but I can't seem to find a concrete answer). And by the way I was also taking 130mg of Methadone (well 135mg but close enough).

 

[sqweeq]

Hey everyone? I was on 135mg day! 16 years, but last two I have really pushed to taper down, now at 72! It got hard. So I paused! But I'm finally stable again. Will continue to drop! It takes time, but the lower you start the better your reward! As for headaches it took me @ ten years of headaches everyday to realize I eat to much food! I only weigh 150 lbs(5'10") and always hear, you're too skinny, you should eat more not less! I would watch people of my size eat or guzzle food like no tomorrow and say "I guess that I eat normal!" On metho normal is not normal! So I had headache every couple days, weekend almost always! I now only get headaches when I try to eat like normal people, it is hard not too! Good luck, hope you get it right! Look into opioid induced constipation, and you'll understand how digestion gets affected, even if you don't feel constipated, it helped me understand alot!

 

[Ignio]

I also have fibromyalgia. Lyrica seems to help me but I'll also take Ibuprofen when the pain gets bad enough. The pain is usually manifested from my anxiety (or the other way around, not sure) so some sort of benzo would really help but my doctor won't give me anything. Opiates are out of the question for me because I'm on Suboxone (although I've heard that Tramadol still works when combined but I can't seem to find a concrete answer). And by the way I was also taking 130mg of Methadone (well 135mg but close enough).

In my case, tramadol was in no way affected by suboxone. Normal dosages of tramadol (the dosages I took before suboxone) worked completely normal. I was given tramadol at the hospital for pain in connection with a broken shoulder together with diazepam that worked fine for me. The pain was relieved significantly.