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Need Suggestions for Methadone Taper

N

Neeoon23

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 6, 2011
Messages
31
Location
Pennsylvania
I'm not sure if this is in the right place, sorry if it's not. Basically for the past five years I have always been on some kind of opiate, mostly heroin, but I've also been on suboxone, subutex, and my family doctor has been prescribing me methadone for the past two years. Well, my doctor is completely contradictive and one month he tells me he can keep me on it for as long as I need, and the next month he tells me he has to get me off. So, I just filled my last script of 100 10 mg methadone (he stopped me at 30-40mgs/day). Obviously I'm going to be feeling terrible if I stop at 30mgs, so I'm just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on tapering. I want to feel the least amount of withdrawals as possible, and I'm hoping I can get off methadone and stay clean. Any help would be great.
 
Start by skipping a dose, and putting that one in a different bottle than your normal ones (getting a 7-day pill container is a great idea!).

Methadone has a long-ass half-life (hah), and as such is going to stick around. This means that a dose Monday, is still technically in you Wednesday at nearly full strength. That means your total bodily average is likely above 100mg on a day to day basis, therein lies the issue. Unfortunately it's not like oxycodone where it's gone in ~12 hours.

You're going to go through some duress during this process, it's normal. Care-free days will come, in time. Start by taking your 30mg/day, but start tapering immediately, spread your doses out on some days (morning and evening) skip a second dose on some (take it mid-day).

These are my techniques when I use buprenorphine to kill an opiate habit I have. Usually the final step-off is a mentally tough one, but the body is quite well ready for it. Getting your pain receptors back to normal operating standards can prove to be quite difficult.

Unfortunately, given your past history of addiction, and current drug used, I would steer far clear of using benzos to dull some of the pains. They'll prove to be just as addicting... or worse.
 
Hey neeeoon, welcome to BDD! Congrats on deciding to get clean :)

PJ gives some good info and advice. The key to a successful taper is going at your own pace - the slower the better, usually. Things like loperamide and sedating antihistamines can help if you get any diarrhoea, nausea or insomnia..

I'm going to hop this over to Other Drugs as they are the experts on methadone and tapering.

BDD > OD
 
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