Question about tapering Methadone.

[Evil_Willy]

I had about a year long fentanyl habit. Not a large one, but after a couple attempts at getting on Buprenorphine and suffering precipitated withdrawal, I decided to go to the Methadone clinic to get off of fentanyl. I've been fentanyl free for five days. They keep going up on my dose, but I told my doc today I'm more than good at 50mg. I'm wondering if it's possible to do any sort of fast taper with only mild withdrawal symptoms, since I've only been on methadone for a week? I understand this isn't traditionally how the Methadone program is used, but for a number of reasons, I need opioids to be a thing of my past. I can no longer do this and I'm ready to be done.
So basically, are there such things as inpatient clinics that can get me from 50 to 0mg in a month or two? I have a great support system and actual reasons to stay off shit this time. Please don't be mean to me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful in any way. I'm just having a really hard time, and I'm scared to stay on this stuff any longer than I have to.

I can deal with some sweating and diarrhea, but fentanyl withdrawal was absolute horror. Would methadone withdrawal, tapering, be easier than trying to cold turkey fentanyl was repeatedly? I feel kind of stupid asking this, but nobody's perfect, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. If I can do a quick taper with manageable withdrawal, I'd love to get off this stuff. I don't want to be controlled by a chemical anymore. I want my life back.

 

[CuriousMeow]

Trust me DO NOT GO HIGHER. I was on it for 12 yrs. Afraid to go down. I was also not on it for the standard reason. As a result it was the biggest mistake I made. 6 weeks ago I got off it, tapering for almost a year. By choice. But my circumstances were unusual. Could have easily done it quicker, but that is me, and once I set my mind to it. The highest I ever went was 80. I listened to too many people at the clinic. They psyched me out. At the end I went from 20 to 2 mg in about 2 weeks, a little too fast, but not bad at all. But I think most of it is Psychological. When I stopped Kratom helped 98% plus vitamins and electrolytes. Clinics want you to go higher, to keep your money flowing. It is YOUR choice. Do not let them dictate, or you will be there forever. Anyway so when I stopped I was taking Organic vitamins not the fake chemical shit, and then Kratom....Kratom is a game changer. To help with uncomfortableness. Much easier to stop when you are determined. If you have any other questions just let me know. In my personal opinion Methadone withdrawal with tapering is way easier. You know your body, and what you are comfortable with. Doctors especially at clinics, only know what they are told in books and seminars. You be the master of your own body.

 

[Evil_Willy]

Trust me DO NOT GO HIGHER. I was on it for 12 yrs. Afraid to go down. I was also not on it for the standard reason. As a result it was the biggest mistake I made. 6 weeks ago I got off it, tapering for almost a year. By choice. But my circumstances were unusual. Could have easily done it quicker, but that is me. At the end I went from 20 to 2 mg in about 2 weeks, a little too fast. But I think most of it is Psychological. When I stopped Kratom helped 98% plus vitamins and electrolytes. Clinics want you to go higher, to keep your money flowing. It is YOUR choice. Do not let them dictate, or you will be there forever. Anyway so when I stopped I was taking Organic vitamins not the fake chemical shit, and then Kratom....Kratom is a game changer. To help with uncomfortableness. Much easier to stop when you are determined. If you have any other questions just let me know. In my personal opinion Methadone withdrawal with tapering is way easier. You know your body, and what you are comfortable with. Doctors especially at clinics, only know what they are told in books and seminars. You be the master of your own body.

Is there any way I can dm you? Are you on Reddit? Or can you DM on here?

 

[CuriousMeow]

Idk can I dm here? LOl I am brand new

 

[CuriousMeow]

I sent you a message. When I clicked your photo it said start convo, so I messaged you

 

[vision conquest]

If you only have been on for a short time then you should be able to do a fast taper and come off without too much discomfort, particularly if you can get some comfort meds.

I have been on methadone for 23 years and doubt I will ever come off but that's me and I have my reasons, for me it keeps me safe and doesn't cause me any serious side effects or negetively affect my life.

50mg is not a high dose, if it were me I would reduce down to somewhere around 20mg over the coarse of, say the next 6 weeks, so about 5mg every week and then you should be able to jump off from there.

Again if you can get some comfort meds like some diazepam and clonidine it will make the final jump much more manageable.
The longer you are on the program the more challenging a taper can become so if you are sure this is what you want to do then put your plan into action asap.

I am in Australia so the methadone program is different over here, however from talking about it with my friends in the U.S.A it sounds like the clinics don't have much incentive to get people off the program, they would rather keep them on it as it is more profitable, so I wonder if they have your best interest at heart in saying you should stay on.

If I can help in any way I am happy too so don't hesitate to message me if you want.

Wishing you all the best.

 

[Just a little pinprick]

I sent you a message. When I clicked your photo it said start convo, so I messaged you

Wow,this is good info and is a shame to not share it with others interested like myself….please update this if the quick taper works out for you….

 

[negrogesic]

If you can actually manage a fast taper off, now is your best shot to get off of methadone.

So if you can actually pull it off, its work a try.

Make sure you're both physically and psychologically ready for it.

Try to exercise while tapering. I know it's hard but it will help.

 

[neversickanymore]

I see you have already pushed past 40mg.. stabilize on 40mg.. There are reasons for this; your male, from your aviator, so you need to have your testosterone level checked. MRT and also continuous use of opiates crash test levels for many males. You also should consider checking your VitD levels as these are commonly affected by MRT and chronic opiate use. The VitD isn't specifically dependent on your gender, but may be influenced by it.

I would have both tested and monitored every six months or at least annually if your receiving MMT.

You also will benefit from a quality multivitamin during both MRT and detox from it.

2mg per week is the general taper recommendation.. but in the end you pay the piper no matter what. Consider stabilizing, forming and rolling your plan and then just jumping.

You can do this!!! I did so anyone can.

 

[deficiT]

Doing a rapid taper from methadone in your current position would definitely be a lot easier than cold turkey fentanyl. Just be careful of relapse big time, because you're in kind of a dangerous position. If you did end up using fentanyl again your tolerance would not be nearly as high, and with fentanyl the risk of OD is very high.

You might know this already but it's worth mentioning anyway. If methadone doesn't do the trick for you, try Suboxone. Some people are able to get off with no maintenance, some people are on maintenance for years. It really depends, but you are definitely in a good condition to get off of opioids completely. Just don't do fentanyl again is the big thing. You could get away with a fast taper right now, just be sure to express your feelings to the person at the clinic.

Wish you the best, hope you're able to give us a positive update next time you log in. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Keif' Richards]

I'm editing so I can throw in this header. I totally respect everyone else's opinions and experiences. I've withdrawn from Heroin many times, probably a dozen true episodes bookended by infinite experiences with symptoms. I've withdrawn from Methadone fully 2-3 times. As we all know, it's a grueling experience. I'm happy with how my life is now, so I share my experience from this perspective. Your experience could be different than mine.

It's not the way that you're imagining it.

Your total Opioid tolerance is more of an absolute factor. A person is going to need a specific amount of Opioid agonist drugs to keep them at a steady state. Opioids possess slight differences from one to another, but if they are Mu-receptor agonists, they can easily substitute for one another (Essentially, Mu-agonists are synonymous with the term Opioid in the context in which we use it here)

Inducting on Methadone does not magically make a person "Methadone dependent". They are merely using a different Opioid that fulfills the same role that Fentanyl did for you. The only difference is that Methadone has a longer duration of action. I am of the camp that a lot of the flak that Methadone gets is not really due to any truly unique effects of the drug. I believe it's just a difference in perception. Some people like a short, hellacious withdrawal and some prefer a more mild, but longer one. Both are going to present their own issues.

A person withdrawing from Methadone cannot be extremely sick for 3 days over the course of a long weekend with their door locked and a puke/shit bucket by their bed. They are forced to deal with mild withdrawal for a couple of weeks, often going to work, interacting wit their people and continuing to deal with life's problems. Different people will be able to handle each based on their lives and experiences.

I'm going to make a suggestion to you OP that I hope you take seriously. A lot of people don't take it seriously and they buy themselves another ride on the carousel.

Do not rush this process. You are already an Opioid addict. That has happened and there is no going back now. Getting off Methadone in one month as opposed to 3-4 is not going to make any difference in your life whatsoever if you look at your life as 100 years of ups and downs. Whatever you think makes it important to do this quickly is not important enough unless it is life or death. Your addiction will take your life, whether physically or spiritually, so take the time to do it correctly. You could go back to Fentanyl and be telling this story to people for decades about how you got so close to getting clean but decided to roll the dice on a rapid withdrawal.

Whatever Methadone it takes to make you stable, it sounds like 50mg, stay there. Make slow reductions that do not overload you. Take at least 3 months. Do it so slow you don't even feel the drops. Get to the end and take a gentle step into your real life and you will have a better chance at making it long-term.

Find out what kind of drops you can tolerate. Test the waters. The clinic offers you an opportunity to reduce in miniscule amounts that would be totally impossible using street drugs. Take advantage of this process. Do it slow and give yourself the best chance.

After doing this for 10+ years, it's crazy looking back at all the people I've known. They'll spend 10 years on Heroin or Fentanyl, make progress, then decide that if it's not accomplished in 2 weeks, it's not fast enough. Talk about not learning their lesson about life and shortcuts. They took shortcuts to happiness and it ruined them. They take shortcuts to being better and it still ruins them. Learn the lesson now so you don't have to learn it later.

If you want to talk, send me a message.

 

[lovemissile66]

I had about a year long fentanyl habit. Not a large one, but after a couple attempts at getting on Buprenorphine and suffering precipitated withdrawal, I decided to go to the Methadone clinic to get off of fentanyl. I've been fentanyl free for five days. They keep going up on my dose, but I told my doc today I'm more than good at 50mg. I'm wondering if it's possible to do any sort of fast taper with only mild withdrawal symptoms, since I've only been on methadone for a week? I understand this isn't traditionally how the Methadone program is used, but for a number of reasons, I need opioids to be a thing of my past. I can no longer do this and I'm ready to be done.
So basically, are there such things as inpatient clinics that can get me from 50 to 0mg in a month or two? I have a great support system and actual reasons to stay off shit this time. Please don't be mean to me. I'm not trying to be disrespectful in any way. I'm just having a really hard time, and I'm scared to stay on this stuff any longer than I have to.

I can deal with some sweating and diarrhea, but fentanyl withdrawal was absolute horror. Would methadone withdrawal, tapering, be easier than trying to cold turkey fentanyl was repeatedly? I feel kind of stupid asking this, but nobody's perfect, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. If I can do a quick taper with manageable withdrawal, I'd love to get off this stuff. I don't want to be controlled by a chemical anymore. I want my life back.

Hi and welcome! I have a lengthy relationship with opiates. First 18 years I was mainlining heroin, before Fent took over. I also tried to quit by going to the Methadone clinic. In all honesty, I was not ready at the time to give up heroin. I was only 3 or 4 years into my addiction at that point. What I did not like about the clinic, has been echoed throughout Bluelight. Mainly, the difficult hours of availability to get your dose, and the resistance by the clinic to lower one's dose. True, they have no problem raising said dose. I was scared about the inevitable withdrawal from Methadone, had heard and read the horror stories about how long the process takes. Had the clinic offered a 21 or 30 day detox, with titrated drops along the way, I would have been all in. I had friends who used heroin only a couple years, stay on Methadone for eight!!! My highest dose at the clinic was 40mgs. My counselor wanted to raise it and I kept refusing. Then, when I asked to lower my dose, I was met with suspicion and resistance. I ended up jumping from 20mgs, which is still a very high dose. But I was also still shooting dope, so I can't tell you what quitting the Methadone truly felt like. All in all, I was at the clinic maybe a month or two. If you want off the clinic, the time is now!! It will only get harder the longer you stay on it. I am not judging anyone who takes Methadone. It absolutely works for some. Like you, I wanted off everything. Instead, after kicking my dope habit, I started innocently taking dirty 30's. I was never into pills and I was actually swallowing them until I learned I should snort instead. My question to you is: just how horrific was the Fent detox??? I've been using a little over a year now and take anywhere from 2 to 4 pills a day. Some weeks I could taper back down to just one pill. But I want off now. And the nightmare of kicking is once again fucking with me. I have a legit script for Clonidine and Gabapentin. That's it. Listen, it gets infinitely harder to come off drugs the older you get. I didn't start fucking with heroin until I was 34. I am now 58. It sucks.

You can do this. And you only need to do it once. I wish you the best of luck and any info on Fent withdrawal would be appreciated.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey @lovemissile66

The issue with Fentanyl is that so much of it is now contaminated with Xylazine. This means people are withdrawing from a powerful, short-acting Opioid combined with an A-2 Andrenergic Agonist. Clonidine is also an A-2 Andrenergic Agonist. They function in pretty much the same way. They reduce blood pressure and to a lesser extent, pulse.

Most people are going to tell you that these A2 drug are not addictive. In a classical sense, they aren't addictive. However, they will produce dependence. The withdrawal from moderate-high levels of these drugs can actually be a pretty severe experience. Essentially, your heart rate and blood pressure skyrocket. This creates a psychosomatic response that can make people panic and freak the fuck out. In extreme cases, yes, it could be a lethal thing.

Then you have Fentanyl. It's a short-acting Opioid and heavy users are going to use 5-6 times a day or more to stay steady. What happens when a person withdraws is that they end up experiencing a powerful Opioid withdrawal and the panic-inducing withdrawal of the a2 agonists. This combines for a nightmarish withdrawal.

I believe you can manage it if you carefully administer Clonidine along with a suitable Opioid taper.

I think your best bet is to go into detox. I really feel that most people out there right now using Fentanyl have a better chance of getting better if they go into a supervised detox program.