Opioids questions about quitting methadone

[bentover2012]

I was IV using heroin and Fentanyl and went on methadone 6 days ago. After the first few days I now feel stable and am on 40mg. Ive heard how hard it is to get off of so I want to do it ASAP. I have gotten a script for Xanax to help the process. after 6 days what should I expect? Should I do it gradually over a period of time? will it be bad after only 6 days of being on? I have been on opiates for about 3 months and was only on fentanyl for 2 weeks but I didn't treat it with enough respect and the withdrawals were the worst I could imagine, and on the second day I couldn't bear it and went to the clinic (which I promised myself Id never do) because it was so bad. I feel very stable on 40mg per day, and after a short time on it I am thinking what is my best option? I can get Norspan patches from my GP if they would help.

thanks

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

There's no need to rush it. 40mg's a day of methadone is a pretty low dose anyway. Still, before you stop, you should taper and get that way down because the withdrawals from 40mg's will still be pretty bad.

 

[OntarioGuy]

^^^^just like scag said taper down over a few weeks to 2.5 mgs or lower if possible then jump

 

[Lorne???]

Well I wouldn't call 40mg a low dose, in fact, for analgesic purposes they consider it equal to 120-160mg oxycodone. But, it's definitely less than your typical maintenance dose.

Either way you don't want to rush things, I've came off a similar dose before, and it's still pretty bad. Not the ridiculous hell of taking 80-100 per day, but it still will last much longer than typical withdrawal. I'd suggest making sure you are stable, then drop just 2.5mg every 1-2 weeks, it will take a while, but be painless.

If you insist on a quick taper, be careful as the long half life of methadone means it can take a few days to really notice a moderate dose reduction.

 

[OntarioGuy]

I find the horrors of methadone withdrawal greatly exaggerated almost to a mythical point. To me personally the withdrawal is no different or worse then IV Hydromorphone or Morphine....if anything I find the w/d less intense tho perhaps lasting longer due to it's half life

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

Yeah it is definitely something that's been built way up through all these horror stories and misinformation. Yeah it sucks, but a lot of the info about methadone in general, especially the withdrawal, is severely exaggerated.

 

[OntarioGuy]

^^^^^thanks for backing me up finally someone other then IRL friends that agree with me on this point..
The way I look at it it's a potent full mu opioid agonist just like heroin morphine and hydromorphone. So they should all produce very similar effects including the withdrawal syndrome

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

Yeah the real shitty aspect of methadone withdrawal, is because of its long half-life, it lasts a very long time. So that sucks. But, if you're smart, and taper correctly, come off at a low dose, it really is not that bad. It's the people that get on 120mg's of methadone, stupidly just stop, and obviously go through hell, then say "fuck methadone this shit is horrible" that give it a bad name. It's like any other drug. If you use it like an idiot it's going to be bad..but that's your fault not the drugs.

 

[OntarioGuy]

^^

Yeah the real shitty aspect of methadone withdrawal, is because of its long half-life, it lasts a very long time. So that sucks. But, if you're smart, and taper correctly, come off at a low dose, it really is not that bad. It's the people that get on 120mg's of methadone, stupidly just stop, and obviously go through hell, then say "fuck methadone this shit is horrible" that give it a bad name. It's like any other drug. If you use it like an idiot it's going to be bad..but that's your fault not the drugs.

I agree 100%. The Doan withdrawal is a little longer lasting but i don't find the symptoms to be any more severe as say a habit of 60 mgs of IV hydromorphone daily.

But because I am on methadone myself and it saved my life. It annoys me all the misinformation and straight up myths and lies about methadone.even in the medical field....it really is appalling at the lack of knowledge most regular MDs have. When opioid addiction is so widespread and common and methadone being the tool to treat it since the 60s-70s, ud think theyd know a tad more

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

Yeah I agree. And now with bupe becoming so popular, there is a ton of misinformation and outright lies about that as well, out there, especially in the medical community.

It just makes the need for doing your own independent research that much more necessary.

 

[OntarioGuy]

^^

Yeah I agree. And now with bupe becoming so popular, there is a ton of misinformation and outright lies about that as well, out there, especially in the medical community.

It just makes the need for doing your own independent research that much more necessary.

Ya I find the withdrawal less intense but longer lasting...and methadone saved my life so I just hate the myths n lies

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Yeah it has saved quite a few peoples lives. It has been the most successful means of opiate addiction treatment for decades.

 

[Emme80]

I've been in constant...waiting regarding methadone wd. I've been in it for...6/7yrs. It worked well for me- clean(besides some meds.during surgery and in the initial recovery if surgery). I was at the highest dose of 140/150mg. , but that was 3years ago- I stayed at a dose of approx.50 mg. I am currently at a dose of 6.5mg. I only hit a wall 3x's... Once when I started the reduction- the other 2walls were at 14mg. And 8mg. Been taking it slow(obviously). But indeed, there are soooo many horror damn near terrifying stories I've read about methadone wd's. Even from jumping at 5mg. So, I've been holding my breath, completely fearing what seemed to be the inevidible pains..sucks to hear those stories. It's hard to find ones experience as is stated here. Which to me is a relief that maybe it won't be 100%hell! I don't expect to avoid...wd's. But it's nice to hear the severity isn't comparable to the feelings of death.
I will allow myself to breathe...I will "see" what it is sooner than later! I hope I'll be able to report it wasn't all the helllll that I'd read about.