• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist

Starting methadone maintenance

sweetzoe said:
Dude I know right! I'm in FL and it's hell trying to get any help with that... and we pay 16 a day! Shit I just did the math, it's cost me $23,000+ since I've been at the clinic! (March 15 will be 4 years to the day)
Click to expand...

I pay 16 a day as well. Its crazy and they try to justify it by saying well look how much you where spending on heroin! Which is such a bullshit argument. Addicts get financially raped by everyone. Fucked up game.
 
Yea that is total and utter crap. Compared to other forms of treatment it would still be cheaper and statistically more successful, but the name of the game within the industry is exploitation...
 
And, you'd think with the ridiculously huge profits these places make, they would be more efficient than they are... my buddy and I stood in a line like those you see at Disney this morning... it snaked back and forth along the ropes all the way out the back door into the rear parking lot! And for once, all nine dosing windows were open, don't know what the ridiculous holdup was. **sigh**
 
Dog damn, a bad wait at mine is only like 15 or 20 minutes, I don't think I've ever had to wait in line longer than that. I'm really happy I don't go to a bigger clinic! Only heard the horror stories...
 
I'm not sure how many patients go to my clinic.... we have a large population area we serve tho (the largest city, land-wise, in the entire continental U.S.), with people also coming across state lines from southern Georgia into FL to come get dosed.
 
Last edited:
I thought in FL you could just get oxy like easy breazy? ^^

whats crazy is that methadone is actually a pretty great opioid, you start to get used to it and take it for granted, but the truth is that even if you were getting diamorphine shots maintenance like they do in europe, you would probably start bitching about that not being good enough.... its called tolerance, routine , and just the nature of all opiates.... its only the ups and downs, the having and then not having that really makes it all kinda fun , and kind of fucked up at the same time
 
I have to say I fucking hate having to deal with the clinic system on the US and relatively speaking I have it pretty damn good. I wish it worked here like it does in the UK or Thailand :\
 
Used to be able to get it no problem, back when the pill mills were up and running... they cracked down on those big time though- we had people that would hit up a doctor in Jacksonville, Daytona, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, all in one week... but then docs and law enforcement started cross referencing to see if people were "doctor shopping". Pharmacies started refusing to fill scripts from certain doctors because of the "pill mill" label, and red flags went up about the cocktails prescribed (which was usually like 240 Roxi 30s, 120 xanax bars and 90 Soma for example), people were coming into our state from all different parts of the country because of how easy it was to get the pills so those docs eventually got shut down. I remember on doc in tampa whos parking lot was like a tailgate before a football game. No shit, people had BBQ grills set out and radios playing while waiting for their appointments... they would take you in in groups of 10 or more people at a time for your "appointment" it was totally out of control... A new attourney general was elected on an anti-pill mill platform and she went to work quickly shuttering the pain clinics. Hence the large influx of patients to the methadone clinics...
 
Last edited:
I see the thread is still going strong! Awesome! I wanted to check in with you guys and give ya a update on how things were going for me! Today is Christmas eve I went to the clinic early and got dosed.tomorrow they are closed for Christmas so we all got a take home bottle! I'm going to wrap it in a bow and put in my stocking! Lol just kidding. But everything has been going great!!!!! :)
 
Great! I was wondering how things were going for you, and hoping you had been tough in it out till they stabilized your dose. 24 hours total relief is what you are aiming for, hopefully you will find your correct dose as painlessly as possible. Noone but YOU knows how your body and mind feels. Keep up the good work and don't give up. Merry Christmas!
 
every clinic is different....

i started methadone maintenance this year, october 5th. i got to the clinic early as fuck, around 530am...just to make sure i was the first one there, and to make sure i would be seen. i was kicking pretty hard. i am an IV heroin user though. but they just did a quick physical and gave me a UA. then they gave me a dose. i think they started me at 30mg the very first day. and out here in arizona, medicaid doesnt pay for methadone...atleast not at the clinic i go to...so im paying for my methadone out of pocket. the first week was $100. now im paying $200/month for my methadone. and im on 125mg. but i think im going to go down cause i feel like its too much; i don't need to be on that high of a dose i feel.

but yeah! hope that sort of helps ya out...lol. any other questions about methadone or anything else, just ask me!!!! ;]
 
alovexsopure said:
every clinic is different....

i started methadone maintenance this year, october 5th. i got to the clinic early as fuck, around 530am...just to make sure i was the first one there, and to make sure i would be seen. i was kicking pretty hard. i am an IV heroin user though. but they just did a quick physical and gave me a UA. then they gave me a dose. i think they started me at 30mg the very first day. and out here in arizona, medicaid doesnt pay for methadone...atleast not at the clinic i go to...so im paying for my methadone out of pocket. the first week was $100. now im paying $200/month for my methadone. and im on 125mg. but i think im going to go down cause i feel like its too much; i don't need to be on that high of a dose i feel.

but yeah! hope that sort of helps ya out...lol. any other questions about methadone or anything else, just ask me!!!! ;]
Click to expand...

Congrats on starting the journey to sober life! I know how you feel, I was an IV heroin user for around 13, or was it 14? years, supplimenting with Roxi when they were dirt cheap... anyways, I was like you when I started going to the clinic, I went up to 140 (I think, give or take 10 mgs) but I didn't need that high of a dose, it was the junkie mindset I still had, chasing the high everytime I got used to the dose. I'm not saying that's what you are experiencing, just what I did. But, I'm about to start my 4th year and am tapered down to 50mgs. As long as you do it gradually, it is unnoticeable imo. Keep up the great work, looking forward to updates on your progress as well! ♡
 
Funny how the junkbox mindset works. I went up to 90mg and it honestly wasn't necessary at all, I just wanted to get fucked up. I mean I haven't used in like two plus years now thanks in large part to done, but I tapered down to 20mg now and cannot wait to gtfo the clinic already, I just don't want to rush myself where I might put myself in danger of relapsing. Iono
 
Yesss! Congrats dude (or dudette? Lol) I am on 50 also, I've been on it for probably longer than I need to, I've been forgetting to ask for a decrease every week I go (I'm up to 6 take outs now) for the last year.... I did it 5 mgs a time once I got under 100... tapering is all about not noticing the difference. Keep up the great work, perseverance, even in the face of setbacks, is the hardest thing and also the key. ♡
 
Hi all! Wow threads still going huh lol! I decided to stop in and say hello.I'm now up to 60mg and feeling a lot better than I was.its definitely a weird feeling not using.ive cut people out if my life that use besides the ones that t family and at the moment have no choice but be around. My mom in the other hand is doing shitty.doesn't want to get clean..got mad at me because I told a person that I used to use with to fuckin stay away from my home and family and not to call or come to my house.but is what it is.for some reason I don't want that crowd around my family or children
 
Hi, I'm on Methadone maintenance myself. Most clinics will start you off at 30mgs the first day, and increase your dose by 10mgs every day for pretty much the first week. Once you're at around 60-70mgs the doctor will have you stay at your dose for a full week and then do another dose eval to see how you're doing. Their main goal is to have you on a dose that will keep you feeling well for a full 24 hours from the time you dose until the time you dose again the next day. Most people go into the program thinking like an addict and try to get to the highest possible dose which is the biggest mistake you can make, the more you take, the harder it will be to get off of it. Make sure you go into your first day actually sick, that way you will be able to tell how much you're gonna really need once youre done using all the way.
 
So, after contemplating it for months after a 17 year opiate habit I called and made an appointment for my local clinic this Wednesday. I'm incredibly nervous about it. I have never been an IV drug user but have a huge oral morphine habit occasionally augmented by other pharmaceuticals or heroin (snorted). My current tolerance is at around 180 mg of morphine to feel good, 120 mg will keep me from being sick for about 8 hours. When I have the money I've been known to take 240mgs without any complications and still drive myself to work and manage a crew for 8 hours. I started for pain from a combat injury but now it's about much more than that. I'm tired of hurting all the time and the ups and downs that come with buying my pills when I can. It's expensive and that and the fact that I do have a good job and don't want to go to jail are my primary reasons for Che king out MMT. They told me that I qualified over the phone. To come in this Wednesday and bring $54 to cover my tests and first dose. Here's my question. I planned on stopping my pills tonight so that I'll be in withdrawal when I go in to the clinic. I don't really have the cash to buy more tonight anyway so it was an easy decision. If I stop now there won't be much morphine in my system by Wednesday morning. Will they still dose me if I explain this to them despite a high level of morphine in my system? I will surely be in second day of withdrawal and will be yawning, crying, cringing at my cramped legs, have loose stools, no sleep, and go from sweating hot to freezing cold in seconds while I fight through the induction process so will that be enough? If this goes poorly in not sure what I will do next. I'm not expecting much relief from the first 30mg dose but hopes it goes up Ican get off everything else for good. Did the 30mg even break through the withdrawals on your first day or should I expect to be hurting for a few days? Thank you so much. This is my first time posting but I've often read this forum and value the insight gained here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top