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.
Methadone sounds like a great plan! Congrats on making the appointment, it is never a tough decision with all the misinformation and stigma there is about methadone maintenance out there!
If you feel like you'll be okay not taking any morphine until Wednesday, considering it is like 72ish hours away, go for it. I didn't use heroin for three days before I first went to the clinic and got my dose, and still tested positive, so I have a feeling you'll still be dirty for morphine even if you stopped today. The only thing is, don't put yourself in a situation where you are hurting so much you slip up and dose your morphine last minute the morning before because you can't take it or something, just cause that would mean you might have to wait until another appointment opens up or something before you can dose.
Expect to spend HOURS filling out paperwork and doing a test or two before you can dose.
The first dose I was introduced to was 20mg+10mg (they split the dose by like 30 minutes to make sure you don't have a bad reaction). That cut through my withdrawals and I was feeling fine a few hours later. Not 100%, but not sick for sure. You will probably take 1-4 weeks to stabilize, though with some people this can take longer.
Remember that, while it is not bad to be on a lower dose than a higher dose, what is important for you is to stabilize as fast as possible. That will probably mean going up to around 80mg, though it is different for everyone. Some people really only need 40mg, others really do need 140mg, rarely even 240mg. I maxed out at 90mg, and honestly I felt much better as I tapered. My taper was completely painless, lasting about six or eight months. But you don't worry about that now. Just worry about stabilizing
While it is probably better to stay lower with your dose than go higher, right now you are only inducing yourself to the treatment so this isn't a concern. It would take weeks if not months for the clinic to even let you get up past a certain point. I strongly suggest you take a break increasing your dose if you can at 60mg and then 80mg for at least a week or three just to see if it is enough before you consider continuing to increase the dose.
You're off to the races soon! I hope you're excited! Remember and pop in to ask anything you might want. We are always here to help!!!
I've done ever drug you can imagine and I was on methadone for a number of years, I would try to get on suboxone instead or subutex it's a bit cheaper than suboxone, but the withdrawals from methadone are the most horrific withdrawals I have ever experienced after about a month of the worst withdrawals ever I tried to kill myself because the withdrawals from methadone were torturing me, good look, and if you do get on methadone try to stay at a really low dose don't push it
This reflects a lot of what people
don't actually know about methadone. . .
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
People have worse withdrawals from buprenoprhine than methadone, depending on how they come off it. That is what it's all about, how you come off it. There are skillful ways and not so skillful ways of using ORT, regardless of the actually opioid involved in the treatment.
I'm not judging you Critter, it is understandable considering how it has such a shitty, often undeserved rap out there (actually a lot like buprenorphine dose in many circles too - methadone has just been around much longer so it has accredited a shittier image, though the laws regulating clinics certainly have been a big part of it too).
