Opioids Switching from Methadone To Other Opiates?

[supermarket]

So, I have looked EVERYWHERE on the internet, and can't seem to find any help. Many sites say the conversion from methadone to other opiates is one of the hardest opiate conversions there is.

I'm currently on 85mg of methadone, and I've been on methadone for about 9 years. I plan to taper by 5mg every 2 weeks. Ultimately though, my current goal is to switch from methadone to oxycodone, which was my DOC before I got on methadone.

Has anyone here had success going from methadone to oxy/H? The few times I've stopped taking my take homes so I could feel H or oxy, was ROUGH. It took a tremendous amount of substance to eliminate 70% of the WD, and feel somewhat euphoric.

I don't think switching to another opiate at 85mg is idea, obviously, so here are a few direction questions:

1) How low should I get to on methadone before I consider switching? I'm guessing somewhere around 20-40mg?
2) What is the transition like? Will I still experience withdrawals, no matter the dose I of whatever opiate I use is? Every other opiate in the past I've been able to just switch to without problem....but with methadone, it seems nothing helps the methadone WD (again, this is probably because Im at a higher end dose).
3) At what dosage can you feel other opiates? I've read that methadone has a full blockage effect starting at 80mg?

Thank guys

 

[GetMeOutOfThisCRAP]

You obviously have a large tolerance but switching from something so powerful and long lasting like methadone to oxycodone/H and expecting to not feel much withdrawal probably isn't a possibility.

So if you must make the switch I would recommend inducing some form of self-sickness while using some opiates to reduce the withdrawal--and with patience your tolerance will eventually lower to where you want it to be. Even if you go about it intelligently you're going to experience some pretty negative days in my opinion.. and forcing yourself out of sickness with a ton of oxy/H is potentially very dangerous. I get why you want to get off methadone but it is at least financially feasible. Are you totally sure you want to make this switch? Heroin/oxycodone addiction takes up a house worth of money. You can literally by a mansion instead of the years of it all.

 

[TheInvisibleStoner]

You will be fine with a full agonist. If you take enough it will cover withdrawal, however methadone most likely raised your tolerance to unreal levels. So you may need a lot. It will completely tolerable. And will need time to adjust.

A partial agonist will never pull you out of withdrawal, and remove any thought of subs from your head unless you want to feel hell.

Given you are 9 year doser sitting at 85mg. Why do you want to switch to another opiate? To get high? Taper to 40mg or so. Its enough to hold and low enough dose for heroin to breakthrough. I noticed once you get close to 60mg the blocking really starts. 80/90mg pointless to get high.

You need to feel pain to feel high. If you skipped your dose for 3 days, you would certainly feel the dope wrap around you as it removes withdrawal. Taking 80mg daily, you are high all day, so will not feel the dope.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

1) How low should I get to on methadone before I consider switching? I'm guessing somewhere around 20-40mg?

When I was at 10mg a day I couldn't feel any other opioids no matter how much I took. Keep in mind with 'dones long half life it'll be 2-3 days before it clears your system. I didn't feel any other opioids again until I was off methadone for many weeks (didn't try any others until months later). I would taper down to 5-10mg and stay off for as long as possible before I attempted taking oxy.

2) What is the transition like? Will I still experience withdrawals, no matter the dose I of whatever opiate I use is? Every other opiate in the past I've been able to just switch to without problem....but with methadone, it seems nothing helps the methadone WD (again, this is probably because Im at a higher end dose).

It is going to be rough. If you taper slow you can avoid the worst of it but when I jumped from 10mg to nothing it was over a week before I was through full withdrawal. After that I had months of PAWS. I advise locking yourself in a room with a lot of water, easy to make food, and just riding it out as best you can. You'll need something to help you sleep for the first few days.

3) At what dosage can you feel other opiates? I've read that methadone has a full blockage effect starting at 80mg?

You can feel other opioids at the lower methadone doses but it's hard to breakthrough. It's also dangerous because the methadone is still doing its thing and you're adding another opioid on top. I didn't mix methadone with other opioids so I can't really give good advice here but you should be able to feel something if you work down to the 10-20mg range. Just understand that years of taking methadone has made your tolerance very high. So even if you were taking none for months your tolerance to other opioids is going to be a lot higher than when you started methadone. I've been off of it for two or three years now and the last time I tried taking morphine I could barely feel it at doses that used to make me nod out for hours.

 

[Marlin1111]

I went to methadone to get off the H which was a habit that evolved from Oxy prescriptions after a car accident so I’m not sure why you want to go back to H or Oxy after years on methadone. Do you just want to get high again? I don’t think 85mg is too high of a dose. Most of the people I know are at 100+. I’m on 70 and still fight dope cravings which they tell me is because my dose is too low. I’m probably going to increase next week but as for your issue, occasionally I’ll stop using my take homes and get high instead. The first day I don’t feel too much and have to do more H than usual but after the 2nd & 3rd day, I get high of H like normal. I’ll do that for a few days then stop and go right back to the methadone with no issues whatsoever. I’m thinking with most H laced with Fent these days, you shouldn’t have any issues switching...I would think it should carry you just fine......if you are getting fenty/dope that is. On the other hand, I haven’t been using the methadone nearly as long as you so that may be where you are running trouble but again, after 36-72 hours, some decent H or other full agonist should cover you. To echo what another poster said....stay as far from subs as you can.....otherwise you are asking for PWD which makes regular WD feel like a day at the beach. Good luck

 

[Kara Kava]

I tapered down to 7mg and quit methadone almost a week ago. I took 20mg of oxy last night for a toothache i didn't feel anything.
I would get down to at least 20 before thinking of switching

 

[Gaz_hmmmm]

You need to feel pain to feel high. If you skipped your dose for 3 days, you would certainly feel the dope wrap around you as it removes withdrawal. Taking 80mg daily, you are high all day, so will not feel the dope.

80mg of methadone daily doesn't get you high, never mind high all day.

 

[TheInvisibleStoner]

Rather you have a massive dose of opiods in you 24/7.

Though any time I went back on the clinic the first month or two I would be quite high. Even after being on it for so long, skipping a night of sleep, go dose, fall asleep driving on the way home. Crashed my car many times from this.

Stuff is powerful.

 

[Keif' Richards]

There is a protocol often used by clinics in which you lower your Methadone dosage to 30mg, go for a few days with no Opioids and then indict on Buprenorphine to help soften the pain.

This is what I would recommend. If you lower your dose even to 30mg and go a couple days without, you're still gonna need a lot of Oxycodone to cover that sickness. That's why I recommend the Bupe.

Buprenorphine is pretty cheap and available typically. You can use this to get yourself to zero through a microdosing process. We could have you induct using a microdosing scheme and then do the same as you taper off of it.

After a few days free of the Buprenorphine, you should be fairly close to baseline tolerance, whatever that may be for you.

There are other ways of doing this, but this is the way I would choose for myself. I have withdrawn from Methadone and know what it's like. If you're interested in this method you can let us know and you can always PM me.