Opioids Would Methadone be a better choice than Suboxone for me..?

[Oxydexmorphetamine]

I'm not getting any relief from the dose of suboxone I'm on (8mg a day).
I find myself no longer taking them and almost compulsively skin popping heroin.
It really sucks but I have super thin veins (my whole life, being on medication and what not, I've had lots of blood work done and the nurses have made clear that I have very unusually small veins-always calling for a butterfly needle. This is why I skin pop Heroin instead of I.V.ing it) and it's made it hard to I.V. the heroin so I skin pop it to keep un-sick and try to catch that euphoria.
I've been off my suboxone for about six days now and I'm thinking of trying out the methadone clinic and I have questions for people who've taken methadone (and/or suboxone):
1. Going to a methadone clinic, I hear you must go every morning to get your dose. Does this ever change-do they give you a prescription eventually so you can stay home? I ask primarily because the clinic's quite far from my house-such a hassle to have to go EVERY morning-and also because I tend to not like getting up in the morning.
2. For everyone that's been on both, which one do you think is better overall...? Which one's more euphoric? (because I believe the more euphoric the less I would crave heroin).
3. Please list some pros and cons of each Suboxone and Methadone.

Thanks!!

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

Check out our Methadone Megathread and our Bupe/Suboxone Megathread for basic info.

There is also a good methadone discussion thread in NASADD.

 

[Oxydexmorphetamine]

^
Will do then.

 

[opiatekrzy]

At my clinic after 3 months of clean toxes you get weekend take home doses, after 4 or 5 months, you get a take home in the week, after 6 months, you only go once a week to get your dose, and 6 pack of doses ....at 4yrs (lol not too many people get there) they let you go once a month to see the doctor there, to get a script for the 40mg wafers, that's if you are dosed above 40mg which most are

 

[Oxydexmorphetamine]

At my clinic after 3 months of clean toxes you get weekend take home doses, after 4 or 5 months, you get a take home in the week, after 6 months, you only go once a week to get your dose, and 6 pack of doses ....at 4yrs (lol not too many people get there) they let you go once a month to see the doctor there, to get a script for the 40mg wafers, that's if you are dosed above 40mg which most are

Sweet, thanks for the information man, for real. Much appreciated!
I am currently on 8mg suboxone a day-not even close to enough to make me not crave, so I am definitely gonna try the methadone and am currently on a waiting list to go in.

 

[d1ahp]

You eventually get take home methadone if you stay clean and don't fail drug tests. The methadone buzz wears off pretty quick, there is no euphoria if you're experienced with opiates. Which one is better? Suboxone, in my opinion. The withdrawals are not as harsh, and they are very harsh with methadone.

 

[cj]

If sub isn't working you don't have much to lose by trying methadone. Your addicted either way

 

[Mr.Scagnattie]

^^

Ha, yeah I mean at the end of the day you're right. You're still dependent on something either way.. so might as well go with the one that at least works for ya.

 

[adder]

It seems to me that it's not that Suboxone wouldn't really help you, but it's just that you don't seem ready for it. I used methadone for over 2 years and while I was on it, I denied that it did me more wrong than good. The truth is I was like a walking dead while on methadone, my eyes were empty, something that I can know observe in methadone patients at the collection point. It sucked life out of me, but I couldn't quit then. Now I'm on Suboxone, it's been ~1.5 years, and it's much better for me. It has zero high to it, but although I sometimes have minor cravings, I'm past the phase of using opioids to peace myself out. I've luckily learnt to deal with problems without opioids. Well, I'm still on one, but it feels like nothing, so Suboxone for a long-time opioid addict is simply like living sober without withdrawal.

You may go for methadone, but if you really want to get off opioids some day (or just stay on a partial agonist), then you'll be making a step back. However, if you really can't just say no to heroin, then you don't really have a choice. You won't get stable on Suboxone if you're constantly thinking about heroin, right? And stability is one of the most important thing you need to quit opioid addiction. Draw a table of pros and cons for both methadone and Suboxone, and figure it out for yourself. That's what I did when I was offered Suboxone. I realized it was the only right choice, because I'd managed to quit methadone, something that I once thought would be impossible for me, I didn't want to go back to it, and I didn't want to be constantly high in outer space on morphine or heroin, so I've chosen Suboxone eventually.

If your cravings are only psychological, then I would try again with Suboxone, then wait and see. You must learn to cope with problems in your own ways different from opioids eventually, the sooner the better for you. Basically the most important question is whether you can control those cravings.

 

[d1ahp]

The truth is I was like a walking dead while on methadone, my eyes were empty, something that I can know observe in methadone patients at the collection point. It sucked life out of me, but I couldn't quit then.

I can very much relate to this statement. The methadone clinic felt like spiritual death. The people involved into the program didn't help. I went pretty crazy shortly after getting into the program. I'm honestly surprised I didn't die with all the benzos I'd pop every morning after dosing.

 

[sauc1er]

I am in a similar position. I was 11 months on methadone and did not touch heroin in any way. When I was changed to subutex I had a massive problems with wd symptoms at first, but became fine and was for about one month. Since then it is maintaining a bupe level in my system so I do not get a precipitated wd but I am also taking 1 day breaks just using heroin. Since I was switched to bupe I did not last a week without dope.
I decided to go back on methadone, but since I am going to therapie and have to detox before, going on like this seems like the better option.

 

[BlueHues]

Methadone is more sedating and you may "feel it" a little more, but once you're tolerant to whatever dose you're on, you really won't get high from it anymore...

I believe methadone helps better with opiate cravings, but can have more negative side-effects than buprenorphine....They're both equally difficult to detox from IMO...

I think for more severe cases of opiate dependence, methadone is a little better...

 

[Kid Amine]

Either way, you're really jumping from the skillet to the frying pan. Both are a bastard to quit, you need to be in the microgram range to jump off w/o feeling like absolute shit for months. Subutex/Suboxone, for me, at the dose you mentioned (8mg/day), would completely block any heroin, especially sub-cutaneous (i.e., skin popping). Methadone does provide some pain relief to some people... are you in pain, or just withdraw? It took me 4 months to detox from 20mg/day of methadone to zero w/o any problems... at the end, Id smash a 10mg pill, cut it into 20 lines (500mcg each), then eventually again, quartering those lines, until one day I didnt do any more, and didnt need any more the day after, and felt okay the day after that. Suboxone can be metered down much the same way, tho the super small generic subutex really need to be dissolved into a known volume of water for accurate dosage in the mcg range. Either way, you're better off with either than doing heroin.