Doctors Who Prescribe Methadone (Page 2)

I am addicted to strong pain meds and I am tired of having to come off of them, the withdrawal is awful. I went to a urgent care doc and was prescribed suboxone. I take anxiety meds too but he wants me to stop. I really need the anxiety meds but he wants me off them. How do I get him to change it from suboxone to methadone so I can take my anxiety meds?

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Hey peach, read my other recent posts. Same goes for U.
Best chance of finding a dcotr to continue your current meds is getting into a hospital based pain management program. Once they see U are valid, they will accept U. They may say they only take cancer patients, but be persistent. Mine did that but I kept going anyway. Get your foot into the door no matter what they tell U. Make sure U somehow get in to actually see a doctor. Don't be shy. Plus...if your going to a local hospital, U usually don't have to travel too much to get there, like getting to some other doctors I use to have. They can be hours away & I hate driving !! Hope it works out for U.

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Jason, U are right. It used to be that every woman who told her doctor she was upset or couldn't sleep would walk out with a script for Valium or the like. It's very different today. When a doctor prescribes anything for anxiety in anybody it's usually an anti-depressant. No narcotics anymore. Besides, if U want Methadone, which blocks any narcotic effects from drugs, the Benzo your asking for is not going to work like it should for U anymore anyway. So why want it ?. Unless your gonna sell it ? Shame on U !!
Some doctors will still prescribe both together, but they are the bad ones out there. They could care less if U kill yourself with drugs. They're just out there to collect as many patients as they can, to bring in the money. Specially if U pay them cash !!

My last doctor did that. She continued to see & write scripts for anyone who paid her cash. But if U had health coverage she tossed U out. I watched many couples of all ages going into her for scripts the same day, and they got them. ALL paid her cash and most came from out of state too. Some drove in on motorcycles. If your in that much pain, how can U stay on a bike for that long to get to a doctor, and survive the pain ?
They sure didn't look like they were in any pain to me.

After seeing this going on...I knew she would eventually toss me out & she did. It was only a matter of time. I wanted to report her, but didn't know where or how to. I did tell my current doctor who she was & what she was doing tho. Maybe he will report her ?

Also....If a Methadone clinic insists U have to pay them with cash every day to get your "liquid fix", (and they do...) the doctors must know U have access to a lot of cash to pay them. The one near me charges $65. a day, cash. Plus a $250. fee for the 1st appt..And U go in every week without fail or they toss U out. U are drug tested every week also, or they toss U out. U cannot take other drugs from other doctors while receiving liquid Methadone.
Those clinics are expensive too !! I can't afford it. But I'm also not an addict. When I was without my meds for weeks....a doctor suggested to try to go to one. But I have health coverage and they won't accept that.
I'm glad I never went there. Don't need to have "ADDICT" posted all over my records !!
Seems like a double edge sword to me ?

Personally I preferred the narcotic for anxiety tho, since I didn't need to take it every day. I hate anti-depressants. I feel they are more dangerous than the other drugs and no matter what they say about it not being addictive, it almost is because U cannot stop taking them without severe consequences. That's even worse in my mind, than some Valium or Xanax that U take once in a while, on your bad days. But who am I to say. I'm no doctor. I just know how stuff works on me or not.
Anti-depressants can be just as dangerous as narcotics. Read all the info U can b-4 just taking your doctor's word for it. I've suffered some severe, permanent disabilities from using anti-depressants earlier in my life. Never again !!

I just get so disgusted at those who abuse narcotics because those are the people who ruin it for those who are truly in pain & in need of strong medicine.

U have a backache ? Try exhausting all other treatments, like using a heating pad ,some warm baths & massage, physical therapy or chiropractor. It may help. Don't need major drugs all the time. Only if it's uncontrollable pain should U even go near that stuff.
Many times it's so easy to just pop a pill to feel better. And some doctors support that. But in the long run...it will only cause U problems later.
If U learn to rely on the stronger medications, U will never be able to get off of them. Your stuck for life !! Why should U be, if something simpler will relieve your pain enuff to get U to function again.

Anyone in severe intractable pain will feel lots better taking the stronger meds. But they have no choice really. They need some relief or they have no life.
I can even understand how some get desperate enuff to ask dealers on the street for their meds. When your suffering from so much pain U can barely move, where else do U turn ? I guess if U can come up with the money...U can get almost anything U want. I'd just be afraid they'd pass off some bad stuff on me & I'd wind up dead !! No thanks. I like living, even if most of it sucks !!

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Your question is a year old and I hope you received what you need by now. I did want to answer so that maybe someone with a similar problem will read it. I don't know of any Dr. who would prescribe xanex or valium or any benzo with methadone. Reason being it's dangerous, could stop breathing. The clinics are getting tough on patients who continually show for benzos in UA.

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Jo You really should not post if you do not know what you are talking about,.
(1) Methadone blocks opiates not benzos.
(2) I do not think there is Methadone any clinic that charges 65.00 a day. That is about what they charge in many parts of the country for a week.
(3) You can take drugs from other doctors you just have to give them a copy of the prescription. Granted many clinics will not let you take benzos. Many do allow them..
I have been going to a clinic for five years and do not know where you are getting your information. I do know you need to get a new source.

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BJ1fish,
Sorry...I must have had a typo when I posted per day instead of by the week. I've never gone to a clinic, so easy to get mixed up on that point anyway. I have never told anyone they should take Benzos with Methadone. Nor do I know doctors who prescribe them together. I agree that combo can be very dangerous. Altho....on rare occasions, I have taken an Ativan while on the Methadone. But it's very limited. Doctor used it to help me get some sleep at times. Nothing more. Maybe that part of my post was your mix up this time ?
I forgive U !! I did see others say that it's done however. Perhaps....it was done like mine was ? Only in an isolated occurence ? I doubt it would be done on a regular basis.
I don't use Methadone and Benzos at the same time, usually. Maybe a doctor would prescribe anti-depressants with the Methadone, but I don't even know for sure on that.Those who suffer from depression or anxiety will usually be controlled with some type of anti-depressant rather than a Benzo these days, anyhow.
I have been given the Methadone and oxy, but that was only for breakthru and at a limited amount. Not taking those anymore tho. Only the Methadone for pain now. I try to take as little as possible. So I remain in pain to some degree, at all times. But for me...the Methadone has worked the best without making me feel "high" in any way. Feeling "high" was never my intention. I've only seeked pain relief.
My information sources happen to be from my own experience. Nothing more. I'm sorry if U thought I was giving bad advice. I would never intentionally do that to anyone.

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what kind of dr's are you guys's talking about seeing because this electronic pump is what they are suggesting for me along with epideral steroid injections every few months. I had an accident and then had a baby the dr. giving me the epideral had to try over six times in six+ spots leaving me with nerves shooting down my legs taking my breath away. There are Physiatrist's now, Osteopaths, and pain management clinics which is the best to see if you don't want to be cut open and stuck in the spine every few months, I also would rather fix it and keep living with a pill if i can, please help if you can?

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BJ1fish,
Correction to my last reply.

I guess I need to apologize about saying words pertaining to Methadone blocking the effect of Benzos in addition to other narcotics. I must have gotten carried away in my frustration while writing.I didn't realize I had posted that. Thank U for correcting me.

On rare occasions, I have taken an Ativan while on the Methadone, but it was very limited. Doctor used it to help me get some sleep. Maybe that part of my post confused U ? Prolly my fault again.

I did see others say that it's done however. Perhaps....it was done like mine was ? Only in an isolated occurence ? I doubt it would be done on a regular basis.
Those who suffer from depression or anxiety will usually be controlled with some type of anti-depressant. Not Benzos these days.
I have been given the Methadone and oxy, but that was only for breakthru and at a limited amount. It was also done by that "bad" doctor I spoke of....so no surprise.
I'm sorry if U thought I was giving bad advice. I would never intentionally do that to anyone. I only post in an attempt to help.

I know how horrible it is to feel so desperate that U don't know where to turn for help. I have been there.
And if I should ever lose the doctors at the hospital where I go to now, I know I will be among the most desperate of patients myself.

It's so frightening to not be able to get pain relief when U need it so badly.
None of us has asked to be in this pain. And we deserve to be able to find relief without being made to feel as if we are addicts.

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Just want to commend you for stepping up. I don't understand why people who need pain relief are treated like an addict. I experienced it. I think it is inhumane. Yes it's true there are some who want these pills to get high but when you have surgeries and obvious problems with back,etc. we should be dealt with in a way much different than an addict. I've been told most Dr's. are afraid to prescribe. I could tell stories but would be here all day. I'll tell one.--I had a root canal on the same day 3 Dr's. were arrested in my town for writing scripts for Oxycontin. My Dentist would not give me anything for pain because of that. In the past he would give me 6 vicodin for 2-3 days.

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Thank U Cuge,
I agree with U about how most doctors are afraid to prescribe anything more than say...Motrin.
When I was without my meds for weeks, (a dangerous situation in my case) my primary was afraid to write my script for only one month. None of the doctors in his practice felt comfortable even writing it for one week, until I got into the hospital plan. Finally...a doctor from the hospital plan called them and managed to make them write a script for 2 days only, so they could get me an appt. sooner than they expected. Thank God !!
This was all happening over the Xmas Holidays, so that made it worse.
But it is really awful how much doctors have pulled away from taking good care of us. There are just too many painful situations that don't respond well to aspirin or Tylenol. My dentist would also give me 2 or 3 days worth of a painkiller for surgery done. Not anymore. Neither does my friend's for him. But he does knock him out good when he does the surgeries. It's just the after affects that he has to deal with now. Same goes for his Primary. Nada !!
What harm is it to give a patient enough meds for 2 or 3 days to make them feel better ? I don't get it.

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Hi Passed,
I've been talking about pain management doctors, mostly. They are usually licensed by the DEA to prescribe the narcotics most in pain need to control their pain. Regular MD's usually can't do this.
I, too, have been pressured by most doctors of all kinds to get that stupid spinal machine with the electrodes placed in my spine but I keep refusing it. I'm aware of the risks and inconveniences associated with it. I truly think these doctors get some kind of kickback according to how many patients they convince to even try a "trial" of it. Just love how they tell U it's a "trial"., when they still go in and operate on you. Sheesh !!

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Cuge, Yea you are right about the date. Most people don't realize that the first questions are old ones. It's the way the topic is set up. Glad to see that Jo's comment was recognized as having incorrect info. I thought that there would be so many replies so I did not respond to it. Hope eventually methadone will not be looked down upon. Take care and good luck to all!

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Hey Cuge,
Ya know the really quirky part about being taken as an addict ? When doctors and pharmacists see the drug Methadone, it's an automatic assumption that we're being treated for addiction. A lot of people have no idea that it's used for severe pain. I didn't when it was 1st given to me. I later found out that it was used in the armed forces back in 1947 for pain. Something, huh ?
I didn't know that b-4.
I could walk into a pharmacy with a script for 200 Percocet and get no reaction. But go in with a Methadone script for even 30 or 50 or whatever, and U get an immediate label put on U. Totally unfair and Totally wrong. I think something should be done to educate doctors on the uses of Methadone these days.
U wouldn't believe the strong medications they were all willing to write for me. Methadone has quite a stamina to it, apparently. Who knew ?

Apparently, mine only knew they couldn't write it for addiction w/o a DEA license. Disregarding the fact that that wasn't what I was taking it for. And had no knowledge of being able to write it for pain, as long as they wrote on the script that it was for "intractable pain", and not an addiction.
They thought they would lose their licenses if they wrote a Methadone script for me. Even with permission from another doctor !! Jeepers !!

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Hey Pam,
What I don't understand is....What does someone want with Methadone if they're only trying to get a buzz ? Don't they realize that Methadone is made to block that type of reaction to drugs ? I don't think anyone would get "high" using Methadone...unless they know some trick that I'm not aware of ?
So why do doctors freak out when U ask for it if your in pain ? I don't understand. Is it b-coz it's addictive too ?

Geezzz....Can't see how someone in pain can get addicted to a drug like this. "Dependent" maybe...yes.
If your using it for pain, that should be nowhere in the equation. U should only be taking enuff to treat your pain. No need to keep building it up like U would if U were taking other pain drugs. It doesn't work that way.

I've been taking it for 7 to 8 yrs. now, and not once have I felt a need to increase my dose. That was only when I 1st started, until I got to a dose that relieved the pain.
I find that the Methadone is very different in many ways to other narcotics/Opioids. I don't even feel that it should be treated in the same way as those others are.
Something should change.

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To Pam and Chad... FYI, ALL doctors with MD at the end of their name HAVE DEA #'s. As do their Physician Assistants (PA-C's), who must be certified and licensed in the state they practice. Most, if not all (that I've seen) have Master's degrees or are Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners (RN's plus additional training to earn Physician Assistant certification. I finally started going to a Pain Management practice after looking for over two years. With 26 offices merging and covering two states, they're practically in my back yard.

My Internist had been the sole provider of all my meds (including Oxycodone and Methadone for chronic pain, Diazapam (Valium) for anxiety. On my first visit in December (referred by my orthopedist, with whom I had planned to have cervical/neck surgery to fix two herniated discs). Surgery had to be put off indefinitely as my LOWER back went out two weeks before and I was in such excruciating pain I could barely walk.

I met with a Dr. in the pain practice (one of the best in the State actually) and his PA (Physician Assistant). He took a thorough history, agreed to take me on as a patient, even though he was not crazy about the fact I was on Oxy. Ordered many tests, MRI's, etc. So, it's been three months since and I have only seen the physician assistant since the first visit. She's very good actually, although it's taking a while to get to a comfortable level of pain relief because I have an extremely complex myriad of health issues I've been dealing with for about 13 years.

So now, my Internist will provide me with my other meds, (Valium, Promethazine), etc., and the pain practice my pain meds. I DID want to make a strong point that every M.D. has a DEA #, and mine CAN prescribe for pain, but NOT to addicts for Methadone maintenance. Pain management doctor's are becoming more and more leery of prescribing pain meds. In fact mine is probably the only one out of all the offices within 40 miles of my house who is giving them to me. Their office four miles up the street from me as a matter of fact do not prescribe pain meds for chronic pain (long-term). So I need to drive 30 miles one way to my PD's office. I'm not complaining. Need to head out today ASAP to pick up prescriptions for the month as I couldn't get a follow up for almost two months. So that's it out of me for now. Gotta git. Good luck all and please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

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Hi Ms. Tweetie,
I'm very glad U are getting the medications U need for your pain. Your right about doctors being able to write scripts for pain medications, but they can't write for Methadone as an addiction treatment. That's why I couldn't understand the fear in my primary's office to write any for me. That time...was a total horror for me.
I was running into several doctors...including Anesthesiologists, who were telling me they didn't have the special license needed to write my script for Methadone. I didn't know who to believe. He would write me Percocet or Nucynta, but not Methadone.
I truly think he was calling me an addict. He was also the one who tried to send me to a Meth clinic !!
It's just a horrible thing to go thru. Bad enuff your in terrible pain. Then U have to put up with unfeeling doctors who treat U like your an addict.
He was also trying to talk me into letting him put me in a hospital to infuse me with Ketamine. He scared the bajeebers out of me !! Told me there was nothing else for pain to help me. Then he was also saying that my pain was only minor, when I had had several EMG's saying otherwise. Grrrrr !! Man...did I wish it on him !!

Ketamine, by the way is used during operations, mixed with other drugs, to paralyze U so U don't wake up during your procedure.

Holy cow !! I really didn't want to go there. Not to mention how expensive it is....

Anyway, it's true. Most doctors can write scripts for the other opioids. It's just terribly hard to get them to do it these days. I don't think P.A.'s are allowed to write for narcotics w/o a doctors permission. They can write for antibiotics tho. I don't think RN's can write scripts either. Not unless they have a special license/degree to. Altho I know one of my past pain management doctors allowed his nurse to write them and he just signed them off. I didn't feel that was right. Showed laziness on the doctor's part. Pushing off his duties on his nurse. Plus it showed he didn't care.

I can't totally blame their fears, with so many going in and getting these hard knock drugs to either get high or sell them. But if U can substantiate your pain, I see no reason to give a patient such a hard time.
All I want, is to be able to have some quotient of a life.
Without the right meds, that isn't gonna happen. Why can't they see this ? Even if I were using a wheelchair, I still would have 100% of the pain and that's no way to live. U can't !! Pain takes so much away from a person's life, it's really inhumane.

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Sorry to say but people do use methadone and a combination of other drugs to get high.I have seen this so much in the clinics, it was not designed as a blocker As most know it was designed for pain. I have found thru my doctors that methadone can be wrote for pain with a DEA# but it can't be written for addiction unless that doctor is an addiction specialist. Some insurances will pay for pain but not addction.

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I need to apologize once again. I said a regular doctor could not prescribe meds for your pain but that is false.
They absolutely can. They just can't write U Methadone for pain unless they have a special license to. I'm not sure what that license is, however, but that's what i was told by several doctors I went to. A regular GP usually doesn't like to treat patients for long term pain relief. They will generally send U to a pain management doctor/group. Probably b-coz regular GP's don't have what they think is this "special license".
Honestly, they left me confused when I was seeking treatment with Methadone. It is a different kind of drug than stuff like Percocet, Vicodin, etc.. It blocks the getting high abilities that other pain killing drugs have.
Once again. Sorry for the mistaken posting.

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@ Lynn, I know your post is over a year old so I'm not going to go into much detail. I just wanted to see if you were able to get what you were looking for. What stood out for me was that you say you were "addicted to strong pain meds and tired of having to come of of them the withdrawal is awful I went to a urgent care doc and was prescribed simboxon".

Are you being prescribed pain meds on a regular basis from a Dr. for pain? Or getting them to get 'high' as I see many people on these forums doing. If you are getting them from a physician are you taking more than prescribed, hence running out too quickly. I KNOW what it's like to run out of pain meds because my Dr. was reluctant to increase my dosages, even though my tolerance is VERY high. I would run out before my next visit with him and I would get so sick I just wanted to die. This happened many times. I presented at my Dr's. office a couple of times in full withdrawal from Oxycodone and Methadone, driven by my boyfriend because I was too sick to drive myself. Of course he'd be disappointed in me, I was sick of it myself. I have an extremely complicated situation with so many issues involving extreme pain I've stopped counting. I tried to tell him of my tolerance, and he knows this but he said I MUST find a pain specialist expert licensed to treat chronic pain. He was going to begin to start weaning me off Oxy as I dealt with each medical problem causing pain. He said the state of Virginia was clamping down on docs prescribing ANYTHING, as in pain meds, benzo's, etc., and they were "highly suggesting" Dr's. to start weaning people off these meds.

I'm not sure if this applied to PMD's or not but I was pissed off that the big wigs in Richmond were re-writing the rules, making decisions, and taking the decision making out of the Dr's hands without a clue as to how badly a patient may need these meds! I did learn VA was much more stringent than MD, where I had been going for about six years. I also believe this insane Obamacare crap is going to make things a lot more difficult, so things are only going to get worse.

Thank God I finally found one in December during a severe pain crisis through one of my orthopedists, and presently I'm taking 50 mgs. of Methadone, 20 of Percocet and 10-30mgs. of Diazepan per day. I'm not going into my history prior to 2010 because I'd be here all day. I WILL say tho that because of the length of time I had been on massive doses of pain meds (prior to 2010 in MD) I will need to be on Methadone (or something similar) for the rest of my life, as well as diazepam.

If you're still reading this particular thread I'd hope you're taking any meds (if you still are) for the reason they are intended. I'm getting increasingly angry at people in dire straits looking for pain meds and/or benzos to get high. This makes it, and is becoming, more and more difficult for those of us who REALLY need them to get them.

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no name...I wasn't aware that people used Methadone to get high at all. I figured, since it's used to either wean people off strong pain killers, help them get thru withdrawal, or used for strictly pain relief, it wasn't that type of drug.
I'm certainly no chemist by any means. I just go by what I'm told or what I feel.
Methadone was given to me for pain. Nothing more. I have never been on strong narcotics for anything, other than a temporary situation, like having teeth pulled, etc..
I do know that since I've been taking it, I have not felt anything that feels like a "high". But I suppose that can't say for sure that someone else will feel it. I'm only comparing it to the way I used to feel when I took other narcotics for pain. Possibly, I haven't felt any "high" from it because I have so much pain that it targets the pain only ? I'm not sure. I do know tho, that I can take a high dose of say..Percocet and still not feel the "high" feelings I used to get from taking very little of it. Of course, this can also be because I'm so used to a higher dose of Methadone that it doesn't affect me that way anymore.
It's a strange thing for me. All I know, is that I need this for pain and it gives me relief. I also know, that when I tried "Nucynta", the doctor told me it was stronger than what I was used to & I did start to feel a "high" from that.
I didn't like it. Nor did it relieve my pain the way Methadone was, so I stopped using it.

I do not want to get high !! I only want pain relief.
I really don't care who writes it. As long as they write it for me. Can't stand the thought of not using anything to relieve my pain. I could never survive that. I would have NO life. I would probably rather be totally paralyzed, than try to function on things that don't work. But then...there are a different set of problems that go along with that too.
Why can't the medical field just figure out how to stop these things from happening or causing us so much pain ? If there was an operation to fix what I have wrong, I would surely go for it. But there is none. So what is my choice ? If they stop writing the Methadone for me, I suppose I will have to be a perpetual guinea pig for them. I am not looking forward to that !!

So congratulations to those of you who know so much about these drugs and the doctors who can prescribe them for you. I suppose I'm not so smart on these facts.
I've never taken a thing that wasn't prescribed for me.
I do hope that whatever you all are getting, that it is helping you as much as possible. Whether it be one drug or a combination of drugs isn't the matter. As long as U feel relief. God Bless U.

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The main pharmacological properties of methadone are similar to morphine and the other narcotics (codeine, Demerol, dilaudid, etc.). Cross-tolerance occurs with all other opiates. That is, the administration of any opiate will eliminate or stem the withdrawal symptoms of any other opiates. One is not addicted to both heroin and methadone - one is addicted to the drug class Opiates.

Opiate!!!!!

They are Opiates and Jo please stop acting so innocent and naive you know dang well that Methadone is a narcotic opiate...have you never read the paper that the pharmacist hands out with your medications? It is people like you actually that make doctors Leary of writing pain medications for people that truly need them. I mean you can not sit here and say that in 8 years of taking methadone you have not seen the story about Anna Nicole Smith and her son and you do not know that methadone makes people HIGH? Really stop this act it is sickening!!

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