Please Help Me With Methadone Questions & Withdrawl (Page 4)

I have been on methadone for 9 months... I was up to 80 mg but have managed to get down to 20 mg over the past 5 months or so. I am wanting to get off it all together but I am so scared because I don't want to feel miserable from the wd. Since I have been on it less than a year, will the wd still be horrible? Should I go from the methadone to suboxone to make it any easier or just keep going down on the methadone? How long will the wd's last once I am off everything? I go to the clinic so I am not doing it on my own, it is medically supervised. Can anyone PLEASE help me with some good advice??

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Hi noexpert....Of course I know you are not bragging!! That is extremely brave of you to just decide to stop like that! Just like you, I have heard so many horror stories about Methadone so I had no idea what to expect. I know what it is like to wd from other opiates and for me Suboxone was the absolute worst! But then again, it is suppose to be used on a short term basis and doctors had me on and off it for 2 years!! Go figure! I don't want to jinx things but I think being on day 5, you are pretty much in the clear as far as any physical sickness. How have you been feeling mentally and emotionally??

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Hi Niele!! Your post to Gsk was right on! I wasn't on here looking for sympathy but rather other peoples expeirences (and nightmares) with Methadone. You know what I mean... So how are you feeling??

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Yeah I detox ed off of perks/vicoden and that was hell so i was thinking I was headed for some major crap!
Mentally I feel a little foggy, and forgetful. I am more irritable than normal but otherwise ok.
Emotional I am happy, I feel good right now. I walked my daughter's to school, and then took a 1/2 mile walk to make me sweat and stay busy. Thanks for asking! !!

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I know that there are a lot of horrible stories about methadone withdrawal, but please remember the people who breezed through it, weren't motivated by anger to post. And on the flip side, there are a lot of identical stories from complete strangers....
I say err on the side of caution. The ONLY hero is the one who sees this journey out.
I also believe that we need to remember these chemicals are "bound to our opiate receptors." That is the part of our brain responsible for natural opiates, for DOPAMINES, for just enjoying life. I want mine back!
I honestly & truly hope every single one of you gets clean & celebrates the rest of your life.
(and do I just mildy think that's some crappy rheoric!? Well, of course, I'm (back, Staycee) in some new PAWS phase. For some reason these websites seem to attract haters. There's one on another thread that keeps going off on me. I quit reading it's post finally

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I was on methadone for a year to the day It Wasnt easy convincing my health care professionals to reduce my does from 80-0 by 10ML every 8 days until I got down to 50ml/day @ that point my decrease went down to 5ml/day. Here's the HARD PART Get the pharmacy to continue giving you TANG JUICE even after hitting 0ml for a week. So you'll have to set all that up and do your best to forget where you are exactly with your current Methadone dose. I didnt even notice until day 8 clean when my Phar. was like how much longer did you want to continue attending for Tang. So happy However its in your head I was fine for the week without Methadone The walk home was fine but as soon as it hit me that I was not on methadone is when for no logical reason I started to experience withdrawal symptoms; from there All I needed to do was sleep After that everything was normal. Hope this helps I hate seeing glorified DR ug dealers force patients into believing they'll have to be slaves for the rest of their lives What I explained above wasn't easy to get done Every medical professional told me NO; it won't work. I had to literally threaten to go to collage of phys&surgeon and/or HEALTH CANADA before theyd help me and not there financial self. Be well Peace be with you MsG; the kind Thats not bad for you Lol

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The best move to get off would be to lower your dose very slowly. Don't rush. Maybe 5 mg a week, it will take time, but you did not get addicted overnight, so you need to give yourself time and love. When you get down to 10, go down by three for three weeks. Once off, allow yourself to feel the withdrawal and as soon as it starts, get some suboxen from a good Doc. Take what he says to take. Most likely a high dose at first and plan on a month long taper from suboxen. If you stay on it more than a month it will be just as hard as methadone to get off. Then load up on these amino acids. Phenylaninealine-2000 mg-DLPA....GABA 3000 mg. Tyrosine and Lysine 1000 mg and melatonin for sleep/ The DLPA works very well in high does for tapering. I have ised it with many herion addicts over the years and was one myself, so I know my friend. Finally, get a lot of love from all.Peace, Scott G.

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I think trolling in some social media sites where people are just being stupid has its place for outing their ignorance. Sorry Myk, this just ain't one of them! For the 1st grade beginner, your math is off. Secondly, and more importantly, do you think these people are looking for an endorsement drink for their next trip to the moon? You should visit the States sometime, we can get "Tang Juice" OTC!!!
You're lucky I didn't pretend I believe you & took you right down through there. True trolling is a skill (that you ain't got) & this ain't the place.

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I am currently on 2 15mg oxycodone and 3 60mg oxycotin for a shoulder injury that happened about 10 years ago. This is daily. I have found a surgeon that will replace my shoulder but now I have to get off these opiates. I never knew what an opiate was till I was having shoulder pain. My doctor is starting to wean me off these but I'm gonna be in a lot of pain from the surgery alone. I'm allergic to methadone but hearing about suboxone is really scaring the hell out of me. Any suggestions? Any help would be welcomed with open arms. How did I get in this? My doctor at the time I complained about the shoulder pain. He's retired now and just pushed me off on to another doctor. If you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust? By the way, I'm not young, I'm 64!

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Don't be so hard on yourself. Use that energy in another way, a more positive way. Know that yes, it will be a challenge, but if you are committed and have loving friends and family by you, it will be done. No need to be fearful of Suboxone, it is a great substance when used the right way, which is to taper off of the Methadone or pain meds. At this point your brain Chen n endorphins sites pathways are trained to have opiates. We use nutrients in high doses like dlpa-phenylanineanine-3000mg, it will hit the Mu receptor site and assist as taper goes lower. Move slowly, no rush. You do not want to feel like your dropping down to fast cause it just will trigger the site to crave more. Suboxone coats these sites and it is long acting, but you will not feel the opiates highs. Learning to live without that is work, but the brain knows what to do if feeding it the right way. Add omega 3s and Gaba-3000mg as you get low. Ck out this site where lots of info on Nutrient therapy for addiction exists" The alliance for addiction solutions. Lots of addiction providers on it and I got my training there. You are not a bad person, due to this, you are just a feeling person who had pain n trusted the medical model. Not your fault. Stop blaming you and put the energy to change and shift. Stay tall, stay strong and stay in love no matter what. peace. Scott G.

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So, the surgeon wants you opiate free before the surgery, before he operates. I can understand that because of issues with anesthesia & then pain relief issues after. Neither of these qualify for Suboxone, especially at your age dear. YET.
You should (I hate to say should-these are just suggestions) find a caring doctor to wean you; some clinics offer a rapid-detox (I think subutex is used), Google, Google, Google, read up on everything you can.
After you surgery, you will need pain meds again. When you, and your doctor decide, then you might be ready for a short term (not maintenance) program of of Buprenorphine/Naloxone, best wishes

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Hi wtarin,

So sorry to hear what you are going through. It is great that you are doing your research though. Has the doctor recommended that you start suboxone or are you just curious to know if it may be something that will work for you? Suboxone can really work miracles if used properly. It should be taken on a short term basis to help with opiate withdraw....and that's it! It is not intended for pain or long term use. Unfortunately many doctors have their own agendas. I was under a doctors care who had me on Suboxone for a year and a half. At first it was great, I had my life back and was opiate free. As time went on, I no longer felt human. I was literally lifeless. I decided to get off of it and the withdrawl was shear hell... physically and mentally. It lasted months. Ultimately, I couldn't take it anymore and began using opiates again and was right back at square one. But short term, yes it is a great drug. You must go into full withdraw before you begin suboxone... you have to wait a minimum of 17 hours from the time you took your last pill. But the relief is immediate. How long have you been on opiates if you don't mind me asking. Would you consider going to a 5 day detox? If you have the means to do so, that may be your best option. I have gone the detox center route as well and in my opinion, it is the least painful route when it comes to withdraw.

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Hi Emily,
Thanks for all your information! I went down 2 more mg today and am now on 13mg. The doctor prescribed me Clonidine so that should help. So it sounds like you gained weight while on methadone too. The weight thing and sugar craving for me has been miserable!! I have gained 25 lbs in less than a year and am hoping that once I get off the methadone, I can start loosing the weight. Did you crave sugar too? Was the weight difficult to loose? Is a lot of it water weight? I would love to hear back from you if you have a minute. Thank you!!

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Good job on the taper, Staycee, I'm sure you'll make it. Just stay in the game!
I think I can safely say I'm done, for the most part. The reason I say that is because I pretty much feel like I did when I started. You know, at the psych ward lol. Which is a bazillion times better than on subs or PAWS! But, so real. And my shoes have shoestrings!
I kinda wanted to drink today, that's another sign it's gone.
But you know PAWS: no rules, no boundaries.
I bet you there is a cure for these drugs, but that might promote abuse....

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I would definitely try and go down slowly but sooner than later I've been at a methadone clinic for 16 years was clean from doing anything else for 11 of those years and lost insurance coverage and was tossed out the withdrawal was far more sever then any oxytocin I started using it again because I couldn't deal with the withdrawal I returned to the clinic 2 years ago and not using nothing but methadone again but the longer your on it the harder and more dangerous it gets know one told me that if I knew what I know now I would have tried 7 day detox first I know people who experienced withdrawal as log as 7 months methadone get deep in all mussels and hangs in them for along time I haven't been able to go away on any family vacation or another state if family get sick because I'm married to the clinic that is self owned and only care about the $$ I live no where near any other clinics around 3 hrs away I wouldn't recommend this to anyone not even my worst enemy.

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subs write a book more drugs vals.? i was a addict for 23 years never get on methadone try subs.

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Thanks for the reply. No, suboxone wasn't discussed and I'm allergic to methadone. I can't afford a detox place, I can barely pay my bills. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Just hoping that after the shoulder is fixed, I can continue to slowly get off the opiates. That's the only hope I have and I'm hanging on to that by a thread! Again, thanks. All the information I can get will help.

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Crazy side effects; day 4 at 60 today not touching withdrawal symptoms yet but here is the problem: I'm the same as any other dedicated junkie. I strive to do the most of the best; but we didn't start that way n sometimes its not even all our fault; can hardly concentrate. About 45 min or lil longer I start feeling really bad anxiety, then fear, anger, then depression. I have taken every pain med known to man including this red cherry syrup, and I have never felt these symptoms. Do clinics ever mess with the done? I take a lot of opioids but what kinda respectable person wouldn't have a good idea about how much of certain meds they need. I should never feel worse than when I was on the road to go dose till it starts to wear off a lil. I was on my way home (45 min drive) when this stuff started comin' on, well ya know what? Confession - I had 2 go get my fix. I was careful about dosing. I was perfect for 4 hrs when the anxiety and other odd symptoms started coming on. Help a guy who's just trying to do the right thing for once.

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Hi Staycee,
Have you tried skipping the methadone once to see how it affects you? I'd not recommend turning to Suboxone. I do not have personal experience with it but have done a ton of research on it and Methadone. My experience is a twenty something year relationship with Morphine and LOTS of it. I've come very close to starting up with Suboxone but stopped short after reading all the negative postings of those who never would've taken it had they known how hard it is to quit. That said, I've seen accounts of people who've changed their lives for the better. Business executives, school teachers, Mother's of young children who'd been opioid addicted but life is great since they started taking the Suboxone. It sounds to me that you're wanting to get off of the monthly Dr visit and being tied to a drug. If that's what your goal is you should stay away from Suboxone. Best of luck you Staycee.

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My pharmacy was out of my regular methadone 10mg last time I went so they made me up some caps, compounder #3 caps. My question is I was given a drug panel and they told me morphine came up in my system. Could those #3 compound caps contain morphine and would it be possible that they did give me some morphine in those #3 methadone caps compounder?

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I WOULD SAY YES. I'M NOT A DOCTOR BUT I KNOW JUST ABOUT AS MUCH AS THEY DO ON CERTAIN DRUGS INCLUDING METHADONE.

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