Using Fentanyl To Get Off Methadone

I have been on Methadone for about 5 years. I had an addiction to oxycontin and the went on methadone to quit. My highest dose was 120mg and I have managed to wean myself down to 17mg. The problem is I am having a really hard time getting off of it. Doing some reading I have learned that methadone is one of the worst for trying to quit.

I have a perscription for 12mcg/h fentanyl for back pain which I havent been using but was thinking about quiting the methadone and using the patch instead so when I eventually drop it the withdraws won't be as bad.

Has anyone tried this?
is 12mcg enough?
Any other thoughts or advice?

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I'm sending only a suggestion for you and that is...... If I were you the 12mcg. will be way way too low of a dose when coming off of oxycontin!!!! You should be on at least 75mcg. OR even better 100mcg. Trust me, been there, done that!!!! I wish you all the best!!! Please post and let me know how it's working for you. Good health to you!!!!

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I am sorry, but that is the wrong information.

Fentanyl is actually over 80 times stronger than Morphine and thus, also much stronger than the Methadone!

Though the dose seems small, since it is so strong, it is actually a very powerful on.

In this case, far too powerful and you are liable to just trade one addiction for another, so I would not recommend trying to use it to get off the Methadone.

Your best bet is to try to continue to taper the Methadone down, until you can stop or seek a doctor's assistance.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Fentanyl/­

Is there anything else I can help with?

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Thanks for the advice, remember I'm not on oxycontin anymore. I am on 17mg of methadone.

I have been prescribed the patches for pain in my back. The doctor doesn't know I am on methadone. I haven't used the patch cause I don't want any addiction to anything anymore. the problem is I have been having a major problem getting off methadone. even when I drop a mg I feel it.

As for the Fentinal I realize it is powerful but I am using the patch proporly, not abuseing it. I asked for the mylan just so I wasn't tempted. I put the patch on two days ago and dropped the methadone. I have been feeling crappy but not as bad as having nothing. I am thinking of slowly cutting the patch to smaller sizes as I go to wean myself off.

I can tell it's not enouh because I am not felling good and I was very tempted today to steal some injectable hydromorph. I didn't do it but It was hard not to. In my line of work I see all sorts of different drugs and it is hard but I am doing it.

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MIKE
Fentanyl was the way i got off 400 mg of methadone daily. ITS VERY STRONG but you at 17mg should be able to take 9 days at 50 mcg then
after that say one month of the 25 mcgs. Now you have gotten off methadone the worst detox drug in the world! Fentanyl Is easy to get off of in such a short time. Get some norco and if you have any shakes or left over issues this will do the trick. This is what i did and i got through it and so can you. Try to stay busy and possitive thinking.
Your new year will be a great new year. GOOD LUCK

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mike...i never comment on any of these stories, but when i saw some of the help and advise you got, i am shaking my head in disbelief.....verwon has the right idea, but not the answer on how to do it...daniel..400mg of methadone???....whats the story about that...you worked your way up?? or just have a high resistance..?? so, what, you're telling mike to get addicted to hydro-codone..or take fentanyl for a month plus 9 days ( be addicted to that) , and puff, he is cured...thats how you did it...i would love to hear that story. how much fentanyl were you taking at the beginning of your detox....mike, i was on methadone for 10 years ,at 120 mg a day...it was called a methadone maintanance program...only thing, they never wanted us off of it...if YOU were able to go down from 120mg to 17mg...bravo..that shows me you have the internal fortitute and desire to do this.... i started at 120mg and went to 0mg......they did help get me down to 40 mg, but that was it...we had to go either twice a week or every day for the meds..i came up with the story that i was moving to another city, and they gave me a 30 day supply.plus the name of a local clinic..but i took the meds, at the time they was liquified, and carefully divided them to 40 at the beginning down to just tang and 0 mg meth...it was over ...for 30 plus years now.....if you do have a problem with the sickness, for the first few days, i would recommend. soma..(non addictive but habit forming), or trazadone for sleep..you are so close...you are strong enough to do this....you have what it takes...let me know...ba....

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Thanks for all the advice guys, I think the 50mcg patch would be way to strong to to get off the methadone. Remember guys I don't want to use these to get high.

As for an update since my first post I am now down to 12mg of methadone. I haven't been using the patches, I've been filling the script and not using them. I want them there just incase the last 10mg is as bad as everyone says it's gonna be. I'm sure if the two doctors found out what I have been doing I woould be in a hole lot of crap. I told the one doc that the patches were falling off after about a day and a half and they didn't work good having to tape it on my arm. He told me he didn't think the problem was taping it back on and that the dose wasn't strong enough. So to my suprize he perscribed 2 months worth of the 25mcg patches and told me to come back in two weeks to see how it was working. So I went back to see him and told him that he was right and the dose is good. Then I told him how frustrating it was having to tape these things on all the time. So now he has prescibed me the 12mcg patches again but i iam susposed to put one on every 36 hours, lol. Anyways I now have a crap load of these things. They are the non gel patches which is great because I will be able to cut them and adjust the dose when I have problems with th methadone.

As for the methadone doc I told him the symtoms I've been feeling from dropping down a mg a week. His first suggestion was to stop tapering for a while. I told him that wasn't an option for me because I really want off it (I HATE METHADONE!!!) so he prescribed cloneazepam, 2mg aday. I also get imovane (2 7.5mg pills a day) for sleep. I take that everynight because I can barely sleep even with them while tapering. As for the cloneazepam I only take one when I really need it because I have heard addiction to those can be pretty harsh as well. So anyways as crappy as I feel most of the time I am slowly working my way down. I live in Canada so the methadone clinics here actually try to help people instead of forcing people to stay on it so they can make money keeping paitients. Hopefully the last ten mg's won't be too bad. Any advise from people that have been through this would be great so keep the comments coming. My biggest problem is gonna be getting over the fear I have of going through withdraws. Ok well thanks again everyone!

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Brooklyn,

thanks for the encouragment, I know it's gonna be tough but you are right, I am 100 percent focused on getting off methadone. How was it when you finally jumped off? Were the withdraws bad? How long did they last? I don't know why I'm so scared of it, when I use the opiate convertor online 1 mg is nothing. If 1 mg of methadone is like taking a half a percocet a day I can't see it being all that bad. Have you managed to stay clean since? I guess that is another fear I have, I have to say I still really enjoy having an opiate buzz once and a while. I just never want to go through this hell ever again!!!

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mike...if all you are taking is 1mg per day, it is all physcological now...stop looking at the converters...thats for normal people...you are far from that...i quit methadone 29 years ago, and think of it as poison, like arsonic..as far as the withdrawal feelings, dont sit and do nothing...i worked at a physically taxing job,so when i came home, i was bushed...you must , for the first month, move around..if you have a sedentary job, join a club, ride your bike, just physically exhaust yourself before sleep...thats the key...at rehabs, you just sit around and think all day about how you're feeling ...i think that is wrong, at least where you are, at 1mg a day....i occasionally used valium, not klonopin...thats another of those scary drugs...they are both benzodiazipam's but i find valium to be a cleaner drug, to take off the edge, but not every day...you will see , you will not need it as much as you go along.if you have a partner, let him/her hold it...just one more obstacle for your mind...since i had always been a bad sleeper, like most down drug users, i would recommend trazadone to you...you'll fall asleep in about 30 min, no high, and wake up refreshed...p.s. craving the buzz........thats it exactly....it was so good...but just remember the days and nights you couldn't stay still,i call them the creepies, the sweats ...well you know...you've won already...it is all mind over matter now...and...let all your dr's know you were and are an addict, and cant use narcotics for pain...and once you do that a couple of times...You are one amazing man....ba

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oh...mike.....i see 17mgs a day sorry.....same thing...slowly dilute to 0 on the last day.........and i forgot 1 major thing...if you can, ( because of a job, or program) smoking marijuana is the miracle drug...it will help with all your ailments...in moderation, of course...ba

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Hey Mike, where do you live in Canada? I live down near Sarnia and go to the Methadone clinic there. I was also trying to get Fentanyl patches. Is that possibe...to get Methadone and Fentanyl at the same time?

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omg mike! please dont ever cut a fentanyl patch.when you do it will cause the opiod component to be rapidly released into your system.yes unfourtunatly some people do that to get high but it can cause death.also combining any two opiods has its risk but taking methadone and the patch at the same time is a recipie for disaster....especialy if your trying to become addiction free.that was a smart choice asking for the mylan patch!! its always important to make sure your doctor knows all the meds you are taking.just a friendly tip...if your truly attepmting a sober life you shouldnt hold on to that many patchs because of the temptations!oh and one more thing.dont take norco to help with withdrawl symptoms...that is yet another opiate that can cause addiction.good luck

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First in my last post, i was on 400mg of methadone and 240 roxycodone. my opiod tollence is a was amazing.I was able to kick methadone at 60 mg. so your at 12mgs NOW you have 2 ways of doing this
First Cold turkey. IF you want to know true hell then go this way. OH you could try to join a club, ride your bike wtf!!!!!! thats if you dont fall off the fu**ing thing because your puking and having the worst flu sym of your life. klonipan is your best benzo for taking the edge off, now TRY the lowest 12mcg for 30 days that will
take the methadone detox problem away. So now your TRUE DEVIL drug methadone withdraw will be gone. you still need to taper off the opiates still in your body.Thats where something like norco,vicodin will finish off the problem of any withdraw because you can get a pill spliter and as you taper off this weak drug, your body will crave less and less as you almost ready to make the move to zero opiates have some .5 zanax to take the edge off ALSO RESTROL 15MG FOR SLEEP ONLY. SEE WITH METHADONE YOU NEED TO JUST KEEP LOWING THE opiate TILL ITS GONE WITH OUT HAVING TO DEAL WO ANY WITHDRAW. YOU HAVE THE 12, 25 PATCHES WATCH IN NO TIME WHEN METHADONE IS OUT OF YOUR LIFE THE REST OF WHAT I TOLD YOU WILL BE A WALK IN THE PARK. TRY IT DONT TRY IT. THIS FENTANYL DETOX PROGRAM WORKS. IM LIVING PROOF. GOOD LUCK DONT LET THESE PEOPLE TELL YOU IT DOES NOT WORK OR YOU WILL
BE WORSE OFF. THATS BS DOCTORS HAVE BEEN DOING THIS PROGRAM FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS NOW. NOTHING IS BETTER THEN GETTING OFF THE DEVILS DRUG OF METHADONE!!!

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Chemist

email me at n i c h e 2 3 @ g m a i l . no spaces

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mike...please do not listen to a word daniel says....he is the devil methadone..there is not one piece of advise that makes sense....just think about it

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I am in an awful position. I need Fentanyl regularly for pain - alot of severe pain (MS related). However, I cannot always afford the high cost of Fentanyl. Yes even on a drug program it can cost quite a bit. Anyone know how or where I can get supply at a relatively less cost? I am in Sarnia area.
Thanks!

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linda, email me @ {edited for privacy} no spaces

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hey mike.. do you still get the fentanyl patches ?? i'd like to talk to you more if you do.. just post again on this forum... thkx

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Hey guys. So, I take 160 mgs methadone a day. Im ending up short © end of month(2 days). If I put a 100 mcg/h 72 hr(16.8mg) fentanyl patch on, will that cover me for 2 days of not having my methadone? Thank u !

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I think y'all are crazy to use fentanyl to get off methadone....I've been on both and detoxed from both and I thought I was gonna die when I detoxed off the fentanyl....I went cold turkey and by the second day ended up in the hospital...I took the methadone after that and cut a quarter pill off every month...it was painful but easily manageable.....the fentanyl on the other hand....that was pure hell....and I know pain! I would never again use fentanyl to get off anything! It is truly probably the most completely painfully miserable I have ever been trying to go without....if a person truly has no pain and wants to get off then clonodine is a great withdrawal symptom blocker, and methadone for one who genuinely has pain or just needs to go down nice and slow...but of the two I pick methadone anyday!

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You still around?I hope so... Is that a true story u told about using fent to get off methadone? I'm currently at 20mg of methadone for a little over 4 yrs. I have patches. And want to do anything it takes to get off methadone. I just want to limit my withdrawals as much as possible. I can't and do not want to lose my job. Thanks in advance for any help u may be able to give. J

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I'm on a 100mcg fentanyl patch and coming off a seven year addiction to methadone. Tell me how your withdrawal was being on a patch coming off methadone, please

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Fentynal is worse to come off of than oxy. Watch urself

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I'm going through that at this minute. I'm anxious to hear of any of your replies. Thanks for lletting me 'step' in

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Mike, I've been taking Methadone for 2 yrs. (mid-2015 to now...may 2017) at 10-40mg's daily. Taken for chronic, debilitating back/disc pain prescribed by Dr., it has helped tremendously. I began with Oxycodone 5, then 10, then 20mgs, 4 x's daily. When I complained that the Oxycodone's weren't as effective anymore, the Dr then put me on Methadone, 10mg at 3x's daily. I took myself off of the Oxycodone halfway through my 1st yr of the Methadone. I just felt that both drugs were too much, even tho' together I felt no pain with my back. (Disintegrating L-6, 5& 4 discs & spinal stenosis) the exchange went well and I felt no withdrawal from the Oxycodone.

Now I've been on methadone and it does nothing for the pain. Nothing. In the meantime my right hip with sciatica ( caused by a life-threatening car accident in 1975) has decided to turn into another nightmare of pain. Methadone wouldn't touch it. So... I wanted OFF of it, right? Because of the newly tightened-up laws here in West Virgina (where I live but was not born here in this backwards state......a little harsh criticism there)..... it is next to impossible to get prescribed ANY pain killers, be they opiates or narcotics or of any pain-reducing qualities. The Doctors are frightened by the new laws. (WV has the highest rates of OxyContin O.D,'s as well as illicit drug O.D.'s. It's a poor state, & there's a tendency to 'escape' reality, especially down in the lower counties (Hatfield-McCoy territory). -a bit of history there- I live in Jefferson County, the richest (and closest to Wash DC) county in WV. Not meaning to sound snobbish, even this area has a great drug problem either those same drugs.

Anyway, going off my tangent now, my Dr - a pain management clinic Dr (quack) decided on using Fentanyl, to see if it can relieve both back pain & hip pain. Tho' I've only been on the F. (25mcg) for 3 days, and off the Methadone for the same 3 days, the back pain is addressed but nothing is touching the hip pain still - or yet. I don't readily notice any bad withdrawal from the M., and I've been terrified of the M. withdrawal, I still nonetheless feel horrible. Not quite 'withdrawal horrible', but I can't keep my eyes open, cant think clearly, am an emotional wreck, and just can't think straight. It's scaring me to death. I try to ignore the negative, but the positive just won't stick. Is this normal? Am I going to feel this way for a long period of time? I am completely alone in this struggle and would really appreciate any advice, any co-understanding, and/or any communication on this subject. Please?

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This is years ago but im going to say this. Im on 70 mg of methadone for 10 years im 31 so since i was 21. My doctor finally realized this isnt working im not getting off its too hard plus everyone in vancouver bc is oding everywhere. Ive od'd 10 times since fents been out. Im using 100 micrograms for 5 days while completely stopped methadone. I was sick at 50 micros had to go up to 100 micros. Then im going in on the 5th day to detox and starting suboxone taper. When i get out im going to get the chip implanted or the shot of nalexone or something that makes it impossible to use for 3 month's at a time. Love you all. Good luck to the ones that live this hell everyday. God bless you all.

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Just so you know, when switching from metadone to morphine with out reduction for cross tolerance its between 1:4 and 1:20 methadone:morphine

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you obviously don't get it. Cutting off your hand, slowly, over 6 months-with a dull rusting knife is less painful than coming off methadone. Tapering slowly is a very long process and most clinics consider 5mg decrease per week as AMA. At 80mg (relatively low at a clinic)-2-3mg drop/week takes nearly a year, and generally once they reach 20-30mg, they are not feeling well and often stop the taper, dragging it out even longer, or, they relapse because doses under 60-70mg do not provide the 'opiate blocking" that make it work. Patients are so mislead and completely set up for failure when encouraged to go inpatient to come off. Insurance might cover 14 or even 28 days if you're lucky. If you're on 100mg your taper is over 5mg/day. Many people don't even yet begin to experience the effects of withdrawal until they are sent home. LIQUID HANDCUFFS. Opiate withdrawal is a merry-go-round ride compared to methadone withdrawal.

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Oops, they are 25mcg not 10
And I used 1 every 3 days.
They never helped my pain, and I had to quit cold turkey with nothing to substitute the beginning of September. I never had a withdrawal, sickness or anything. I only felt the what i felt the last 2 years, pain in my lower back, knees and neck.
If i didn't have the Oxycodone IR, I don't know what i would have done.

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I think it depends on how your body breaks down and uses the medication. I have been on 10 mcg Fentanyl patches for 2 years, they do nothing for my pain. I had to use an old bottle of methadone when my doctor was put on leave, due to false allegations from a seeker. The methadone did not work the first time i tried to use it for my ER medication. But it works so well this time around that i am planning on asking my Dr to switch me to it and off of the Fentanyl patches. I hope you all have a pain free or low pain winter.

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Ive been on fentayl patches for 10 +yrs was up to 200mg every three days I have weaned myself down to 50mg but now back up to 75mg due to reduceing my methadone which I take a lot for server spine problems and arthritis . I was told to stay on the methadone to kick the patches and then work on kicking the methadone .does anyone know if this is safe to do ? I am also on high dose of methadone . this is because of my past doctor who got me additive to these medication .now my new and great doctor is trying to help me and has done a great job but I always have doubt if any doctor knows what they are saying because when your in pain its a b#^&% and I don't like any withdrawls. doctor says I wont have that much withdraw because I am on methadone is this true?

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