My FULL Taper from Methadone 135MG's to CURRENT and eventual 0. DO NOT GO ON METHADON

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DALLASALICE,

I agree that methadone could be a lifelong drug. In fact, I have asked atleast 3 pharmacists that dispense methadone if they have ever seen anyone successfully come off and the answer was NO. Not like I am shocked but a little bothered by it.

Lets face it....methadone is an opiate. Methadone is just as addictive (if not more addictive) than the drug its replacing.

I used to go on higher doses to "get a buzz" but I kept falling asleep at the wheel so that came to an abrupt end.

I use it now to be NORMAL...I hate hearing that as an answer but I've finally given in to the fact that I am going to be on this for a very long time. I am an addict and it seems that I don't have the strength yet to quit.

The government says its okay to be addicted to methadone because they make their profit but its not a political debate nor the place to talk about it so yeah, I'd say Suboxone would be a better choice but I've never tried it.


Lastly, where I live, and in MY circumstance, I receive methadone FREE of charge. I also receive carries (I can take home the doses for the next 6 days). So for me, its free and I only have to go to the clinic once a week to see the doc. For me, a slow, slow, turtle slow and I mean a turtle with no legs and only a tongue to pull him forward type of slow taper is what Im talking about.

Having the ability to take home 6 doses Ill taper at the rate of 1mg per week or heck, maybe 1mg every 2 weeks. I ll do it so that I am as comfy as comfy can be.
 
My name's Charlie and I have been weening off methadone slowly over the course of a year now after being on it for 22 months now and I decided to post how I have came down so far, experiences, and maybe I can get some help and maybe I Will help someone

Okay here is the basic outline of my taper so far. January - May of 2010 weened my self down from 135 to 85. Each -> represents 2 weeks.

135 -> 125 -> 120 -> 115 -> 110 -> 105 -> 100 -> 95 -> 90 -> 85 MG'sOkay now at this point I went through a ruff patch in life and used cocaine as an crutch and ruined all my trust with my methadone doctor by screening 3 positive urinalysis tests, due to this fact i lost my carries, I lost the courage to continue weening down, and was back to going to the pharmacy everyday.

Now after a lengthy little piff with cocaine which lasted around 5 months I went into rehab while still on methadone and my 85 MG Dose. After getting out of rehab on Noveraber 2nd, 2010 I flew back to Edmonton and started attending C.A Meetings almost everyday but after a couple weeks used Cocaine again. I finally had enough of the drug due to the fact it is complete garbage nowadays and due to the fact it is a drug and I need a clean life, this was decided around Deceraber 1st.

Deceraber 1st - Clean Urine Test - 85 -> 75 -> 70 -> 65 MG's (CURRENT DOSE)

I am now pursuing a 5mg drop every week or two depending on the WD Symptoms. So far they have been MINOR WD Symptoms but still noticeable, even with the slight 5mg drop.

Such as: Incredibly Vivid, sometimes emotional dreams, sometimes using dreams resulting in a very poor sleep habits. Fatigue, and minor headaches.

I am also on Clonazepam 3mg a day which I was put on when enrolled into methadone program, without saying this drug doesn't do much to help me anymore.

I will continue to post until I reach absolute 0, that being said I am also going to risk the switch of methadone to suboxone when i reach 25 MG's, although I have read many horror stories I'm going to wait 60-72 Hours since my last dose to take my first dose of sub.[/B]

I know so many people are going through the same thing as me right now, the "should i switch", "should i get off methadone". DO IT! Sorry to say but methadone is a horrible drug with extreme withdrawls and the longer your on it the more painful the ween will be. GET OFF in this new year

Anybody ELSES experiences please post. Remeraber everyone, W/D's can be concured sometimes just by mind over matter. DONT BUILD IT UP TO BE THE WORST PAIN IN THE WORLD, GO TO THE GYM, STAY ACTIVE. I'm giving it a try, and i'll tell you how it goes. Any support or advice is extremely welcome.
 
Hi Corissa,

Ah, I remeraber falling asleep at the wheel a few times...would have to pull over and nod off for a few minutes before I could go on. I was let go from a job for nodding off in front of the computer and during meetings. Seems I was like that for awhile until my dose was stablized...no cravings, instantly gone...I couldn't believe the instant wave of relief that I felt when I realized all the craziness associated with my pill addiction...the doc shopping, spending soooo much money, counting & recounting, hiding the pills from myself, juggling online pharmacies...all of it was simply just gone.

I was told I should consider being on it at least 6 mths to get my life in order, and I did get my life back on track. But then the desire to get high creeped in and since the methadone blocked any other opiate, I started adding benzos and alcohol to the mix. It was ugly. So it all snowballed into a mess and I lost all my take-homes (I think I was up to like 10 days of take homes, the really old timers had the max of a month's worth to take home) and had to go back to going every day. If I could have afforded to do it the slow way they wanted, I would have considered it, but by then I'd added the other drugs to the mix so rehab was the only thing I think would have worked for me. I needed someone to dole it out to me, I was never self-disciplined enough to taper or c/t off the pills at home way before the methadone.

In hinRABight, the w/d's from the methadone were waaaaay worse than anything I ever felt trying to kick oxy's and vikes, but I needed help with the things that began my catalyst into addiction 35 years ago. Good luck to you with your taper, that's great that it's free there and you have the time to devote to what sounRAB like a very successful and fairly comfortable withdrawal from the meth...slow and easy definitely wins the race in getting off an insidious drug like that one.
 
Dallas thats also terrible how it effected your body, thats really frightening and really making me inforce the idea of a much slower detox. Im so sorry to hear all that, I can't honestly say I would stay clean if i was you. Sleeping 4 hours a night? :(

Now noones posted bout the suboxone switch at 25 MG's. Do you guys think its better just to go all the way off the methadone straight to 0 or attempt a switch to ease the pain a bit?
 
Hey Underground,

I know plenty of people who switched from Methadone to Suboxone, at different doses. I don't know what dose is "the best" to switch but your doctor will talk to you about it.

People have made the switch cause Suboxone is supposed to be better than Methadone - but to each their own. I've been on Suboxone for almost two years now and I am grateful for it, however I've never been on Methadone so I can't say it's better.

Suboxone was created to replace Methadone, but there are still many people who start out with Methadone not Suboxone, so who really knows.

I do know with Suboxone, I've completely missed a day (just forgot to take it) and didn't have any withdrawals. Nothing at all. I've missed a day plenty of times. I've heard with Methadone that you have to take it every day and if you are late, you start to withdrawal - is that true? I can take my Suboxone any time of day but it's best to take all meRAB at the same time.

I didn't wait 24-48 hours after taking my last Oxycontin, to start Suboxone. It's not true that you'll go into withdrawals if it's taken too soon. I had Oxycontin that morning (160 mgs) and took my first Suboxone that afternoon. From that moment that I took it, my life changed for the better. No cravings, no withdrawal, I was my complete self again. And two years later, nothing has changed. I take my Suboxone every day and life is back to normal.

If you choose to make the switch, be sure it is under a doctors supervision.

Good luck with your taper - I hope it goes smoothly for you :)

RegarRAB,
emsmom
 
How can you say dont go on meth??
MY life was ruined until I went on Meth and I wont tell everyone to go on it.

IF it didn't work for you or you don't like it, there are other choice to contend with. Congrats on wanting to quit but you really are going about it the wrong way.

When you are on 135mgs a day, a drop of 5mg a week is no problem at all.

When you get down to around 50 or so, that 5mg becomes DRASTIC. Its no longer a 2percent drop, it becomes a 15-20 percent drop which your body will NOT THANK YOU FOR.

You, liike I, are in Canada and with our health care system, do what you should to get off methadone because its even simpler than that calculus system you laid out.

Of the many people I know who have been successful quitting is to just taper down 1mg per week. its lenghty but who cares?

At 1mg a week, I PROMISE YOU, you will not feel a thing and quitting is easy.

If I were in your shoes, heres how my stoppage would appear:

135mg to 60MG at a rate of 3mg per week. THEN, this is the important part...

1mg a week until 0.

so simple, so effective.
 
Hi underground,

Thanks for your sentiments...my stepson had other issues, however, the severity of w/RAB simply sent him over the edge. While I was in the throws of the worst of the w/RAB, I was able to understand why he did it though, and forgive him. Everyone's experience with methadone w/RAB are different...mine were so bad, I think, because of the high dose I was on, the rapid taper, and the length of time I was on it. The clinic I went to would only taper me down 1-3 mgs. a week and at that rate, it would have taken a couple of years (at $350/mth too), so spending $18 grand was a lot, but I just wanted my life back.

And Corissa, it is a great drug that really does work for opiate addiction, but I wish I had known more about it before I went into it, and I really did feel I had researched it thoroughly...it was people's personal experiences that I wish I'd heard. Folks just really need to know what they're getting into with methadone. It's really not something to consider taking if you want to use medication only temporarily to treat opiate addiction; in fact, most people at the clinic I went to had been on it for anywhere from 10 to 30years and many addictionologists will tell you it's a lifetime drug. It works, but I just couldn't stand being bound to that drug and the clinic anymore...not being able to go out of town, having to go every day....some people drove 2 or or more hrs. a day to just to get there, holidays, blizzarRAB, sick as a dog with whatever, having to bring their little kiRAB with them, you name it...every day.

Underground, in hinRABight, if I had known then what I know now, I would definitely have gone the suboxone route. Because I was on methadone, I must have called at least 20 rehabs before I found one that would take me at the high dose I was on; the rest would only take people who were on 30-35 mgs. of methadone so they could be switched over to suboxone to finish the detox. One thing I've heard repeatedly from doctors and people who've gone through it, is DON'T do the 24-hr. rapid detox (I think it's 24 hrs...maybe 48?); I'm not too clear on the actual procedure...I believe it involves sedation and an IV nutrient solution...but I've heard the w/RAB are just as bad as going cold turkey.

The worst thing about the prolonged withdrawals is the chronic insomnia...my dr. said it could take up to 2 yrs. for it to return to "normal," but I guess when a person is on a drug that strong for that long, well, it's not likely their body chemistry will ever return to completely normal. He'll only give me 15 arabien a month because of my history and because it can be habit-forming...what I can't get him to understand is that one arabien only gives me two hrs of sleep at a stretch, so I usually don't even bother taking them. He's tried a couple other things, but no luck with them either. I will admit I bought some benzos off the street and that's how I first slept for 4 hours straight. Seems another prolonged symptom is still having a very high tolerance to drugs. I've since had 2 scope procedures done where they usually use a drug called Versed (sp?) to induce a "twilight" kind of sleep where you're awake but unaware of what's going on, but I had to go under general anesthesia since the versed didn't take.

Good luck, and I really recommend the longest, slowest taper you can afford to do...but if you have to just jump in and go for it, get as prepared mentally and practically as you can (have someone to stay with you, stock up on the things you'll need, and get ready to hunker down for one hell of a ride), and focus on the freedom at the end...it truly is so, so worth it.
 
Interesting. May I ask why you have stayed on Suboxone for 2 years? Have you attempted a taper or just plan on staying on it. Have you heard if it' is hard to taper off? The severity of the W/D's?

And thanks everyone for your posts I drop another 5 on friday we'll see how that feels. Im excited to hit 40 because its the dose I started at, that will make me pretty happy. If I could have went back to when I first started methadone and i kept raising my dose because it "wasn't enough" when i was really just still chasing a little buzz I would of never went higher then 60, even with a 320mg+ day habit of oxys
 
I m not proud of this (what I am about to say) but I keep NO secrets from my kiRAB who are 18 and 14.

My 14 year old said tonight...."Hey dad, why dont you go down 1mg a year so its not so bad". I laughed so hard ...

Im on 75mgs !!!!! :angel: he's my little angel. I would finally be clean at the ripe old age of 113 !! I might try 2mg a year.... LOL.
 
I was on methadone maintenance for five years, and was at 135 mgs. a day when I decided to titrate off of it. It took 3 months and $18K at a rehab facility to wean down to 0 mgs., and then the withdrawals hit. My dr. told me I was weaned down too fast, so that could be part of why the wRAB were so hellacious. It wasn't so bad going down because I was still taking methadone, just smaller doses. I went down one mg. a day and then had to increase it as my time in rehab was about to be over. I hit 0 two days before I left and I barely remeraber anything about the next two weeks. I do remeraber hallucinating, both auditory and visually. I don't know if you've ever taken acid, but it was like that feeling of coming down off of it with about 4-6 hours left to go. I went 9 days and nights without sleeping...not even for a minute. I finally got some chloryl hydrate--none of the other sleep meRAB worked--from my dr. who knew what I was going through. It only gave me 1-2 hours of sleep at a time. A year and a half later and my sleep still isn't much better...they want to send me to a sleep clinic now...I've been awake over 20 hours a day for the last year and a half...it's a new nightmare.

Be careful about your blood pressure, most likely your physician will prescribe you something for it. My blood pressure and heart rate skyrocketed. I ended up in the hospital overnight because of my vitals being so out of whack--they thought I might stroke out. Thankfully they gave me an antianxiety med, but only enough for a few days. There was a tingling sensation like pins and needles throughout my legs, feet, hanRAB and lips. It was as if 100,000 burablebees were swarming through my body. The lingering effects I mentioned are a much more subtle version of this tingling. It's like that feeling when your foot falls asleep and then starts to wear off but never wears off completely. I've heard that sometimes people develop nerve damage in their extremities from the prolonged withdrawals of methadone and that seems to be what happened to me.


Fortunately I didn't develop the nausea or vomiting that I'd read about, and I was able to eat, but my intestinal tract took a few months to stabilize. I suggest you stock up on some immodium. I was put on a vitamin and mineral neurological detox regimen to avoid developing adrenal fatigue. There is a lot of nutritional information I learned about to help with the process. Certain fooRAB to avoid and others to stock up on. It can wreak havoc with your immune system, so be careful.

My stepson committed suicide at the height of his methadone detox, but he was taken off a very high dose over a period of a few days. They call it "fee-tox" at the clinic we went to. If you can't pay your bill, they take you down an equal amount over 7 days. As far as the very scary, strange suicidal thoughts I had, I just had to keep telling myself they weren't real and it would be over eventually. Those thoughts went away after the first 2-3 weeks.

I wish I had a good experience to share with you about withdrawal, but it was very difficult. The good thing I can tell you is that it was absolutely worth it...every minute of it. I no longer have to go to a clinic everyday, I can go out of town if I want, and I don't have the fear that if I do develop a chronic pain condition, there won't be anything strong enough to take care of it. While I was on methadone I was in the hospital for a pancreatic condition and nothing they gave me could touch the pain because the methadone blocked it. They ended up having to increase the methadone, which created more issues.

It's been 20 mths. since I went off of it, and I lived to tell about it. Keep your eye on the prize, it may be hard, but it will give you your life back. Let me know how you do.

Be careful and good luck
 
Hey Underground,

For now, I am staying on Suboxone. It changed my life in so many ways, so I am happy to continue on this path.

I don't have cravings for opiates (before Suboxone, I craved them 24 hours a day and could not stay clean). Within minutes of taking Suboxone, I was myself again (before I took that first percocet), and the cravings dissipated rapidly).

That was two years ago. Every day since then has been wonderful. I literally am myself again. I did not have that much faith in Suboxone. I knew how bad withdrawals could be and I knew what opiates did to the body so I did not think I could take this magic pill and be myself again. I was pleasantly surprised.

I take my pill every day, and life goes on.

Regarding withdrawal - I haven't ever tapered to a low dose, but I've read that the last 2 mgs can be pretty tough unless you shave off small pieces with a razor and take your time getting down to zero.

I had back surgery and refused to do what my doctor suggested - he wanted me to stop the Suboxone for two days, then go on Oxycontin for a few weeks to corabat the pain. Apparently this has been done many times and it works. I was terrified of the body buzz, and terrified of not being protected by the Suboxone. I knew if I felt that buzz, I'd be in big trouble.

So, my doctor increased my dose from 16mg to 32mg so I'd at least get some pain relief. The increase was fine. It helped with the pain. A month after that, I wanted to decrease my dose he said to do it slowly. Ugh, I didn't listen. I went from 32 mg back down to 16 mg and prepared myself for the withdrawal. There wasn't any...

I told my doc that I did this (and about not having any withdrawal) and he said that's not uncommon, considering 16mg is a pretty high dose at that.

Everyone is different. Each person will be affected in different ways. I consider myself lucky that I didn't get any withdrawal.

If I decide to come off the Suboxone, I won't be as arabitious. I'll do it slowly and when I get down to 2mg, I will use a razor and shave off a small piece every few days.

When you make it to 40 mg, remeraber where you were when you first started on methadone. It may help with your goal :) Look at how far you've come.

Good luck,
emsmom
 
Corrissa your absolutely right if i didn't go on methadone I would have been dead by now or deep in addiction on the streets so nevermind I take that back, just people should know what they are getting into a bit more.
And corrisa i really like your strategy there you sounded confident and that really sounRAB promising and like it would work so im actually going to try that way thank you!

and Dallas thats terrible your step son commited suicide because of that rapid ween. I couldn't imagine coming off of a high high dose fast, dont doctors even care what they are doing? All about the dan $$.

I went to thorpe recovery center in lloydminster and CrossroaRAB in kelwna bc
 
haha thats hilarious lolol. I agree with the slow 2mg every 2 weeks or week and im going to use that once i reallyy start to feel it here. About to drop down to 60mg tommorow. I really can't wait to get to 40mg and like whomever posted there it will feel good to be at what i started at. My doctor said im aloud to switch to suboxone at 30mg or 25mg. Im going 25. Hell maybe 20. Day for day you know. Anyways i'll keep updated the next drop i have if its going to induce a bit more w/d. Thanks for the posts guys
 
let us know how it goes! if im going to do ther same i want to make sure its worth it...if you can drop to 20mg, stay on the methadone and just come off even slower, you may end up liking suboxone. I dunno. If I ever manage down that low, Ill keep it on methadone and just do a super slow from 30.
 
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