I Started on a Regimin of 80mg of Methadone a Day 10 Days Ago?
Question by JT289385: I started on a regimin of 80mg of methadone a day 10 days ago?
10 days ago I used my last hit of heroin , At that time my doc , (which is a addiction specialist ) put me on 80 mg of met a day . In that ten days I have droped myself down to 70mg for the last 4 days and seem to be fine with the drop . Now is this feasible ? to drop 10 mg every 10 days untill I am off ( one quick note )-( I have a very good friend that runs a christian based recovery home that would be dosing my pills ) anyhow in 7 weeks time of droping my dose like this will I experiance any real discomfort ? This is the first time I have been on met and I just started a little better than a week ago . Thanks for any help on this . By the way suboxone is not a option for me .
Best answer:
Answer by pricebh08
I can’t really answer your question but congrats on your sobriety !!!!!
You may want to keep yourself on it a little longer heroin is a nasty drug and pulls a lot of people back in but keep your head up and keep your self busy. Good Luck
Answer by qtpie20121
First of all if you live in the US then you may want to know what your doctor is doing is illegal (admirable in his eyes maybe but illegal). This is assuming I read your post correctly and you are NOT attending a “methadone clinic”. At a methadone clinic you would either not receive pills or they would be watered down, you would not receive “take home” doses until after 3mo. of clean time in the program so there would be no way for you to reduce your dose and “self adjust” it (this is per Federal regulations), and you would not have been started on 80mg because (again per federal regs) the maximum starting dose (even for heroin users) is 30mg’s. I am not trying to be an ass but many doctors have tried to help addicts out of their office by prescibing Methadone staing it is for pain (which is the only way they can legally give it in the US outside of an addiction clinic) only to lose their license and practice later on in addition to placing patients (now dependent on Methadone) on the street. So, with that said, and with the strong suggestion you enroll in a “Methadone clinic” for the additional counseling, regulation (ie drug tests, controlled environment, etc), as well as the security of knowing the doors aren’t being boarded up by the DEA anytime soon…LOL I will now answer your question..
The fact that the drop from 80mg to 70mg was without consequence does not mean the drop to zero will be a smooth one. On the contrary. I have known patients who have went from 220mg to 5mg (very slowly mind you) without much pain but were deathly ill at zero only to have to go back up. The facts are that Methadone is a wonderful medication for some addicts (especially those who were on Heroin, Suboxone doesn’t have a good record for Heroin addicts BTW)and can give them back a productive NORMAL life but research shows an 80-95% success rate while on the Methadone and about the same relapse rate when the methadone is stopped. The highest success rates for using methadone for detox instead of maintenance is when the addict weans extremely slowly off the methadone. The slower the weaning the higher the success. However, you may want to ask yourself what the hurry to get off the methadone is. If it because the doctor suggests it that is because he is protecting himself from doing something he is not allowed to do….LOL It is not to your benefit to wean off methadone after ten days. They don’t even suggest that in detox facilities. My God…the methadone hasn’t even had time to really work and become stable yet. If you are rushing because you live in a society where they stigmatize people on Methadone saying they are trading one drug for another then I would urge you to do some research on it first. Here are some excellent resources to go to and speak with others or just read and learn about Methadone…
VIDEOS FINDING NORMAL THE TRUTH ABOUT METHADONE
PART 2 OF METHADONE WHERE WE ARE. I CHOSE THE SECOND HALF OF THIS 10 MINUTE FILM FOR YOU BECAUSE IT ADDRESSES GETTING OFF THE MEDICINE VERSES MAINTENANCE.
WE SPEAK METHADONE FORUM
http://www.readybb.com/nama_wespeakmethadone/index.php
FINDING NORMAL WEBSITE
http://www.findingnormal.webs.com
Good Luck in your journey. I have been there myself. Methadone saved my life!