How Long Do Withdrawal Symptoms Last When Detoxing Off of Methadone Cold Turkey?
Question by Melvis: How long do withdrawal symptoms last when detoxing off of methadone cold turkey?
I’ve been on methadone for 1 year & 2 months. I am currently taking 70 mg daily. I recently lost my job & can not afford the $ 85 a week. I’m totally committed to doing what it takes to get off the methadone. I have “tested” my theory & have gone 4 days without it & think I was just starting to truelly feel the onset of the worst of the detoxing symptoms. I had to dose on the 4th day because it was my regular dosing day at the clinic & they force you to take it in front of them. I’m scared to think of what the symptoms are like after the 4th day but I’m ready! My live in boyfriend is currently on it as well & he has discouraged me from doing this from the beginning but I think it’s only because he is weak minded & not ready to get off himself. He even mentioned “if you are hurting I’m going to be forced to give you some of mine.” ……which leads me to believe he don’t want to share. He’s gone 1 day without before & he stayed in bed the whole day & moaned & groaned while after 3 days of going without, I was mowing grass, doing laundry, & cooking and taking care of 3 young boys! So….needless to say…I’m here now wondering if I can handle it. I’m so ready to move on with my life & spend that much needed extra money on my kids & karate lessons & baseball games! I heard about this “Thomas Recipe”. Anybody have any experience with this? I would greatly appreciate ANY advice I can get. Sincerely…..desperate detoxer!!!!
Best answer:
Answer by Darby Crash
The thomas recipe is really for heroin users, methadone’s kind of a whole different monster and is way harder to get off of than heroin as it stays in your system much longer.
It is so weird to me the difference between boys and girls, my boyfriend is the same way, i think we have a higher pain threshold, ha.
Coming off of 70mg, im not going to lie, is going to be tough for about 2 weeks. After the 4th or 5th day, when all the ‘done is out of your system, is when the sick really kicks in. And since your boyfriend doesnt seem too supportive, maybe he could take the kids somewhere for the first week?
The hardest thing is willpower. After day 4 the next 4 days will be the hardest. You can use most of the stuff from the thomas method, i would skip the valium/ benzos. The other problem is heroin detox is a lot quicker than methadone so you’ll need about triple what the original list says, which, for things like the immodium, can be dangerous. personally, i would wait til day 5 or 6 to even START that method w/ methadone.
Can you not taper at the clinic or are there free /medicare supported clinics? I got down to 3 mg and just quit and it wasnt bad at all, just tired for a month or so. Im just worried 70’s a high jumping off point. Feel free to email me, ive kicked this crap 3 times.