patneedshelp

Hello everyone. I am trying to get off Roxis and have had little success on my own. I did a 3 week detox with suboxone before only to relapse about a week after going off.

I have an appointment tomorrow at the treatment center and the doc wants to put me through a 21 day methdone detox. I hear horrible stories of people getting addicted to that and then that detox is much worse even.

Although he is only detoxing me, I am worried about this whole thing.

Will I go through WD after stopping the methadone after a few weeks? If so, what's the point? Sounds like I am prolonging a WD either way. I don't know what else to do, I can't shake it on my own so I have to give it a go.

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

Pat

patneedshelp

WOW, thanks for all the feedback

Dee74

Hi Pat

sorry you haven't got any responses - please don't take it personally - this is a big site.

I've never been through methadone detox - I see no reason not to trust your Dr tho?
Have you started yet?

D

Enigmatic

Hi Pat,

I know we're not supposed to give medical advice here but personally I would avoid methadone like the plague! The half life is extremely long and withdrawal can last months. How many mg's are you taking/going to be taking?

dragonfire613

Hello and sorry I didn't see your post until now. I was on methadone for about a year... maxing out at about 80-100mg/day and tapering down to 2.5mg/day when I left treatment. I stayed sober for a year before relapsing. I felt very little to no withdrawals coming off that small dose. A 21 day detox may not be that bad, depending on your initial dose and, thus, how quickly they taper you.

But, in my experience only, you are going to go through opiate withdrawals regardless of the type of opiate... maintenance drugs like suboxone & methadone can be helpful under the right circumstances, but you are still going to have withdrawal symptoms when you stop them regardless, in this layman's opinion. I have heard stories of long-term, very slow tapers where the user had little to no withdrawals.

Personally, I would ask the doc doing your detox about success rates, withdrawal reports, etc. and try to get straight answers.

Hope this isn't too late to answer you before you go in. Best wishes in your journey! (and fyi... web forums such as SR here probably have 100 readers for every poster... give or take... so it can often take a day or two to get some responses)

Ollie909

Hello
I can only tell you my experience getting off codones. I tried C/t, but the jumpy legs were too much for me to handle.. Got on suboxone to avoid the w/d's.That worked like a miracle. But quit the subs in short time because I didn't want to go through even worse and longer w/d's from them. However, I didn't have enough going to quit it all. Relapsed back to codones and right back where I was.
Now I've prolonged the sub maintenance and am on a very slow deliberate taper. I've been on 1 mg a day for 6 months and tapered down to .25-.50 mgs and skipping 5 to 6 days a week. I do not have any urge to go back to codones. For me this is working.

I've never used methadone for maintenance, but I'm sure it's similar. Opiates are opiates.
Talk to your doctor. But for me low, long and slow and lower.
Hope the best for you.

Also to answer your question. I think a couple of weeks is the cut off point before you experience w/d's. Also when I have taken methadone it made me high. Subs just make me feel (normal?)

Lovemykids125

I've heard methadone is extremely hard to get off of and that suboxone is the drug of choice if you're trying to get off the street drugs. In order to even get put on suboxone I was told by a dr that you would have to be down to 30mg of methadone consistently for at least 3 days and then stop taking it for 1 week, then you're ready to be put on suboxone. SO if you skip all that and just start with the suboxone I see that being a better option. I was anti-all of that crap until I really read up on the differences and now I'm pro-suboxone but definitely disagree with methadone the half life is extremely long which means its stays in your system for sooooo long making it possible to experience withdrawals way later than expected. I've heard people say they "have never felt more sober" on suboxone yet I've seen people nodding out on methadone just as they did on the oxys. It's your choice but I'm just saying I think if your insurance will cover suboxone that is the smarter and safer drug. My bf has been on methadone for 6yrs bc of trying to get off the oxys, he went to rehab and relapsed a week later w/a percocet so they put him on suboxone outpatient, then started selling all his extra subs because he was trying to cut down on his dosage, then ended up relapsing again when he was given a percocet by someone he sold his subs to so now he's back on the methadone bc it's easy to get when u just go to the clinic but he does want to go back on the suboxones and feels like he can stay "sober" with them if he gives himself another try bc he is sick of driving up to the clinic every day and it costs him $300/mo because his insurance doesnt cover it. He also has tried numerous times getting off the methadone (cold turkey, detoxing daily down to 18mg then relapsed the minute we got into an argument) and every time was unsuccessful. SO whatever you choose let a dr do your detox for you, dont try to do it yourself it's not a wise thing to do you could die and 99% of the time it doesn't work no matter how bad you want it. Your dr knows what's best, just talk to him. Also don't think suboxone and methadone are the same bc they are not!! The difference with suboxone is... it fills in the spaces in your parking lot so when a car/van/truck try to occupy a spot it cant cuz the suboxone's already there... I know it sounds silly but I don't want to get in trouble here explaining anything medical, just look up the difference between partial opiate agonist and opiate agonist. I've heard nurses say suboxone's not supposed to get you high but I know people who get high off it... my bf claims when he's on methadone "it's a waste to buy any pills cuz they won't get you high" but I've seen tons of people high on methadone and frankly i think he's just trying to convince me not to worry about him relapsing.... I think everyone's different. Methadone seems safe for those who wanna get off the street drugs and save a bit of their money so if you don't have insurance this may be the better choice (my sister doesnt have insurance and for 5 days worth of subs it cost her $105) but if i had to choose after all the research I did, my choice would be suboxone. Good luck and look at your options, do your research on the drugs themselves and also google some reviews of what people said if you don't find what you're looking for here.

mizangie

I am currently on Methadone and have been for more than a year and a half. I am not sure when I am going to start tapering. I was also scared of the "stigma" that Methadone carries but I found out 1st hand that it is nice to not have the ups and downs of the other painkillers I was on. I feel NORMAL!!! like the old me!!!!! I do not feel high as I am on a stable dose (less than 100mgs/day) and have been at that done for more than a year. I was worried that Methadone would be like other opiates where you need more and more and more. NOT TRUE! Once I got to a dose where I felt like me and not withdrawal, I stayed there and have felt great. Life is as normal as it can be. Stay strong! The 21 day detox option may be too fast for you if you are using high doses and have been for a long time. Please do what is best for you and don't suffer. You do not need to. There are options out there. Those options just take lots of support, commitment, and hard work on your part. If have to be willing to make it work for you and follow the rules of the game. If you can do that you will do great and get stable so you can detox safely and comfortably. GOOD LUCK and remember that there is help out there