MSSLWILSON

My son is 22 years old and is bound and determine to quit cold turkey from methadone. He has been in treatment 3 times and doesn't want to go back. I have read various things about vitamins to take while quitting. He doesn't want to take any prescriptions. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Any tips on what to do and expect too. My son is staying at my parents house right now. My mom is at home all day. And I am planning on taking off work to be with him through the hard days. To all of you quitting, my hat goes off and my heart goes out to you.

CarolD

Perhaps you need to post this in the Drug Abuse Forums.

I have no info for you as I am an alcoholic.

Good luck...

nocoke

I quit methadone cold turkey, well I actually tappered down first. I would only take it every other day then every three days then I stopped all together. It wasn't easy and I was VERY sick. I had help from my aunt. I stayed at her house while I was sick and she took care of me. I was prescribed it for 1 year and it was terrible. I was so messed up on it I can't remember alot of that year. I am so glad I decided to stop taking it. It will be rough but if I can do it, your son can do it aswell. Good luck and I will say a prayer for you and your son.

SimplySAT

These are the vitamins I found from a sight when I decided to quit Methadone "Cold Turkey". From what I keep hearing it doesn't seem to be too much of a difference from tapering. Although they say it could be very dangerous, perhaps it depends on the individual and how much they are on and how long. But I think if someone is there with at all times it would be much safer. I quit 12 days ago "Cold Turkey", I had only been on though for a month and at 50mg.
Milk Thistle, L-Glutamine, Multi-Vitamin W/Minerals, Sam-e, Fish Oil, and Adrenal Plus. For sleep he said to take Melantonin, this did help, when I say help I mean I got atleast an hour of sleep at night compared to last time I tried without and got NO sleep for 48 hrs. I don't know how other people react when taking Tylenol PM, or sleep over the counter sleep aids, BUT it just made it worse. I was already SOOOO tired and couldn't sleep, then I went and took something that was making me even more tired and still couldn't sleep which worsened it. AND what was very impotant was the intake of Protien. He said to drink as many Protien shakes as possible and eat Fish and Chicken only. Red meat has a chemical in it that causes swelling. NO sugar....I found that If I took a Hot bath before bed it helped ALOT to relax me. This is the tough one...EXCERCISE!!!!!!!!My mom had a Tread Mill and I FORCED myself to do 10-15 mins. a day. It is the last thing you want to do I know but it really does help. Maybe even a walk if possible.
The 1st day wasn't bad at all, I slept great, the next day was so-so. I thought "man I am getting out of this one EASY!!! Not exactly, the Depression started in, the non-stop crying over anything started in, and then came the aches, the NO sleeping, NO momemtum, and SO fatigue. Around the 5th day I started feeling a LITTLE better. Think of it like this, each day you add on about 5-10 minutes of betterness. It is a must for someone that has ALOT of patience to be there for him for atleast the first 4-5 days. Cooking for him, picking up, and to not take anything personal!!!!! I'm still not my all, and from what I have been told I won't be for a long time, BUT everyday gets better. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

TreLayniesMa

I am now 12 days clean from methadone habit that consisted of only 10mgs a day for about 6 months. Believe me it was very hard. I actually did exactly what your son wants to do. I thought that putting any other meds in my body would just slow down the process. It was extremely trying...especially with two young children. He is lucky to have someone to take care of him. He won't want to eat, he will be very tired, yet get no sleep. I'm finally getting back to my sleep routine. Although I wake up every morning w/ bad back pain. To tell you the truth it kind of gets worse before it gets better. The first couple days weren't so bad. The fourth fifth sixth were pure hell. It's slowly getting better and whoever posted before me was right...you have to get excersise. I know he will barely be able to walk to the bathroom (which he will be going a lot!!!), but he will have to get up and do at least a little something every day. From what I hear this process is very long. Sometimes months to get back to normal. I'm feeling much better. I actually cleaned the house top to bottom yesterday and felt great doing it. (That was day 11) but in the afternoon when I was done I had absolutely no energy. So tell him to take it slow. Wish him all the best. He can do it, although it will be hard. Good luck to you too and I applaud your support.