smiles47

Hello to all, Im new to all of this, but i figure i could get some advice through this. I have been on methadone for 2 years now, I go to a clinic i first went there to get off of painkillers, little did i know that getting off methadone was alot harder then i thought. I was on 118mg now im on 74mg i go down 5mg every 8 days, i have felt fine till this past week, i have not been able to sleep im sweating sooo bad and just feel like crap, so i stopped my dose at 74mg to level out this week and next im going to start coming back down again. I just want to know will it get better will i ever be able to get clean from this stuff? how many people have taken methadone and came off it. Could some one please give me some advise. thanks

parentrecovers

nice to meet you, smiles. sorry you're struggling today.

if you go to the main forum page - you'll find a drug addiction section - you will get some good support there as well.

maybe you need to go the er?

keep posting, k

smiles47

thanks for the little heads up parentrecovers on were to find some information out. I go to a methadone clinic so i really dont need to go to the ER. They said i might have some bad days because im trying to come down and get off the methadone. I just didnt know it would be this hard that is why i was asking if there was anyone out there that might be going through the same issue i was so i know if it was going to get any better.

chairmanma084

opiate detox is probably the most uncomfortable WD system around. it won't kill you but it does suck. do you exercise? i've never tapered so i can't assume it'd help but when i cold-turkey WD, exercise and long warm baths kick my overall wellbeing/mindset back into gear.

for sleep, when i was in DETOX, the nurses/clinicians had no problem with giving us diphenhydramine (benadryl) for insomnia. i'm not sure how that would interact with methadone though.

good post, can't wait to hear more...

hang in there, smiles

smiles47

Thanks for the response chairmanma084. Maybe i should try to go to a detox place. I just need to get out of this methadone clinic its like they dont care how long you stay there as long as they are getting my money. Well that is how i feel anyway. I have been trying to find other options out there but dont see much out there that i know of. So i am still coming down 5mg every 8 days but some days are just so bad were i just want to give up and just stay on the methadone but i know that is not good for me plus i want to be clean from everything i dont really feel clean when im still taking a drug to make me feel better yea know. I will let you all know how im doing and if i can kick this. thanks for great support. love hearing that im not alone out there. that makes me feel better that im not the only one with a problem.

change4penny

Hi, I'm a recovering opiate/cocaine addict, with 10 months free of using what would have surely killed me. I take suboxone. You say you feel bad about using the methodone, but like me and the suboxone, I don't feel guilty one bit. I'm taking it as a means to recover and with that purpose in mind. The sub has afforded me the time to get use to a life of recovery.
I no longer swallow thirty, 10mg pills of hydro and oxycodones just to keep from being dope sick. I no longer snort/smoke cocaine, and do just about anything including stealing from my family or draining my husband and I''s bank account.
I'll take that one 8mg suboxone anyday over that and feel no guilt.
Have you considered Suboxone?

Penny

serenitylpch

i also am new here how ever i just keep comeing back as i went to all mends to get what i thought was happyness how ever it was just RAGE

Nallabelle

Hey Ive never been on methadone but Ive heard the horror stories about coming off. What I can say, is that some people have successfully switched (with some withdrawals) from methadone to suboxone. From there you can taper off. You would also experience withdrawals (long half life like methadone so they could last a week or so) but my understanding is that they would not be nearly as bad as the methadone withdrawal. Good luck. You can do it.

smiles47

yes i have used everthing uvder the sun also i wasn a big ectasy and cocaine head, then i had a tumar removed from my neck and then before you know it i was hooked on the pain pills eating more then i should just to feel good. I have herd of subxone. i dont know to much about it. See im getting ready to move and there is no methadone clinic to were im going plus my parents are telling me i need to be off the mthadone NOW. they think cause it has been 2 years that is long enough to be on something so all this pressure and i dont know what to do. and comoing off the methadone is allot harder then i thought and i get the urge to use again when i was on my stable dose i had no urge and felt great but like everything it has to come to a end sooner or later. I have a doctors name who RX suboxone so im going to give them a call tomorrow morning to see if there is any help for me getting off methadone. I do have to say that the methadone has lept my clean i havent takend any other pills or drug sense i started 2 years ago. thanks for all the helpfull advice i will keep you posted

change4penny

For me, what's so great about the Suboxone is that after having such a severe addcition, (read my post above), I have yet to have one urge to pick up a narcotic pain pill. It take all the cravings away. You can generally go to a pain management dr. and inquire whether they can prescribe it or they can tell you who to go to.
It's been a miracle drug for me, but without a program such as NA and the true desire to quit, it's just another pill.
Either way, good luck and keep posting.

Penny

Faerie

Hi Smiles,

Congrats on how far you have come, you are doing great.

I'm a codeine addict and finally came clean with my doctor about it last week. Of course he already suspected I had a problem again. I am weaning myself off now with help from the doctor and support from the beautiful people here at SR.

My Doctor suggested that rather than weaning myself off I could go on methadone. I told him I wasn't prepared to do this as I had heard horror stories about how hard it was to come off. He told me that it is relatively easy to get off methadone using subs like change4penny suggested.

I'm still gonna try the weaning but if that doesn't work I will trust my doctor's advise. Find a doctor that can subscribe subs and give it a go, it's worth a try.

You are doing so well I am very proud of you.

Much love,

smiles47

Hi All!!!!! Well i just found out when i went to my methadone clinc this morning that they now also offer suboxone but 2 years ago when i started they were only a methadone clinc nothing else, so my counsoler gave me a book of info on it so i think i might go that route everyone that i have talked to has never said anything bad about suboxone. If i were you i would try to wean myself off or try sub before you go on methadone it is very addictive and very hard to come off. as i know cause i haveing been trying to come off the methadone for a few months now and it is the hardest thing i have ever done will tell you. but good luck to you on whatever you decide to do and listen to your doctor they usually know what is best LOL. This question is change4penny witht he suboxone did you ever feel any kind of withdrawls? or how long after your first dose did you start feeling better? I know with the methadone i have no craving but the lower i go the the more the cravings are coming back yea know? and how long have you been on the sub? If you dont mind me asking what mg are you on? I have started looking for na meeting around were live so i can start going to meeting i have been before and they are really helpful plus i signed up here and i cant beleive all the support im getting from here it is GREAT!!! i wasnt sure i this would work, welli will keep you guys posted and you guys keep me posted i love hearing all of your stories makes feel good that im not alone in this.

change4penny

Hey Smiles, I don't mind you asking at all.
Before going to rehab, I ran out of pill four days prior, so I was using a lot of cocaine.
When I got there, they didn't start me on Suboxone, the started me on a very tiny amount of methodone, which didn't help much due to the fact that my addiction was so bad. I spent 7 days in detox before my insurance would approve the suboxone maintanence program, so by the time I started it, I'd already detoxed for 11 days. But, when I finally did get it, I felt better imediately and most importantly, I stopped almost imediately craving the pills that I was so addcited to. After ten years of using, counting, buying, stressing over those damn pills, that was nothing short of a miracle.
They started me on 10 mg. When I got home and saw my addiction doctor, I was having 'drug dreams', so he bumped it up to 16mg. I'm now on just 8mg.
While out of town for 3 weeks, I had to cut that dose way down to 2mg in order to get back home to refill the script. I felt fine. You'll here some horror stories about the horrible withdrawls from the sub by some people, but I'll tell you this, it didn't bother me hardly at all when I cut my dose way down. Yeah, I felt a little more tired than normal for a couple days, but that went away after a couple days. Just like any other drug, you should never cold turkey it. I've been on it for a little over nine months and it had afforded me the chance to get used to the idea of recovery without the obsession that I had for so long for those pills. (10 years of abuse)
I get up everymorning and take the Sub, and I don't even think about it for the rest of the day.
I lost my insurance earlier this year and was freaking out about how I was going to afford Suboxone, but there a program that you can sign up for to recieve it for free. The nurse handled it and I now recieve my Sub for free for one year.

Let me say this...YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I will be here for you every step of the way, you can count on that.

Hope this helps and don't hesitate to ask me anything, I'll be glad to answer any of your questions.

Hugs

Penny

ray ray

im almost at 112 hours cold turky from crap load of oxycodone and it has been and still is hell dude i guess i let my pride keep me from going to the er ...if i had known what hell i would be going through i would have went to the er in a heartbeat so just go there imho

Wolfchild

Hello and welcome to the Sober Recovery community.

i am sure that with your doctors help and expertise, you will
make progress in taking care of your problem and your health.

There is also love and support to be found at any N.A. or A.A. meeting.
Why not go to one today and get to know those people who are living
a new way of life? i believe you can live clean & free if you want to!!

Nallabelle

switching from methadone to suboxone generally DOES CAUSE withdrawals, SO DOES COMING OFF SUBOXONE. You are not home free but suboxone is a step down. The key will be getting a RECOVERY PLAN in place so that when you taper off the subs you are ready to handle life.

change4penny

yeah, I'm not saying that there is NO withdrawls, but if you can handle the withdrawls from opiates while in a bad state of mind, after taking the sub and getting some recovery time under your belt and working with an addcition specialist, working a program, you'll be in the state of mind that when you do slowly taper off the sub, you'll be ready to handle it. Also, believe it or not, some people abuse the sub, for what reason I don't know, so that would be a definate problem when coming off.
Look, bottom line, I can only speak for myself...The sub has worked for me and tapering from 16mg to at one point, to 2mg reall fast, and I had no problem. I have not relapsed back into taking the pills that at one time consumed my life. For me that's a miralcle.

Penny

smiles47

Thanks for all the responses. The man thing is i want to get off this methadone whaich im coming down 1mg a day now so hopefully just doing it 1mg a day i wont feel bad like when i was dropping 5mg all at once. I just thought if i got on sub that it might be a little easier to get off then the methadone cause from what i hear there isnt a real high dose for sub like methadone you can go as high as you want at least at the clinic i go to they have no probelm upping your dose if you say you dont feel good or having withdrawls symptoms. I just would like to know is anyone family behind them? mine thinks they are being supportive but they are not. They were all for me going to the methadone clinic cause it looked like a quick fix were i could still get off pain pills and still go to work and take care of my 7 year old daughter and boyfriend. But now that i have been on it for 2 years my family is saying ok its time to get off you have till the end of aug to get of the methadone they tell me its mind over matter. i beleive some of it is mind over matter but the other half is being addicted to the methadone. So they just keep breathing down my neck saying get off get off. The thing is i dont want to get off on a fast pase becuase i dont want to go back to pills, so i was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to handle the family. Thanks agaon for all the support means allot

Much love to everyone!!

change4penny

Smiles, you need to tell your family to educate themselves on addiction. But, you also need to make sure that your doing this for YOU. Tell them that it would be nice to have their support, but this is your life and your recovery.
As far as the Suboxone...the great thing about it is that it takes away the cravings for opiates. And in your case, it will help tremendously with the withdrawls from methadone.

Good luck sweetie,

Penny

smiles47

change4penny, I do tell them that but it is like they dont hear me at all. the methadone takes away the cravings too i every sense i have been on methadone i have yet to have a craving for a pain pill but the more i come off the methadone the more cravings im starting to get back. I just feel like methadone is to harsh and it cant be good for me to stay on it for ever plus one day i would like to be clean from everything yea know? well the main reason they are so on my ass to come off this stuff is becuase im also moving by the end of the month and there is no methadone clinics up in that area i think i found one doctor that might do SUB but im not sure and i just dont want to cold turkey the methadone cause i will be real sicj and no help to my boyfriend or daughter when i move. so i have this little short of time to figure out what to do. that is why i thought sub might be good cause you get RX for it and you dont have to go to the clinic every flippin morning. So my family is just pushing and pushing but i agree need need to research what about methadone and yes im coming off if it but its not fast enough for them. i was coming off 5mg every 8 days and now i switched it to 1mg every day so that is 7 a week i mean how much faster can i get and i think this is pushing it that is why i feel sick and have the urge to use. i just dont know how to deal with everything right now. im scared to doctors to see if they will help me beccuase im affrad they are going to to tell me no. but how do i get off 69mg of methadone in a few weeks? that is what scares me the most. I guess i better get the urge to call a few doctors tomorrow and see what i can do. thanks again for the support makes me feel so much better talking about it.