Whats your daily dose? what was your DOC b4 done?

[grant123]

just like the title says, just curious what everyones daily methadone dose is... and what was your DOC before you went to the clinic, and how long/how much of that did you use per day?

I was on about 1/2 to 1 gram of tar a day for about a year.... and am on 140 mg of done a day.... i think its about the right level, but i still have urges to get high. they say at the right dose i should have no cravings? i find that hard to believe..... so does my dose need to go up or am i gonna be stuck with cravings no matter what my dose?

Grant

[DCBA]

I am on 125mgs of done, DOC was heroin. The daily dose was about 1200mgs of around 50/60% of #3 heroin.

But in here we dont have a market for other opiates, altough i tried other opiates, the one that i had more acess was heroin. But i liked too morphine IV and (u can laugh, i dont mind) high doses of Dextroproxyphene just made for IV or IM in ampoules were great with many pins'and'needles but well ok, but at the time i had a medium/small tolerance. 100ug of IV Fentanyl was great but only done one time, couldnt steel another ampoule of that.
But have stold many ampoules of morphine and dextroproxyphene, and morphine wasnt just as good as H in the IV rush part, but the high that followed the IV rush was more intense than H.
But yeah, heroin is my DOC, but that could be wrong if i had easy access to other opiates.

[Duckfeet]

My favorite methadone dose was 50mg...but yeah, it didn't block the "cravings" like higher doses, but I found I did seem to get more of a life from methadone, when I would be slightly sick the next day, right before dosing...like most people I would always shoot way up, but hated the lethargy, constipation, and generally just "not feeling right," that always came to me after 1st couple weeks of of "happy time..."

I got off methadone at end of October, and hope I stay off it: it did help me, probably saved me from prison or worse, but I'd rather be off it...many of the people I care about are doing fine on methadone...so I don't have any beef with it, and i'm glad it's here...but to me, it's always been a pale substitute for heroin, my DOC....

[stick+lick]

my DOC was oxy....and I preferred it to even dope. At my highest tolerance about 3-4 80's a day to stay high.

I take 330mg of methadone a day....and yes, I am walking, talking, working and breathing at that dose. I don't even NOD.

[prettypoppy]

My DOC was hydrocodone--preferably Tussionex--and I did anywhere from 4 to 8 oz per day, which translates to 50-100 5mg Vicodin tablets--without the acetominophen, of course. I also did heroin for about 6 months--IV, anywhere from 3- 10 balloons a day. I was opiate-addicted off and on (mostly on, except for various rehab episodes and short time periods here and there) for 20 years. My daily dose is 240mgs. It controls my cravings almost completely and does not cause any high or euphoria.

[grant123]

my DOC was oxy....and I preferred it to even dope. At my highest tolerance about 3-4 80's a day to stay high.

I take 330mg of methadone a day....and yes, I am walking, talking, working and breathing at that dose. I don't even NOD.not to sound like a dick.... but it seems you gained a much worse problem at the clinic then you had before.... 320mg of oxycodone isnt shit compared to the done IMO..... i guess to reason my thinking 5 80's wouldnt touch me.... im not sure if any amount of oxycodone would. and im not bragging its the sad truth, dope is about the only thing that will get me 'high' and i dont even get high just 'right' with the world... anyways with a huge dope habit i get well off 140 mg's... you been at the clinic a long time?

[Narkotikon]

Well, my main drug of choice before MMT was pods. It got to be around 70 pods per day, and they were GREAT pods. I'd also supplement with heroin, and other pharm narcotics. But pods was the main choice. The whole opiate addiction thing got started with mass hydrocodone script at college and the summer after I graduated when I had a lot of dental surgery. I'd get 24 10mg Vics each week (six weeks of oral surgery, 3-4 teeth per week). By the end of the six weeks I was taking half or more of the bottle at once just to "feel" it. Whereas at the beginning two of the 10's would have me nice and warm and toasty. After a year of heavy pod use (which is where it went down hill, because that was the first time I had unlimited access as long as I had the money, and back then, in 2004, you could get like 100 great pods for fifty bucks).

So, one day my old boss (the one who took that pictures) sat me down and said "look, you're going to die. I'm going to pay for your MMT." At first I started off on 30mg, then by the end of the first month I was on 55mg or 60mg, something like that, then a month later is was 85-90, and I SHOULD have stayed there, but the people at the clinic said I should keep going up because it wasn't getting rid of cravings. So, I had a trough done, and they said my blood serum methadone levels were way too low (mine were 180 ng/ml and I guess they were supposed to be 350-450 ng /ml -- at least that's what they told me). So, I went up, and for the last six months I was on 140mg, sleeping all day, couldn't function, and they still kept telling me I needed more. By that point my family and my boss was getting fed up, and he even called the doctor and bitched him out saying how in the hell can you over-medicate this poor guy, because he saw how it made me. So, I slowly went down to about 120mg myself by requesting it, because I was afraid I was going to get cut off. Then my boss did cut me off, and I went from 120mg to zero in about two weeks. It was HELL. And of course I started using pods again.

I think methadone works for some, but I think it should be more tightly controlled, especially at private clinics like the one I was at, and I don't think they should get quack doctors. I'm pro-methadone, just pro-responsibility when it comes to methadone. Subs are different. Subs work wonders for me, but whereas methadone is fairly cheap, Suboxone is fucking expensive, not only the meds themselves, but also the doctors fees.

My drug of choice now is still pods, but since it's so hard to order them living at home without my mom knowing when they come in the mail, I supplement with a lot of seeds, but even that's a gamble. some days I can find good seeds, then I'll buy them all out, and they'll restock with shitty ones that don't work, so you have to chase from store to store to find good ones. It's never a constant supply, at least for me. So, the merry-go-round continues. Sick / well / sick / well. Right now, I'm technically sick and in opiate w/d, but I at least have Xanax to make me comfortable. I would go to the ER, but all they do is give you a single .1mg Clonidine and a fluid bag and a HUGE lecture and make you feel like shit. Hell, I can take a few Immodium and drink a few cups of water at home for free, and the clonidine just wipes me out, and doesn't help at all IMO. And they act like they're doing you a huge favor by even doing that. Forget about benzo or good scripts if you go to the ER and say you're in w/d. I did that twice because I was so desperate. Once in Lexington, once in Cincinnati. NEVER AGAIN!

[DCBA]

upped my dose to a blind dose, maybe im now on 130mgs or more than that..
dont intend to go upper than that, but i didnt intend to be this way up to..

[DCBA]

Narkotikon, why dont you go into MMT again but stay at a low dose, like 20 or 30mgs daily or even less.. that would make you more stable, kinda like when they prescribe heroin they put most of the users also on a low dose of methadone for stability sake, and most patients like the combo..
And you dont WD as much..

[chopstix]

Heroin, Opium, Hydrocodone, Burenorphine

3mg today, 2mg tomorrow..

[stick+lick]

not to sound like a dick.... but it seems you gained a much worse problem at the clinic then you had before.... 320mg of oxycodone isnt shit compared to the done IMO..... i guess to reason my thinking 5 80's wouldnt touch me.... im not sure if any amount of oxycodone would. and im not bragging its the sad truth, dope is about the only thing that will get me 'high' and i dont even get high just 'right' with the world... anyways with a huge dope habit i get well off 140 mg's... you been at the clinic a long time?

I look at mmt differently than just "continuing" my "habit". I look at it more of treating the symptoms of addiction. In order to stop the symptoms of addiction I need that high of a dose. I think about it like any pain syndrome. The point isn't to continue my use of drugs without all the problems, the point is for me to get on with my life like I am not an addict. The point is to put the "beast" to rest and keep it there, not to stay at an arbitrary dose no matter how much pain (in my case symptoms of addiction like lethargy, obsessive craving etc).
My use of drugs was not my problem. If it was I could see where your coming from-you can't treat the use of drugs with more potent drugs....my obsession with using took over my life and no matter how high I was or how much I had to do it ruled my life. Ending THAT is the point of mmt for me. I have no intention of stopping my use of methadone because it is nothing like active addiction for me. My dose does that, without interferring in my life. I work in healthcare in a field I can not afford to be sedated or catatonic in.

It's a very simple choice for me. My life sucks with or without illict drugs. Life is pretty normal, satisfying and worth living on methadone. The constraints of taking a medication I receive monthly doses for once a day is nothing compared to the contraints of fighting the insatiable urge to use opiates.

I have been on the same dose for a very very long time. It took me a full year to get to a point of "forgetting" I was an addict for a day. I have no regrets. Thats all that matters to me.

Also, I think it's impossible to know what your tolerance to done will be when comparing it to natural opiates or even semi's. It's just a completely different drug. I know addicts/dealers that did GRAMS a day and still got coma'd on 40mg the first day they went to the clinic...and pharma lovers that 40mg barely registered on their "ok" meter. Methadone tolerance is completely unpredictable. Thats why boneheads that chugg it before they know how they are going to feel on it, die.

[prettypoppy]

I look at mmt differently than just "continuing" my "habit". I look at it more of treating the symptoms of addiction. In order to stop the symptoms of addiction I need that high of a dose. I think about it like any pain syndrome. The point isn't to continue my use of drugs without all the problems, the point is for me to get on with my life like I am not an addict. The point is to put the "beast" to rest and keep it there, not to stay at an arbitrary dose no matter how much pain (in my case symptoms of addiction like lethargy, obsessive craving etc).
My use of drugs was not my problem. If it was I could see where your coming from-you can't treat the use of drugs with more potent drugs....my obsession with using took over my life and no matter how high I was or how much I had to do it ruled my life. Ending THAT is the point of mmt for me. I have no intention of stopping my use of methadone because it is nothing like active addiction for me. My dose does that, without interferring in my life. I work in healthcare in a field I can not afford to be sedated or catatonic in.

It's a very simple choice for me. My life sucks with or without illict drugs. Life is pretty normal, satisfying and worth living on methadone. The constraints of taking a medication I receive monthly doses for once a day is nothing compared to the contraints of fighting the insatiable urge to use opiates.

I have been on the same dose for a very very long time. It took me a full year to get to a point of "forgetting" I was an addict for a day. I have no regrets. Thats all that matters to me.

Also, I think it's impossible to know what your tolerance to done will be when comparing it to natural opiates or even semi's. It's just a completely different drug. I know addicts/dealers that did GRAMS a day and still got coma'd on 40mg the first day they went to the clinic...and pharma lovers that 40mg barely registered on their "ok" meter. Methadone tolerance is completely unpredictable. Thats why boneheads that chugg it before they know how they are going to feel on it, die.

an excellent post, S&L. Couldn't agree more.

[norseman]

Thanks for that point of view, and insights S&L, I have never quite thought of Methadone that way.

[chopstix]

my DOC was oxy....and I preferred it to even dope. At my highest tolerance about 3-4 80's a day to stay high.

I take 330mg of methadone a day....and yes, I am walking, talking, working and breathing at that dose. I don't even NOD.

Holy shit.

I could eat four Oxy80s, shoot a gram of dope and still go out drinking wild turkey on xanax if I'm even remotely strung, and 330mg seems astronomical to me.

Not bagging on you, just sayin' that's one hell of a jump. You say you've been dosing for years, so maybe you've had a few raises? Just curious..

Wanna give us a rough geographic just to get an idea of the dope scene?

edit: re-read the thread. I think I understand how you got there, but I'm still in serious awe of that dose, that's an awful lotta "pain" control and I understand, I fight the cravings too, sometimes hourly. Do you consider yourself an MMT lifer?

[Badly Drawn Girl]

I'm on 110 mgs, but I was supposed to get bumped up to 120 earlier this week. I was too lazy to do a med eval though. Then I'm going to have a trough. I can't get my dose to last more than 12 hours and I'm sick every night. I've tried double dosing at home and even on 220 mgs I have the exact same experience. I'm fine during the day, and sick 12 hours later.


My pre-methadone drug use varied wildly, depending on what I could get and how much I could get. Towards the end I was taking about 180 mgs of Oxy a day with other assorted opiates and meds thrown in. I've nodded maybe twice in my life regardless of how much I took at one time. Even when wasn't very experienced with opiates I found that my metabolism allowed me to get away with stuff that would cause my friends to fall over. It's damn near impossible to get me drunk too.

[Duckfeet]

I think every opiate addict has to come to there own terms w/methadone...I feared and avoided it most of my adult life, then got on it, and always wanted off it, many years ago...both periods of longterm sobriety were preceded by methadone maintenance, and--for me--I never felt right...from constipation to a sort of lethargy, something, I don't even know what to call it...but I did try...people I trusted, from psychiatrists to friends, said I would do good on methadone, that it was made for me...and my last bout was thru the Veteran's Hospital, which I had avoided, simply because now I'm in the database as a druggie...and that's frightening if u ever need pain meds...but I never felt "right" on methadone, after the 1st couple of weeks, when I felt relieved and happy, mostly due to being off the illegal bandwagon I was on....after that, it was "how can I get *off* this stuff?"

*But*...that's just me...I know plenty of people on what I would consider very high doses--well over a 100mg--and some of them have befriended me, and I have learned that it is very similar to the general view of heroin--which has always worked well for me, but is illegal--so I need to remember that tho I might hate methadone, it saved me from the street life, and eventual imprisonment again...and I was able to succesfully detox off of methadone, something I never could do off of heroin or buprenorphene...and I've known people on mdone talk in the same terms I've used about heroin...so it's a tough one...I'm glad to be off of all opiates, and feel pretty good, better than I did last couple years...but I never kid myself...I've been here before....

Best wishes to all...

[stick+lick]

Not bagging on you, just sayin' that's one hell of a jump. You say you've been dosing for years, so maybe you've had a few raises? Just curious..

Wanna give us a rough geographic just to get an idea of the dope scene?

edit: re-read the thread. I think I understand how you got there, but I'm still in serious awe of that dose, that's an awful lotta "pain" control and I understand, I fight the cravings too, sometimes hourly. Do you consider yourself an MMT lifer?

Thanks (to everyone in the thread) for not jumping down my throat and immediately telling me I was crazy...thats the usual reaction.

My clinic looks at things differently than most. They don't give you a dose based on tolerence or years using. Your basically allowed to go up to the dose you need or want, but slowly. Instead of dose caps and peaks and troughs they do observations. After an increase (once you get over 160mg) you dose, leave and come back in two hours. They observe you for the last hour. They let you have the dose you want, but you see the doctor OFTEN and takehomes are harder to earn. I saw the doctor every two weeks for the first 6months (by choice and because of the dose I needed). It took me a full year to get to 330 and I have been on it ever since (five years now).

The result is the best negative drug screen record in the state for my clinic. People stay in treatment longer. People who taper have better success. They also have a very low benzo positive rate. People are generally seem happy with the way they are treated and how they feel.

Basically its just comes down to one thing for me: on any other opioid my life was RULED by when I could use, how I could use, how much and how often. Off opioids was all about trying NOT to use and being miserable because I couldn't. On methadone, at this dose, I honestly forget I am an addict most of the time. There are days I have to force myself to remember how bad it was. I think thats why most people fail taper off methadone--its so easy to forget how sick you were when your on methadone...and when they come off it they get strangely mad at the methadone for doing this TO them...when really addiction did it to them.

Not every one feels better on methadone. Side effects, the clinic, sedation etc can make it miserable. It's just an easy choice for me.

I have been on this same dose for years with no burning desire to use short acting opiates....but I will go up on my dose in a heartbeat if I suddenly feel the urge come back. If there is ever a point in my life where I feel like I could taper, I will try....but it's in no way a goal or even a thought right now.