just got prescribed methadone, good idea?

[dannydanko420]

Hello im new here and im a chronic pain patient. I just recently got prescribed Methadone for my lower back, before that i was on Oxycontin 80mgs a day. Now i take 30mgs of Methadone a day. I find it to be a really great pain reliever. I was just wondering, after reading some of these posts about Methadone and how hard it is to come off of, did my doctor make the right choice by putting me on Methadone? Is it going to be just as hard to come off of then other opiates when i need to?

Danny

[HeidiW]

Methadone is worse than heroin to come off of. That answer the question?????

[nick]

Welcome man welcome and 'done is never a good idea,but if it works........go with it.

[youwonhundred]

After more kicks than I can count... only a handful from methadone, thank god... I can say with complete sincerity that if I ever have to kick that shit again cold.. I will eat a bullet first. You think a week kicking oxy is bad? Try MONTHS. Not trying to scare you.. Well, thats a lie, I probably am scaring you, but the problem is, its the fucking truth. ya dig?

[U4Euhhhhh...]

Danny, I too am a CP patient. So welcome and I feel your pain.....in the exact same place too. ha ha But seriously, Methadone is a motherfucker. It really is alot harder to come off than heroin. That being said, I do feel that if your pain was so bad that oc80s were not enough, then you do need to try something else. Have you ever been on the F patch, or any morphine-based narcos?

[nick]

After more kicks than I can count... only a handful from methadone, thank god... I can say with complete sincerity that if I ever have to kick that shit again cold.. I will eat a bullet first. You think a week kicking oxy is bad? Try MONTHS. Not trying to scare you.. Well, thats a lie, I probably am scaring you, but the problem is, its the fucking truth. ya dig?

Bro,you're scaring me and I KNOW.


Look,if you get a 'done habit.......think of it as long term-like the rest of your life.'Done is for keeps.

[Ganjacake]

30 mg's of "done" for OC's80's? That doesnt make sense. my dr ,tried the switch,but wanted to give me 60 mg's a day. whats up with that. I was on 2 80's a day with 4 percs thrown in a day.

[dannydanko420]

Danny, I too am a CP patient. So welcome and I feel your pain.....in the exact same place too. ha ha But seriously, Methadone is a motherfucker. It really is alot harder to come off than heroin. That being said, I do feel that if your pain was so bad that oc80s were not enough, then you do need to try something else. Have you ever been on the F patch, or any morphine-based narcos?


yea they put me on fentanyl patches 50mcg and percs 10/325 for breakthru pain but the kind i got wouldnt stay on anymore then once i ran out i went thru hella bad w/d's so they put me on oxycontin 40mgs taken twice a day then they took me off of them cuz i came up positive on a piss test for benzo's and barb's. i went thru withdrawls for three weeks then went to my doc and he prescribed me methadone. after reading these post's about methadone im pretty scared

[greasy_bear]

I would think that given the right meds to manage the symptoms, one could be taken off of methadone given enough time.
I was thrown off of an MMT program for non-compliance and went from 80 mgs to zero in 28 days.
Don't do this.
I hurt for a long time.
Welcome to the board, Danny.

[dannydanko420]

30 mg's of "done" for OC's80's? That doesnt make sense. my dr ,tried the switch,but wanted to give me 60 mg's a day. whats up with that. I was on 2 80's a day with 4 percs thrown in a day.

My doc wanted to me to take 4 10mg tabs two times a day which makes 80mgs. i took 4 the first day i got them and it really fucked me up. see i didnt have my oc's for a month cuz i got cut off of them y? well they give me random tox screens to check if im doin anything im not prescribed and i came up positive for benzo's and barb's so they took me off of it and sent me home with 12 vic's. i came up positive cuz i took a xanax to go to sleep thru my withdrawls and then i took a firecet for a headache. i ran out early cuz i had to take an extra 40mgs sometimes. ne way i had to call my doc and tell him that he had me on too much so now i take 30-40mgs a day depending on my pain. thats wat works for me.

[youwonhundred]

yea they put me on fentanyl patches 50mcg and percs 10/325 for breakthru pain but the kind i got wouldnt stay on anymore then once i ran out i went thru hella bad w/d's so they put me on oxycontin 40mgs taken twice a day then they took me off of them cuz i came up positive on a piss test for benzo's and barb's. i went thru withdrawls for three weeks then went to my doc and he prescribed me methadone. after reading these post's about methadone im pretty scared

Scared is a good place to be, when you're talking about methadone. If it works for your pain, good on ya, but lets face facts here. I am a drug addict, and when I am given opiates (or anything "fun") I am going to abuse them. No bullshit... I am sure its possible to come off of done with the right support meds, but I seem to always have to do it the hard way. Something I hope you never have to go through, brother. But as Nick says, if they keep handing it out, don't turn that shit down! (paraphrasing there, bro, I don't remember your exact wording)

Good luck, however it goes.

[Somanax]

Bro,you're scaring me and I KNOW.


Look,if you get a 'done habit.......think of it as long term-like the rest of your life.'Done is for keeps.


Nick pegged that one

just think of it as a

daily vitamin as in

vitamin" M" and

yes it is a mother

to kick and I've

been off of MMT

for 13 month's

and still can't

sleep well :(

[rex24u]

I guy I used to cop from was switched from 90 OC's a month to 160 dones by his doctor. he told him it was for his protection. I personally think that the doc didn't want his reputation "tarnished" by writing so many scripts for oxy's and tried to quit writing them to everyoune. But hey. thats just my opinion.

[opi8fiend]

From my experience with dones its a bitch to kick, and hell i wasnt even on them that long! ive experienced w/ds from a 120mg a day oxy habit for 2 years and also w/ds from a rough couple months of dones and im telling you, i'd rather take the oxy w/ds any day! no joke! Methadone SUCKS

[HeidiW]

I wanted to kill myself the last time I was in serious 'done w/d.
That shit is no joke.
Twice in 5 years. I'll die the next time, no doubt.

[insaneike]

'done WD will be HELL to get off of compared to oxy!!! Unless you're doing at least 200mg/day of oxy it shouldnt be all THAT hard to kick as long as you take about 3months to wean... baut methadone WD is like... well bad as it gets compared to lil 'ol oxy man!

If you're concerned about getting offit then tell your doc and maybe he will get you on something without that evil half life... maybe some msIR with msC or something? morph would be easy to kick compared to 'done!!! seriously though, discuss this with your doc if you plan to get clean one day so at least he can help you wean or switch you to something else with a short half life(like oxy) to wean you with...


personally, I have a fent, roxi, and methadone habit(chronic pain sufferer, pretty bad shape at that) and can tell you that fent/done is fucking PURE HELL far as WD goes!!! I can't even go 8-10 hours after a full dose of ANYTHING before getting panicky and freaked out as fuck from the come on of WDs!!!

later and good luck man!

[Woowoo]

The purpose of methadone, in my opinion, is an alternative to the heroin lifestyle.

If you are shoplifting every day to support your habit, and you WD 1 or 2 days out of the week and get blistering high the other days, and you're always boiling down cottons and rinsing out baggies for that last desparate fix, and you're getting kicked out of your apartment cuz you blew the rent money on dope (AGAIN!!) ... then methadone might be a way out.

You turn all that aforementioned bullshit into a single cup of Kool-Aid that you take once per day for a $2 or $3 (or whatever they charge these days). It helps you get your life back.

When I hear doctors prescribing it for pain, it makes my skin crawl. What a horrible choice!!

[tui]

Expect to be constipated, tear-jerkingly constipated. Expect to get fat. Expect to get to know your pharmacist intimately.

And dread the day you've had enough.

I have been reducing off the methadone for the past two months. It's slow. Ree-ee-ee-eeally slow.
From 95mgs, I've been dropping 5mgs every 4-7 days (depending on how I'm feeling). Now I'm at 40mgs. That part was painless.
Now I'm low enough for them to flip me onto suboxene for a week-long rapid home detox. With the aid of valium, clonidine and a lot of cheesy videos supposedly (the doctor's files say) I won't feel too shitty.
It must be kind of bad though, because a nurse will be visiting me at home daily...

t

[CSiiSEQ]

If done correctly, it is no more difficult to get off than any other opiate- it just takes a little longer. If not done correctly, it is pretty rough. I've done it both ways from pretty high doses (taken 3 - 4 x's/day as is commonly done for pain tx).

Lots of docs are unaware of the correct way to get patients off methadone, this leads to people going through long-term withdrawal. It really gets overdramatized quite a bit. There is nothing to worry about if you have a doc who knows what they are doing.

[candy]

If done correctly, it is no more difficult to get off than any other opiate- it just takes a little longer. If not done correctly, it is pretty rough. I've done it both ways from pretty high doses (taken 3 - 4 x's/day as is commonly done for pain tx).

Lots of docs are unaware of the correct way to get patients off methadone, this leads to people going through long-term withdrawal. It really gets overdramatized quite a bit. There is nothing to worry about if you have a doc who knows what they are doing.


I have to agree with you. The first time I detoxed off of done, was a blind detox over several months and I never felt any pain or symptoms of w/d.

I am doing the same this time and feeling fine. So, how it is done is important!

[CSiiSEQ]

I think there are just not enough people who have done it properly, or not enough that tell about the experience when it was a good one!

I also meant to include this in my previous post... methadone is very effective for many types of chronic pain! Of every drug combo I've tried, it was the best at just relieving pain. It's also very, very cheap! I think I paid $10 (cost- not a copay) for 250 - 40mg tabs (approx 4 or 5 years ago).

[dannydanko420]

I think there are just not enough people who have done it properly, or not enough that tell about the experience when it was a good one!

I also meant to include this in my previous post... methadone is very effective for many types of chronic pain! Of every drug combo I've tried, it was the best at just relieving pain. It's also very, very cheap! I think I paid $10 (cost- not a copay) for 250 - 40mg tabs (approx 4 or 5 years ago).

yea out of all the combos i tried done's are the best at relieving pain. for 200 10mg tabs i had to pay $50 which is way cheaper then $400 for the Oxy's 40 mg just 60 of them.

[Badly Drawn Girl]

Methadone was by the far the best opiate for my chronic pain. If I had been prescribed 'done, I would have been a happy camper. I kicked my 'done habit earlier this year and yes, it was pure hell. I wouldn't go back to methadone unless I had a script but even with the terrible wd's I wouldn't rule it out because living in chronic pain is hell too. I could take a much lower dose than what I was taking in oxy's and percs, it's cheaper, and I had no side effects. Good luck to you!

[youwonhundred]

If done correctly

Quite true I suppose, but coming off 160 a day in a damp cold little cell is a motherfucker, and I gotta agree with Sister H, I'd rather die than do it again. Doc offered me 'done, and I turned it down.

[dannydanko420]

Methadone was by the far the best opiate for my chronic pain. If I had been prescribed 'done, I would have been a happy camper. I kicked my 'done habit earlier this year and yes, it was pure hell. I wouldn't go back to methadone unless I had a script but even with the terrible wd's I wouldn't rule it out because living in chronic pain is hell too. I could take a much lower dose than what I was taking in oxy's and percs, it's cheaper, and I had no side effects. Good luck to you!


yea chronic pain ruined my life. i've gone thru some horrible w/d's from going cold turkey off of 80mgs of oxy and going thru w/d's when you're already in such horrible pain is just PURE HELL, being bed ridden for three weeks not wanting to do anything except sleep. It's bad enough im bed ridden almost all the time, if it wasnt for the done's then i would be. I just hope my doc know's wat he's doing.

[insaneike]

When I hear doctors prescribing it for pain, it makes my skin crawl. What a horrible choice!!


Care to elaborate?
I use it for my pain daily... along with 2.5mg Duragesic(fentanyl) patches and Roxicodone 30mg...
Methadone is GREAT for pain. Post a poll and see what us chronic pain sufferers have to say about 'done compared to oxy and morph...
methadone beats the shit out of oxy and morph! and if we're going on first dose of the day methadone is even a better high than oxy! but throughout the day doses 'done is more so sedating and good for analgesic effects more so than recreational.
but saying it's bad for chronic pain makes MY skin crawl man!


Do you have any clue how many lives methadone makes livable(not for junkies but for chronic pain sufferers!)!?!? If you only knew dude... I will say it again, methadone is great for chronic pain!!!
I personally think it's dumb to use as a heroin substitute... I personally feel they should use oxy and/or morphine as a maintenance drug... but then again you can achieve a 'rush' of sorts with those and thats prolly why, no? and god forbid you need to multi-dose in a day!!! but when its all there is for maintancacnce 'done is a life saver.

but dude, its GREAT for chronic pain!!!! Not as good as fent but it's damn good! It beats the shit out of oxy for me and this girl i know whose also on 'done and roxis!

now if you mean for short term pain issue methadone might be a dumb choice, but then again you're not gonna be in severe WD form one or two months of use for pain.. but for chronic pain it's VERY good and a LOT consider it a godsend.

so dont bad mouth it again!:p

as there are millions who will tell you completely differ and that it is the only thing that makes their lives livable cause the pain they have to live with...

[dannydanko420]

Care to elaborate?
I use it for my pain daily... along with 2.5mg Duragesic(fentanyl) patches and Roxicodone 30mg...
Methadone is GREAT for pain. Post a poll and see what us chronic pain sufferers have to say about 'done compared to oxy and morph...
methadone beats the shit out of oxy and morph! and if we're going on first dose of the day methadone is even a better high than oxy! but throughout the day doses 'done is more so sedating and good for analgesic effects more so than recreational.
but saying it's bad for chronic pain makes MY skin crawl man!


Do you have any clue how many lives methadone makes livable(not for junkies but for chronic pain sufferers!)!?!? If you only knew dude... I will say it again, methadone is great for chronic pain!!!
I personally think it's dumb to use as a heroin substitute... I personally feel they should use oxy and/or morphine as a maintenance drug... but then again you can achieve a 'rush' of sorts with those and thats prolly why, no? and god forbid you need to multi-dose in a day!!! but when its all there is for maintancacnce 'done is a life saver.

but dude, its GREAT for chronic pain!!!! Not as good as fent but it's damn good! It beats the shit out of oxy for me and this girl i know whose also on 'done and roxis!

now if you mean for short term pain issue methadone might be a dumb choice, but then again you're not gonna be in severe WD form one or two months of use for pain.. but for chronic pain it's VERY good and a LOT consider it a godsend.

so dont bad mouth it again!:p

as there are millions who will tell you completely differ and that it is the only thing that makes their lives livable cause the pain they have to live with...


yea the only reason i got prescribed it was because im in pain 24/7 and have been for 5yrs so i kno, its hella better then oxy. i was on oxy for a couple of months but shit was too expensive for instance 60 40mg tabs cost $400 cuz i had no insurance at the time but i was also on fent 50 mcg patches. man did those do the trick, only for so long tho. i should make a pole seeing how many chronic pain sufferer's like me n you use methadone for pain relief. thanx for the info man

[bronyraur]

Hello im new here and im a chronic pain patient. I just recently got prescribed Methadone for my lower back, before that i was on Oxycontin 80mgs a day. Now i take 30mgs of Methadone a day. I find it to be a really great pain reliever. I was just wondering, after reading some of these posts about Methadone and how hard it is to come off of, did my doctor make the right choice by putting me on Methadone? Is it going to be just as hard to come off of then other opiates when i need to?

Danny


Well Danny since you're a CP patient, I think that done is a good choice, contrary to what many have said.

If your back pain isn't correctable (like surgery) and you see yourself being on done for the long run, then yes. done is good fit for you.

And if you are properly tapered off of done when/if you need to be, you shouldn't have much more trouble than any other opiate.


Hope the done gives you some relief. I too deal with CP and know what it can do to you. It blows.

[dannydanko420]

Well Danny since you're a CP patient, I think that done is a good choice, contrary to what many have said.

If your back pain isn't correctable (like surgery) and you see yourself being on done for the long run, then yes. done is good fit for you.

And if you are properly tapered off of done when/if you need to be, you shouldn't have much more trouble than any other opiate.


Hope the done gives you some relief. I too deal with CP and know what it can do to you. It blows.


yea thats wat i thought if i just taper off properly when i need to then i shouldnt have much trouble. does it just depend on your dosage of if you're using it properly? i hope the done dosent fucke me over. right now i'm having great relief, lasts all day i love it. i only take 30-40mgs. thanx for the info, i appreciate your time. take care

danny

[TappyTibbons]

dude, danny! I'm fucking glad you joined the board! You'll fnd it becoming your seconde home. I'm so glad that you actually found a pain medication that acctually works for you and you can afford. I haven't seen you as happy and able bodied in a long ass time. I think it's a great choice for long term pain managment for people on a budget. Someday you might have to kick it, and be bumped to somthing stronger, but the doctor will be able to help you taper over. It's totally the best bet for you. I told you when you were on oxy, that you needed to try out done cause it was way more affordable and your going to have to be on opi's untill they can find a way to treat your condition. Fucking glad to have you aboard. :::to my fellow opi's:::: this guy is one of the good ones..... doesn't even abuse his medication, takes as directed!!! and I'm not fucking around lol he even asked for a lower dose when they put him on to much! all around honest mother fucker. points to you!!

[HeidiW]

Danny, If you can take your methadone as prescribed, you might be ok.
You'll know if you've crossed that line and you're abusing your meds.

[dannydanko420]

Danny, If you can take your methadone as prescribed, you might be ok.
You'll know if you've crossed that line and you're abusing your meds.

Well I certainly dont want to go over that line believe me. All I want is pain relief and thats it. After all the shit I've heard about the done I think I'm gonna be ok.

[HeidiW]

It sounds like you've got alot of insight about controlling your pain and that's good.
I think you'll be fine using methadone.
Just take it as prescribed and try to keep your dose minimal for as long as you can.
Good luck.

[Hammilton]

meh, it's not that bad I was on 30 to 80mg a day for two years and kicked twice, maybe three times for the hell of it. I never stayed off long, but I got through all the physical symptoms without too much trouble.

if you're not able to handle constant low-level withdrawal symptoms for two weeks this really isn't the drug for you- assuming you ever want to come off of it.

However, assuming you're given proper medications to 'detox' it shouldn't be any more trouble than kicking the hugest oxy, h, or fentanyl habit. Suboxone, Gabapentin, Marijuana, Speed and sleeping pills is how I finally kicked it in the end, though. It's been two months for me now

[HandMeSomeOpiates]

I've never been on Methadone for more than 12 days and at no higher dose than 40mg. But I just have to put this out there. When I posted a thread asking if I would have W/D's from 12 days of done use most people said yes and it would be pretty bad. I got 120 tramadol 50mg's and 30 Clonodine .5mg's and didn't have a single symptom of W/D. Tramadol worked WONDERS as did the Clonodine(AMAZING for sleep). So I recommend these 2 meds for anyone coming off any opiate. Those 2 meds are my safety net. I never take done more than 12 days daily though.

Ohh and I must add smoking The Chronic also helped immensley...