Methadone for pain relief?

[BakaBilly]

So SWIM has chronic pain. They thought it was IBS they thought (some docs still think.) SWIM has chrons. Either way SWIMs life has been hell for about 7 years now. Doctors give no relief and the myriad of drugs dispensed down SWIMs throat have not helped either.

SWIM was put on oxycontnin, 60 10mg pills a month. SWIMs life went from hellish to finally livable. He would take 10mg in the morning and 10mg at night. And if he didnt need them for pain, well you can probobly guess what SWIM did with em then.

Well SWIM missed an appointment, breach of narco contract and hes taken off the only drug that has worked for him so far.

Well now SWIM finds oxy off the street. But since that is unreliable sometimes SWIM has to go without. When SWIM goes without he gets stupid sick. SWIM already had bad gut pain everyday with occasional flare ups that were so bad he would go to the ER for relief. But when SWIM couples w/d pain with flare up pain its just plain unbearable.

Sooo....SWIM is contemplating going to the Methadone clinic to kill 2 birds with one stone. SWIM would like to quit having to stress about getting the next fix (or keeping the pain at bay.) and stop spending so much money on street pills. SWIM would also like to get some kind of chronic pain management that actually works. SWIM feels (and has been told by doctors) that he has pretty much exhausted his options and they cant do anything for him.

So SWIM is wondering if going to a methadone clinic could be a successful venture for him. SWIM figures if he goes in and tells them hes addicted to oxycontnin they will put him on methadone and the methadone will work as a chronic pain reliever and improve SWIMs QOL.

Any help on the subject is greatly appreciated. SWIM knows that methadone was originally a pain reliever but just wonders how effective it is especially at doses given at the clinic (which are actually higher than you can get for actual pain management. So maybe its a stupid question...)

Sorry for the rambling. SWIM talks alot when hes on opiates.

[Lisa J]

SWIM takes methadone both as a substitute and a pain reliever, the problem with using methadone for pain is that it must be taken 2 - 3 times a day but if SWIY goes to a clinic theres a good chance SWIY will be asked to consume the entire daily amount in one go. It's still worth a try as once you've been going a few weeks if SWIY keeps complaining that the pain that caused the addiction in the first place is so bad during the night there's a risk of relapse they may relax their prescribing so half is taken at the clinic and half taken at home. SWIM would recommend one last talk to the doctor before going down the methadone road, it is good for pain but it's very difficult to get away from.