Advice for quitting Methadone

[Moe Szyslak]

SWIM has been an opiate user for several years. It started with Vicodin, the last 4 years have been Norco and Methadone. SWIM did a rapid detox about 2 years ago but at times found himself in unbearable pain. In February of this year he suffered a gunshot wound in his leg and was put on Morphine. He quit that nasty stuff but not without some discomfort.

Currently he is down to 20MG Methadone and Norco 10/325 (2 tabs) per day.

Other medications Soma 350MG, Clonidine HCL 0.1MG and Neurontin 300MG. 1 each daily.

SWIM still gets heat spikes and chills also quite a bit a nausea. SWIM sleeps well but feel like he is in a almost constant state of WD.

SWIM is considering cold turkey now that he has his dose down to something manageable. He is seeing his physician this week, before he starts.

Any advice, suggestions or concerns would be appreciated.

Reputation Comments on this post:

wonderful post keep up the good work

[Psych0naut]

Once your dose of Methadone is low enough, you could consider switching to Bupe and go for a short duration detox(7 to 10 days max). To preven any withdrawl symptoms as much as possible, taper the Methadone as slow as possible, and then switch over to Bupe once the Methadone has been tapered to under 20mg a day, preferrably just a few mg a day. When switching to Bupe, only stay on it for 7 to days, reducing your daily dose pretty quickly, untill your completely off of it, and opioid free.

[Moe Szyslak]

Thank you Psych0naut as of today swim is 1 week to the day opiate free. Swim slept through the first 4 days but is still having some rough times. Heat spikes and sweating like a freak have subsided. Swim has Soma and Xanax but uses it sparingly and as a last resort to break the overwhelming anxiety. Swim is very weak and tired, diet Coke helps a little. Anymore advice would be very much appreciated.

[Psych0naut]

When SWIM was forced to withdraw two months ago, he used Buprenorphine and Tramadol to help him get through most of it, which actually worked very well, as it did the time before as well, when withdrawing from Fentanyl. Because Buprenorphine and Tramadol aren't regular opioid agonists like Heroin, Oxycodone and Morphine, they have different pharmacological actions and effects. For some reason, they can make the withdrawl effects subside, without just prolonging the withdrawl, helping one go through withdawl and quitting physical addiction without actually having to suffer it. It's only effective with minor to moderate physicall addiction though, in heavier addictions, one is advised to switch over to Methadone first, and once one is on a stable dose of Methadone, gradually decrease the dose untill lower than 20mg a day, preferrably as low as possible, than switch over to Bupe to taper the list bit in 10 to 14 days and quit completely.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Good info
	great post as usual

[Moe Szyslak]

Swim is really struggling today. Swim just wants to sleep and wake up and feel normal. Bad dreams, weird images, not much real rest. Swim did 30 minutes on a stationary bike and yesterday too but not much else. Man it was hard today. Swim is pretty tight with his pain management MD. I don't know if I should suggest a Bupe script. Do you guys think it would really help at this point? Swim feels like he's just waiting for a major breakthrough. This is weird... all swims meds are prescribed and legal so swim swim swim.

Again thanks for the advice. Its just a very emotionally weird place with some very very bad ideas.

[chillinwill]

Originally Posted by Moe Szyslak

Swim is really struggling today. Swim just wants to sleep and wake up and feel normal. Bad dreams, weird images, not much real rest. Swim did 30 minutes on a stationary bike and yesterday too but not much else. Man it was hard today. Swim is pretty tight with his pain management MD. I don't know if I should suggest a Bupe script. Do you guys think it would really help at this point? Swim feels like he's just waiting for a major breakthrough. This is weird... all swims meds are prescribed and legal so swim swim swim.

Again thanks for the advice. Its just a very emotionally weird place with some very very bad ideas.

Seems like SWIY has managed to endure the hardest part which is the first week or so and even though they have some ups and downs, it is only going to get better with time. At this point, in SWIM's opinion, he wouldn't recommend obtaining Bupe unless it was going to be used for maintainence and not just detoxing. If SWIY has endured the hardest part already, why go back on an opiate, even if it is only a partial one, unless its going to be used for maintenance

[Moe Szyslak]

You guys have been a tremendous help. SWIM has been on these meds for over 4 years. SWIM needs to pull out the warrior one last time and ditch this nasty stuff forever. 50 years of car, motorcycle wrecks, fights, hard/fast life style, 9mm in the leg... lucky to be alive. SWIM would rather live with pain than have a psycho monkey on his back. 3 Grolsch lagers relax the guards, maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

Reputation Comments on this post:

love your determination....keep it up!

[Psych0naut]

A few bottls of Grolsch is always a nice way to relax, the flavour of Dutch beer along with the alcohol does that to ya I'm proud of you though, that you've managed to hold on and fight through the withdrawl, you've struggled through nearly all of it now, so try to hold on and continue the last bit of it! Remember, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger! That certainly applies to any having struggled through physical opioid addiction and the withdrawl that followed, to come out clean and free of it's chains!

[y0ssarianlives]

Good luck man, SWIM knows the hell that you go through when quitting opioids. SWIY is doing great, just keep it up man, SWIY has shown incredible willpower to get this far. Try and keep SWIYself distracted, as hard as that can be, watch movies or do anything to keep SWIYs mind at least somewhat occupied.

Bupe would be a good idea; to do a short taper of bupe is a lot less painful than getting off full opioid agonists directly. Let us know how it goes.

[JaWill88]

swim thinks buprenorphine is not a great idea at this point if swiy is through the very worst of it. as mentioned above, why use another opioid now? although it wouldn't be too bad if swiy uses it for 1 week abosulute maximum. any longer and there is a chance for addiction to that. and it is a long acting opioid, with very long withdrawals, like methadone. it would be horrible to come this far and realize you have a dependency to buprenorphine and do another detox just as long as the methadone one. on another note, swim is very happy to hear another person is beating that beast. it takes a lot out of someone to do it. some withdrawals for swim have been some of the hardest things swim has ever had to do. anyways good luck and keep it up. swiy will feel better soon.

[y0ssarianlives]

The advantage of using bupe to taper is that it is a partial opioid agonist, meaning the withdrawals will not be as severe as a full opioid agonist like methadone. Also because of its long half life the withdrawals are not as intense and you can at least get to sleep easier during the withdrawals from bupe. Ya, a week at most though if SWIY uses it to detox.

[Moe Szyslak]

I didn't intend to hijack this thread. I hope this turns out to be helpful to someone else.

Update: I failed, I'm disappointed but I'm over it and ready to move on.

First, a little background - SWIM has been on Norco and Methadone since 2004 due to a botched surgery. In February of this year SWIM was shot in the leg during a home invasion attempt (the bad guy is 6 feet under and he's not in any pain, so sorry but no remorse). This was a very bad injury, I very nearly lost my left leg from the knee down.

SWIM was switched over to Morphine for about a month then went back to Methadone and Norco. SWIM has lost a lot of strength and stamina. Other med's include Xanax, Soma, Seroquel.

SWIM's plan at this point - Lose weight and build strength and stamina through exercise and diet. Get 250lbs down to about 200lbs. I know it sounds lame but SWIM is going to give the NutriSystem plan a shot. With strict medication dosages at specific times w/o deviation.

SWIM's leg injury has healed enough (hopefully) to press some strength training. SWIM is planning to join a gym, already negotiating with LA Fitness. Also upper body strength training.

The plan is to remove all meds except the Norco and Methadone. I know it will take a while but natural sleep will come. After SWIM is strong enough the dosages will decrease. Then SWIM will use Buprenorphine to finish the detox. All medical related changes will be supervised by a MD.

I'm sorry, even though I don't really know anyone here I feel the disappointment. The upside is SWIM can prepare and be physically strong enough to do this... and will use Buprenorphine the next time.

BTW the beer was tasty but a bad idea.

If anyone is interested Ill probably keep a journal and post it afterward instead of whining about every little event of the process. Because of the anonymity the encouragement and advice SWIM has received from DF this has been very helpful in creating a structured plan that SWIM is confident will work.

Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where's the Tylenol?

[y0ssarianlives]

No one is disappointed in SWIY. Just the fact that SWIY has a solid plan and is working with a MD to get off the stuff is praise-worthy. It's tough; SWIM is a recovering opioid addict and knows the pain and stress involved with tapering.

Don't be hard on SWIYself, SWIY achieved much more than SWIY seems to think he did.