Has SWIY successfully completed methadone maintenance?

[electrolingus]

SWIM is somewhat new here and would like to know if any SWIY's have successfully completed methadone maintenance? The populous of this forum seems to have a fairly negative view of methadone in general.

SWIM feels that methadone saved his life. Said fish was a mess before joining a M.M. program. The three years on methadone provided the stability that SWIM so desperately needed in his life. SWIM finished graduate school, gained successful employment, and it saved him from a relationship that was corrosive and stagnant, (SWIM got clean and she could not). SWIM is no longer on methadone and has to admit that he is not practicing the best recovery program. SWIM still smokes a little marijuana, occasionally takes ecstasy, and regrettably yes, still uses opiates on occasion (sometimes even IV). All in all though, SWIM would have to say he is the most stable he has been in a long while.

SWIM would like to apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed in other places and is sure that someone will politely inform him if this is so.

[ex-junkie]

swim ceased methadone treatment in 2005.

tapering down didnt work well for swim, and neither did "blind dosing". in the end, swim detoxed from 50MG methadone using temgesic, cholonodine and promethazine.

background story: swim was using her methadone via IV. believe it or not, using it intravenously helped swim just as much as it did harm. swim started to prefer the methadone to the heroin, and admittedly bought extra doses on the blackmarket to get high. methadone became swims drug of choice and stability of life ensued.. until she kept running out of doses/blackmarket supply. it only cost up to a third as much as a quarter of a gram of smack, and for a long time swim had a steady blackmarket supply.

as per usual, swim was often left in situations where she had used up all her take home doses. the combination of being screwed around on the blackmarket pissed her off immensely, as she would have rathered bought methadone than heroin, and one day she called a fuck it and quit.

she hasnt used opiates or needles since. not even codeine tablets.

[electrolingus]

SWIM is glad to hear that SWIY is off the opiates. Where SWIM comes from, they mostly use 'methadose' (a liquid). Injecting methadose won't get you intoxicated.

SWIM is beginning to think that not too many people have undergone successful methadone treatment or nobody just wants to tell SWIM that this topic has already had the wheels ridden off of it.

[shavedbird]

swim is just now finishing meth treatment... peaked at 120mg 4 months ago and tapered down 10mg at a time. swim am on 10th day now, but if not for the benzos i
still would not sleep. swim still feels like sh*t , but that imay be because swim was also drinking a litre of vodka EVERY day for that time. swim beat both by taking ghb, but anyone attempting must study... never mix alcohol or benzos on ghb if you try - - you can die very easily. especially if the ghb dose is still in sytem - say 3 hours, maybe even more - 4,5 to be sure - believe depends on dose...anyone reading this understand to thouroughly research =)

[ex-junkie]

ah. swim was dosing methadone in liquid form, and at some points tablet form. swim is curious to know why methadose doesnt get one intoxicated?

the only reason swim's treatment was successful, is because she never touched opiates again. at the time of detox, swim had lied to her doctor and said she was going on holiday, gotten 9 or 10 take home doses, and seriously fucked up. she was then in a bind, because she was 5 or 6 doses short/couldnt contact her doctor because she was supposed to be on holiday. lol. the perils...

turned out to be the best thing swim ever did though. aha.

the frame of mind of the average methadone patient is a negative one, and they enter into the program believing that they will be stuck on it for life. as long as people believe in something, they make it happen tbh.

[MarkyMayhem]

SWIM successfully tapered down and off methadone in 2004.

SWIM was clean except for pot for several years, then began down the road of the OP...

SWIM has been on methadone again since sept 2008

[tyranny4u]

methadone? in the tyrants scene they call it:
"Liquid Handcuffs"

Reputation Comments on this post:

pointless contribution - purely an opinion

[Dickon]

The cat told me to pass on this message....

I have "successfully" completed methadone maintenance twice in the sense that I've come off it twice. The first time was in rehab, and I stayed off everything for nearly two years. I then went back to morphine, cleaned up for nearly 18 months, then went back to heroin, morphine, amphetamine, benzos, etc. etc., got into crack, and then got a methadone script about 2 years ago. Just over 5 months ago I managed to quit everything again. This time I reduced from 225mg/day over about 5 weeks, which was a fairly rough schedule at the end, but nothing like as bad as the 200mg, 100mg, 0mg reduction I did in rehab, with a benzo reduction at the same time! I was a little younger back then, but even aged 28 I'd not advise that kind of dose reduction for an all-out joy-joy fun experience!

I've never managed one of those long tapers that drag on for months and years, although I have one friend who cut down from 90mg/day to 0 over 18 months. He's 5 years off opiates, has a good job, but still smokes dope and drinks too much. I worry for him, as he's a really nice guy, but coming off methadone just to use something else or drink addictively. It defeats the object if you ask me.

You can get off the stuff, but it takes a certain determination. The w.d.s do drag on, and I'm fairly sure my fluctuating energy levels even now are due to quitting fairly recently. Either that, or the fact my life has a lot of change coming, and uncertainties, and I don't always have the faith (I pondered this word. Substitute one of your own if you prefer: confidence, belief, acceptance, sense maybe?) to trust it will be OK.

Yes: Liquid handcuffs. Reminds me of "the liquid cosh" which was largactyl (chlorpromazine) if I remember correctly.

Dickon

[MaryWarner]

yes! SWIM did it. for the last time in 2001. tapering down to 10mg/diem , then detox and gone to a rehab. that really was the best time ever had in SWIMs life.it took SWIM two years to get back to opiates, but not for long, after three weeks of using smack and coke IV SWIM went to his doctor and said: alright, here i am again.
the doctor said: it's a pity you are here again but it's good you came here...
that was in march 2003.
for the last six years SWIM uses Methadone (mostly injecting IV) and is sure he does it for the rest of his life....
liquid handcuffs....hm... yes but anything is better than death...
and who knows, possibly there is a little switch in SWIMs soul that oneday switches off..
SWIM can only hope so, but so what?
life goes on and SWIM lives on, better than before, having let go the pressure of abstinance nad living SWIMs life as if every day would be SIMs last.
SWIM smokes his pipe with lady MaryJane, he does not drink alcohol at all and enjoys being alife

[handofdoom]

swim detox off 120mgs down to 2mgs(took 2 f%cking years) then got his ass in to detox for 2 weeks and swim still feels like death, swim lost 40 pounds, cant sleep, absolutely no energy, bones crack when swim moves, but im CLEAN.

[ex-junkie]

Originally Posted by handofdoom

swim detox off 120mgs down to 2mgs(took 2 f%cking years) then got his ass in to detox for 2 weeks and swim still feels like death, swim lost 40 pounds, cant sleep, absolutely no energy, bones crack when swim moves, but im CLEAN.

swiy wont feel crap forever, hats off to making it down the "hard road".

[Spucky]

Originally Posted by handofdoom

swim detox off 120mgs down to 2mgs(took 2 f%cking years) then got his ass in to detox for 2 weeks and swim still feels like death, swim lost 40 pounds, cant sleep, absolutely no energy, bones crack when swim moves, but im CLEAN.

Look for Vitamin D. may it will help swiny with the Pain and Sleepdisorder!

Bone pain complaints among methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients are common and have raised concerns; even leading to a popular myth that “methadone gets in the bones.”[1] However, new evidence suggests these aches and pains may be due to a deficiency of vitamin D in at least some of those patients.

Adequate vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth, and serious deficiencies have been linked to chronic pain, fatigue or weakness, mental illness, gum disease, autoimmune disease, and other maladies.[2] In one study, researchers assessed the prevalence of bone pain, vitamin D insufficiency, and osteoporosis in MMT patients and found that a majority of them (64%) reported bone pain.[3] Almost half of the patients overall believed that methadone adversely affected bone health.

However, the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency was substantial in those patients, along with a high rate of osteoporosis, especially among male subjects.[3] Methadone was not attributed as a cause of these conditions and the researchers recommended that further study was warranted to address these conditions during MMT. Meanwhile, other investigations have associated vitamin D inadequacy with major depression and alcoholism [4] and tobacco smoking [5]; co-occurring conditions that are evident in many MMT patients.

In the general population, there is a growing consensus that vitamin D deficiency is more common than previously imagined,[6] and associations between vitamin D deficiency and musculoskeletal complaints have been noted in the medical literature.[7] For example, clinicians have stressed that the importance of vitamin D sufficiency in managing patients with chronic low back pain should be more widely recognized.[7,8]

In one study, 93% of 150 patients attending a primary care clinic in Minneapolis with persistent, non-specific musculoskeletal pain had deficient concentrations of vitamin D.[9] In another report, a majority of patients (83%) attending spinal and internal medicine clinics in Saudi Arabia who had experienced chronic low back pain with no obvious cause had an abnormally low level of vitamin D.[10] After treatment with vitamin D supplements, clinical improvement in symptoms was seen in all patients who initially had a low concentration of vitamin D.

The authors of these various studies concluded that, in patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain of unknown origin, screening for vitamin D sufficiency should be recommended and appropriate vitamin D supplementation in those found to be deficient should be advised.[7,9,10]

Assessment of vitamin D status is accomplished by measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. Some researchers have asserted that a minimum of 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) is desirable.[6]

For adults, the 200 IU (5-μg) daily recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D may help prevent some bone weakening, with its associated pain, but this is inadequate intake for most persons.[2,11] The body itself makes vitamin D when it is exposed to the sun, and the recommended daily allowance is tiny compared to the amount generated by adequate sunshine. Vitamin D also is found in cheese, butter, margarine, fish and fish products, and fortified milk and cereals.

Vitamin D tablets as a dietary supplement are readily available and inexpensive at heath food stores. This nutrient is potentially toxic, although vitamin D overdose is extremely rare. Daily amounts greater than 1,000 IU (25 μg) per day are typically avoided and a safe maximum intake of 2,000 IU/d (50 μg) has been noted by some sources. In many individuals, however, it is believed that greater daily supplementation may be necessary and safe in achieving optimum vitamin D serum levels.[2,11]

The best approach to vitamin D supplementation and its efficacy and safety in MMT patients with musculoskeletal pains is yet to be fully determined. However, this appears to be a worthwhile area for consideration by MMT clinicians and researchers.

Quellen:
1. Velten E. Myths about methadone. NAMA Education Series, Number 3. 1992.
2. Vieth R. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69:842-856.
3. Kim TW, et al. Bone health in methadone maintenance treatment. Paper presented at: CPDD (College on Problems of Drug Dependence) 65th Annual Meeting; June 2004; San Juan, Puerto Rico.
4. Schneider B, Weber B, Frensch A, Stein J, Fritz J. Vitamin D in schizophrenia, major depression and alcoholism. J Neural Transm. 2000;107(7):839-842.
5. Brot C, Jorgensen NR, Sorensen OH. The influence of smoking on vitamin D status and calcium metabolism. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1999;53(12):920-926.
6. Heaney RP, Dowell MS, Hale CA, Bendich A. Calcium absorption varies within the reference range for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. J Am Coll Nutr. 2003;22(2):142-146.
7. Lewis PJ. Vitamin D deficiency may have role in chronic low back pain [letter]. BMJ. 2005;331:109.
8. Koes BW. Surgery versus intensive rehabilitation programmes for chronic low back pain. BMJ. 2005;330:1220-1221.
9. Plotnikoff GA, Quigley JM. Prevalence of severe hypovitaminosis D in patients with persistent, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. Mayo Clin Proc. 2003;78:1463-1470.
10. Al Faraj S, Al Mutairi K. Vitamin D deficiency and chronic low back pain in Saudi Arabia. Spine 2003;28:177-179.
11. Vieth R, Chan P-CR, MacFarlane GD. Efficacy and safety of vitamin D3 intake exceeding the lowest observed adverse effect level. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001:73: 288-294.

Regards

Reputation Comments on this post:

good information backed up with sources.