should i taper or just quit

[lysah]

i just found this site today. i have lower back pain but think i could make it on advil. i have a very liberal doc. who will perscribe whatever i ask for (so FAR) i am currently taking 40 mg methadone, which my dr. says is the best safest way to get off oxycodone. he would like to have me switch over to however much methadone i need , and get off the 18- 24 5mg. oxycodone. after reading thie difficulty peaple are having getting off methadonr i think i wil not increase my dose, but instead try to get free of it all. ive been on this high dose for 2 years. around feb. i was taking like 34 oxycodone so ive dropped it down some but i have 4 kids 11,13,15,and 17. summer is here on thurs. my husband and i are just seperated after 20 years of marriage and i dont know when ill be able to feel rotten after kids are out of school. so today i havent taken anything since 4 p.m. i took 1 klonopin. how should i do this? i only have 4 days left.does anyone think i can w/d in that amount of time. i have all of the thomas recipe stuff except clonidine. im at my moms. maybe i should just drop the methadone, altho that's not as appealing to me as the oxycodone. so i think i would be more likely to taper that later on my own. ireally hate to make marriage decisions while under the fuzz of opiates. i have 4 cool kids lives depending on me. i want to be depending on God not this **** anymore. any ideas. ive not gone cold duck before(turkey?) any feed back would be great. thanks , lysah

[GoingToMakeIt]

I am happy that you found this site. Welcome!
Methadone is by far worse to come off of then oxys. It can be used to taper you off the oxy's but even that can be hard. Not everyone can go c/t.
IF the methadone is being used SHORT term, you might be OK.

[bull172]

OH ITS ROUGH NO DOUBT....I HAVE A FAMILY AND GOOD JOB OF MY OWN....I JUST THINK THAT IT MUST BE STOPPED IMMEADIATELY...TAPERING OFF MAY HELP WITH WD'S  BUT  NOT MENTALLY....WHICH IS THE HARDEST PART....RIGHT ABOUT NOW IM BUGGING OUT, AND SICK AS A DOG.......IM BITTER ABOUT EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE.....

STILL THOUGH......WE MUST BE STRONG...WE MUST BE ABLE TO VENT......GO C/T  AND JUST NEVER LOOK BACK!!!!!!

JUST DO IT!

YOU THINK THAT ITS EASY FOR ME?   CT   WIFE WORKING LATE AND BABY SITTIN IN FRONT OF ME GOING   "UHHHH--UHHHH-UHHH----WHAHHH-WHAAAA---WHAAA"

ITS F-ING HORRIBLE, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?!    ITS WHAT MAKES US STRONGER!

I STAND BY MY WORD....GO C/T  AND NEVER F-ING LOOK BACK

[sadinmichigan]

Hi there..Let me say first that i do agree with Bull....and yes..you are taking a few,..but i was taking 14 or more a day of  hydros for 5 yrs. I quit cold turkey on march 7...that was my ???attempt..and so far has stuck...I have 6 kids..4 were at home..now as far as the methadone goes...your Dr. did you a huge disservice...and I mean HUGE..I will make no bones about it..How long have you been on methadone? You say your at 40mg...I will tell you..that w/ds from methadone are very very hard and unlike any pills or even heroin..nothing can be compared..I went cold turkey off 65mg of methadone..after taking it for a little over a year..to get off pills.....What a mistake..and as far as weaning...you will not be able to avoid the w/ds i don't care how little you wean to..why in the world is your dr giving you BOTH of those drugs when you say you could probably take advil???

[worried878]

Just a thought...I guess this is one of those times when having a 'liberal" doctor is not so great...I remember i used to get frustrated as my docs are so carfeul with narcotics....i guess i should be happy they were

keep moving forward

[worried878]

I have not taken methadone...i do know i never will...how long have u been on the methadone?...I do know most taper off...good luck and keep posting

[Decisions]

I agree with Missy.
Even though I have never taken Methadone, if you want to function, tapering is best, but takes discipline.

Bull?  You have done well in your w/d battle (from what I have read!).  I was nearly catatonic during the past 2 weeks coming down off of 150mg hydros a day.
Plus, she is/was?  taking more opiates than me even.

Everyone is different, and for her to go c/t, might get her clean faster, but with 4 kids? c'mon.  She has NO choice but to keep going, and with a slow taper, just might get through.  C/T, if she is anything like the w/d I went through, would be Difficult at the very least, with 4 kids. JMHO

Anyways, whatever choice she  makes, I hope she gets through it ok...

[Missy31]

OK so look at it this way if you go CT you are going to more then likely feel very very sick for the next 10-14 days atleast, if you taper then you will slowly be taking yourself off plus you will not be so sick, you may bot feel great but you will still be able to function and be there for your kids. Whatever decision you make just stay focused and keep your eye on the prize and you will succeed.

[bull172]

heres what you do.....

TAKE WHATEVER REMAINING PILS YOU HAVE AND FLUSH THM....JUST F-ING QUIT.....

QUIT....QUIT...QUIT....ITS NOT THT FING HARD.....NO OFFENSE TO PEOPL ON HERE (LOVE YOU GUYS AND GALS)  BUT MOST PEOPLE MAKE THIS HARDER THAN IT REALLY IS....JUST QUIT THOSE F-ING POS PILLS AND SLAY THAT MONKEY THATS BEEN CLINGING ON YOUR BACK!

TAKE A STAND!

[Coolio Hernendez]

taper

[kim715]

I have gone the methodone route.I got on methodone to stop a 20 7.5mg a day vicodin addiction and it was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made in my life.Putting you on methodone is just about the worst decision your doctor could have made to help get you off the pills.I too don't understand why your doctor is prescribing you both so I won't comment to much on that.The best way to get you off the pills and minimize the w/ds would have been to do a slow taper.I never went higher then 35 mgs of methodone and I will soon reach 100 days clean and I'm still not totally done fighting what this drug does to you.My heart goes out to you.Your best bet is to free yourself of that methodone as soon as possible it's an evil drug with a horrific detox.Trust me I know, it's much easier to free yourself from the pills then it is from the methodone.Not that freeing yourself from the pills is an easy road,don't get me wrong.It's just in comparison,and I have done both,when it comes to pills or methodone,the w/ds from the pills is the lesser of two evils.If I had it to do all over again I would have NEVER taken the methodone.Please keep posting others will come along with more advice.I'm praying for you. Peace.

[10356]

Hi Lysha
Welcome to the forum. I have never done methadone and oxys were not my doc but I would not stop the methadone ct at 40mg you would be very sick from everything I have read you have not taken it today and do not feel the effects of not because it has a long half life and stays in your system for 3 to 4 days from what I have read, you will feel like you are coming off Heroin or worse. I do know about that. You have to taper the methadone down a little at a time over a long period. I do not understand if you are taking the oxys with you methadone?  or if you want to use the oxys to taper..
Someone with more knowledge will be on it's late and tomorrow is fathers day so it might be a little slow keep checking I will be up for a little if you need to talk. Lesa

[kim715]

How long have you been taking the methodone?