I'm so sorry you had to go through that crap. I wish there were a safe way for doctors to have to experience withdrawal for just 24 hours. My husband was in law enforcement and before they could use pepper spray they had to get sprayed in training first. If doctors had to experience full withdrawal for 24 hours they would at least be more sympathetic in giving treatment to help. I'm glad you got some relief and wish you well in doing a slow but steady taper.
If I read this correctly, the detox unit claimed they found no methadone in your system???? I'm sure you gave them the name of the clinic and dr you were seeing??? Did they think you came in there to NOT detox??? And going to the ER while w/d is a waste of time for most....b/c most drs see this as drug seeking behavior and usually take no pity. It's unfortunate, but true.
I believe your taper was WWWAAAYYYY too fast and needs to be slowed down. I found suboxone, just as you had found methadone, and I hear the w/d are pretty damn similar. I jumped from way to high a dose than I should've and it sucked, bad! If you taper, make them do a slow taper with the methadone and it shouldn't be AS bad as jumping from 50mg. That was a bit high....