Methadone: Acute/PAWS Recovery CT at 120mgs MY Story & Questions

[EresTrey]

Hello everyone, my name is Andrew and I'm from western MD. On January, 8, 2016 my methadone clinic prematurely discharged me due to me getting a little angry with "their" idea of how i should taper down my dose. The doctor, nurses, and I had somewhat heated discussions on the topic twice before and i thought it was understood that i know my body better then anyone else and i should be able to control my taper the way i feel necessary. Well on the 8th of January i tried to drop my dose 10mgs for the second time in 10 days and they refused to decrease it. Their reasoning was, i should only be allowed to drop 10mgs every 14 days minimum if the doctor does not feel I'm at risk of relapse due to W/Ds from to fast of a taper. I tried explaining the agreement between the doctor and i but it was a futile argument and eventually i had to dose but i did not take all my methadone. I left about 1ml maybe 2mls in the bottle and this caused the nurse to throw a fit and have me stopped before i could exit the clinic by the 2 security officers that worked there. I "HAD" to speak with the doctor before i was "permitted" to leave the clinic. i was getting pretty aggravated at this point but i agreed to it. Well the doctor was waiting on me when they walked me back to the room with 2 nurses and my counselor to tell me that if i cant follow "their" guidelines for a safe methadone taper that i could lose my take homes or even be discharged from their care. At this point i became slightly belligerent, even a bit pissed about how i was being treated and how "their  guidelines don't fit every patients needs and goals. After they heard my rant about the money hungry clinics and them threatening me with my take homes or dreaded W/Ds from a high dose after discharge, they gave up on getting me to take my entire dose and let me leave. Well, later that evening i get a call from my mother, informing me that i am not to show up at the clinic the next day because i was be formally discharged from their care. They had my phone number but never called me at all, not even a voicemail letting me know i was being discharged. My counselor did call me 3 days later on a Monday to apologize to me about how i was treated and discharged, adding  that he was not involved with the final decision and that was against the decision to even discontinue my take homes. Also,  he said he was asked to leave the room when they were discussing what administrative actions should take place. I was a patient at this clinic for almost 5 years on MMT. I did have some discipline issues during the first year of treatment, maybe 3 dirty UAs and I was caught splitting my dose because I tried to divert my dose instead of taking the whole dose at the dosing window. ((FYI) i was diverting my dose for almost 5 months because i have a high metabolism and also take adderall and the methadone would not keep me well all night long. also i would sweat profusely because of the adderall and methadone which im sure didn't help.)) The doctor and i had a chat about what was going on with my counselor present and we discussed my options on splitting my dose but it never happened. Other than those couple of mishaps in the first year, the rest of my treatment was flawless other then one dirty urine in my 4th year because i was prescribed "Tussinex" and I was unaware that it has hydrocodone in it. I took them a note from the ER doctor that prescribed it and that seemed to clear things up. i never missed a dose, never had a failure to produce a UA or mouth swab, and I kept all appointments with my counselor.
          With that said, I believe their decision to discharge me prematurely and force me to cold turkey off of 120mgs of methadone was unwarranted, unjust, and borderline unlawful. I was never offered a 14-28 day rapid detox before discharge, nor was i given adequate time to find care under another physician. Also, the clinic doctor had on record, two separate occasions that i was hospitalized for multiple seizures during acute withdraw and still did not give me any options but to cold turkey from methadone. That was the biggest factor, for me, that put their actions across the line of reckless and unprofessional medical practice. It also scared the crap out of me because of the previous experience of having a seizure during withdrawal.
           sorry for the long, drawn out, and over detailed post but i was figuring the more information a reader knew about my situation, the better they could answer my questions, lol.

          QUESTIONS: Has anybody else had this type of negative experience with a clinic prematurely discharging them for little or no legitimate reasoning?
                                  Is it unlawful for a clinic tho force you to take your complete dose and upon refusal, threaten you with losing your take homes or discharge?
                                  Is it unlawful for a clinic to discharge you without a 14-28 day rapid detox or without adequate time to find care under another physician?
                                  If it is unlawful, has anyone seen or heard of malpractice lawsuits taking place based on this type of reckless behavior from a methadone/suboxen doctor? (no lawyer, that i have spoken with, would even hear me out completely about the experience because of the cost of malpractice suits. Just curious about anybody else who might have had success with a lawsuit of this type.)
                                  Anyone with experience going cold turkey off of a high dose of methadone, i could use some insight on the PAWS and how to regain energy and motivation. also a estimated timeline of symptom relief could be useful as well. (I understand everyone is different and we all heal on our own time but im hoping it could give and idea on what actually works to shorten PAWS and/or acute W/Ds. please be sure to post your regiment, (supplements, vitamins, medications, exercise...ect) so that we can try and compare with others. i know it wont be spot on accurate but it could point out some beneficial areas or patterns that could be useful in showing what products work and what may be malicious to the recovery process.)

                                              Thank you for your time and answers!!! :)

          

[EresTrey]

yeah I've been clean for 40 days and my acute symptoms faded after 7-10 days which i found unusual but i have just had a lot of trouble dealing with the energy loss. I'm an extremely active person and for me not to want to do any kind of physical activity whatsoever is very unnatural to me. i used nutrition shakes and vitamin/mineral supplements which helped a lot when i couldn't really eat but they dont help me with the energy. Even 60 mg of dextroamphetamine (adderall) doesn't help but i have been prescribed it for about 2 years now. I just want my energy back lol.
       To answer the Q's, i feel great really except for the lack of energy and ive felt pretty good since day 14. sleep is good, apatite is great, and my overall mood has really jumped in the past week or so. Everything seems to be improving pretty steady except for an increase in energy which is moving a little slower lol.
        And yes, i was a progressing addict for about 6 years before induction into methadone. The heroine use and selling it to support my habit it what caused me to make the decision to go to a methadone clinic with the added push from watching a kid overdose and his best friend take his phone and leave him for dead. I wound up throwing the kid in my car and taking him to the ER and 2 days later started MMT.

Thanks for the posts, i really do appreciate it. :)

[VICourageous]

How many days do you have now off this med? How are you feeling? Was there a Addiction issues before hand that lead you to get the Methadone?

YOU got some great feedback from the above.

I was prescribed Methadone for around 12yrs for pain when I told them that the other opiates did not work. I tried to get way down on my own, as it did not work. Started to buy Adderral off the streets, added this to my dones, and snort it for the wired up buzz. (Dumb but I am a Addict)..Now I know that all of this crystallizes in the lungs. Took a Benzo (klons) at night to come down. SO, back in 2012 I c/t off of those 3 meds, as I could only taper down so far. Physically I did not start to w/d until the 6-10 days later. It took many months, as I went through many different stages of detox. The Mental part took me over 2 yrs to balance out. The physical detox is over way before the mental. Everybody can detox these meds out in different time frames. Many factors play on the why. Age, health, how many different drugs or drug use, how many yrs of drug use, how many mgs one has gotten up to and came off of. Believe me..you can w/d from the Adderrall too!!! However, I did notice that the Adderral would hold back the Methadone w/ds for a bit. These types of meds change the body and Chemical makeup of the Brain. Addiction is a brain disorder or/and a progressive disease.
PAWS is a very touchy subject around here. Some believe in it and others might not. Here is a bit of info on this, but I would NOT dwell on it at all. Just try to work a program in this Recovery. Support is the biggest thing to help us remain clean & sober.
After a person has become adjusted to a certain level of the drug/experience removal of it affects the Emotional/Biochemical balance that has been established. The person then has to Readjust to living without the previous level of simulation, etc. Post Acute Withdraws can last yrs or more. It also has a Emotional and Physiological aspects that can be very difficult to endure..
SUPPORT will help this in SO many ways! Life will NOT always be a piece of Cake. Setting up Boundaries and working a Program sure does help. I do wish you the best and sure hope you are getting through the w/ds ok.
Hang Tight! We have done many home detoxes on here. Keep us updated.
Bless
Vickie

[gnarly_1]

Hi...well the politics at the clinics su ck  we have seen members discharged from high doses b/4 ....you should be threw the worst of it  but a 5yr habit is goingto take a wile to get over.....I was on it at 150mg for almost 7yrs and it took a good 90 days to even start to get better one thing that will help is whey protien  shakes you can pick up a 2lb can at walmrt for 18 bucks just a scoop to a glass of milk  drink 2 a day it gives you the raw protien for energy as well as a boat  load of amino acids to heal the brain.....just know recovery is possible but it takes work  I always recommend the N/A program  getting clean is the ez part it is staying clean that takes work...the support you will get there will help with the ''mental mindscrew'' your going threw   we have had several members have to detox from a high dose it will take time but it will be so so worth it to be free from the liquid handcuffs  keep posting for support  as for a lawsuit the clinics are covered dont waist your money  just chalk it up as a learning experience

[atthebeach]

Hello and welcome. You haven't had any methadone since jan 8th?
How are you feeling?
Yes we have see others dropped from mmt clinics.
Pretty sure they govern themselves.
Never heard of anyone suing and winning.

If you haven't used since you would be 5 weeks into detox.
Clean eating, proteins, fruit, veggies. Protein shakes.
Magnesium/ calcium/ zinc supplements, b complex.
Exercise, lots of liquids. And time.
Please make sure you get into some counseling, support groups, church some sort of aftercare to help prevent relapse.