Methadone is NOT a lifesaver people!!

[Sweetness91]

I get so infuriated when I read a post by someone who is talking about trying to get off methadone and in comes a commenter who sings it's praises and acts like its holy water. Those are the ones who have obviously not had it affect their body negatively yet, or affect their life I a negative way. So let me tell you what you can expect, should you decide that methadone is going to save your life.....

When I was put on methadone 8 years ago, I too, thought it was a "wonder drug"....I didn't have to take much to be pain free, of course I knew nothing about a drugs half-life at that time either. (No wonder it worked so well at first...half-life of methadone, up to 60 hrs...half-life of Vicodin, approx. 4-5 hrs..) So I started out at 20 mgs a day and did fine...for about 3 months. Then it was increased. And again it only helped a few months and had to be increased...again and again.

During the time I was on it, I had chronic bronchitis, and pneumonia at least once a year (at the ripe old age of 32) and landed in the hospital for days with the pneumonia. I also suffered from double hernias, because I didn't realize how far I was pushing my body, so had surgery to repair those. Then a few years ago, became very ill with stomach issues. Ended up having exploratory surgery to find that I had a collapsed lung, peritonitis and that my appendix had ruptured. All for methadone. Great huh?? The surgeon told me that my colon was bigger than a softball, and normal size should be about the size of a tennis ball...another great effect of the opiate. He also told me if I stayed on the course I was on, that I would NOT live to 60. That absolutely scared the hell out of me...but yet I stayed on it another 3 years because I was afraid of living w/o it and afraid of the withdrawal. But let me say, the exploratory surgery recovery was far worse than I'm experiencing now.

Now lets talk about how it affects you mentally....at first, nothing can touch you...oh yeah, because it "saved your life"....but soon....very soon...it grabs ahold of all your emotions and feelings and hides them away to where YOU can't even find them. Then you start leaving the house less and less. But that's ok, still got the methadone right? THEN, you don't leave the house at all...unless you absolutely have to! You stay up all night and sleep til noon or later every day, then when you do roll yourself out of bed, you plop your a$$ in front of the tv all day, because surely the house will clean itself...but even if it doesn't, who cares??  Then your family starts to wonder what's happened to the person they once knew...and they start begging you to bring that person back...but once again, who cares?

And THEN, that moment of clarity...that moment when you realize how different things are than they were before the methadone...and how different they COULD be...that moment when you realize just how jealous you are of ppl who get out and live their lives to the fullest.  And you know it's just within reach....but ohhhh the terrible withdrawals you would have to go thru to be like them.

I'm here to tell you, it's not as terrible as it sounds. Sure, everyone gets on here and moans n groans about the w/d's, but this is like our bit€hfest page...it makes some feel better to just SAY how bad they feel, but it really is like a bad case of the flu, an extended flu, but the flu! You sat in front of the tv all day while you were on methadone, why not sit there while you're getting off it and recover?

I know I tend to ramble, and write books, lol, but it really does irritate me when someone tries to push methadone here...this is for ppl wanting to get OFF the crap. It is not ok to sing praises of a "wonderful drug" to someone who is stating they want off drugs!!  Sorry ppl...just had to vent!

[Sweetness91]

I apologize for my comment earlier. All the comments I felt like were directed toward me and it kinda pi$$ed me off...and as anyone coming off methadone knows, your emotions get the best of you sometimes. My post was definitely not intended to offend anyone, I would never do that as the ppl here have helped me through one of the toughest times in my life. And looking at it now, the title of my post is inappropriate as methadone HAS saved lives. But it almost destroyed mine after being on it so long. I had gotten up to taking 10-15 10mg Percocet and evidently my doc thought methadone was the right choice for me at that time. I just wish I had followed my instincts 5 years ago and gotten off it then. As I said in my comment that was deleted, I know my body and I know what methadone has done to my body. And I just think ppl should be more aware of what they put into their bodies before they do it and not let a doctor make every choice for them. It's easy to do that because they've got a 10 year education and you trust them to make the right decisions but it all comes down to us! It's OUR choice to take it or not...and I made that choice. So yes, it IS my own fault...I've never said it wasn't. Believe me, I blame myself more than anyone, for making that mistake. And still hate that I've done this to myself. I've been off it for 33 days and it is STILL affecting my family because I'm still not 100% and won't be for some time yet, so as a wife and mother, I'm not living up to my "duties" right now.

And lastly, I would like to apologize to anyone I offended about their DOC...that is certainly none of my business, and it was VERY immature of me to say that. I feel like such a jerk, but as I also said, emotions are running pretty high right now. I hope everyone can forgive me. And I wish you all the best of luck.

[Jenelle2020]

Hi there, I would like to put my two cents in here about methadone. My situation was that no matter how many drugs I was on for pain, NOTHING would take it away, I had pain 24/7 for many, many years, nobody could diagnose me properly. I ended up on a huge amount of narcotics that did not give me any relief, so methadone was the next option. I was not educated about the drug, it all happened so fast. I am the first to say that methadone DID take my pain away, and what a relief that was. Finally after many years of full time pain, there was something that actually took it away. My highest dose was 130mgs and I know that many of you will think that is high, and I guess it is but that is what it took to get rid of my pain. While I was on methadone I was still searching for answers for my chronic pain and FINALLY I found a holistic/biological dentist who identified the problem within 30 seconds of just looking at an x-ray of my jawbone. I had osteonecrosis in my jawbone from a wisdom tooth that was extracted many years ago and I developed a dry socket in it. Even though the dry socket was tended to at the time, long story short is that it never healed! There was only enough good bone left to regenerate more, and this dentist could not believe I was still alive because of the severity of the necrosis. While on methadone I had a total of 3 surgeries on my jawbone and started to regenerate new bone.At this time I have very little pain in that area. As much as I don't like the drug, methadone was a life saver for me because my pain was so intense and there was no let up whatsoever. So for me, methadone was a great drug. Obviously I was put on it for pain and have never craved opiates. I am nearly off the methadone now, I am at 5mgs and have just gone through my first bout of withdrawal while tapering. This tells me I need to slow the tapering down until I get comfortable again before I drop. I believe that there are many people on methadone that don't take the time needed to do a proper taper,a lot of those people get impatient and end up back on the drug because they couldn't handle the detox. I think there are some very good arguments about the pros and cons of methadone above. I am just saying that for me, it worked out well. Since I have been on methadone I have done a ton of research on it, and I am lucky to not have suffered any side effects ( at least none that I am aware of ). Idon't like the way it gets its claws in to you making it very hard to withdraw from. I think I have done pretty well with my taper as I have only been sick once so far. It all comes down to taking it slowly. Others will disagree with me, they will say just jump off and be done with it, but from what I have seen, those that do that suffer greatly and for a long period of time. So all in all, I do think methadone has it's time and place in society but as mentioned above, education is extremely important. I , personally have no regrets that I went on methaone. It enabled me to live a normal life with no pain, and I never felt a "high" from it, even at 130mgs. There will always be people who agree and disagree about this drug, I just wanted to add my own personal experience,but will tell you that I am really looking forward to being free of it. That should be in about another 40 days, if things go as planned. I know I will suffer some withdrawal and I am prepared for that , but with my long and slow taper, it should be minimal.

[weaver71]

I agree about the title of the post, it's misleading, because methadone has saved lives. You are right that the people that died where not at a clinic, there is no clinic within 200 miles from where I live. Doctors hand it out and say, "Good luck." The doctor hands an addict 220 10mg methadone and sends them on their way, and some of them die, not most. Not all of the people that died where mixing meds, they where uneducated on what they had. I wish there where good rehabs and clinics in my area, but there never will be, it's too rural. I think the direction this post was going was about education and knowing what you are getting into. We started discussing things like, not one size fits all, and each drug has it's place. I'm sorry you where offended. I can see how that would happen. I simply think that suboxone is a better choice, now that it exists. I've used methadone and subs and I have done a lot of research. Respiratory problems are a symptom of methadone use, including me. I hope you can forgive any offense this thread has caused you. Once you detox off the methadone, give this thread another thought, you may have a different take on what we are talking about. Most long term sub and methadone people who love it are still on it. I am 7 months off methadone and feel much different than my first 3 years of using it. I'm glad you got off the H, I'm glad methadone has helped you, I mean that. If you stay on it long enough it will stop working, just be careful if you plan to stay on it for 10 years.

[Addicted2long]

Im sorry I do respect all addicts as we are all the same. But in my 4 years of coming here ive never had to respond to a post that pissed me off like this one. Its the choice of words and posting that so everyone can see it. Its not an opinion post its a inapriopriate post that should be deleted because it will offend members such as myself and others. I dont see ANYONE else posting things like this and pissing ppl off. I hardly post on here anymore I just read everynight but when I saw it I had to respond to the convo I was reading. Im dropping it. Preach nonsense all u want.

[Bkitty]

Wow! I see both points. We have to respect each other too. What might work for one may not work for another. Congrats to BOTH of you for getting your lives back!!! Awsome Job! ((((hugs))))
Its Ok to disagree but we are all addicts. We support each other no matter what. Love you guys!!

[cemichael]

I just read your post before my last post.  You are correct, even I was somewhat simple minded when I read the post.  I did not even consider people on stronger opiates during my original reading or the rock bottom that you hit.  I think you are a rock star for stopping heroin use!!!!!  

Me, I got tired of using the hydro to stay "normal" and it was costing more and more money buying on the street once my monthly persciption ran out.