New to methadone

[tanglewood]

I have been using hydrocodone, percocet, Lyrica, etc. for about 5 years for chronic pain. My pcp just referred me to a pain doctor who put me on methadone 10mg. The pain relief is wonderful, but I am having a fluttering in my left chest area and worry that the meth is the cause. Also, after reading past post I am starting to think that using this drug is a mistake. Any comments? Thanks.

[tanglewood]

thanks all; I'm glad I stumbled across this list - you all know 100 times more than the doctors writing the scripts! they all should have to try this stuff then detox from it before they get certified to prescribe it.  :)
I have only been taking 20mg of meth a day for a little over a month; i took my last pill night before last; now i'm back on hydrocodone trying ot get through the wds of meth - I have detoxed from hydrocodone, percocet, darvocet, oxycodone, Lyrica, and various antidepressants - the worse one until now was the Lyrica - it ws hard, but not as bad as right now. I can't imagine if I had been on a higher dose for a longer period of time; i am having chills, sweats, nauseau, head ache, shakes, etc. and I'm just a beginner. Wow. The thing I don't know yhet is if i'm going to stick with it. I'm still fairly pain free - probably cause i still have the med in me, but when the horrible pain returns I just might jump back in bed with meth. I don't knwo.

Thanks all!

[christos24]

you are on a very low dose of methadone and the opioid is very powerful, it is also extremely addictive..i went on methadone for tretament after trying to kick a two and half year long heroin and oxycontin addiction, for 8 mths i stayed clean with suboxone but i was still misusing other drugs and eventually found my way back with opiates, so i started methadone treatment, they started me at 35 mgs and 7almost 8 motnhs later i am at 105 mgs and am going to stay there, it is the perfect dose for me...now your case is a bit different in that you are a chronic pain patient and are on a very low dose of done, and before you used moderate potentcy/addictive opioids...since you used them for so long you would definitely have withdrawasl if you went cold turkey from the, but putting you on methadone not only gives you very potent pain killing capabilities, but also stops any wd's you may feel, the most severe habits of way more potent drugs other than the pain meds you were on if they were in wd the methadone would still stop the wd's...your dose may need to be a bit higher though, i am thinking nothing more than 30mgs a day, but maybe 20, talk to your doctor, just be careful if you plan on being on a long acting opiate for a while(i.e for chronic pain that will be there for a long time) then i would talk to your doctor about other long acting pain med options, because yes methadone has great pain killing power, but the wd's and the addictiveness is absolutely brutala nd way more aggressive than any other opiate/opioid I have ever encountered..you may want to look at time released shorter acting opiates like ms contin(morphine in a time release form) that last 12 hr., or opana(oxymorphone) that also is time released and last 12 hrs but it extremely potent about 9 times stronger than heroin, so you have to talk to your doc and seee what he thinks is best, because even a opiate that is 100 times stronger than heroin, methadone wd's still kick its butt and make it look puny, they are relentless and brutal and last more than a month, the other meds i gave as an option and there are plenty of more the wd's can be lessened by detox emds and will be much less severe than methadonea dn only alst at the very most 2 weeks..also dont start up on oxycontin(12 hr. oxycodone in high dose formulation) that is another extremely addictive opioid, it destroys many lives....if you need some other long alsting pain med options let me know any time, good luck..christos

[worried878]

maybe a good idea...then if you want to stop the narcotics it will be easier..less time to adjust as the hydros are short acting...methadone also causing side effects long term such as bone loss and things I can not afford to be losing as my bone mass is already on the thin side..good luck and stay safe

[tanglewood]

thanks - I've been taking the methadone for about a month; think I'll go back to hydorcodone before it's too late

[steveo30]

i think its a mistake,dooooooooooooont  switch to methadone unless like worried said,you stay on for life.geez anything but methadone.last year i was onlt taking 30 mg's a day for about 4 months,i went to detox and rehab.after i gotout i was still in withdrawal for another 3 months,i couldn't take it no more a nd relapsed.this drug has an extremely long half life which makes the duration of the withdrawals that much longer.be careful

[tanglewood]

thanks; my goal is to be able to deal with the pain w/o the narcs

[worried878]

possibly a bit of wd from the other narcs...hold on tho if the pain is being relieved..sounds like u did not let this thing get out of control..as u stayed at a prescribed dose...many can not do that...ask ur doctor about it....whatever u do do not get way up on your emthadone dose..yunless u plan on staying on it for life as it is hard to kick...doesnt sound like u have the mental component of addiction going on....methadone is not often/but can be/ a drug of choice or we would have lines in front of the clinics....always be safe and be sure you try every avenue of natural/non-narcotic pain relief

[tanglewood]

thanks -  that helps me understand; does for the hydrocodone 10/500 four times a day, but it wasn't taking care of the pain so I went to perc 10mg three times a day, but felt like I needed a fourth dose; then the pain doc and now the methadone

[worried878]

oh...the racing in your heart may be due to the 10 mgs not covering the dose of narcs u were on before...but u did not state the dose so hard to say..10 mgs is equal/in theory/to about 20-30 mgs of perc/hydro

[worried878]

10 mgs is a low dose..methadone is addicting but then so is hydros and percs....if u were taking bu11 loads of those to get pain relief and 10 mgs of methadone does it for you..then being a chronic pain patient/i would choose the methadone...but first i would exhaust all avenues of non-narcotic pain relief....high doses of methadone are a bear to wd from....not real sure about a small dose like that...these are decisions only we can make as we are all different