methadone detox

[Beece]

I am fixing to quit taking methadone after 4 years. I have went through withdrawals before and was just hoping for any suggestions. And anyone thats ever been in the same boat could tell me how long I'll feel like hell would be great too.

[Junkie]

I have one word for you: SUBOXONE

www.suboxone.com

Go to a doc, and start taking it on first day of withdrawals. I have detoxed from Methadone, and it was a lot damned harder than when I detoxed from Heroin.

Heroin was cake compared to Methadone.

Don't mess with Methadone detox, it could kill you or lead to some serious physical ailments. (Shock, seizure, cardiac arrest.....just to name a few)

[nogie1717]

I was just like you, except I only took Methadone for a year.  What a great motivator to get out of bed!!  I would grab 30 or 40mgs, drink a glass of water and jump in the shower to start my day.

I went to inpatient rehab.  I was given dolmane to sleep and ativan for anxiety for 3 days, and then Subutex for 7.  While on Sub, I felt great.  Not high, just normal.  After those ten days, I was off everything and the acute withdrawals lasted another 2 weeks.  21-22 days in all or so.  After that, I had the runs for a while and didn't get good sleep until I left the treatment center.  It could have been the fact that I had a roommate who snored unbelievably loud that I didn't sleep, though.

If possible, go to a doctor and tell them what is going on.  Sleep is the best remedy, but you will probably find yourself tired, but unable to sleep.  Get some immodium and L-Tyrosine an amino acid supplement.

[Savas]

Yeah, being able to "ignore" the symptoms is a big help. The problem is methadone takes about two weeks to register the dose change and settle down, so if you drop quicker than that (say 5 milligrams every three days, lets say from 40 to 20) your body is reacting at the end of two weeks as if you just dropped 15, not 5!

i've been doing roughly once a month. I did every two weeks for a while but it was very stressful. 3 months of continual low level shite can make you...well, not a happy person. (I took breaks for various reasons too, which is why it's been so long). I also found that under ten, the two weeks can stretch to a month. I switched to 1-2 milligram drops at 7 to ease some of the stress/physical symptoms.

You can do it quicker, you just have to be ready to deal with a harder time. I'm told that if I do it this way the PAWS afterwards should be minimal (last time I dropped fast I was in serious PAWS for months). Doing it fast will mean a shorter period of harder symptoms...but people react differently to PAWS. Some don't really get it, some get slammed by it. Have you ever stopped before for a while? It could let you know what to expect in the long run.

[Beece]

I'm down to 20 a day-from 40-50...I have enough to get down to 10 mg a day then 5 mg a day and then I'll be out in about a week. I've been prescribed methadone for years and last month my doc was gone and I'm tired of stressing about having the meds. Worrying about laying in bed for weeks if I don't have them, trying to find a doctor that will write them, tired of everything that comes along with taking it. My husband is at 13 days and other than leg cramps (almost constantly) he gets up and acts like it isn't really bothering him. I think thats where the mental part comes in to play. I am not as strong as that. And he only took them every couple days usually at night, whereas I took them every single day to get out of the bed. I am way more dependant on them than he has ever been...

[Savas]

How many milligrams are you at? What you experience as you go down varies according to how fast you do it. I've come down from 70 to 3 milligrams over two years with mostly minor difficulties depending on the dose drop and interval.