Dear members, I apologise for my prior message which contained a lot of rambling - I seem to be worked up over this issue and am now dumping all my stress on you poor people - please forgive me. The problem that complicates my situation no end, is that I have strong rheumatoid arthritis pain which needs daily medicating. The methadone mostly covers my RA pain, and so while this is great, it's not good in terms of weaning off Methadone, because I will be left in agony with no pain relief, as I reduce the methadone. HOW DO I DEAL WITH THE STRONG PAIN OF RA, WHILE WITHDRAWING FROM METHADONE ? (sorry, not shouting ;) I do not like Cortisone type drugs which are usually the mainstay for RA pain, it seems. While Methadone isn't a great drug, I feel that Cortisone or prednisolone is a severely damaging and toxic drug, and can leave one is all sorts of trouble if taken long term. My main concern is my gut health, because I used Celebrex for many years in lieu of the regular RA protocols (DMARDs). This had damaged my gut extremely with ongoing gastritis, and now I've become very sensitive to all drugs. Gut inflammation, equals mental and emotional agony for me - due to the close link between the two - brain cells reside in the GI tract ! Leaky Bowel Syndrome, is a huge problem and exacerbates my general condition, ad infinitum. So, as you can see, opting for cortisone for pain relief is not an option (due to the fact cortisone is toxic and irritating to the gut lining), while I'm trying to wean off methadone. Opioids are the bain of my existence because they are extremely addictive, and cause anxiety - this is all linked to the fact I have ADHD. ADHD folks are known for their predisposition to becoming dependant on opioids etc. Most regular folks who use opioids for whatever reason (usually post-op pain relief or other pain issues), can manage to wean themselves off these drugs in a reasonable time frame, without experiencing such agonising side effects. I'm not for a moment, saying that weaning off is a breeze for them, or that it's even a little bit easy - I know it is the most awful thing to experience whatever your circumstances are. However some of us have a hell of a time achieving this task. I guess I'm looking for some hints or directions that would be useful. And as I've already managed to whinge about, giving you a right royal pain in the posterior LOL, no one seems to interested in helping me address these issues, within my health system here in Australia. The methadone program, is a tightly controlled regime with no room for empathy or taking into account, an individual's circumstances. Thanks again to you all, and I hope you all manage to have better days ahead. Please take care -