Methadone Uses

Question by WannaBSurgeon: am I overdosing on methadone?
I have been on 55 mg’s of methadone for about the past 6 months. I am doing a slow opiate taper due to recent dependence because of a surgery.

This methadone can make me SEVERELY tired and lethargic. Sometimes i will be laying down and i will say things that make no sense, I will pass out unintentionally, and when I wake up I will shoot out of the laying position extremely fast as I find myself very short of breath unable to think and very light headed.

Are these common side effects of opiate dependence? The side effects are really beginning to scare me. My dose has been stable for the past 6 months and these side effects are relatively new.

Best answer:

Answer by Jonathan
I was addicted to pain killers after having complications with surgery right out of high school. I have had several friends die from Methadone trying to get clean from prescription drugs. If you are passing out from it, and it is causing shortness of breath, I would immediately consult your doctor and be very honest with him. If you are serious about getting off of prescription drugs, then you should not be taking Methadone in my opinion. I used Suboxone. It is similar, but it makes you have less side effects (being high), and is safer because it has something in it that makes you unable to abuse it as easily as methadone. It also will help you from feeling dope sick. That was my main thing when I was still addicted, was not wanting to feel dope sick. If you are serious about quitting then switch to Suboxone. You will not get high, like from the Methadone, but you can at least start working on the mental part of the addiction while not having to immediately deal with the physical part of getting clean as well. After you adjust to dealing with life without being high, then you can taper off the Suboxone as well. It is not nearly as hard to come off of as Methadone. Methadone can and will kill you if abused. I have buried several friends because of this drug. And just so you know how serious being on Methadone is, when my friends did die, it was very similar to how you are describing feeling out of breath and out of it. They died from Methadone slowing down their body until they just stopped breathing. People have died from much less than 55 mg. Good luck to you, I hope that you are able to conquer your addiction without it first killing you. I know that may sound pretty shitty, but it is the truth. I will not pretend that it is OK to take that stuff, and I have seen too many loved one die from it, and almost died myself from prescription drugs.

Answer by emmeline
Suboxone is an opioid drug just like methadone. It can also be abused and opiate naive individuals can and do get high from it. Neither Suboxone or methadone should cause any high in stable patients. Methadone has been used safely for over 50 years in the treatment of opioid dependence. The recent increase in deaths associated with methadone comes mostly from those who abuse the drug and obtain it from pain management patients or from doctors–NOT from the clinic system and its patients (SAMHSA/CSAT Methadone Mortality Report 2003 and 2007; White House GAC report, 2008).

Methadone CAN be dangerous if abused or mixed with other drugs–especially benzodiazepines–and most methadone related deaths occur from these situations, NOT from stable patients taking only methadone in a methadone clinic setting.

The dose you are on is not a high one. Avg. methadone dose for addiction treatment is 80-120mgs. However, if you are suddenly feeling oversedated, there may be something else going on. Not everything that occurs while on methadone is related to methadone. I would get a full checkup. You should NOT be feeling oversedated, nodding out, slurring your speech, etc–that is NOT normal.

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