Methadone Withdrawal?
Question by dervish: Methadone Withdrawal?
I’ve been going to a methadone clinic for about 6 days now on 70mg for opiate withdrawal. I didn’t realize how strong methadone is until a few days ago and now I want to come off this crap. The clinic will only let you go down 10mg at a time and when you get down to 5mg you have to stay at that dose for a while. How strong do you think withdrawal will be for me being only 6 days in? Please only answer if you have experience with methadone.
Best answer:
Answer by Tattoo Your Soul
I was on Methadone for a few months, and like you, wanted nothing more than to come off. I didn’t realize how hooked I was though, because I didn’t have to hustle to support my habit anymore. 70mg is a pretty high dose. I cold-turkey kicked 60mg after a few months on it, and I hurt for months afterward.
You say you’re doing it for withdrawal, does that mean just to detox off opiates so you wouldn’t have to be dopesick? Because if so, you should try Suboxone instead, it is more expensive, but you could then stop taking the met and start taking Suboxone instead. Suboxone also contains an opiate blocker, so you couldn’t get high even if you tried, you’d just end up dopesick without the “benefits.” And when you come off Suboxone, the withdrawals are a lot milder, and the taper doesn’t take as long.
I know for me, when I start using heroin again, I am physically addicted within 3 days. So I would say you are, at this point, probably physically dependent on the methadone. 70 mg is a high dose, as I said, and odds are, coming off it cold-turkey wouldn’t be much fun. I don’t know which opiod you were addicted to, but I do know met has the most severe, painful withdrawals out of ’em all.
Honestly, met clinics don’t care about your health or your wishes, it’s all about cash from what I’ve experienced. But my suggestion is to do as they say, but don’t let them force you to stay on for longer than you need to. 10 mg at a time is a good taper, but how often are you decreased? And at 5 mg, you could probably handle a cold-turkey kick, depending on your history as far as what you’ve kicked in the past.
And I know for me, the only thing that keeps me clean is NA. So if you’re willing, I’d suggest checking out an NA meeting, too. You can find a lot of support. Course, if you’ve got a habit, odds are you know about that already. Feel free top contact me anytime, give me your e-mail address and I’ll send you my email address, I don’t use my Yahoo! one. Good luck, I hope it all works out.
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