Should I Stop My Methadone Treatment, Your Advice Would Be Greatly Appreciated?

Question by Violet: Should I stop my methadone treatment, your advice would be greatly appreciated?
Here is the thing, I am an ex-drug addict, I was a pretty bad user, (started pills when I was 18 from a chronic pain condition called endometrosis) but I have been sober or clean from heroin and pills for 2 years about….I got on methadone treatment about 2 years ago. I am living with my friend who is into natural medicine and is against methadone. I know that methadone causes some stuff like i heard it depletes the calcium in the bones over time, and it’s REALLY hard to get off..I know I tried before. But I don’t want to be on it for the rest of my life. I am 27 and I’m on 105mg a day.
My roommate says I should get off because
1. it prevents me from going/living anywhere that doesn’t have a methadone clinic nearby.
2. I have to go almost everyday to the clinic..(I’m on phase 2 which means I can have 3 take-outs a week, and I will be getting my phase 3 soon.)
3. He’s worried about the calcium thing.
4. Also he thinks I will die from a liver thing or slow breathing in my sleep.
Those are the main things he is worried about,but the things is..I have been on it for about 2 years and I have not had a dirty UA since getting on the methadone. It’s has been helping me..Also it really is hard to get off.
5. I had an EKG done and my QT levels are off….but my methadone doctor said he sent the results to a cardiologist and he said the heart waves on the paper looked fine…He called my primary and said it was alright…but it still makes me a little worried.

I have heard of this treatment called. Ibogain? It supposedly helps people get off opiates, and it addresses the withdrawal that would come with stopping it.

I know I don’t want to be on it forever but….it’s helping me right now….what do you think?

Thank you.
Wow, thank you J Miller for your answer, you know alot about this subject..as should I. 🙂 I have been reading up on it…but some of the sites I have been to are vague and say stuff that isn’t necessarily true. That’s why I wanted other opinions and facts from people who know what they are talking about. Thank you for replying to my question. I really don’t feel ready to get off….but my friend has been pressuring me….just cuz he thinks it;’s a bad thing to be on it for a long time….but then what does he know…I will let him know what I found out about it. I really am doing better now then I was not on the treatment.
Thank you for your input. Hope you have a great day/night.

Best answer:

Answer by Foxxxybeach M
ya know i would dump it. if your doing heroin any more then why do you need it ..?isnt methadone a replacement for heroin? sounds all psychological to me and youre a meal ticket to the docs too.if you are not getting high then move on with your life. take 50mgs i thought you wrote you take 105mg’s….cut it in half see how it goes. you dont need anything, drugs makes you miserable and takes your real life away. i would try my hardest to shape up 100%. be the one who makes it for a change….be that one. i have faith in you. you can do it! forget that junk.if its cacium your worried about…lol i think ya did a number on yourself already…drink milk it does a body good

Answer by J Miller
You and your friend do not have to worry about calcium being depleted in your bones. That’s not true. It doesn’t happen. It’s a myth that is unfortunately being spread around as fact. You also don’t have to worry about your liver. Opioids, including methadone, not toxic to the liver and causes no damage to it even from very long periods of use. In fact, methadone is a very safe drug for the body. It causes no damage to your organs or any other body parts. There are some studies that show a link between methadone and qt prolongation for people who are predisposed to this problem but there are also studies that show that there is no link. The jury is out on that one. Other than the potential qt prolongation issue methadone is a very safe medication.

Your friend also shouldn’t worry about slowed breathing in your sleep. It’s true that methadone can suppress breathing which can be fatal during sleep since breathing is normally slowed down while we sleep. That’s usually how people die from methadone overdoses. However, a person who is tolerant and on a stable, regular dose the risk of dying from a methadone overdose is slim to none. Because you are tolerant to the effects of methadone it doesn’t suppress your breathing. The overdoses that do happen almost exclusively happen to people who use methadone recreationally and those who are new to methadone treatment and have not yet developed a tolerance and stabilized. The majority of these people are people who are being treated for pain. It’s actually very rare that people in methadone maintenance treatment die from methadone overdoses. People on MMT has a tolerance coming in, are only given one dose a day and are taken up slowly which decreases the risk of overdose. When people in MMT die from methadone related overdoses it’s almost always because they mixed it with high doses of benzodiazepines. There are a number of studies that back up these facts if you are interested in double checking it.

I would urge you to be careful that you get your info from reputable sources. There is so much misinformation about it out there. Case in point are the people who have responded to your questions here who have no clue what they are talking about. You can get good, accurate info from government sites like SAMHSA’s and NIDA’s sites. This site about methadone myths is from the Canadian government agency Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and is very good, imo: http://www.camh.net/Care_Treatment/Resources_clients_families_friends/Methadone_Maintenance_Treatment/mmt_clienthndbk_myths.html

Regarding your actual question – should you get off methadone – nobody can tell you. You have to do what YOU think is right for you at this time. Are you ready to get off? Do you think that you can remain drug free and have a good life without the help of methadone? If so, start tapering. If not, don’t let anyone else infuence you to get off. A lot of people are anti-methadone because they don’t understand it and have bought into a bunch of myths that are floating around. I wouldn’t pay much attention to them. They don’t have to suffer in your skin when you relapse from getting off too soon. And unfortunately the relapse rates are quite high after discontinuing MMT early. The longer you are in treatment the better. 2 years is the recommended minimum but most people I know have needed it much longer. You don’t have to be on methadone for life just because you don’t get off now. There is no harm at all to stay in treatment if you feel you need it for a while longer. When you feel ready you can start tapering. It is possible to get off methadone and it doesn’t have to be hard. It just takes a long time to do it right. From your dose it should take about a year. That may sound like a long time but what’s a year in a lifetime? You will waste much more time if you do it quicker and end up relapsing which most do.
So just take it slow, listen to yourself, educate yourself and your friend and do what you think is best for your sobriety.
If you want to get some more info and support I highly recommend visiting this forum for methadone patients: http://atwatchdog.lefora.com/forum/category/main-forum/

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