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Suggest Ways To Wean Off Methadone And Heroin
Question: I want to get off herion, I have methadone 50 10mg pills. I was going to start on 6 x 1 day, 5x1day, 4x3 days, 3x4 days, 2x4 days, 1x4 days, 1/2x 4 days. will this work without getting addicted to methadone? I have a job and family. I cannot enter rehab, I do not want to be completely laid out dope sick for a week...I went 9 days cold three months ago and went back because I still felt like shit and couldn't function I hardly slept I was walking around like a zombie. Ive been on herion for two years and oxycodone for two years before that. I get violently sick going off cold turkey so I wanted to try methadone .If you have better way to stack it or any other suggs please share. I am desperate to quit and will never go back if I can get through the sick days. I thought splitting my daily doses every twelve hours would be best?
Brief Answer:
CROSS TOLERANCE
Detailed Answer:
is really the first key concept to get across here. Drugs that work on the same chemicals in the same parts of the brain will be interchangeable. If someone is addicted to heroin, taking another narcotic prevents the withdrawal symptoms of the heroin but one is still in the same spot ... i.e., when one goes off the other narcotic there will be every bit of the same withdrawal, cravings, and addiction as with the heroin. They are substitutable. If someone is on heroin, methadone will prevent the withdrawal until the methadone is stopped. HOWEVER, methadone is longer lasting and gives less of an acute zooming euphoria than heroin BUT has very similar potential for fatal overdosing. This is why methadone is relatively quite risky for fatal overdose when used in contexts other than closely supervised in dedicated methadone treatment centers.
Next problem with methadone: it is long acting, the adjustments in its dosing take days to a week to have the adjustments take hold. If one were to decrease the dosing by 10%, the amount in the body would only come down the full 10% after 3-5 days of taking the lower dose. Furthermore, there is a delay between the blood level of methadone and the withdrawal that is days to a week or two. Longer acting narcotics take longer to have all their effects play out. Changing doses daily is not done.
Various outpatient treatment options with medical supervision:
methadone clinic
suboxone
ultra short term detox units.
My bias is toward suboxone. It puts one into a therapeutic context. One can try cutting back in a very safe context (if cuttting back doesn't work, then you can go back to the previous dose and learn what the problems are that didn't work... what symptoms or thoughts or social context kept one on the hook... and this can be worked through with therapy and ohter medications).
CROSS TOLERANCE
Detailed Answer:
is really the first key concept to get across here. Drugs that work on the same chemicals in the same parts of the brain will be interchangeable. If someone is addicted to heroin, taking another narcotic prevents the withdrawal symptoms of the heroin but one is still in the same spot ... i.e., when one goes off the other narcotic there will be every bit of the same withdrawal, cravings, and addiction as with the heroin. They are substitutable. If someone is on heroin, methadone will prevent the withdrawal until the methadone is stopped. HOWEVER, methadone is longer lasting and gives less of an acute zooming euphoria than heroin BUT has very similar potential for fatal overdosing. This is why methadone is relatively quite risky for fatal overdose when used in contexts other than closely supervised in dedicated methadone treatment centers.
Next problem with methadone: it is long acting, the adjustments in its dosing take days to a week to have the adjustments take hold. If one were to decrease the dosing by 10%, the amount in the body would only come down the full 10% after 3-5 days of taking the lower dose. Furthermore, there is a delay between the blood level of methadone and the withdrawal that is days to a week or two. Longer acting narcotics take longer to have all their effects play out. Changing doses daily is not done.
Various outpatient treatment options with medical supervision:
methadone clinic
suboxone
ultra short term detox units.
My bias is toward suboxone. It puts one into a therapeutic context. One can try cutting back in a very safe context (if cuttting back doesn't work, then you can go back to the previous dose and learn what the problems are that didn't work... what symptoms or thoughts or social context kept one on the hook... and this can be worked through with therapy and ohter medications).
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
I understand almost completely.
If I were to go 30mg daily for a week, 20mg daily for a week, 10mg daily/week, 5mg daily/week. would this be better? Because of my habit I am not sure if 30mg will do anything and then its stuck in my system and I am not willing to drop $2000 this week to stay on dope past holiday
I can also grit and bare it for the cold turkey detox, honestly my problem is Easter with family in 6 days. I am afraid I will still be in bad shape 5-6 days from now.
I will call suboxone Dr. tomorrow if I can find one, incredibly that's the one thing unavailable in the street and Dr.s are few and far between. If I have to wait a week for an appointment I may as well go through hell completely cold.
If you don't think my new methadone dosing will work, what can I get to help with cold detox besides Ibuprophen? The nausea is by far my worst symptom 24-36 hours throwing up, wont be able to eat or drink anything 4-5 days
If I were to go 30mg daily for a week, 20mg daily for a week, 10mg daily/week, 5mg daily/week. would this be better? Because of my habit I am not sure if 30mg will do anything and then its stuck in my system and I am not willing to drop $2000 this week to stay on dope past holiday
I can also grit and bare it for the cold turkey detox, honestly my problem is Easter with family in 6 days. I am afraid I will still be in bad shape 5-6 days from now.
I will call suboxone Dr. tomorrow if I can find one, incredibly that's the one thing unavailable in the street and Dr.s are few and far between. If I have to wait a week for an appointment I may as well go through hell completely cold.
If you don't think my new methadone dosing will work, what can I get to help with cold detox besides Ibuprophen? The nausea is by far my worst symptom 24-36 hours throwing up, wont be able to eat or drink anything 4-5 days
Brief Answer:
ok... several points.
Detailed Answer:
30 mg methadone by itself is not a fatal dose. Mixing it with other things gets dangerous. Alcohol, sedatives, other narcotics especially dangerous. 30 mg a week has to be when other drugs are out of the system. It is not a lot more than 40mg of percocet per day so... will tend to be withdrawal... and... 20 is a bit less than 30, but at 5 and 10 mg a day.. those are VERY low doses. On the other hand, going higher than 30 mg is not something I can recommend without really close supervision.
Then... it's standard nausea. Zofran, compazine, flat ginger ale...and pedialyte is small amounts very frequently a quarter cup every 10 min .. these are standard things in any nausea/vomiting situation. dehydration will send you into the ER. And more than 24 hrs without any fluid is an emergency. Perhaps even less than 24 hrs with diarrhea and vomiting. Feeling woozy with standing or feeling like blacking out is a very bad sign.
then... in the interest of full information.... integration of family into detox/recovery significantly increases success rates. So... bringing them into the picture in the context of getting off of drugs totally is an option that has been helpful for many. And.. harboring secrets especially if it lowers self-esteem and makes one upset, sad, angry, etc. tends to activate the parts of the brain involved with triggering addiction. Felt you should know that.
Cannot say in your particular case without direct examination, but can give general medical information that is generally accepted in situations of opiate addiction/withdrawal.
ok... several points.
Detailed Answer:
30 mg methadone by itself is not a fatal dose. Mixing it with other things gets dangerous. Alcohol, sedatives, other narcotics especially dangerous. 30 mg a week has to be when other drugs are out of the system. It is not a lot more than 40mg of percocet per day so... will tend to be withdrawal... and... 20 is a bit less than 30, but at 5 and 10 mg a day.. those are VERY low doses. On the other hand, going higher than 30 mg is not something I can recommend without really close supervision.
Then... it's standard nausea. Zofran, compazine, flat ginger ale...and pedialyte is small amounts very frequently a quarter cup every 10 min .. these are standard things in any nausea/vomiting situation. dehydration will send you into the ER. And more than 24 hrs without any fluid is an emergency. Perhaps even less than 24 hrs with diarrhea and vomiting. Feeling woozy with standing or feeling like blacking out is a very bad sign.
then... in the interest of full information.... integration of family into detox/recovery significantly increases success rates. So... bringing them into the picture in the context of getting off of drugs totally is an option that has been helpful for many. And.. harboring secrets especially if it lowers self-esteem and makes one upset, sad, angry, etc. tends to activate the parts of the brain involved with triggering addiction. Felt you should know that.
Cannot say in your particular case without direct examination, but can give general medical information that is generally accepted in situations of opiate addiction/withdrawal.
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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