I Am Scared To Death...

Methadone
1
Hello to all who read this.
I am at 80 mg, but I have been at 80 for 8 years, a long time. I know that the longer you're on it the harder it is to get off, so I'm scared to death.
Since my insurance doesn't cover rehab, my only choice is to do it slowly, so I've come up with a plan. I'm thinking of shorting my dosage by maybe 5 mg once every two or three weeks. I only go to the clinic once a month (which is great), but if I start to go down on my dosage they will force me to go every day, or at least once a week, and that is not an option for me, I can't stand to go there even once a month, so no way. I guess I'll have to measure it out best I can and pour 5 mg out each morning, I can figure it out by way of percentage. Once I start to feel a bit sick, I'll stop dropping until I level out, and when I start feeling better I'll start dropping by maybe 3 mg until I feel sick again, stop level out, etc. I've been told that I won't start to feel really sick until I'm down to the last 20 mg, that's the part that scares me, I'll have to really slow it down when I get to 20. It's when I start feeling really sick that I'm not sure what to do.
I know that when you go to rehabilitation clinics, they give you a plethora of medications that really help you get through the worst of your withdrawals, so what I'm wondering is this, if I were able to find out what sort of medications the rehab centers use for their methadone patients, would it be possible to go to a regular doctor and ask for a few of those same prescriptions? Wouldn't they have to give me something to help get through this?

Lucy
2
Hi Lucy
Get down to as low as u can and go from there. Lots of good info here. ..read...and I get your fear...not gonna lie...it sucks and its long...longer than a normal kick...but doable...i just did it....get your head ready...get prepared...it's not going to kill you...but..well..it is a kick...don't let the fear paralyze you...get support for after the physical is done..you are going to be ok....
3
lucy , fear is what always gets us, im on day 40 clean , and it wasnt as bad as most say , i slept every single night since my last dose, i jumped off at 7.5 mgs, on may 1, you have to be ok, with not being ok for alittle while, not everyone gets the same symptoms, but the most important thing is dont let it get inside your head, stay above the water. and ride it out, you just have to out last the feelings. you got this, many have made this journey and so can you.
God Bless
4
use the syringes they use to measure out medicine for babies so you can be more accurate. Also, I just came off methadone from 95 mg max (although i was on 65mgs for most of the 5.5 years i was there). While I was going down, all the nurses and counselors at the clinc kept telling me s*** like that. "you won't even feel it till you get to 20" "it can get pretty bad once you get to 10". It made me so mad because I didn't know why they would even put that in my head! But guess what? it never got really bad. the worst I felt was between 6 and 5 and even that was unbearable. i've been off 33 days now and I feel totally back to normal. I got all the way down to 1 mg before jumping and I think that helped A LOT. The first week was just the chills and 2 days of diarrhea. I was still able to function, go to work, play with my kid etc. I read all the horror stories online too and was terrified. That's why i wanted to share my NOT horror story with you! Good luck!
5
I have been off of 2 to 3 10 mg metadone that I took for about 4 to 5 months. I haven't taken any in 3 weeks but still feel weak and have to modivate myself to do anything!! My boyfriend doesn't understand the depression, etc. and trys to push me to do work around the house inside and outside. Does this ever end???? I want to feel normal again with more energy. Is there anything that helps???
6
im on day 48 and yes it slowly gets better, what everyone will tell you is exercise, i didnt want to do anything , but i just forced my self too, and it got easier every time, just got back from a fun filled day at the river with my kiddo, never dealt with the depression, maybe someone chime in to answer that for you. Look on the positive side of all this, your free.