Usually I post on the pain pill forum because lortab was my DOC. I've never done heroin. But I did go on methadone for almost 3 years to kick a lortab addiction. It was a mistake for me. I should have just tried harder to get off the lortab without resorting to methadone. But I know that methadone can be quite effective for heroin addicts. I've been off m-done for over a year and frankly haven't felt much like talking about it. But lately I have been wanting to learn more about methadone patients and more specifically people who have gotten off methadone. So far I have never heard anything positiive. I am clean, so that is positive, but I wasted 3 years of my life and a lot of money on methadone. I am really interested to hear from anyone who is on m-done or was on it and is off now. Was or is your experience a positive one? I wish there was a methadone board on this forum. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
Shelly
i went on methadone i was a heroin addict. I figured out FAST you can rot away in that clinic going years on end. I have a friend going 7 years strong on her dose BUT SHE'S CLEAN i don't knock that it is working for her that way.FOR ME I got the crap outta there as soon as i could. I went 8 months in total started going down 10mg a week to get out. i hated the clinic, the lines, the money, the time, exc. Methadone is not like doing mainline dope i hated i did not get that rush BUT I LOVED not getting dope sick i just knew it was not a long term answer. I am very glad it was there very pleased i've not used in 19 months been off methadone 11 of those months. I would not change the way things went. I got AWFUL sick going down that fast went thru 2 months of methadone withdraw worse then h withdraw but, i can't say it was the wrong way to go to recover. I ALWAYS hated seeing people at the clinc for pill addictions. METHADONE is a very very strong drug i think it's gave out to freely to pill addicts it causes them a ton more issues then they came in with. I would suggest to anyone to get off it as soon as they can if possible. My counslor said i'ld be there at least 2 years i could not do that I KNEW after a few months i was getting hooked on it i told them to cut it back.
I have mixed views on methadone, It is my boyfriend who is taking it.
He has been on it for 2 years now, and is tapering down at the moment. He is down to 34 from 50 (has been doing a 2ml drop per week)
He hates being on the methadone, he hates being attached to the clinic and haivng to go twice a week there, he doesnt like the way he feels on the methaodne, doesnt like the side effects....feeling lethagic, wieght gain, loss of sex drive etc etc bascially he wants to be off it.
So that is the negative side...BUT apart from one big relaspe he has been more or less clean on the methadone so i cant't say its all bad.
PLus i can't give a complete unbiased opinion as I have only ever known him whilst on methadone, i didnt know him during is proper active addiction to heroin.
You were on it for three years...now you have one year clean do you feel completly back to normal? how long did it take to start feeling normal? Because from what i understand from reading about methadone is that is goes into all the tissues of your body and so takes a long time to leave the body completly.....so even though you have stopped taking the methadone you can still feel withdrawel symptoms (is this right?)
so wondered how long after stopping the methadone you stopped feeling the withdrawels?
He has been on it for 2 years now, and is tapering down at the moment. He is down to 34 from 50 (has been doing a 2ml drop per week)
He hates being on the methadone, he hates being attached to the clinic and haivng to go twice a week there, he doesnt like the way he feels on the methaodne, doesnt like the side effects....feeling lethagic, wieght gain, loss of sex drive etc etc bascially he wants to be off it.
So that is the negative side...BUT apart from one big relaspe he has been more or less clean on the methadone so i cant't say its all bad.
PLus i can't give a complete unbiased opinion as I have only ever known him whilst on methadone, i didnt know him during is proper active addiction to heroin.
You were on it for three years...now you have one year clean do you feel completly back to normal? how long did it take to start feeling normal? Because from what i understand from reading about methadone is that is goes into all the tissues of your body and so takes a long time to leave the body completly.....so even though you have stopped taking the methadone you can still feel withdrawel symptoms (is this right?)
so wondered how long after stopping the methadone you stopped feeling the withdrawels?
Sashab,
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'm done with w/d yet. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. And it's not just the emotional w/d, I believe I still have some physical symptoms as well. I hate saying this because I don't want to discourage anyone. Everyone is different and I've heard people say they feel totally fine in a few months. It's just that my body never has gotten back to normal. My short term memory is crap. I have restless leg syndrome and sleep still eludes me. When I do sleep it is short amounts and very light. My poor husband, he tip-toes around me in the morning. On the weekends, if I am lucky enough to be sleeping in a little, he also encourages our daughter to try and keep it down. But usually, even when they are as quiet as possible, any little sound wakes me up. Often I have very disturbing dreams. The worst part is that while on m-done I put on about 30 pounds. I have a prior eating disorder, so this really upset me. But I figured once I got off methadone the weight would come off. A year later and I'm still 30 pounds heavier. I would understand if I ate all the time but my appetite is next to nothing. The important thing, though, is that I am off methadone. You couldn't pay me all the money in the world to go back on it. And although I've heard a few people say it worked for them, I will never encourage anyone to start methadone. I feel the only good thing to come from my experience with it is that I can speak out against it and warn people about how dangerous methadone really is. Your boyfriend is lucky to have you to be a support system to him.
Shelly
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'm done with w/d yet. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. And it's not just the emotional w/d, I believe I still have some physical symptoms as well. I hate saying this because I don't want to discourage anyone. Everyone is different and I've heard people say they feel totally fine in a few months. It's just that my body never has gotten back to normal. My short term memory is crap. I have restless leg syndrome and sleep still eludes me. When I do sleep it is short amounts and very light. My poor husband, he tip-toes around me in the morning. On the weekends, if I am lucky enough to be sleeping in a little, he also encourages our daughter to try and keep it down. But usually, even when they are as quiet as possible, any little sound wakes me up. Often I have very disturbing dreams. The worst part is that while on m-done I put on about 30 pounds. I have a prior eating disorder, so this really upset me. But I figured once I got off methadone the weight would come off. A year later and I'm still 30 pounds heavier. I would understand if I ate all the time but my appetite is next to nothing. The important thing, though, is that I am off methadone. You couldn't pay me all the money in the world to go back on it. And although I've heard a few people say it worked for them, I will never encourage anyone to start methadone. I feel the only good thing to come from my experience with it is that I can speak out against it and warn people about how dangerous methadone really is. Your boyfriend is lucky to have you to be a support system to him.
Shelly
My story has been told in bits and peices here ,ill try & keep it short,
20years ago,I got on mdone to get into steady treatment & stay out of prison. I was a bad heroin addict with many criminal charges. It saved me from from a lot of continued criminal activitiy but I didnt know it was going to be so difficult to get off.
Ive tried to get off ,and succeded a few times, only to wind up back on heroin after short spurts of being totally clean.
As of today ,I am sitll on mdone (only 40 mgs) but I stay away from the dope.
Ive managed to hold a job(career) for the last 10 years and raise a son as a single parent.
I try not to dwell on it it too much & still hold out hope that someday Ill be able to totally get of this juice. In the meantime, I go with it , I dont beat myself up over it.
I try to stay in shape, I havent gained much weight The side effects arent too bad. I am on viargra to take care of that side effect, but what the hell -so are many other guys who dont use drugs
When I 1st got on ,.sub was unheard of. Ive looked into that treatment, & it seems it works best for heroin addicts not people who have been on mdone for many years
I wouldnt reccomend this treatment to anyone excepy as a last resort. Its turns into a life style and not a treatment, fairly quick.
Hope this helps- be careful-
love & respect
jack
20years ago,I got on mdone to get into steady treatment & stay out of prison. I was a bad heroin addict with many criminal charges. It saved me from from a lot of continued criminal activitiy but I didnt know it was going to be so difficult to get off.
Ive tried to get off ,and succeded a few times, only to wind up back on heroin after short spurts of being totally clean.
As of today ,I am sitll on mdone (only 40 mgs) but I stay away from the dope.
Ive managed to hold a job(career) for the last 10 years and raise a son as a single parent.
I try not to dwell on it it too much & still hold out hope that someday Ill be able to totally get of this juice. In the meantime, I go with it , I dont beat myself up over it.
I try to stay in shape, I havent gained much weight The side effects arent too bad. I am on viargra to take care of that side effect, but what the hell -so are many other guys who dont use drugs
When I 1st got on ,.sub was unheard of. Ive looked into that treatment, & it seems it works best for heroin addicts not people who have been on mdone for many years
I wouldnt reccomend this treatment to anyone excepy as a last resort. Its turns into a life style and not a treatment, fairly quick.
Hope this helps- be careful-
love & respect
jack
Hi Shelly, thanks for replying....what yousaid about still feeling symptoms even a year later...is what i seem to have read a lot of people saying.
My boyfriend has this idea that once off the methadone all will be better, he was saying after a month the w/d would be mostly gone. He is talking from the other times he has taken methadone adn then stopped...but he has never taken it for as long as period as now....therefore i think the w/d's will probably last longer.
After after saying all this...what i said in my last post about him being clean...SO NOT TRUE,....as i found out last night....bascially the whole past month if not longer really has been a relaspe...in fact well i think the last two months he has been using. Not everyday though there have been weeks when he has used everyday....like this week. this is all what he has told me so maybe take it with a pinch of salt..as all he seems to do is lie
Had a CRAP night last night, today not much better, now gone into a bit of an angry stage (as you probably see from this post)
so as for the postiives for methadone...not sure anymore cos wot i said b4 about him at least being clean...wasnt true (more fool me i suppose for believing him)
My boyfriend has this idea that once off the methadone all will be better, he was saying after a month the w/d would be mostly gone. He is talking from the other times he has taken methadone adn then stopped...but he has never taken it for as long as period as now....therefore i think the w/d's will probably last longer.
After after saying all this...what i said in my last post about him being clean...SO NOT TRUE,....as i found out last night....bascially the whole past month if not longer really has been a relaspe...in fact well i think the last two months he has been using. Not everyday though there have been weeks when he has used everyday....like this week. this is all what he has told me so maybe take it with a pinch of salt..as all he seems to do is lie
Had a CRAP night last night, today not much better, now gone into a bit of an angry stage (as you probably see from this post)
so as for the postiives for methadone...not sure anymore cos wot i said b4 about him at least being clean...wasnt true (more fool me i suppose for believing him)
Hey Shelly,
I was on methadone to kick an OC addiction and found out quickly the clinic didnt want to taper me but put me on maintenence. Methadone has a long half life and I had to detox off it in a treatment center. You could come off it on your own. My advice would be go slowly, about 5 mg a week because methadone is a hard withdrawal. I've been off methadone for for 2 years now and I don't miss that drug at all. It can be done. It also helps to have a Dr. to add clonidine to aid the withdrawal. Hang in there and let me know what happens.
I was on methadone to kick an OC addiction and found out quickly the clinic didnt want to taper me but put me on maintenence. Methadone has a long half life and I had to detox off it in a treatment center. You could come off it on your own. My advice would be go slowly, about 5 mg a week because methadone is a hard withdrawal. I've been off methadone for for 2 years now and I don't miss that drug at all. It can be done. It also helps to have a Dr. to add clonidine to aid the withdrawal. Hang in there and let me know what happens.
