i have been on methadone for 2yrs and have been messing around w/my dose lately.I caved and took way too much/too often and now i will run out like 5 days early-if i half dose for 6 days,i run completely out 3 days early.Its been a nightmare-i feel Methadone has saved my life from a huge opiate addiction .Im able to work and be normal BUT why the desire to take extra took over the knowing Id run short,i have no explanation for. Any way I can make it? Can I actually survive off half doses for 6 days?? Can I take opiates on days in between to stretch the methadone out so it stays in my system? I do not want to quit going to the clinic and if i go into w/d, im sure to loose my job/..any advice? I thought to try and go 3 days,separate w/o Methadone and half doses in between.
tryingveryhard,
If you 1/2 your doses it should keep you doing "OK" until you pick up your weekly doses again. ALOT of what you are going thru is in your head, a mind game of sorts, and being an addict we are very good at doing that to ourselves. You can make yourself feel really bad if you dwell on it too much, but if you need to work you need to work and keep your job. Keeping busy will help the time go by and then you can go home and take care of yourself. And I don't mean by using!!!
If you fail a drug test you may lose your take-homes and if you tell them what you have been doing it could cause the same reaction. I would push to do the right thing ,especially if you have been clean for 2 years as you say and let how crummy you may feel be the reminder and the a** kicker you need to NOT DO IT AGAIN! Methadone stays in your system ideally 24 to 36 hours for most patients.
Since you have take-homes you should know better than to mess with them like that.
Is your regular dose not high enough that the doses you get aren't holding you? If that is the case make an appointment with your clinic doctor right away and ask to go up. If you aren't on a dose that holds you,( so you don't feel the need to get loaded and that if you did you wouldn't feel it) then you need to go up 5 to 10 mgs a week or however often your doctor says until you feel no urge to use or take extra methadone. Making the appt now and it will hopefully get cleared for you to go up by the next time you pick up your 6 pack.
This should be fixable if you are serious about it. You may be a little uncomfortable for a few days unless you have been doing this longer than you said, but even then it shouldn't be that bad. I don't think you said what your dose is.
Good luck and please let us know how you are doing!!
granny
If you 1/2 your doses it should keep you doing "OK" until you pick up your weekly doses again. ALOT of what you are going thru is in your head, a mind game of sorts, and being an addict we are very good at doing that to ourselves. You can make yourself feel really bad if you dwell on it too much, but if you need to work you need to work and keep your job. Keeping busy will help the time go by and then you can go home and take care of yourself. And I don't mean by using!!!
If you fail a drug test you may lose your take-homes and if you tell them what you have been doing it could cause the same reaction. I would push to do the right thing ,especially if you have been clean for 2 years as you say and let how crummy you may feel be the reminder and the a** kicker you need to NOT DO IT AGAIN! Methadone stays in your system ideally 24 to 36 hours for most patients.
Since you have take-homes you should know better than to mess with them like that.
Is your regular dose not high enough that the doses you get aren't holding you? If that is the case make an appointment with your clinic doctor right away and ask to go up. If you aren't on a dose that holds you,( so you don't feel the need to get loaded and that if you did you wouldn't feel it) then you need to go up 5 to 10 mgs a week or however often your doctor says until you feel no urge to use or take extra methadone. Making the appt now and it will hopefully get cleared for you to go up by the next time you pick up your 6 pack.
This should be fixable if you are serious about it. You may be a little uncomfortable for a few days unless you have been doing this longer than you said, but even then it shouldn't be that bad. I don't think you said what your dose is.
Good luck and please let us know how you are doing!!
granny
