how long does methadone withdrawal last

Well my first search brought me where I wanted to be!  I started on my methadone program in 2009 after a long and disastrous run with heroin.  It was my last resort and I was completely afraid.  I had a great experience on the clinic I attended, I think mainly because I went in ready to move forward.  I started at 30mg and ended up on a maintenance dose of 45mg.  I could have gone higher I'm sure but I always had detox in the back of my mind.  Today, I have 3 more bottles left @ 2 mg.  I have been detoxing for 6 months.  I started going down 1mg/week , went to 2 mg/ week and for the past month 3 mg/week to get me here.  Since I only ever heard horror stories about detox I was petrified.  I was expecting to withdrawal worse than ever before especially since I detoxed pretty quickly.  I just want to share with other people that although my rate of detox may be too quick for some, I made it through basically symptom free.  Some night the last few weeks I woke up a few times and occasionally I got the flashes or felt the need to shake my arms out and stretch my back.  Nothing on an unbearable scale.  If you are ready to come off of methadone and get back to really living life it can be done without complete distress.  I am here to talk if anyone needs it.

can i get wd's if i take methadone once a week

can i get withdrawals from taking 90mgs once a week

 reading you r post, im not sure how long ago it was posted, I have been on methadone for 10 years and was on 185 mls back then , today I am on 5 mls and going down 1 ml a week. I am managing to cope but my body hurts and mostly this is psycological, feeling depressed  but managing my everyday activities just the same, I have a question for you, do you think i should prolong the pain by diminishing slowly like this or since im at such a small dose just stop right now at 5mls and deal with the symptoms and be done, my email is

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. I thank you for your time if you have time to reply.

Are you planning to detox slowly or talking about just stopping?

I started mine 16 days ago and it's been the worst 16 days of my life! 

I was in school and working at a huge bar in Ann Arbor(GO Blue) started 3 years a ago taking a few 5 mg OC's and codeine pills. I would pop 10-20 5 mg OC's on the weekend And would tailgate, party do it to the max... College you know. But made sure I never took it two days in a row.3  years ago I met my now wife in school and she had just as much fun on the pills as I did. About 1.5 years ago my buddy had his script changed from codeine to 10 mg methadone. At first we stayed away from those because of the stigma but after about two months I first tried one. WOW CRAZY! At this time his clientele doubled and the oxy was gone so I figured if I take one Every few days. By the end of the 3rd month I was taking two a day. After 6 months my wife got off of them. And hoped I would start to but I didn't want too. In the next year starting in February I had a lot of traveling to different countries uraguay panama Montreal for foreign investing seminar's for energy and biotech. Therefore going out of town I would take pills with me to not withdrawal. By August I was taking 2-4 daily and I also got married at this time. From August to January was taking 2-5. FromJanuary to February I sorta slowed down but was on a half one day afull the next maybe 3 the day after and back to a half. 

 

On February 16th my guy reloaded and I just never went to pick them up. 

So this is how the drawing/coloring goes:

Day1- easy

Day2- tough but not even started

Day 3/6 worst time in my life. No sleep,shaking, sweating, THE LEGS(the worst), cold, 10 showers and 2 baths a day.

Day 7/10 same symptoms but ad on stomach problems, the runs, ears killed. By this time the insomnia creates a head buzzing the becomes the worst.

Day 11/14 comes in waves. One day good one day bad but getting betterstill no sleep and the internal problems become the worst.

Day 15/16getting better but the same symptoms. I am now getting 3 hours of sleep but going to the bathroom more then ever. I thought I could alway deal with stomach problems but not these ones.

It's not over by a long shot but getting a little better. I expect one or two more weeks of the physical then the mental.

I have been taking 

B6

Minerals and multi v

Isopure,

5-HTP best ideA ever. We would taking It in collegeafter using Molly or X because it replenishes your serotonin. If I don't taking it the mental would kill me.

Fish oil as well.

I never took any benzo's but I wish I did.

I don't think the aleve and vitamins have help at all. 

 

I don't consider myself as using to the extent of a clinic but I think if I took a clinical regiment of done this would have been easier instead of constant depleting and replenishing.

I could be wrong and getting off cold turkey from a  clinic could be worst.

Im sorry about the typo's but its how bad my mind is working.

I started methadone in 2007 at 80mg after being on heroin since I was 15. I am now 29 and thought it was time to wean off of methadone once and for all. In January 2013 I was down to 15mg. I started to lower my dose in the middle of January, like 2mg-4mg every few weeks, then in February I went from 8mg to 1mg, the last day I took methadone was the 1mg last Sunday.

I had been experiencing withdrawal symptoms from lowering my dose this past month and a half, but this week of no methadone has been harsh! What makes it hell for me is the same for most of us going through this- the restless legs, leg pain, and insomnia!!! I do experience bouts of extreme hopefullness and happiness, especially during the past few days, as I know I'll be free sooner rather than later! 

Today is day 7 and my legs really hurt. Last night in bed, I felt like all I did was spin around, constantly seeking out a comfortable position that of course did not exist. The insomnia last night felt worse than the past week of sleepless nights. I am most uncomfortable when I sit for prolonged periods, but getting up to get going seems to take me forever.  I find myself just wanting to get into bed at 7pm every night, though I know that getting into bed wont help my restless feelings and discomfort.  I ended up going back to work on day 5 (a desk job) because I couldn't stand being trapped in my apartment with the restlessness anymore! 

I have been taking greens+ powder mixed with protein powder as a drink every morning, fish oil, calcium, multi vits, tylenol, melatonin and gravol. My doctor prescribed a sleeping pill called Zopiclone which I'm hesitant to take.... Long hot showers really help, good music, and short walks are really helpfull too.

Thank you all for posting your stories, they are comforting to read! There are quite a few of us out there!

I think the withdraws should last prolly 24 hours

 

well, its me again, the original poster of the post im replying to, and today im on week #5 without methadone, since i ran out of xanax and all of my "ammo", ive went through the withdrawl head on only with clonidine which helped the physical part of the withdrawl, and seroquel which helped me sleep a little better, now i just take two immodium (anti-diarhea) pills when i wake up, and thats it pretty much... im never going back im so glad i was able to quit cold turkey without checking into rehab or anything..

It is your right! !! But who is telling you to come.off it?? This is a forum for people excercising their right TO COME OFF IT.

Been on methadone 20 or so years,1993 to be exact.At the first ten years i was still useing heroin.The methadone was a backup just in case my connect got popped or out. Istarted out on 80 mils and in 2000 went to 140 and quit junk.Cool for 12 years,worked and all that good sh*t and all of a sudden the leash was screwing with my head.I started useing hard drugs at 16 and am 60 now,anyway i jumped off the clinic at 140 mils,bad move and told my job to stick it and was gonna cop a bunch of methadone pills and detox at the pad. Bad move,i lack commen sense.I really had a burner going here, hell when i was 17 the draft wouldnt take me cause i was hooked, hell i wanted to go,the top shelf sh*t was in nam. I have no idea in hel why im stopping in the golden years of my life, i love the high and my health aint shot. Go figure. So i suggest if your a pain freak go for it, you aint gonna get a blue ribbon. Myself,i feel like im in a pinball machine bouncing all over the place for 8 month now. So after all these years im gonna go back on a clinic and let pros detox me.  Then go back to being a weekend warrior,yeah right?    HA HA HA.  Serious,Good luck people.

thank you for this post this has really helped me and made me feel im not alone i have been on methadone for about 8 yrs i am 33yrs old and after my mum and daughter passed away i decided enough was enough on this rubbish i got myself to 45mils every 3 days and thought im gonna just do it. this is my 9th day and its my legs that are driving me nuts the most not sleeping much either. my key worker got me zopiclone for sleeping ,buscopan for my tummy and quinine sulphate for my legs even though im struggling im not to sure about the meds. i am going to try the vits you have put on here do you have anymore advice i would be so grateful as i see you wrote this 1 month ago thank you

hi thanks for this post i am on day 10 from meth withdraw and my legs are driving me mad i reduced to 5mils every 3 days and now i am going for it. i will try magnesia my doc gave me quinine sulphate for my legs but looked them u on internet and they dont sound very safe so was looking for something else to help so i much appreciated this post hope it doesnt go on for much longer so tired x

Omg..thank you Lord I'm not alone. I AWACS in a bad accident almost 6 yrs. ago. They started me on Vicitan but it made my ulcers bleed so they changed me to Oxocodone....almost two years of that I said enought...my Dr. Put me on Methadone...started at 10 mg 5 times a day....I'm a fighter...I couldn't decide if the meds were helping or hurting....I cut my own self down to one 10 mg a day...hurt like he'll but I did it....for the last 9 days I haven't taken even one....can anyone tell me how long it takes to get this out of my system???

 

Janet G

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thanks in advance

Hi! I hope you are doing well. Sorry to hear about your mum and daughter.
I have been off methadone since March 4th. I can finally sleep through the night, though I get up at about 7am everyday. I didn't end up taking the zopiclone at all. Instead I took 100mg of 5HTP, a supplement found at health food shops and some drug stores. It is good for depression and works wonders as a sleep aid!
If you were on your 9th day when you wrote your post, things only improve from there. The restless legs are the worst!
I have been going on jogs (wtf, I know?!!) and actually like them know. As long as I have good music, that is. My body still hurts sometimes and I'm often cold, but other than that am feeling so good to be free!!
I really hope you were able to stick with it.

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