How long does methadone withdrawls last?

don't believe everything you read or hear. as most of us know it's hard enough to predict how (much) you will feel each time you take a drug, the withdrawals are pretty unpredictable too, from person to person and depending on amounts and substances plus how long, how often. my use is low enough that i am having usually minor withdrawal periodically but never totally stopping, although i have twice, once with suboxone (best) which does need to be tapered from and i didn't know that. the biggest problem is availability of what you need when you need it, leading to feeling out of control/helpless. for me the psychological is the worst, since i haven't had the restless legs thing for a while (very worst imo) and just losing ability/feeling to live a life. dealing with methadone is a new one on me though, and it helps get away from the worst, Heroin, but i'm scared of the longevity factor i'm hearing about, even though things are much less intense for me now. i don't have that kind of long term will power. what sucks is i didn't even need it at the time my husband got a script for his serious back pain. i also have severe physical problems, but this nightmare isn't much of a bargain. if i could have gotten just a couple codeins or something when desperately needed i wouldn't have done such a stupid thing as heroin, or if i did for some reason it would have been absolutely limited to one time, i'm really not a complete id**t. 2 people are very hard to quit together, let me tell you, there's a jealousy factor and it's really easy to badly influence each other. never on the same page it seems, when it comes to will power and quitting. all i can say is withdrawals are a terrifying prospect, it's a deep hole you fall into, but for me not always the same nightmare i'm hearing about. prayer does help too, some people manage to almost bypass much of the suffering. i think every instance of moderation is at least helpful, whether out of necessity or will. and try to understand relapse, this stuff is tricky. boredom is a huge killer, since your life disappears along with energy (that could be the Hep talking). and i have found that your body can manufacture pain to get you to use. the more you develop pattern of relapse the less predictable your own will becomes. it's very mental and extremely physical at the same time, the bastard.

p.s. one time i quit was by tapering heroin which was freely available, that is next to ridiculously impossible as far as your mind f*****g with you etc. good luck trying to taper that sh*t. the other time went to n/a after a little tapering out of desperation plus prayer and that was pretty good for me. never been to detox, but i would imagine that could be helpful if bed is available (for heroin). methadone is the mildest and easy to taper etc. but the long term i keep hearing about is really scary. how bad is it from a week or so of 5 MG off of 10MG???? (with a few days of 20 in the beginning and a couple shots of h.) anyone else? experimenting is bad i know but it makes me think i have some kind of control (yeah right) plus i really like the i.v. aspect of heroin for some odd reason. it really is more devastatingly intense than all the other options. also getting sleep is absolutely vital by any means necessary. if you detox too extreme you can have a seizure (my husband) or go psychotic from stress plus lack of sleep (me), and either one can be deadly. also an amount that is sufficiently low enough to withdraw can be sometimes be high enough to o.d. in slightly different circumstances (if that makes sense) and even o.d.ing will probably not be enough to cure you (if you survive).

I JUST WANTED TO SAY FOR THE PEOPLE THAT I SEE ON HERE THAT ARE TAKING SUBOXONE ITS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF METH AND IF YOU GUYS CAN'T SEE THAT THEN YOU NEED TO QUIT GOING TO THE DRS. AND TURN TO SOME FAMILY.... WE HAVE FOUR CHILDREN AND I THINK THE ONLY THING HELPING MY HUSBAND IS THAT HE WANTS TO DO IT FOR HIMSELF AND FOR HIS KIDS SO HE CAN DO THINGS WITH THEM AGAIN.. I DON'T THINK ANOTHER DRUG IS THE ANSWER TO ANYONES PROBLEMS.. MY HUSBAND HAS A BACK PROBLEM BUT NOT BAD ENOUGH TO DO SURGURY SO A PAIN MANAGEMENT PLACE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HELP HIM DEAL WITH HIS PAIN DECIDED TO PUT HIM ON METHADONE INSTEAD AND OUR LIFES HAVE BEEN CRAZY EVERY SINCE HE WELL FALL ASLEEP WHILE WE ARE SITTING UP ON THE COUCH TALKING AND I'LL WAKE HIM UP HE SAYS I WASN'T SLEEPING .... IT HAS SCREWED THINGS UP AND I PRAY THAT HIM AND EVERYONE GOING THREW THE WITHDRAWS OF METHADONE MAKES IT THREW BUT I ALSO HOPE THAT YOUR WITHDRAWS ARE SO BAD IT MAKES YOU NOT WANT TO TAKE THE PILLS EVER AGAIN AND GO BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE.... PEOPLE SAY THAT THE PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ADDICTED DON'T KNOW AND I AM HERE TO SAY YES WE DO ITS JUST A DIFFERENT FEELING WE HAVE BUT IF YOU ARE TRULY THERE FOR YOUR FAMILY THEN YOU ALL GO THREW IT... IN SOME WAY OUR KIDS ARE GOING THREW IT JUST DIFFERENT FROM ME AND ALL DIFFERENT FROM DADDY... THATS JUST SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE DONE ... I WISH YOU ALL LUCK AND I HOPE IT DOESN'T TAKE YOU BACK TO WHERE YOU STARTED....

I'm on day 9, of not only Methadone (8 years of use) BUT, Topamax,Wellburtrin XL,Mirapex,Trazodone, and Celebrex! DON'T GO COLD TURKEY!!! I'm a 51 year old women whom was in a auto acc. 3/28/00 (Chronic Pain) All of my meds. where under Dr. care..(Pain Management) But after 8 years I've decided I'm done., The first 3 day's NO Big Deal. Chills, body pain,cramps. Day 4 started a whole new ordeal. Blood Pressure and tightening in the chest. Day 5 I was in the ER. Hooked up to all kinds of machines, Thank the LORD, Everything I was experiencing was only from WITHDRAWS. They put me on Clonidine and Ativan. Day 6 went to my family Dr. (of course he ask me if I was trying to do myself in) He changed the Ativan to Xanax. Which I agreed with entirely. Ativan was not right for me.. I'm just now abel to open my laptop to check up on this topic. I'm SURE I'M DOING THE RIGHT THING, BUT I SHOULD HAVE USED WISDOM! And not done it ALL at once... I'm not alone I have Jesus Christ with me. And that is the ONLY way I've made it this far and this well. You see I'm TRUSTING GOD to take care of everything that the meds were doing. I know he has gotten me though this. And I know it's HIS Will That I Quit ALL of these MED'S. BUT PLEASE USE WISDOM, DON'T DO IT THE WAY I DID!!!

I think this is going to last any where from thirty to sixty days. My mother in law has been giving me xanax and it seems to calm me down and let me sleep. This is only my first week and I know the worst is yet to come. I hate the Methadone clinic, and the whole time I had been going 2 years straigth I never took any other drugs. Now I see myself not being able to live without the xanax. I want to rip my hair out and jump out the window. I think I have "Methadone Madness"! Detox around a 8 year old child is even worse, she is trying to under stand why her happy go lucky mother now wants to sleep all the time and is pouring sweat, popping, and pretty much going crazy.

This is me entirely. I have an eight year old who found me dead from xanax and methadone. Now I'm trying to get off the clinic by backing myself off at home with my take outs. I have to buy xanax off the street and that turns me into a whole different person. Falling asleep with cigs, burning things, I'll go like three days without the methadone than I get scared or can't find any xanax and go right back to the clinic. I can't believe this is the alternative from heroin. At least that drug takes a week to kick. I'm so sad too, on the days I have nothing I can't stop crying, I get paranoid, I can't sleep, eat, shower. I hate being out of control. I am on a 120 sometimes I take 60 sometimes nothing, the xanax helps allot, but it makes me even crazier.

If you really want to quit, dont kid yourself, JUST DO IT! I have severe lower back pain that started when I was 23 due to 3 forms of scoliosis and have taken Norcos for 7 years in various doses from the 1st prescribed 3 a day, went up to 20 or so a day, then back down to the regular prescribed dosage. It was a wicked cycle for me. I lost my ALL my family except my Aunt, my company, 3 offices, my hummer and mercedes ALL due to norcos. I lost it all. My life was over in my mind. None of my family will speak to me and thats what hurts the most because im off EVERYTHING now. But back 2 how I quit which was a very "unique way" and I was angry at first but just took it as a blessing.

I am 30 years old. I saw myself going downhill quickly. I went from making BIG unrealistic amounts of money during the sub-prime refinance boom all the way down to 0! I mean grossing over 100K a week at times. Once that all ran out and my partner dissapeared, I started borrowing money from friends and clients. Started out getting about 15K per person, then 10k, then 5K, then everyone saw that my company was not going to pick back up again and would not loan me anymore money. I am in personal debt of over 100k just from that little borrowing spree. This was all due to unclear thinking from Norcos. I would flip if I only was woring with 10K a week. Then I realized after a while that it wasnt the amount of money that I was getting it was the way I was thinking.

i have been withdrawling for 25 days now. I also had a cardiac arrrest tha last time i quit cold turkey but this time I am determined to get my life back!!! i am so sorry for your loss zachs mom. I too understand how a loss to addiction is and I hope that for my sake and my families that i make it through safely this time. Tommarrows another day and im thirsty anyway so BRING ON THA RAIN!!! I just have to keep tellin myself that I am gonna get through this and not loose tha life ive missed out on for a year. I WILL GET MY LIFE BACK!!

I've been on methadone for 3 years and yes it did save my life but also it is very hard 2 get off of. You can not just quit cold turky as I have done that before and ended up in the hospitol. This time I went down a few miligrams every week and yes it takes awhile but when you do it slow you really don't feel any symptoms and I got down to 5 miligrams and had a few hot flash's so my doctor gave me librium to help with them and I feel completly fine and its been 7 days alread

to the guest who replied to Zach's mom. i found your reply quite adict nature, you jumped the gun on her for stateing an opinion.
like you said it's just an opinion, everyone is not going to view it the same way because they have thier opinion, just like your opinion on it seems to be entirely different from mine. you must had viewed it as an insult to all users, and it seemed you were worried that everyone would view it the way you did. i however understand her point of view. it does save lives and can end them as well, mostly if you abuse it or mix it yes i agree to that but it can aslo kill you with out doing any of that it can cause you to fall asleep behinde the wheel or detoxing can kill you there is to many reasons to list but as i said an opinion is just an opinion

If someone has a heroin addiction or at least a physical dependence on a opiate drug the worst thing anyone can do is just stop cold turkey. This could be potentially life threatening and will most likly not work. There are a rare few that can just go cold turkey but that is not the way to go about it. I have been on a methadone program for 5 years now and it saved my life. I used to use about 7 to 11 bags a day and on top of that I was also doing cocaine and shooting speedballs. The county/state run methadone program stoped me from needing the one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollar a day habit. I had a job and some money in the bank but that was gone after a year or two of using heroin and cocaine I then started to deceive the people that cared about me so I could obtain the money I needed. I have been clean for about five years now, I have a job once again and I am getting medical treatment for the anxiety and depression that I was trying to medicate with my use of drugs. I do not know how other methadone programs are run but here in NY it is highly regulated and very strict. I recently started my detox from a 100 miligram dose and I plan on doing it slowly, it is the only way to detox.

The moral of this story is that you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP ON YOUR OWN! You will need help from a doctor and simply wanting it is sometimes not enough. Get into an outpatient program so you can slowly wean yourself off of an opiod drug.

if this methodone is mdma as i feel it probably is, i have a similar problem...

the first time i took it i took about half a gram, and then three days later i took 2 bombs, then i stopped for a while,

after over a month and a bit i did it again, and i took a gram of it in lines and bombs i think i took over 10 bombs, i also was on lots of pretty strong weed that night and i drank about half a bottle of vodka and some strongbow aswell,

i am at the age of 17 now but all this drugs are really screwing me up, and now im on a MASSIVE comedown, how long will this last? and might my mind and body be permantly screwed up?

to your response, i too have been on it for 6 months. i went from 80mgs and worked my way back down to 40mgs. now, for some reason i don't get the same benefit as others with that touch of euphoria, rather i felt like i wqas having withdrawls daily with the sweating profusely, irritable and so on. i d3cided to quit last week and got all the over the counter things i could, and have my xanax for my anxiety. the only thing i have experienced to this date was stomach cramps and the usual aches. everyone told me no, but i hate this stuff and it's too cumbersome. i may be the one fortunate person that has had mild w/d's but i hope this helps. i am by no means telling you this is what you should do! pray, it helps the most.....

peep game yall!!! we are all adults here and know that methadone has its good sides and its bad sides! the good is the obvious: thats when youre able to function normally! and live a damn near normal life!! but i was on heroin in dayton ohio for the past 4 painful years! I then enrolled into the Richmond Treatment Center located in Richmond Indiana! i have not shot dope in 4 months. I had been taking my drink every day for 6 months! well i detoxed out in 11 days! i went from 110 mg to 0 in that 11 days! i got my family to allow me to stay with them and i honestly thought the Lord had delivered me from withdrawls. I had been staying at my grandmothers house for 9 days with no withdrawls...the only problem that i was having was the no sleeping sh*t! which that alone will make a crazy ass like myself even crazier! i can handle the puking, sh**ting, sweating, twitching.....but that no damn sleeping sh*t, seriously makes me wanna hurt somebody! so.... medically does anyone know a realistic amount of time that these withdrawls continue for an average person who is active and just lives a "NORMAL" life? i dont wanna hear what yall "think" the facts are...i wanna hear some real talk!! so get back at me! and remember: " IDLE TIME...IS THE DEVILS PLAYGROUND" I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST AND THATS COMING FROM A FELLOW ADDICT THATS BEEN THERE AND IS STILL THERE BUT NOT USING! NOT FROM SOME ASS THAT POPS OFF WITH THIS FAMOUS LINE!!! " JUST PUT IT DOWN AND DONT THINK ABOUT IT!!!" HA HA HA HA HA!!! AND I ALWAYS SAY... " OH sh*t, WHY DIDNT I THINK OF THAT?!" LOL GET BACK AT ME YALL

I was a street user of methadone for 4 years, when I finally decided that i needed help i was refered to methadone detox using methadone. Now it didnt make any sense that i had to take methadone to get off of methadone but i did it anyways. Now I have been on the methadone clinic for almost 2 years. i got pregnant in November and went down as far as i could go which was 35mg, my daughter was born healthy with no withdrawl symptems September 2nd. I was blessed that she was born healthy with no issues, that was my worst fear. After she was born I started to detox down and now Im at 20mg and going down 5mg a week. Well to make a long story short i feel like c**p! I have no energy, a heavy feeling in my chest and cold sweats like craazy! Tylenol Pm isnt cutting it and neither is coffee. Help me please i'll try anything at this point. :'(