methadone addiction symptoms

Anna: Your worry about Your brothers possible Methadone addiction may be not as bad as you think!
Methadone at normal doses (10-80 mg) will not make him high, effect his driving, his job etc. Methadone is probaly the smartest thing he did to kick the percocet!
The only thing is I don't know if he's getting it from a clinic or a pain doc.? I was addicted to Loratab after a auto accident, and when my liver blood work came back a bit high, my pain doctor put me on 50 mg of methadone and 10 mg of oxycotin...The oxy was twice as addicting as loratab (I was taking 10/325 many times 2 at a time!) I asked him about possible addiction to the oxy etc he said "I dont't care what pain med your taking it has to be cut down slowly" I'm blessed to have a young,up to date pain doc., I have cut down from 50 mg of Done' to 15 mg a day! your brother can do the same! Methadone lasts for a bit over 24 hours and it stays in your body a lot longer than peroccet etc. and the withdrawels will last longer but I hope to be down to 2.5 mg in about 2 months for i don't want to go thru the hell of withdrawel ! There is a newer drug called buprenophine that will take him off the methadone quicker, but he must be in withdrawel when he takes it and the great thing is he can do it as a out patient! takes about 6 weeks depending on his done' dosage... hope this helps!!!

Posted: 01/30/07 - 19:16 Post subject:

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Anna: Your worry about Your brothers possible Methadone addiction may be not as bad as you think!
Methadone at normal doses (10-80 mg) will not make him high, effect his driving, his job etc.


Methadone at ANY dose can effect driving, judgement, awareness, employment, etc.! It all depends on how well you personally tolerate the side effects.
A person needs to be previously exposed to opiates before beginning methodone treatment. Even then, physicians are very strict in the amount they start a patient on because the drug is EXTREMELY STRONG!! There is no such thing as a "normal" dose. There are prescribed doses which will not kill a healthy individual if taken AS PRESCRIBED, but there are still side effects to reckon with. I don't feel your post answered her question at all. Furthermore, you shouldn't advise people that taking between 10-80mg won't make them high. Depending on the individual it could be the difference between getting high, overdose or death. %-)

I've been on methadone 4 2 yrs cannot afford to take it anymore need to kick the addiction no one knows I take it I have a husband and 3 kids I don't know how to get off taking between 80 to 120mg a day I'm scared and I cannot go to any doctors if my husband finds out he will leave me and I will lose my kids! PLEASE HELP!!!

If you say that youve been on the stuff for that long, but cannot afford it anymore, and cannot go to a dr. about it, then you must be buying it off the street, which is also what i have been doing. In all honesty, there are wonderful hospitals and such that help you detox from the done, WITH done. The thing is though, is that you say your family will be upset with you. Possibly so upset they would walk out on you...??? Honey, they LOVE you. I thought this same thing about my friends and family, and all they did was support me. Its scary telling others the truth about your "other lifestyle", but until you do that, your only going to continue essentially lying to them, and in the long run, yourself. And you wont accomplish what you want to do. You have to really want it. And if you do, you need to either admit yourself to a hospital, even the ER can give you options, or prescriptions for out patient meds that can help you through it. ie; anxiety meds, etc... BUT, if your VERY careful, you can also ween yourself away from the methadone, as long as your serious about it, and careful, and have enough will power. Im doing that same thing AS I SPEAK. But I have something to turn to when im done. SUBOXONE. And it is a miracle drug. It was very unheard of several years ago, but it is much more mainstream. If you can do some research to find a Dr near you who is licensed to prescribe suboxone, it might make all the difference for you/to you! But i highly suggest you have insurance in order to get on it, as it is VERY expensive, but well worth it. The only other problem with that, is that technically you really are just replacing one thing for another! I know some people look at it that way, but it can be the change that saves your life.. And your family's opinion of you. You can do it. Anyone can, as long as they are for REAL,. and really WANT the change. Music, love, sex, movies, touching, smells, seeing, breathing etc... EVERYTHING is soooo much better once you drag yourself away from the dumb methadone.

For anyone to say there is a normal dose of methadone is not only insane but ridiculous, methadone is a synthetic form of heroine but only worst, it has not only destroyed the appearance of many in my family it has ruined their lives, i refer to it as liquid handcuffs most who get on meth never stop they believe in their mind it's a medication , when its clearly one of the worst of them all, and if they were treating someone for a percocet withdraw they just made the problem worst by giving them methadone, their whole facial structure changes, in fact they all resemble each other, high cheel bones, flushed out dead eyes, it makes me sick.
And if you want advice never ask an addict they are in denial and will give you false information. Methadone is awful.
you wanna get off meth? Get your act together and go to a detox , if your coucelours tell you their gonna bring you down , their bs'in you if you want to get off than just do it stop making excuses.

if your husband is smart he will leave you, you will do nothing but cause him alot of grief and heartache, he deserves better i hate methadone addicts they make me sick.

Quote:

"Stop making excuses,you addicts are so pathetic."

YOU have no idea of how wrong you really are. (alot of) Addicts are some of the most smart,nicest,caring strong people. All addicts are not pathetic. Addiction runs very strong in my family. I grew up in a very abusive & alcoholic home. I started using drugs/alcohol to escape the extreme torment i was experiencing. My family - especially my mom knew damn well what was going on but nothing was 'done' about hell i was enduring physically & mentally. When I was 17 years old,I jumped off the top of a parkade-a stupid,drunken decision,i know. The impact shattered my ankles and fractured (severely) my heels. Surgery was the only option - 13 screws and a plate in both feet. 9 hour surgery,which had to be done in a bigger city with a better surgeon. The Dr. put me on 8mg Dilaudid - @ 17years old! I didn't know anything about Dilaudid/ pain killers. I still do not like how i was put on such a heavy-duty narcotic(s) at such a young age. Sure it took my severe chronic pain away,but it came with a cost-my health and life. I was given zero information on the drug. I was in a wheelchair unable to walk for many many months. My shitty parents decided to kick me out of the house while i was unable to walk,after forcing me to go to school,messed up on Dilaudid. School wasn't 'working out'. So There I was - alone with nowhere to go. This was a very embarrassing time for me,homeless 2 months after the life-altering injury. I was left so confused. People decided to turn their backs on me. I lost all hope. To this day (9 years after the surgery) I still cannot run,jog,play sports,which i used to do all the time previously. As time went by, things got worse,i got worse. I eventually decided to 'clean up'. I was admitted to Victoria(BC,Canada) Detox Centre. Every time i did detox,the pain in my feet was out of control. I was going nuts from the pain,and no, the pain was not just in my head. I had many various 'pain tests' and all the tests came back showing how much pain i was in,and still am. My plate in my left heel is shifting out of place with bone growing on it,ripping through my skin,and has been for a few years. A nurse suggested to me ( on my 4th or 5th detox from morphine/dilaudid in a couple months that i try the 'methadone program'. She (the nurse) said this was the best option at the time since i was in extreme pain & had a slight history of mis-using my morph/dilly's. So I tried it,and it was a great option,for @ the time. Unfortunately I built a tolerence to it very fast. Now,I am at 115ml 2x daily. Now i feel it is not doing anything for my pain.I am thinking of trying to switch from methadone to Fentenal(?) patch(es) for pain.
People get addicted to drugs from many different reasons. You are pathetic for being sooo closed-minded. I think that I have done pretty damn good considering i have been on my own since i was 17. I am still recovering from the (mental) hell of being homeless & alone & disabled. jamielove- You are pathetic & don't forget it. I have pulled myself out of so many bad & scarey positions for way too long. I am very happy with how I am doing in keeping my addiction under control-including alcohol & marijuana & benzo's,ect. :o I am living in a beautiful town house in a nice neighborhood & have been for quite some time now!

First of all, everyone is different. I credit having gotten on methadone in 1982 with saving my life. I've been on it ever since (27 years), successful job and family. I'm on a dose of 40mg/day. I also take high blood pressure medicine (lisinopril, 20mg/day) and metformin for diabetes. According to my doctor, each drug treats a specific disease, and until there's a cure, I'll probably be taking them for the rest of my life (I'm 57).

I don't drink, I don't take any other drugs, and as I say, I have no problems with taking the methadone (I get it once a month from a doctor that is allowed to dispense for addiction) just as I take the lisinopril and metformin.

Again, some people look at methadone as liquid handcuffs, but not insulin or other drugs needed daily to combat a specific disease. Maybe if you abuse drugs and have to go to a clinic every day, yes, then it's restricting your life, but if you're clean and get your methadone just like you get any other drug, I see nothing wrong with that.

Good luck.

Hello everyone, I'm not sure where to start..I was in a horrid car accident at 14 my doctor prescribed me percocet which I had stayed on for about 3 months. I'm not 21 years old I have nerve damage in my lower back chronic pain in my leg, I started taking perks viks about a year ago (off the street) for my pain as I needed, I went on taking them for about a month or so, went without them for a day and I felt HORRIBLE, although I like to think I have a good tolerance for pain, I couldn't take it, my fiance well call him "bob" was once a heavy drug user before we had met 20 roxys a day! He completely changed his life by going on the methadone program, I feel even though it becomes a "condition of life" its better than running the streets and possibly getting in trouble, anyway as I was saying I had started taking perks and viks for about a month or so as I felt needed not prescribed by a doctor, then when I didn't have them and got sick "bob" thinking he was helping deep in my heart I know he had nothing but good intentions had me taking ONE cap of 80mgs of methadone. He said 5 days taking it ill be fine, but I never stopped, I'm lying to everyone I love, I've seen my friends go down the path of heroin and never return. Although I live a completely normal life full time school and work, I read about the detox from meth I have never been more afraid of anything in my life. Addiction runs very strong in my family, my father god rest his soul battled with alcohol for years until it caused pancreatic cancer and I lost him, my mother never had any hard addiction besides smoking cigarettes in her twenties, my brother is struggling with a horrible heroin addiction that ruined his life body and mind. Here I sit a year later I only take 2caps out of an 80 mg bottle of meth but I know its running my life, I'm afraid to detox I'm afraid of feeling the pain in my leg and back, I've tried suboxone only to say F this gimme the goods..never in my life would I think I'd be an addict I feel like I have a devil inside of me that controls me everyday, my fiance says he can very slowly ween me down and ill be al right I don't even know how much meth I'm taking in 2caps. I have health insurance does anyone think it would be best to go into a detox center so its not around me? Or have "bob" help me get off himself..although like I said earlier I know he had the best of intentions trying to help me I don't think of him as an "enabler" more as a man I know has so much love for me that he just wanted to help and didn't want to see me in pain. If I go into detox everyone will know, if I detox at home same outcome. Should I take care of this myself? I know I have strong will power 21 years old and I have been through and seen things most people won't see of experience in a life time.. I need advice I have no one left to turn to, thank you for reading, you can call me a loser call me a junkie everyone looses their way sometimes just need that person to extend there hand and say I'm here to help. Emma

Please do not think methadone is something to not be worried about. my ex fiance was abusing this drug, and overdosed. Symptoms are as follows from Pub Med...drowsiness
weakness
headache
nausea
vomiting
constipation
loss of appetite
weight gain
stomach pain
dry mouth
sweating
flushing
difficulty urinating
swelling of the hands, arms, feet, and legs
mood changes
vision problems
difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
decreased sexual desire or ability
missed menstrual periods

Personally I saw the warning signs of abuse of this drug, but I didnt realize he needed help. Methadone is VERY addicting and dangerous. Please if you suspect he needs help, then HELP him. get a mediator if needed or just talk to him yourself, just please dont make the same mistake that I did.

Ok, so Methadone might help some people with pain for a period of time or is used as an effective treatment for addictions, but seriously to compare it with an insulin dependant diabetic is crazy!! What is being on methadone for life treating exactly??? True, addiction is a disease and methadone is a way to treat some addictions, but just to accept you will be on it for the rest of your life is not helping you. The point is to get off of it.
For people to act like it's just no big deal is complete denial. I just had a friend visit me from another state who is currently in treatment for an oxycodone addiction. Methadone is the only drug that she is currently taking. She says she doesn't even get "high" off the dose that they give her, it's just so she doesn't get sick/go through withdrawals. She is not herself. She looks like she's aged 10 yrs in 4, she's gained weight, etc. She is visibly "high" after she takes her dose, she dozes off standing up, and is just out of it. Sure, everyone has a different tolerance level/has different side effects, but no one should be driving, working, or caring for children under the influence of this drug. Drugs like these, that are highly addictive, and are supposed to only be perscribed in certain circumstances, for small periods of time should not be taken lightly. Sounds like doctors are having too casual of an attitude about them. Soon they'll be giving them out like candy like adderall, ritalin, and antidepressants.

Hello. I'm writing this because I want people to read this. I had a friend who got addicted to crack and coke many years ago.  The doctors gave her methadone to get her off. Now she's had at least 2 babies born on the stuff. She lies, steals, and sells herself for the stuff. I'm tired of hearing that this drug is a safe alternative for other drugs. I'm not seeing it. She is really bad off. I have lost a friend I have had for 25 years because of drugs including methadone. So all those doctors who say it's safe I want you to say that to her 4 kids when they don't have a mother left. Y'all need to find another way to get people off. Not trading one addiction for another.

for one an addict is not pathetic! Everyone has issues and if you set there and think that you dont than that's a big issue! Ive batteled addiction for three years and am going through terrible withdrawls right now. it sucks but I know in the end it will be worth it! For all of you out thee battleing addiction just remember that even though withdrawls suck you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!

To: Homeless at 17, I'm not sure you will even see this reply since you posted so long ago. I really hope you do see this because I want you to know that I think you are AWESOME!!! I'm sorry that you've had to endure so much pain, physical, mental & emotional, but I'm so very happy to hear you're in a good place now. Keep it up darlin', you can do anything you set your mind to!!! God bless you, you'll be in my prayers.