methadone side effects, toxicity & nausea - please respond

YES I CAN especially if he just started, did he just start or has he been on it for years? that is like 400mgs of heroin 10mg of methadone is like .2 of heroin

ive been on 80mgs of methadone for about 3 years prior IV heroin and IV cocaine I wake up sick but im not sure about raising the dose because its considered a moderate to high dose already

 

Hi - I'm 55 been on opiates since 1975 WOW... I've also noticed that, in the last couple of months, I've begun to have VERY Weird 'new' symptoms.... Feeling NUMB, dry eyes, muscle twitches and more!!! RU on the methadone Tabs or liquid?? YES a 'Toxic' type feeling and taste. I'm on 150mg LIQUID Methadone, NOT the same as the tabs - Tabs MUCH different & need a lot less (with tabs) !!!!! SPLIT Your dose, because the half-life of Done is about 36Hrs, so split-dose as much as possible! Hope this helps! 

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Yes they do, but they potentate the effects rather than decrease them as the poster stated. This works in both directions, so if you have an acidic stomach or body pH then you will notice less from your dose, this starts off a catch-22 where the methadone (and its side effects) cause stomach acidity, the acidity lowers the effective range of the methadone and the patients increases their dose (or just suffers) causing more problems and round and round the merry go'round we go. It wasnt until I had been on methadone a good decade before I realized the correlation, I wound up with GERD, an inflamed stomach and IBS type symptoms. I was put on Nexium and told to eat foods with a higher pH, not only did most of the nausia go away but my dose was a good 1/3 stronger and had to be reduced! So, yes the effect of opiates is generally affected by pH of the stomach and system. You may find benefit from looking into potentiators as a way of getting more pain relief from a smaller dose of opiates. (thus, less side effects) White grapefruit/juice is good, as are antihistamines and proton pump inhibitors like Nexium. Another irony I came across was that in the beginning I took my dose right up to 225mg per day split into 3 doses, I kept feeling sweats, nausea, flushes and anxiety, I assumed it was the methadone not holding me properly so I kept going up, it wasnt until I went back down some years later that I noticed the side effects actually getting less instead of worse!! it was the methadone toxicity causing these problems not withdrawals as I had thought, to me this was a major shift in thinking about my dose. me,

I've been taking Methadone for about 7 years now. I was on Oxycontin 80 mg's and all the other popular narcotics like Vicodin, Vicoprofen, Percocet, etc. for many years before that. The biggest side effect I get from Methadone is Hot Flashes and Night Sweats. I've spoken to many other people who take Methadone and Hot Flashes are quite common for most of us taking the drug. What the majority of people claim helps reduce their Hot Flashes or get rid of them completely is when they slowly lower their dose. I suppose for some people who aren't given a high enough dose initially at start-up raising their levels temporarily may help. Usually one your body becomes accustomed to Methadone you would then have no problems slowly reducing overtime.

I started on 90 mg's of Methadone when I started taking it. Over the past few years I've slowly reduced my Methadone dose by 10 mg a year. I now take 40 mg's a day and soon will be dropping down to 30 mg's a day. I'm reducing my dose only because I am tired of being tied down to drs. and meds for the last 20 years and hope I can someday get off of Methadone completely. Once I get to 20 mg's a day I will then reduce by 2 to 5 mg's possibly every 6 months to a year. I won't know if that's possible until I get there. Methadone withdrawal is the worst withdrawal of any drug known to man. It's also the hardest drug to get off of and it can take a very long time before the withdrawal symptoms to ever go away. I am terrified of the long term withdrawal but hope by the time I get to that point someone will have invented something new to help me out like the newer Rapid Detox procedure they are doing now. It just cost's a lot of money to do and that's only if the doctor is comfortable with your age and your health at the time, enough so they will OK putting you into the coma and forcing your withdrawal so quickly.

I also suffer from nausea and my leg twitching just started this year but those two side effects don't bother me as much as the Hot Flashes do. Usually if I take my meds with food it reduces my nausea. Good luck to everyone.

I have been on 80 - 100 mg methadone for a couple of years and I believe what it is, is some sort of acid reflux. I take Rennie or Gaviscon indigestion cures and this usually clears it up.

Many opioids, including fentanyl, won't work for neuropathic pain. Methadone might work because methadone has NMDA antagonist activity. Other NMDA antagonists include PCP and ketamine, which are anesthetics. NMDA antagonists can help with neuropathic pain which is why methadone may help. I doubt you'd have much chance of getting a prescription for ketamine. Dextromethorphan (and its main metabolite) dextrorphan are also NMDA antagonists and likely would help for chronic pain, but you should discuss this with your doctor.

Some people say that methadone makes them nauseaus, others don't. I never had any problem with it.

It surprises me that you have sweats and tachycardia from methadone. It sounds to me like you may metabolize methadone very rapidly. You may want to ask your doctor about dosing twice a day instead of once per day. Also, grapefruit juice inhibits the enzyme responsible for metabolizing methadone, so you could try drinking grapefruit juice every day in order to prolong the effect of methadone. You do need to be cautious about what you mix grapefruit juice with, but it's not likely to be fatal with methadone.

You may also have luck with gabapentin or pregabalin.

Methadone is not toxic in the sense that it is not known to cause any kind of damage to any organ. If you hear anyone tell you that methadone is "horrible" or "bad for your body" or "ten times worse than heroin" or any sort of similar nonsense then I encourage you to ask them for evidence to back them up (published evidence from medical journals, not the kind of gibberish you'll hear drug users give like "I took it and just got worse there that's proof"). You won't find evidence of methadone being toxic to your brain or liver or any organ. The danger of methadone comes from overdosing and dying of respiratory depression or cardiac arrest.

That is complete and utter nonsense. It is PURE MYTHOLOGY.

Methadone withdrawal lasts longer than other opioids because it has a long half life but withdrawal is far less intense than with other opioids.

To say that it is the "worst withdrawal of any drug known to man" is horrible misinformation.

Alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and can even be fatal. Withdrawal from benzodiazepines like diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax) or clonazepam (Klonopin) can also cause seizures and can be fatal.

Withdrawal from opioids, including codeine, heroin and methadone might be really unpleasant but it is RARELY fatal (and is generally only fatal to the elderly or people who have pre-existing health problems).

Please stop contributing to the mythology of methadone withdrawal being horrible.

I was addicted to codeine for 4.5 years and was never able to get free. After that, I went on methadone, got to 110 mg/day and was able to get my dose down to 0 mg in a mere *8 days.* Yes, withdrawal was unpleasant and the acute (i.e. physical) phase lasted about 7 days, but it really wasn't that bad. The main difference is that with codeine I kept craving opioids and having fantasies about being able to get high again when my tolerance dropped. With methadone, I simply got sick but didn't crave opioids.

Either way, saying that it is the "worst of any drug known to man" is absolutely false.

Those so-called "quick withdrawal" methods where they anesthetize you and administer a narcotic antagonist are not known to be more effective than slowly tapering one's dose or simply quitting methadone cold turkey. In fact, being anesthetized during narcotic withdrawal can be dangerous.

There is no good reason to believe that being anesthetized for rapid withdrawal is a good idea.

you are total insensitive b***h you person, knowledgable people are drug addicts as well, and they way you talk drug addicts ARE people LIKE you dumbass, doctoras help people that are like you and addicts and give them methadone and each human body reacts to a drug in a different way cuz we are all different, ask your doctor, your not as smart as you think. Dont judge a bvook by its cover lady, it will bite you in the ass.

you are total insensitive person, knowledgable people are drug addicts as well, and they way you talk drug addicts ARE people LIKE you dumb people, doctors help people that are like you and addicts and give them methadone and each human body reacts to a drug in a different way cuz we are all different, ask your doctor, your not as smart as you think. Dont judge a book by its cover lady, it will bite you in the butt.

reply to the 'Guest from 6-18-2010' -

you should get the facts before you make an ass of yourself as you have done. I'm not Insensitive, nor am i dumb (such as yourself)...I AM a previous serious Addict of a white powdery substance - however, that was a 12+year stint several years PRIOR to my debilitating incident. so, yes, i DO know what it is like to have the little DEMON sitting on my shoulder whispering "do more, do more, i want more, get more"...so **** on that subject. secondly, unless YOU are in chronic pain and forced to take opiates of any sort, stay out of forums that do not concern you. get a job, get an education with decent grammar, or go back to forum phishing and your farmville games.

for serious people that are suffering from Methadone induced nausea or stomach issues: as for the nausea because of methadone, since my post from 4 years ago, i have decreased the 80MG of methadone to 50MG, and the 50MG works just as well as the 80MG. Also, the nausea and heartburn/intestinal problems have gotten a bit better, however, have not subsided. i find that i do have a tendency to have difficulty keeping my stomach acidity balanced. so by eating spicy or bland foods in the right amounts according to MY body is the key. obviously, each person will have to find his or her correct acidity level that suits them to avoid the 'morning sickness' or the sicky-icky heartburn/nausea during other times of the day. talk with your doctor, and consider decreasing your Methadone 2.5MG to 5MG over the course of 4-8 weeks - do it slowly, as the withdrawals are difficult - even at low doses. but personally, i have found that the decrease has helped me feel better overall, without the nerve pain returning. i wish the best for anyone forced to take this opiate, it has been a sort of miracle for me, and i hope someone else can benefit from its use.

well wishes to all...

this is specifically for the 19 year old Drug Expert -

i would like t convey my apologies for being so harsh regarding my comment to you last year. i do hope that you are being successful overcoming your addiction. looking back, i am embarrassed at my response to you. pain, frustration, and overall just being an ass. again, i wish for you the best of luck and hope you are doing well.

regarding the Methadone and Nerve Pain: over the past 12 years i've worked with various doctors, and together we have finally figured out a 'cocktail' of meds that have taken care of 60 to 70% of the Nerve & Radioculapathy pain - Methadone, Lyrica, Wellbutrin & Alprozolam. Please note for anyone needing this type of Nerve Pain relief, work closely with doctors, as i have found there is a very fine line that needs to be watched for the proper dosing of the meds.

well wishes to everyone...

i had the same experiences - however, i was also hospitalized for four days in 2012 due to the Methadone Toxicity (i took 20MG too much one day because i had forgotten if i had already taken second dose or not, i had already had my 50MG for the day, so the 20MG extra caused a catatonic OD - fortunately, i was in public place when i went down and was taken to hospital & given NARCAN (think of having a violent excorsicm)), which obviously prompted my doctor to lower my dose from 80MG to 50MG. since then, just as you, i have far less side effects such as night sweats, nausea, and IBS type symptoms, & the pain is no worse than before. for MY body specifically, it has proven that 50MG of methadone is relieving the pain just as well as 80MG did. i'm attempting to lower the 50MG to 45MG, s l o w l y - over the course of eight weeks as to avoid withdrawals. i'm hoping the 'less is more' mantra works so that i can reduce the intake of the toxins as much as possible. just want to see how low of a dosage is possible without having pain breakthrough. good luck.

thank you for your reply - i have to agree with your post is so many ways. methadone is a 'safe' opiate, when used properly. i've spoken with many doctors and others that are prescribed methadone, and they concure. since 2012 i have added a pregablin (Lyrica) to my 'cocktail' of Methadone, Wellbutrin, and Alprazolam. now that my dosage seems to be 'spot on', the only side effects i have are the occasional heartburn/nausea feelings, and having the 'hyper-active' sensation for a couple of hours during the day. otherwise, my lower dosage of 50MG rather than 80MG of Methadone is just as effective. thanks again for your info. take care -