methadone side effects, toxicity & nausea - please respond

you are incredible for being so brave to go thru the misery of withdrawals to get off of "IV demons"...i too, had to do the same in the 90's but only from sniffing of the white powder demon, which in comparison to what you are having to go thru is nothing - i wish you the utmost succcess...

i'm sorry you are suffering from the morning sickness because of Methadone. I've been having to take it for Nerve damage since around 2007, and i had terrible morning sickness for a couple of years several times a week. however, i finally figured out that it was my PH levels (stomach acidity type stuffs) that were making me wake up with 'morning sickness'.try monitoring what you eat prior to going to bed, and consider making sure you keep your diet balanced as far a spicy and bland type foods. i love spicy foods and sweet foods (as it's the only things i can taste because of the meds) - but find i need to eat spicy's during the day, & eat the more mellow food types in the evenings. also, Dairy products in the evenings (pie, ice cream type stuff) made the morning sickness the next day much much worse - i also have to take the occasional Tums or Rolaids type products - i hope a bit of this info will help you out. i wish you well...

hi -

dry eyes & mouth i'm led to believe are typical side effects of opiates in general. i've had those effects since beginning opiates in 2002. numbness? depends on why you're on methadone now - need to refer that to your dr. however, the Twitches...(toes, fingers, and occasional leg twitches?) you MUST tell your dr about those as soon as you have the chance to see them...my neuro dr told me that we needed to monitor the severity and consistency of the twitches, as that was a sign of Methadone Toxicity - i do NOT want to alarm you, but talk to your dr very soon, and let them know your severity and consistency (journal?).

a couple of years ago, i took 20mg too much because i couldn't remember if i had taken my last 20mg for the day...so i took 20mg, henceforth leading me to hospital. luckily i was in public area, and quickly rushed off to have a terrible NARCAN (exorcism) experience and 4 days in hospital just because of an extra 20mg one day, because i was already on a borderline Toxic state, and didn't know the signs. so, just be careful with your dosage, that's all. otherwise, if you are careful with methadone it is a safe medication when used properly used and not mixed with alcohol or exotic drugs (my opinion only). besides, it is the ONLY medication that will work on particular physical illnesses...especially Nerve Pain. talk to your doctor about the twitches. i hope all goes well. please reply and let me know how it goes.

take care.

I feel this way right now to believe it or not this thread made me feel better from seeing this. I am down to 23 miligrams a day methadone from my Clinic and my stomach kills me every morning I lost SOOO much weight since I have been trying to get away from the Methadone Permanently and lowering and also my Internal Organs never feel truly 100% from what I remember Healthy USED to feel like. Can someone please help my I am going to get bloodwork tomorrow as well as trying to go see a Gastroenterologist because this to me is just not Normal. I really don't know but I know I do not feel right nor healthy. If anyone has had the experience its not nauseous like they are saying it is a BURNING INFLAMMATION feeling Internally inside of me and its to the point I can even pin point what the heck is hurting me lol

 

yes i do,,  toxic is the best way to describe what i feel i been on a clinic for about 3 moths and was doin great now i feel sick out of knowhere..   

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You took the words right out of my mouth. If he/she is nodding off then they are at a dose that is too high for them. I have been on methadone for 2 years for addiction to Percocets. Started out at 20 mgs a day then gradually went up to 60 and now I've tapered down to 22 mgs a day. The anxiety is unreal and now I'm having weird feelings in my chest. I'm wondering why you haven't seen the Dr whom prescribed it or if they can't help you find a Dr that specializes in Methadone. I have never gotten high off of it either and for anyone to sit there and say they did shows their lack of knowledge about the drug.Me myself can't stand it and at this point I wish I would've never got on it. The withdrawals from this are hella worse than any other drug!! I hope you find the help you need on the topic and I wish you the best of luck with everything.

Methadone is the best pain reliever there is and i get really high off of 60 mg of done! Some gay wad said you cant get high!! Its a synthetic opioid, that means its one of the best!! GOSSHH!!! Lol

Off and mostly on for over 7 years, until July of last year, I had been on Methadone almost constantly for pain issues related to Spondylosis, Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Sciatica, and a bulging disk @ C4/C5. This all in conjunction with Stage 4, Grade 4 Cirrhosis; non-alcohol related. At one point I was taking 20mg 6x/dy with 30mg Morphine 4x/dy and 5mg Valium 4x/dy. Then I developed a "rare" side-effect called Prolonged RT Response Syndrome. This is a potentially fatal heart defect that can become permanent, whether you continue taking methadone, or not. I have also known of people dying suddenly from "overdose" after taking a usual dose. Methadone builds up in your system over time and should be titrated out periodically, if at all possible. Better yet, find another pain medication that works. Methadone did much the same thing to me when i first started taking it, so my doctor added Soma, (haldol) to the list for 2 years while my body adjusted to the Methadone. The only pain medication I did not have horrible side effects from was Vicodin, but I can't take anything with Acetaminophen or Ibuprophen due to their damaging effects on the liver and my already badly damaged liver.

I tried Oxycodone / conton, etc., and will NEVER EVER try that stuff again. I had severe withdrawal issues even between doses! I also tried Dilaudid, and 3 or 4 others similar, to no avail as they all made me too ill to function. Then my doc went to a convention regarding a newly concluded study on the brain and pain medication. It seems the brain has a trigger level that, if exceeded, negates pain medication efficacy. Basically, anything over the equivalent of 60mg of Morphine a day is negated by the brain, so we think that the pain meds aren't working and try upping the dosage. While this SEEMS to work for awhile, it's only temporary and we need to up the dosage again, within weeks or months. Unfortunately for me, this was a 2-edged sword. Not only did I become over medicated, my liver couldn't handle the prolonged use of chemicals that needed to be cleansed from the blood regularly.

Doc took me off the methadone when the heart problem was found and we decided to try adding a hydrocodone compound to help the morphine. Basically pure Hydrocodone with no adds, 40mg 4x/dy (qid). I was still dealing with crippling pain, though. And, by Dec. of last year, I could no longer function on my own. My motor skills had deteriorated to those of a toddler, my handwriting was that of a 1st grader, and my speech and cognitive facilities were those of a stroke victim or a decades long alcoholic. I could not dress myself, nor shower without help. I could not drive, (obviously, lol), and I fell often. Then, in May of this year I overheard my doc telling the University Hospital that I couldn't wait until October for an appointment as I only had 6 to 8 months at the most. it's one of the few things I remember from this past year.

In June I started stepping down off of the Morphine, then, in August stepped down the Hydrocodone Compound by 1/3 to bring me under the 60mg /day of Morphine equivalent. Doc doesn't know it yet, but I'm trying to step down more and plan to be off all pain meds by the end of this year. I started seeing an holistic physician of chinese medicine in August and have made a complete 180 degree turn around. As of now, I am 25lbs and 4 pant sizes smaller, my head is clear(er), and I am slowly working with him to physically rehabilitate my body. I am also slowly regaining some of my memory and my old skills, though I am not, (and may never be) well enough to make a complete comeback. I'm told that Cirrhosis is not "cureable", (tho it can be checked and kept from worsening), and that I'm not a candidate for transplant as I would not survive the surgery due to other health issues. BUT! The more I gently push myself in exercising, the less pain I deal with daily. The only time it's REALLY bad is when I've pushed myself beyond my limits in physical, mental and emotional stress. (which I've always tended to do :p)

My apologies for rambling in and out and around the topic of your post. The gist of all this is that if you can find something, ANYthing, (well, maybe not ANYthing), besides methadone that works at all, I highly recommend you try it. There is always Soma (Haldol) to help control the symptoms for awhile, if necessary. I wish you the best and hope you find what is needed. Hopefully some of the garbled mish-mash above was of some help. :) I do not mean to suggest that everyone should eschew their western medicine doctors for a chinese practitioner, but, I DO suggest that you might consider ADDING one to the mix, keeping both apprised of what the other suggests or prescribes.

Be Well!

Hi There
I too am on 80mgs of methadone daily but was on 60mgs up to a few weeks ago.For no reason I too started to get this horrible sickly feeling,like someone was wringing out my stomach.I didn't feel like throwing up but just queezy,sort of like the feeling when you're absolutely starving hungry but much worse.I break out into sweats many times a day.It comes in bouts,mainly up to half an hour then I'll cool down again but the worse thing with me are the nausious headaches which usually occur when my intestines go rock hard and bloated from chronic constipation.
I had to increase my dose from 60 to 80mgs which cured the sickly stomach and sweats but made the constipation worse because i'm taking more opiates.It turned out that having been on this dose since 2009 apparently my tolerance had gone up and I needed to increase the dose to 80 to do the same job as 60mgs did nearly five years ago.Maybe you need to discuss this with your doctor.

The reason why you didn't have withdrawals from the methadone was because you weren't addicted to it you dork.Believe me,when you've been on it for years and it's in your bone marrow,liver and various opiate receptors situated around the body,coming off is without doubt th e"worst of any drug known to man".
I can't believe you've got the audacity to even post about methadone withdrawal.You sound like a complete no nothing p***y.I'd LOVE to see you go through a full methadone withdrawal from a high dose.You'd be on the floor curled up in a ball crying for your mummy!

Hello there, I'm 29 years old, I'm a mom if a 4 year old little girl and a model on the side!!!! I have read your post about how you have been on methadone since 2002 and you still have terrible side effects of nausea and other things, I have been on methadone since 2011 and my body has never gotten use to it, I have been vomiting at least once a day etc at first I was so scared because I thought their was something serious wrong with me but after doing numerous tests I than realized it was the methadone making me so I'll so I myself am wanting to get off of it but its very hard!!!!! I need some tips on what I can do to control this nausea feeling, I wish I could help you on your question but I can't cause I'm dealing with it as well. Thanks for reading my post please respond if you have any good advice:) thanks again Lindsay bloom.

I couldn't agree with you more lol

same happens to me

Methadone definitely gets you high, sorry.

Hey mate.I been on the 'done for a year now. 100mg per day. For the 1st month or 3, the night sweats can be annoying, but they do subside! As for feeling nauseated in the morning, that gets easier, but for me, never completely goes away. I would have thought your doc would prescribe morphine rather than methadone..

I feel the same way. I believe it is related to the gastro.I don't know if it's my stomach or severe acid reflux or even intestinal but it makes me feel very ill. I feel like there's a rotten mess inside me. I do not have the luxury of a private doctor and have to rely on the V.A. which is a nightmare in itself. I was on oxycontin for more than 11 years when I lost my Insurance. I had no choice but to go to the V.A. Hospital for detox. I actually am on my last 2 weeks of detox. They have been reducing my meds for over 5 months now. And they will not treat me for the Pain I am in! I can easily revisit my civilian Doctor and get on Methadone but I honestly fear it because twice before I tried 10mg tabs and ended up at the toilet vomiting. I was still vomiting at the end of day 2 and decided to stop it. I was however impressed with the effects it had on my Pain. I was in less pain then with the oxy. So I have a question for you. Will the vomiting stop if I stay on it? Can they medicate me to stop the vomiting? There is no way I can survive daily life like this with-out anything for the pain. I would rather die. Methadone appears to be the only drug available that I can afford to pay for.