Methadone withdrawal

To all;

I was on methadone for 7 years- 130mgs a day without fail.  About a year and a half ago, I began detoxing; I went down ten mgs every few weeks for the first bit, then 5 mgs every few weeks.  Sometimes I would hold steady for a month or two to give my body time to adjust.  The last stretch, I went down 1 mg twice a week.  I finally got off two weeks ago and haven't touched it or any other drug since (aside from coffee and nicotine).  I didn't have any problems until the last few weeks of detox, once I got below 10-12mgs.  But I was determined to get off that c**p and quit being a slave to the clinic system and the dependency of methadone.  I won't lie, it has sucked; since I've been completely off, I have a periods where my heartbeat is extremely rapid, aches in my legs at night (which have recently begun to subside), a lot of trouble sleeping through the night.  I get real lethargic and depressed easily.  I keep telling myself that these symptoms won't last forever and every day that goes by brings me closer to the end...Hang in there.

I too have done the methadone trip.  Currently I am 40 mg from 50 last week.  This 10 mg has had some really sh*t side affects.  I am sooo nasty to my g/f whom I live with, my attention span is limited , sex drive is at 0 and so on.  It was a bad move to get back on meth....mind you its been 3.5 years since I have done anything radical or criminal.   I was charged with trafficking x2 and PPT x2 and when I was released on bail on Nov 1st 2008 I went on methadone the next day and all has been fine for the most part.  The reality is that this stuff is a liquid prison.  My g/f is not an addict, has no criminal record and has never had any kind of opiate problem which is surprising considering how many times she has had serious surgeries...the majority or her intestines have been removed , has had complete reconstruction of her insides and more than once.  She is a trooper for that kinda stuff.  She hates me on methadone because of the stigma attached to it and she has a a point hence my reason for wanting off of it.  Here in Vancouver Canada drugs and methadone alike are soooooooooooo easy to access.  Methadone is free and there are clinics at every corner.  Its a huge $$$$ maker.  Had I known though what I would have had to go through, I NEVER would have gone on it.  Cheers...Greg in Vancouver

very good message on withdrawl of methadone, im in process of cold turkey quit on 150mg daily. I no the pain, must stay hydrated,eat mass peotein,and hot showers all help.. I go warriar style,its ruined my life,im done!

my brother did time in polk county jail in Des Moines and they didn't give him methadone either, some jails don't some do, my advice spend time in the medical department

doing this yourself is a very bad idea. Your clinic has to help you detox...listen to thier advice.

What advice? I've been detoxing for about 6 months at the clinic I'm at and they have yet to offer advice. These clinics care about only the money and are nothing but a disgrace to humanity.

I just read your story. I have been on methadone for 6yrs and now getting off. I have a 4 year old that I have to take care of and I am wondering how I am going to do this. How did everything work out for you? I was on 150 mgs they are dropping me 10mgs a day and I am now down to 90mgs. I am just starting to feel sick but I am dreading what is coming...

How are you now with the methadone and heart racing? Same thing has happened to me after being on methadone for 10yrs. each time i try detoxing slowly to 5mg is when i start feeling it. after being off it for six months each time it seems NEVER to go away, even the leg kicks and back aches, sleepiness etc.. now they put me on the rapid administrative detox and ive went from 85 now to 16 today and im suprisingly fine? Its so strange. it must start sometime right? Lol. i really think the mental attitude as nearly 80% of withdrawal effects from methadone. what do you think

Agree, percs did nothing for my w/d from methadone. I was on for 8yrs or more I really can't recall when I started(sad). I have been clean for atleast five mo.ths but am so depressed at times n other times I'm a happy, constantly laughing, big kid. Well, I'm not too sure this is working for me..my emotional rollercoaster anyway.. I started school again full time, 2 kids 4 n 7 , working prn and stressed. I almost hate the fact that this is what I'm feeling like after all I went through to feel better being methadone free. I am super tired to were I don't clean as I did before. I dunno just down today

As I read this I am brought to tears bc of how bad memories return. Me and my husband has been where you was and did the same getting on Methadone. He is now having to come off due to court issues and he is very hard to live with. He was at 85you and now 10. If you have any advice on how I can help me get through this plz help......my email is

 ***Post is edited by moderator *** Private e-mails not allowed***Please read our Terms of Use

I can use so much help and I send prayers your way bc its way to hard to do this alone:(

I would like to add my experience.

I was addicted to codeine for 4.5 years. I started out taking around 300 - 500 mg of codeine phosphate per day and within about 4 months, I had peaked at 1600 mg/day of codeine phosphate. I was constantly trying to quit. I never had any luck tapering the dose and when I tried cold turkey, I rarely got past 48 hours without codeine. I think I was able to get to around 92 hours twice. Once, I made it past the acute withdrawal and got 12 days, but only because I went on vacation to Europe and didn't speak the language so I couldn't get codeine.

After those 12 days, when I got back home, I went right back to codeine, despite the fact that the acute phase of withdrawal was clearly over. The acute phase only lasted about 5 days and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I kept craving codeine after that.

I soon went on methadone. I was actually comfortable at 60 mg/day but I enjoyed methadone and got myself up to 110 mg/day. I was on it for about 2 years. I used to take multiple doses and my tolerance was so high that I was even able to take 440 mg of methadone at once (though that kind of dose would have me asleep on my feet).

When I finally decided to go off methadone, I ignored all the other patients in the waiting room who would always say things like, "Methadone is the hardest opioid to get off." I had heard other patients say so many ignorant things about opioids that I was sure they had no clue as to what they were talking about (for example, one man tried telling me that if you have a heroin overdose the first thing done for you in hospital is that you're given intravenous diazepam, which is basically a death sentence).

I went from 110 mg/day methadone to 24 mg in 8 days. The next day, I stopped taking methadone entirely.

Unlike with codeine, by 48 hours in, I was barely sick and figured that I must have gone through the bulk of withdrawal already. The next day I realized I was wrong. The worst of it was 4 days in. My doctor prescribed me 10 mg/day diazepam for 7 days. I took all 70 mg in one day and it barely relaxed me. For whatever reason, even though it was physically unpleasant, it was quite different than codeine withdrawal. I didn't crave methadone or any other opioid. Yes, I wanted the pain to end and it was pretty unpleasant but it was less intense than with codeine (even though I was taking twice as much methadone as I needed to simply fill my desire for codeine). Acute withdrawal lasted about 10 days (whereas with codeine is lasted 5 days).

The hardest part of it was not being able to sleep.

Really, the hardest part of withdrawal, with codeine or methadone was after the acute phase is over. I thought I'd won and was free, but it took about 30 days before I could sleep more than 4 hours a night without prescription sleeping pills (zopiclone). I was about 5 months before I really felt like myself.

Why I found methadone easier to quit than codeine is a mystery to me. Yes, withdrawal lasts longer, but it's far less intense than with other opioids. The biggest difference for me was that I had no cravings with methadone withdrawal.

My advice is to forget anything you've heard about methadone being the "hardest" opioid to kick. That, in my opinion, is just gibberish. I know this will sound ironic or hypocritical, but many drug users tend to think that they're experts on drugs simply because they use drugs. I hope my little anecdote about hearing someone claim that diazepam (Valium) is the preferred treatment for a heroin overdose will illustrate just how ignorant so many drug users are about the drugs they use.

Even 2 of the 3 doctors I saw at the methadone clinic told me that I had a 99% chance of failure because I was withdrawing too quickly. The doctor I saw thought it was great that I wanted off methadone and even asked me if I wanted to go off 110 mg/day methadone cold turkey.

I really don't think it was just a matter of me being "ready." I wanted off codeine for the 4.5 years that I was on it. Being on methadone was far better than being addicted to codeine, despite all the gibberish I heard from other methadone clinic patients about methadone being "pure poison" and so forth. For whatever reason, it was just much easier to stop using methadone.

did u just stop, and if so how much were u on

Ur story helpd me...im two wks off.....i did ibogaine therapy, and they told me methdne so much wrse cuz it last so long...dam wer they rite, its been elevn days, im not restles jus no energy, cnt sleep,, how long befor energy cum bac cn barly type ths

I have been on the methadone for the last 2 years and just recently decided to stop. I have the type of methadone doctor that post addicts pray for. Every time I see him he puts me up higher and higher. Initially the addict in me thinks more is always better but it began to really effect my life. I slept non stop from the time that I came home from work until I went back to work the next day. At this point I was on 190mgs and I islolated, gained execessive weight and was miserable. I talked to the doctor about lowering my dose but the most I was able to go down was to 140mgs and then he promptly put me back up to 160mgs. I got sick of the methadone rollercoaster of sweating sleeping and nodding off at work(very nice) so i decided that my doctor is only there to bring the money and cannot be trusted to do what was truly best for my health/life. I phoned a detox and was refused entrance because of the high amount of methadone that i was taking but I persisted and finally found one that told me to go get some codiene and cloudine for the withdrawl. I went to a walk in clinic and they gave me what i needed and i signed myself into the detox. However, I only stayed at the detox for 3 days because they kept getting my up at 7 am and I was too sick to deal with all the rules, AA movies, and the staff that seem to think it's like a hangover. I hated that fact that this place was called a detox yet i couldn't sleep cause they had the whole f*****g day planned out for us. I took myself promptly out of there and went home to detox in the peace of my own home. I screwed up for a couple of days and paid for it in spades. I made the withdrawl worse by fixing Oxycodone 160mgs each day. At the end of the Oxys/money, I was violently ill and wished that I had just rode out the sickness from the withdrawl. Which is about where i am at now, i have lost count of the days but estimate that it is about 3 weeks and the worst of it is over. I can't sleep and am wired awake at night and my legs feel like i have ran a marathon. My legs hurt and i walk like i am 90yrs old, slow and painfully but I continue on. On my second week a bf brought me some methadone so I was taking 20mgs just to function throughout my day but then i took 10 mgs until it ran out and so now i am just taking the left over codiene because my legs hurt so bad and once they are gone(which will be within a week) I will go with nothing. I am determined to rid my life of this affliction. I hate my methadone doctor and think that he is one of the most unethical doctors i have ever met. I know i could have done this in a better way had he been on board. Think long and hard before you sign up for methadone cause it's the worst withdrawl known. I would rather i just got dopesick in first place.

I was on methadone for about 5 years. Been off for about 2. It is a tough decision, but worth it. I'm not going to tell you that it was a walk in the park. I was withdrawling for about 2 months. It took a lot of strength and support from my family to get thorough it. Once you are ready, you are ready. The doctors will try not to get you off. It is a business to them. (methadone is very expensive). Getting off methadone has been one of the best decisions I have made for myself and my children. Even if you fully take advantage of the program, methadone still blocks you emotionally. I used to feel like I was stuck and living in trend. Life is a beautiful thing, to be a slave to methadone. I hope it goes well for you all. At the end, the choice is always within. God bless you all battling your addictions. One more thing; stay strong, you will eventually start feeling better.