What is the reasonable dose of methadone for getting off opiates?

labrat
#1. January 17th, 2009, at 1:54 PM.

There is no high dose, low dose–just the right dose.

Clinics don’t need to keep addicts “coming back” there are plenty more of us waiting to be treated.

Zenith
#2. January 17th, 2009, at 3:02 PM.

Labrat is correct. The average dose needed by most clinic patients is 80-120mgs, but that is AVERAGE–some need less, others need more–sometimes much more. Dosage requirements depend on many factors–tolerance, metabolism, other medications, disease, etc. The patient needs a dose that will keep them comfortable and free of withdrawal symptoms for a full 24 hours, whatever that dose may be.

Ryan R
#3. January 17th, 2009, at 10:19 PM.

This would depend very much on how much opiates you are taking at the start of treatment. Unfortunately, there is a ready supply of patients for methadone clinics, so there really is no need to “keep you coming back”. As soon as you are well there will be someone who needs your spot at the clinic.

Ryan P
#4. January 20th, 2009, at 1:48 PM.

It depends on your tolerance or dose of your preferred opiate/opioid your are taking. If you need 80 mgs of oxy a dday they will probably put you on 80 mgs of mdone because they are similar in strength but methadone has a longer halflife. Methadone is a full on agonist that is very addictive and has a long half life. It being an addictive full on agonist is “what keeps you coming back” because it is needed by the addict to function. Whether you take 20 mgs a day or 120mgs you are still going to go into withdrawal if you abruptly stop. But if you stop taking at 120 w/d would be more intnse.

If you are thinking about quiting or maintaining i would suggest Buprenorphine(Suboxone,subutex) as an alternative to methadone.

xclarity
#5. January 23rd, 2009, at 3:15 PM.

as someone else had said, it depends very much on what kind of opiate is being abused in the first place. in my practice, ive seen the great results with Suboxone. you can find more information about it at or ask your health care provider.

but to answer your question more specifically, a single dose of 20-30 mg will keep w/d symptoms under control. this would be on the first day of treatment, as an initial dose.. an additional 5-10 mg may be administered on top of the 20-30 if symptoms are still present after 2 to 4 hrs. and so on and so on until symptoms have ceased.

methadone is a funny drug in that its not like your ‘at home’ opioids.. as your body becomes more used to the structure and effects of the methadone, your tissues are better at recognizing it and the dose ‘holds’ for longer. keep that in mind.

all of the dosing after the initial day will depend on what exactly it took to calm w/d symptoms. typical doses are usually between 80-120 mg. the drug is then ‘titrated down’ or ‘tapered down’ (whatever youd like to call it) as time goes by, but usually on an average of every 2 days.

good luck!

George Clarke
#6. March 16th, 2009, at 9:18 PM.

Dosing is a very careful art based on signs and symptons of the individual. The main variable in determining the right dose is liver metabolization and this is not predictable.

http://www.atforum.com/pdf/DosingandSafetyWP.pdf

George