What Are the Withdrawl Symptoms of Methadone: Methadone Addiction; Need Medical Experts Help?
Question by Tommy: Methadone addiction; need medical experts help?
Ive been addicted to methadone for around 2 years taking around 120 milligrams a day see today i missed the clinic and bought Suboxone to take away the withdrawl symptoms but it didnt it seemed to make it worse x 10 so can u tell me what happenend. And also how long it would take me to get off of methadone to where i would have no withdrawl symtoms Please I need medical help!!!!!!
Best answer:
Answer by GaryR
Suboxone counters the effects of opiates, and Methadone is kind of the King of Opiates. So, that’s what crashed you down hard. Addiction to opiates is difficult, but not impossible. Literally millions of people before you have done so successfully. But, you really would probably do better to get off it under medical supervision, and with the assistance of an understanding physician. That means tapering off the Methadone in steps, and taking medications such as Valium to help control the shakes, anxiety, etc., that accompany drug withdrawal. Addiction comes in two parts: chemical and psychological. The chemical part actually goes by pretty fast. If you come off Methadone, and STAY off, you’ll go into acute chemical withdrawal that lasts for about 5 days. This is the hardest time for you, and where a good physician can help ease your discomfort with careful medical supervision. After that, it’s just a matter of fighting off the mental part of the addiction, which lasts a lifetime. However, the strong cravings gradually taper off over a period of about 2 years so that after that time, you’ll find that you’re off opiates, AND you don’t crave them anymore. After that, it’s just taking it one day at a time for the rest of your life, avoiding opiates. Good luck to you.
Answer by …and the crowd goes wild!
They are both opiate antagonists. I was on 140 mg methadone for about 8 months. The withdrawal was complete and utter hell for like 3-4 months. I don’t know why it would have made it worse, b/c both being opiate antagonists it should be an additive effect. I do know that on that much methadone it doesn’t leave your body that quickly, I used to take mine every other day. You’d be much better just detoxing from oxycodone or morphine, even heroin, if you really want to stop. The withdrawal from those lasts only a week.
Edit: Sorry about that. I just re and re-searched and did a little more too, and it appears that Methadone is probably an agonist (even though there is a bunch online about how it is an antagonist). I wasn’t looking at wikipedia either or something any joe schmo could edit.
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More What Are The Withdrawl Symptoms Of Methadone Information…
GaryR is partly correct.
Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) is a mix of two drugs- buprenorphine a partial opioid agonist and naloxone an opioid antagonist.
Suboxone can cause opioid withdrawal symptoms if administered to a patient physically dependent to an opioid who is not in withdrawal. Suboxone can only be administered AFTER withdrawal symptoms start to occur. With most opioids (not methadone) it can typically be given 12 hours after the last use of an opioid. However methadone lasts much longer than drugs like Heroin, morphine, oxycodone, or hydromorphone and typically people must wait about 24-48hrs.
Methadone, unlike Suboxone, is a full opioid agonist (as is Heroin, morphine, fentanyl, oxycodone…) so it acts on receptors differently. If Suboxone is administered to a person physically dependent to opioids (especially full opioid agonists) it precipitates withdrawal because the naloxone in the drug BLOCKS opioids and is used in emergency situations of severe opioid toxicity (overdose) because it binds to opioid receptors but unlike drugs like methadone or Heroin that activate opioid receptors, naloxone does nothing but block the ability of opioids to bind to receptors. Even the buprenorphine without the naloxone can cause a person to go into withdrawal. This is why careful induction must be followed when starting Suboxone.
Basically you made a HUGE mistake, buy taking Suboxone, as you said, you did start to withdraw and it is far worse than what normally happens. This is part of the reason Suboxone has become so popular, it blocks the effects of other opioids or causes withdrawal, especially with IV use, which makes it hard to abuse. When Suboxone is given out people actually look for signs of opioid intoxication and do not give the dose if the person is intoxicated to avoid severe withdrawal.
According to The Official Suboxone Product Monograph, “Before beginning Suboxone therapy, the dose of methadone must be reduced to a maximum of 30 mg/day. The first dose of Suboxone must be taken at least 24-48hrs after the patient last used methadone or preferably, when the early signs of withdrawal appear. Suboxone may precipitate symptoms of withdrawal in patients dependent upon methadone.”
Suboxone is very complex, in most (if not all) countries doctors must go threw The Suboxone Education Programme to be able to prescribe it.
If you can you need to see your doctor and, depending on what is offered at the methadone clinic, you should talk with someone about getting off the methadone and it truly is important they know what happened.
Also being physically dependent (which results in withdrawal) to methadone is not addiction. Many people think using methadone is “transferring addictions” but that is not the case. The idea of methadone is that it stops physical withdrawal which allows people the ability to work on their addiction without the problems of withdrawal.
It will take you time to get off the methadone, the slower you go will reduce or eliminate the severity of the withdrawal, and at your dose you can’t really transfer to Suboxone. Suboxone and a few other opioids have to be used with extreme care in people physically dependent.
You also can’t really use opioids for a while after taking Suboxone because it blockades opioid receptors and does not allow other opioids to bind to the receptors thus they have no effect.
Also there is no such thing as “physical addiction”. It is technically physical dependence (addiction is technically no longer a medical term). Physical dependence is a state of adaptation that is manifested by a specific withdrawal syndrome that can be produced by abrupt cessation, rapid dose reduction, decreasing blood level of the drug, and/or administration of an antagonist. Physical dependence commonly occurs in people addicted to opioids but also in people using opioids for legitimate medical reasons.
Addiction (technically known as substance dependence) is a primary, chronic, neurobiological disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviours that include the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving.
So physical dependence alone has nothing to do with addiction, it just so happens that they can occur together.