Methadone clinics are fucking evil.

[OpiXPO]

Don't rush it one-way, things are going well for you so take a little time to enjoy it unless you have a reason to. 2mg a week is kinda fast isn't it? Why not go for every other week instead?

[dizzle]

Don't rush it one-way, things are going well for you so take a little time to enjoy it unless you have a reason to. 2mg a week is kinda fast isn't it? Why not go for every other week instead?

Qft

[Z]

I think that the best schedule to follow is the one your body tells you it's ready for.  If you get your mind set on a weekly change you will probably hit a wall somewhere and get frustrated.  Personally I've dropped my dose by 10% and then stabilized for a month a few times.  My wife drops her dose by 1mg per 2 months.  It depends on what you feel comfortable with.

[wanderingmind]

I think that the best schedule to follow is the one your body tells you it's ready for.  If you get your mind set on a weekly change you will probably hit a wall somewhere and get frustrated.  Personally I've dropped my dose by 10% and then stabilized for a month a few times.  My wife drops her dose by 1mg per 2 months.  It depends on what you feel comfortable with.

I agree 100%

It's a recipe for disaster if you drop down too quickly.  Onewayonly; If things are going really well...why are you thinking about getting off MMT?

[onewayonly]

Thanks for the replies guys opioxpo and others.

Just being honest I can loose 20mg of the 1000 in 2 months no problem. With weed I actually still nod pretty hard actually. Especially on the weekends with no work I can sleep all day with trees and done. I could easily drop 20mg of the 100 mg I take.
80mg I would be fine I think.

Them from there I can take it slow.

[OpiXPO]

If I were in your shoes, I'd aim for a level that had me comfortable without weed or anything and start working towards take-home doses. That way if you decide to take a vacation or something, or you have days were you can't make it to the clinic, you have backup supplies.  But most importantly, do what lets you enjoy life now and keep progressing. You've earned it and I am truly happy for you and excited for what you can accomplish now. 

[onewayonly]

Thanks man. Everything is good with me. The thing is a
I just like weed to much to stop smoking enough time to get carries. Plan is to just slowly taper. I do not mind going each day which most hate.


Just went to Florida for 10 days with no problem guest dosing.
Hope it goes the same in LA in a few months.

[gnossos (OP)]

I finally got some sleep and a clearer mind. I have a lot of replies to read, but first let me update my opinion now that I can articulate it a little better:

I think American methadone clinics need to take a page from European countries with highly progressive drug policies. I've read that Portugal actually has "heroin clinics" where I assume they wean you off the drug you're already addicted to, rather than giving you a more powerful drug and trading one addiction for another.

I think the most effective way to deal with opiate addiction would be something like the opposite of a methadone clinic. I'm not totally sure how Portuguese heroin clinics operate, but I imagine they give you just enough to get well and slowly wean you down in a controlled environment.

Methadone clinics treat opiate addiction with a one-size-fits-all, general approach. Whether you had a 2 gram or 25mg/day habit, you wind up on about the same amount of methadone (usually close to the max, or even higher). My clinical director told me he's had patients go on as high as 325mg/day. NO ONE NEEDS THAT MUCH METHADONE.

What we need is the opposite. If I could have just weaned off the heroin in a controlled environment (like maybe if I lived in Portugal), it would have been so much better than trying to kick this methadone habit ON TOP of all my other addictions.

[OpiXPO]

Just went to Florida for 10 days with no problem guest dosing.
Hope it goes the same in LA in a few months.

https://detoxtorehab.com/directory/baart-programs-avalon-blvd-ca/ looks like they do guest dosing. Honestly I didn't realize that was a thing and was my biggest hurdle to getting on the done.

[Lolleedee]

I have to correct one thing you said..there are most certainly people who need 325 mg a day.  People with severe liver disease and people who are on antiretrovirals and certain seizure drugs make methadone doses much less effective...with antiretrovirals cuts methadone efficacy in half.  That together with the fact that everyone responds to it differently and the fact that with methadone the size of your dose is not always correlated to the size of your habit, is the reason why exclaimations like this regarding dose should not be said.  Not only does it add to the stigma, but it also is what keeps doctors from giving doses that actually work!

I think you have a glorified look at heroin maintenance.  If the program really consisted of them giving you just enough to be well and then decreasing your dose, do you honestly think you would be successful at that?  If weaning works for you, then why not just buy a brick and wean yourself down?  It doesn't make a bit of difference if you show up at a clinic to get your dose of heroin.  If it doesn't get you where you want to be, then chances are you will be right out on the street to "top up".

Also, if you think methadone is "liquid handcuffs", then being on a heroin maintenance program is like fucking solitary!  The programs that I read about have clients go two to three times PER DAY  and then they give them a dose of methadone to carry them through the night anyway!  Shit, this is basically the "program" I was on before I was on a real program!

I see you searching very hard to find a panacea, where you can use the drugs you want and also have the life you want.  There is no other country, drug policy or magic that is going to accomplish that and until you realize that you can't have both, you are going to be constantly spinning your wheels and forever bemoaning about how your life sucks.

It's not easy.  Even methadone isn't easy.  It's purpose is to stop your body and head from screaming so you can do the work of getting better.  Jumping to a country with a more liberal drug policy sounds great and if you go there you will probably avoid things like jail for personal possession.  But you won't escape the black cloud of addiction that comes as we get worse.

You can never outrun yourself.  When you finally get to the headspace where you finally realize deep in your gut that YOU are all you have, then and only then will you be willing to put the effort into making you who you want to be.  Remember, wherever you go, there you are..the common denominator of everything you do and everywhere you go is you!

[onewayonly]

Just went to Florida for 10 days with no problem guest dosing.
Hope it goes the same in LA in a few months.

https://detoxtorehab.com/directory/baart-programs-avalon-blvd-ca/ looks like they do guest dosing. Honestly I didn't realize that was a thing and was my biggest hurdle to getting on the done.

Yea i have to travel for my job a little bit and my parents live half the country away. Guest dosing has been easy and effective for me. Just make sure to line it up a month out so you have time to fix any fuck up.

[gnossos (OP)]

I have to correct one thing you said..there are most certainly people who need 325 mg a day.  People with severe liver disease and people who are on antiretrovirals and certain seizure drugs make methadone doses much less effective...with antiretrovirals cuts methadone efficacy in half.  That together with the fact that everyone responds to it differently and the fact that with methadone the size of your dose is not always correlated to the size of your habit, is the reason why exclaimations like this regarding dose should not be said.  Not only does it add to the stigma, but it also is what keeps doctors from giving doses that actually work!

I'm glad you pointed that out, I forget that methadone clinics are for pain management. However, I was speaking in the context of addiction recovery, not pain management. What I meant was that I can't imagine any opiate addict legitimately needing a dose so high just for maintenance.

[dizzle]

If I'm not mistaken they don't force u to go up: they recommend it if ur still dropping hot, esp for heroin bc that's obviously not making u quit the drug u came in there to quit.


So they may recommend it but I doubt they force u.




Don't put numbers on what is too much for U or someone else.




Enough is when u can feel stable (not sick) in brtween doses and seen friending for dope like.a mofo.


That's it. Numbers are secondary and shouldn't even be used to evaluate if ur "too high" or "too low"




If u walk in with that kisser you WILL FAIL. That's a guarantee

[OpiXPO]

How does your family react to you being on methadone? I guess my other big block to getting on it is my own family. They finally started talking to me again this past week and spoke of letting me move in with them while I work things out.

[OpiXPO]

So they may recommend it but I doubt they force u.

I've done some reading that in the New England states, there are judges forcing people on to naltrexone or vivitrol if they dont take the oral naltrexone. Those judges need to be disbarred in my opinion.

[Z]

I think robojunkie said he was on more than 325 and still sick.  I've heard of people along up to a gram and being functional.  You can say what you need, but using absolutes like nobody ever will always be wrong.


An old friend peaked around 7g of stronger then retail ecp a day when he was moving weight. The kind of dope where people buy a point and some people split that in two.  Who knows how much methadone he would have needed if he stopped at that point.