Methadone Detox / Taper Regimen

[g]

@Chip - congratulations on the methadone taper - I just wanted to offer you a tip on somethings you can do to help with your tapering and once you're completely off it. first, get your general practitioner/psychiatrist to rx you some ropinirole and/or clonidine however, don't let them sucker you into rx'ing you hydroxyzine, it has zero effects and that's what I've witnessed myself and from so many others.

I've done it all, I've tapered off methadone, buprenorphine, and a plethora of benzodiazepines (BZD.) I recently checked into detox back in July because I was taking 10x2mg alprazolam and shooting 1.5-2 grams of fentanyl daily.  my psychiatrist was dumbfounded how I was still alive and not to mention hadn't overdosed either.  anyway, if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help - I did see another post of yours about a BZD tapering regime also, so if you'd like some tips from a veteran I'm here.

again, congrats on everything you're doing and best wishes,
g.

[Chip (OP)]

@g Thank you.

I finished the Methadone taper a long time ago and have no interest in going back there so I don't need any auxiliary meds..

My current problem is that I am drinking too much and I have to work on that.

Yes, I am also doing a benzo detox and have given up smoking - getting too old now to trash my health even further as I am almost 60 now.

I'd be keen to hear about your BZD taper from that huge amount of alprazolam please.

[g]

@Chip shoot me a chat message.

[bignasty]

for anyone reading this and needing advice or just wanting to know about quitting methadone, I finally got off 'done after being on it since late 2012. The only other time I quit was when my first child was 6 mos old, I quit for 2 days before taking bupe/suboxone which was followed by 2 weeks of hell on Earth while my body had the 'done and bupe fighting over opioid receptors. Felt bad for about a month with the first 2 weeks being hell on Earth and the first 5 days being the 7th layer of hell or whatever they say to make hell even worse.

I quit 'done this time in Dec. 2020 but I'd take my old lady's take-home bottle every Saturday for about 2-3 mos. During this time I was also using heroin/fent but it honestly didn't cover the 'done withdrawal except for the short period of time that I was actually high. I'd do my last shot of dope then be throwing up, sneezing, runny nose, the shits, etc.. like 12-16 hours later when it usually takes me 24 hours to get sick when not taking 'done or coming off 'done.

I was scared to take sub because of my previous bouts with PWD and knowing that 'done stays in your system (or MY system) a LONG time. I even went CT for 3-5 days a few times since being off 'done. The best thing that worked during 'done WD was clonazolam, flualprazolam, and flubromazolam as it killed all the fiending anxiety and actually made me forget about being sick and allowed me to sleep/nod even when CT'ing fent and going thru the long term effects of coming off 'done. The best I've felt without real opiates/opioids is when I finally got the balls to take bupe/sub after taking about 2mg's of clonazolam. This was after about 4 months of absolutely no 'done whatsoever. The RC benzo gave me the balls to take sub and let me fall asleep after taking it. Being able to sleep when first starting sub made it so much better than any other time I've started bupe/sub.

So my point is or my advice is the following:
1) short acting opioids/opiates for a certain amount of time depending on how long you've been taking 'done and how much you've been taking
2) lots of time between taking 'done and bupe/sub
3) lots of benzo's with (or without) bupe/sub (this may be dangerous so be careful) if you have a large tolerance to opioids AND benzo's. The strong RC benzo's is what helped me the most as they give me a good buzz without opioids/opiates. If you don't have a benzo tolerance, you might want to try these strong benzo's without any opioids since there's a risk for OD when taken with opioids and you might not need any opioids depending on how sick you are from opioid WD. It's harder to OD on benzo's alone so you can take pretty large doses of benzo's without OD'ing but be careful about doing shit while blacked out. Have a sitter or somebody to make sure you won't do anything too stupid if you decide to try large benzo doses alone without opioids. If you're going to take bupe/sub or even weak opioids like codeine, you can't go big with the benzo's unless you already have a large tolerance to opioids and benzo's. Also, even if you have what you believe is a large benzo tolerance to clonazepam/alprazolam/lorazepam/diazepem, the strong RC benzo's are a completely different beast and are MUCH stronger


Feel like I'm leaving something out so hit me up if you need advice on quitting methadone

[g]

So my point is or my advice is the following:
1) short acting opioids/opiates for a certain amount of time depending on how long you've been taking 'done and how much you've been taking
2) lots of time between taking 'done and bupe/sub
3) lots of benzo's with (or without) bupe/sub (this may be dangerous so be careful) if you have a large tolerance to opioids AND benzo's. The strong RC benzo's is what helped me the most as they give me a good buzz without opioids/opiates. If you don't have a benzo tolerance, you might want to try these strong benzo's without any opioids since there's a risk for OD when taken with opioids and you might not need any opioids depending on how sick you are from opioid WD. It's harder to OD on benzo's alone so you can take pretty large doses of benzo's without OD'ing but be careful about doing shit while blacked out. Have a sitter or somebody to make sure you won't do anything too stupid if you decide to try large benzo doses alone without opioids. If you're going to take bupe/sub or even weak opioids like codeine, you can't go big with the benzo's unless you already have a large tolerance to opioids and benzo's. Also, even if you have what you believe is a large benzo tolerance to clonazepam/alprazolam/lorazepam/diazepem, the strong RC benzo's are a completely different beast and are MUCH stronger


Feel like I'm leaving something out so hit me up if you need advice on quitting methadone

switching from methadone to buprenorphine is a complete nightmare due to the half-life of methadone, however, I wouldn't suggest using short-acting opioids to help cope with the withdrawals because it just prolongs the ability to start the buprenorphine.  sadly; the only thing you can do is grin and bear it, or actually sweat and swear it.

when I was on methadone I was on 100mg for 5 years and then tapered down to 35mg and then stopped using it for 5 days and had even then when I started the buprenorphine I still had some precipitated withdrawals, just not that severe but as I continued to dose the bupe I noticed it got better and better, buprenorphine just has such a strong binding affinity that when you take it if there's anything on your μ-opioid (MOR) receptors it kicks them off, I would recommend possible getting some benzodiazepines during the withdrawals before the switch but that's between a doctor and you, I don't recommend scoring them off the street or the web and risking not getting what you need.

anyway; just my twenty cents.

g.