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3 months off methadone and feeling better .. success

Posted , 5 users are following.

brianthesnail
brianthesnail

Hi guys 

            Well heres my story .. i was taking methadone for 8 years (around 40ml a day ) and after a sudden pain in my side and generally feeling unwell i decided to stop 

          i managed to taper myself down to 4ml .. this was both physically and mentally hard however when i hit 4ml i decided to get help to reduce to nothing .... i was on 4ml for 3 weeks ... then 2ml for 4 weeks and then 1ml for 4 weeks ... and then nervously i went to nothing,however i was expecting to be ill however i wasnt ... 

           but at around 1 month clean i discovered what the pain in my side was ... i had 3 slipped discs ( 1 x thorasic and 2 lumbar ) allthough it was the thorasis ( T5/T6 ) that was causing the pain on the left side 

           i was given gabapentin for the pain ( as no doctor in my surgery will prescribe opioids to me even for slippped discs ) ... however 3 months down the line the gabapentin seem to be working and in combination with naproxen things seem to getting better 

           so basically coming off methadone isnt easy but it can be done ... its the mental side thats hard .. hostility and anger was common and it drove me crazy but thats behind me now 

          granted i will allways be recovering but i make the most of life now and am so happy i am off methadone ... ok it works for many people but i hear more negatives than positives regarding it 

          thanks for listening and take care 

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • judi81003
    judi81003 brianthesnail

    Posted

    Congratulations Brianthesnail!!!!

    May I ask why you started methadone in the first place, or does that go without saying? I have often wondered if it is any better for you, or any less addictive than what they give it to treat in the first place. Thoughts? 

    I hope that your slipped discs soon heal, that does sound painful, but I am glad you have found other relief. Take care of yourself and keep it up!!!!!!

    Congratulations again. 

    • brianthesnail
      brianthesnail judi81003

      Posted

      Hi judi 

                     i started methadone 8 years ago .. it was sort of strange .. i had previously been on co-proxamol for 6 years and when my doctor stopped these ( kind of odd since it was the doctor who put me on them )  i suppose i still wanted that opioid buzz and was offered methadone ... within months i was addicted and the rest is history

                    is it better ?  ohhh yes ....  as a addict said to me one day coming off heroin is like a day in disneyland compared to coming off methadone ..

                    as i mentioned i wasnt given it for any abuse of narcotics .. i was just young and stupid and it was only at the end i was officially prescribed it .. prior to this i simply purchased it on the street ... cost me thousands but hey thats the past 

                   the discs are problematic but with the gabapentin and naproxen they seem to be ok ... initially i couldnt take more than 2 x gabapentin daily but now im on 5 x daily ... the doctor thinks it may of been the methadone still in my systems interacting with the gabapentin ... but now its ok and my mind is clearer and i can think normally again 

                   anyway thanks for the reply ... and best wishes 

                            bri 

    • judi81003
      judi81003 brianthesnail

      Posted

      Thanks Bri, keep it up, and good luck!

      I take morphine myself, but took gabapentin once and my entire faced swelled like a balloon (I couldn't even see my eyes were swollen over). So none of that stuff for me, I'm allergic to everything—except opioids it seems... 

      Best to you

    • brianthesnail
      brianthesnail judi81003

      Posted

      gabapentin has a nasty side effect in mostly women were they either put on weight or like you it can cause swelling ....  its took me months to get to 400mg daily of gabapentin .. probally due to the post opioid side effects ( takes a while for the methadone to leave your body even when clean ) 

              best wishes judi and happy xmas razz

  • natasha_18570
    natasha_18570 brianthesnail

    Posted

    me to 3 months clean it was hard as ever run out of meth on hoilday in Orkney which they don't have it up there so had no choice but so glad l did 14 years is long time on that and it's wrong should not be given and if it is 6 weeks cut down not leave people like us in it for years joke hope the law changes

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