Methadone (MMT) help

[RGseeker]

Well as the title explains I've been on methadone maintenance therapy since September of last year. It was hard to choose because of the stigma and how long the program can last usually up to 2-3 years. Before this happened 10 months beforehand I had back surgery not anything major just a microdisectomy of the L5-S1 joint. Five months after that around March of last year I had to have hip surgery arthroscopic to shave bone down and fixed my shredded labrum. Part of this was a genetic issue but larger part was because of extreme bodybuilding. I got addicted to 10mg Norco quick I mean 15-20 pills a day and any ocycodone faking ER injuries I was in heaven especially dialiud. Anyway from abusing pain care and my shifty insurance I couldn't get into proper pain management therapy so I did the only thing that I wasn't happy about say I have opiate dependencies which they instantly put me in methadone program isn't that funny how that works. Anyway I'm up to 120mg a day so no opiates will give me a buzz with that high of a limit. But even going through therapy for injuries I'm still in pain. I feel like I need more drugs to help but they won't put me any higher. What are your suggestions? Also experience about methadone use. The liquid only kills the pain 5 hours. The pills methadone for some reason gave me 8 hours. Any answers comments anything would help please! I've been taking benzodiazepines just to sleep through the day.

 

[RGseeker]

Well thanks for the help. Rather OD of the cherry done they are forcing  down my throat and the blister packs of benzodiazepines I get for free!

 

[PTFC]

There are a few members here who can offer assistance in this field RGseeker, I'm sure you will get some hits here soon, keep the faith!

 

[blissopifree 2]

RGseeker  m/done has a ceiling dose and your around that level at 120mls,if you take more it really won't help that much.In my country of origin they only give you Physeptone tablets on VERY rare occasions as they say they can be abused intravenously.I have asked several times for them for traveling on holidays ect but have allways been refused them especially if your in drug treatment therapy.If you get your m/done from your  doctor rather than a cpn (drug councillor) your more likely to get them?.

I had to sign a contract with my local addiction clinic and they won't budge on this rule?..

Peace 

Bliss....

 

[RGseeker]

Thank you so much for your input. I guess in the US the have methadone for opiates addiction and give liquid. But if you find a do tor for pain management they will prescribe pills and not for addiction thank God I have a family friend that might take me off methadone for addiction but rather help pain management maybe methadone or maybe another narcotic.

 

[Guest]

Have you ever thought of dosing twice a day. If you have take home you can take half in mornings half in evenings. Thats what people do on higher amounts like your on, so maybe your , already doing it. It helps with the pain. Do you go to a clinic?  Do you get take home?  NSAIDS May help. Stay as away from tramadol in case you didnt already know

 

[SaintAlien]

Im in MMT but before I became this huge celeb lol I was a BSN at an addiction center who wrote for MMT or scripts of subs. I can't read this thread right now but I can answer some questions about tapering / those 3 pesky letters that prevent people from split dosing (it's not up to the Dr). etc   I also have a wealth of info on detox.

Just remember I'm only a person online and dont take my advice over a Dr and use what I say as a entertainment? or at least information to guide you

Have you ever thought of dosing twice a day. If you have take home you can take half in mornings half in evenings. Thats what people do on higher amounts like your on, so maybe your , already doing it. It helps with the pain. Do you go to a clinic?  Do you get take home?  NSAIDS May help. Stay as away from tramadol in case you didnt already know

Take homes, I really think people should split doses using a ML baby syringe (there's no needle).  10ml constantly every 2 hours till you are comfortable and that goes for tapering.  To get take home splits - you can only do that rarely and with the permission of a nurse, Dr, 6 clean UA's in a row and the DEA (more being the latter).  You have to prove it's metabolizing to quick and they will keep going higher and higher on your dose until they can convince the D for split

Thank you so much for your input. I guess in the US the have methadone for opiates addiction and give liquid. But if you find a do tor for pain management they will prescribe pills and not for addiction thank God I have a family friend that might take me off methadone for addiction but rather help pain management maybe methadone or maybe another narcotic.

liquid is done so (here at least) looks like water and is harder to sell.  Old timers still get pills though, although dissolved in hot water in front of us and passed to them to drink or mix.  Take homes are clear too (that's why so many say "you gave me water!" when drug shopping.). We usually resolve ourselves of patients like this, unless there is underlying mental health problems aka schizoid.  

personally the liquid is faster, it hits in 20 mins.  That's why we watch you at induction for 20 mins to make sure of no overdose. MMT is not the same as pain mgmnt.  MMT on the right dose helps you sleep but otherwise you function like you're sober.  too high of doses are another subj. for pain mgmnt, methadone is given to hold you 24 hours or every 12 with another pill for break thru.  Typically it's perks. You must be on a very low dose of methadone to feel pain relief from anything. After 100 mgs of methadone, you start to cease feeling pain meds.

 

[SaintAlien]

RGseeker  m/done has a ceiling dose and your around that level at 120mls,if you take more it really won't help that much.In my country of origin they only give you Physeptone tablets on VERY rare occasions as they say they can be abused intravenously.I have asked several times for them for traveling on holidays ect but have allways been refused them especially if your in drug treatment therapy.If you get your m/done from your  doctor rather than a cpn (drug councillor) your more likely to get them?.

I had to sign a contract with my local addiction clinic and they won't budge on this rule?..

Peace 

Bliss....

We sign contracts here too.  I go out of the country monthly and various places I can't bring liquid doses, I must bring tablets.  They do a pill count upon return and a UA (as well as before). Some countries don't allow methadone at all and you can go to prison, so I've had a lot of jobs turned down. sub strips are another matter and so far people I work with on them have no issues.  I don't want to be on subs,  I like my teeth

Well as the title explains I've been on methadone maintenance therapy since September of last year. It was hard to choose because of the stigma and how long the program can last usually up to 2-3 years. Before this happened 10 months beforehand I had back surgery not anything major just a microdisectomy of the L5-S1 joint. Five months after that around March of last year I had to have hip surgery arthroscopic to shave bone down and fixed my shredded labrum. Part of this was a genetic issue but larger part was because of extreme bodybuilding. I got addicted to 10mg Norco quick I mean 15-20 pills a day and any ocycodone faking ER injuries I was in heaven especially dialiud. Anyway from abusing pain care and my shifty insurance I couldn't get into proper pain management therapy so I did the only thing that I wasn't happy about say I have opiate dependencies which they instantly put me in methadone program isn't that funny how that works. Anyway I'm up to 120mg a day so no opiates will give me a buzz with that high of a limit. But even going through therapy for injuries I'm still in pain. I feel like I need more drugs to help but they won't put me any higher. What are your suggestions? Also experience about methadone use. The liquid only kills the pain 5 hours. The pills methadone for some reason gave me 8 hours. Any answers comments anything would help please! I've been taking benzodiazepines just to sleep through the day.

You will feel pain until your dose is below 80 and you're in pain mgmnt.  Methadone is to make  you feel normal and not high - and so you can feel pain (it lets our bodies know something is wrong, we need that).  You'll need to fight to taper and if it's pain that's life long issue, your GP will give you a referral to a pain clinic who will then probably give you 20mgs (10mg every 12/hr) with another med for break-thru pain.  You are going to have to leave MMT before they will probably touch you and that's a huge IF they will.  I have a prolonged illness and will face the same

And F the stigma.  I worked at and now am a patient at their sister location, it's all lawyers / some high up Dr's and grandma's.  Pill mils and greedy Dr's screwed pain patients for kick backs from medicaid. I went to a 3 hour course to script subs! 3 hours! that's it. These pill mills are going away, laws are harder and it's greedy Dr's trying to scam the elderly and sick.  It's disgusting.  

I am for harm reduction - HUGE for it. IF you're in pain don't stop yelling till someone hears you and helps.  If you are seeking, therapy of any kind will help you find out why you are trying to fill that void with it all (pain pills when you aren't in pain are like benzos = avoidance) and the last part is my issue completely with ptsd. The film Methadonia scared Dr's and now benzos are worse on your ua than heroin.  With therapy and harm reduction, there's a lower OD rate and less crime.  Methadone and it's cousins are poison for life, but it's better than wondering where your next fix is coming from or what it was cut with.

 

[blissopifree 2]

I wish that's the case in the UK SaintAlian but alas you just need to put the liquid in your case and hope for the best!.

I'm only on 40mls ane am off to eastern Europe at the start of next week just for 5 days so it's only 4 days dose 160mls.

I've asked several times for physeptone tabs so they could go in my hundlugage but a big NO everytime!!.Does my tits in as I ALLWAYS worry about my luggage going missing or my done smashing!!.

And that's without the worry of being stopped and luggage checked although I do have a letter from my drug worker.But like you certain countries I cannot travel to.

BTW does anyone know how taking m/done into Mexico is???

Peace 

Bliss 

 

[SaintAlien]

You can take done into MX, as long as all your bottles have your script on them.  Another thing to consider is calling customs using a fake name. Do you get yours in little bottles or one large take home bottle?

 

[blissopifree 2]

In large take home weekly bottles,but when traveling I ask them to put my dose in separate plastic 50mls bottles.It  saves me from having to measure my dose daily,so I just open the bottle and drink it,a 5 second job or you can put it in your shorts and take it when you need it.

I usually find it easier to reduce on holiday esp in a hot place like MEX and I allways come down far easier while on holiday as I stay in Scotland where it's cold most of the time rrr?.

Thanks so much for your info on Mexico as im going at the end of july/start August and have found it difficult to find out the rules with customs?.

My doctor allways said the USA was off the radar for me and my family were wanting me to go to florida!.So I'm glad that Mexico seems ok for me (I hope).The thought of my niece and nephews face as I was being told I was getting put on the next plane home to the UK before I'd gained entry was filling me with DREAD!!.I was thinking what I could say (sorry kids my passports run out) was all I could think of!.I may be back on the subs by then?,but I don't really want to go back down that road if at all possible?.I know you mentioned phoning customs but I'm scared to be told no?,ignorance can be Bliss  "no pun intended!" so in the case they'll be going and just walk through HOPEFULLY.

The bottles will ALL have my name and amount on them along with a letter from my doc.

Once again thanks for your input SaintAlien it's a weight off my shoulders as I even set up a new post on the travel thread a day or two ago hoping someone might know?,so cheers for that.

Peace 

Bliss......

 

[SaintAlien]

I get my take homes in small bottles (not sure how much it holds but I can try with water on an old one for you) that has my dose for each day.  In my state we do not get one large bottle and then measure out, we get a tiny bottle each day with our name/dose inside/ Dr's name and our patient ID / clinic and dispensing date. So when I worked (I am NOT a Dr, I'm a nurse btw) dispensing and then writing dosage (as a nurse practitioner we can here) for patients, we had steps we had to take to insure that a patient could travel to where they wanted to go and the way they were allowed to travel with it.  There are certain places that there's a ban flying in with it, either completely OR in a way that looks like you're going to sell.  That last part isn't how it's worded but I can't think of how it's stated right now, I'm sorry about that but the paraphrasing should at least make sense lol.

This is what I encourage you to do:

Ask your Clinic Dr or whomever writes the dispensing amount with authority, if you can LEAVE the UK with it 

Ask the same person if you can travel to MX with this medication as a UK resident 

Ask if you can travel back INTO the UK with your dose.

These are all situations you must think of with both methadone and ANY scheduled substance that's an opiate.

I wonder why he said the US is off the radar for you? That's curious to me.  Really check with the Dr on these questions I wrote. I wonder if coming from Mexico to the US with your meds would make a difference? Since it is scripted and you didn't get it from MX - but then there's the issue that if US is off the radar for your travels, you couldn't fly home from FL. The only option I could think of is one that's not on the up and up but I'm trying to rub my brain cells together to help you have your vaca legally.  This is a very important topic and I'm really happy you brought this up. A lot of people would never think about traveling with an RX med to another country being a customs issue, but it is.

 

[SaintAlien]

You know what - I had a friend (she passed 2 years ago in April) who resided in England and struggled with H most of her life.  Her life was plagued with it, from her mothers' OD of it when she was small, to the fact she had rumors swarming around her since age 15 that she too was using while here in the US.  I became friends with this person towards the last 5 years of her life, when she was really fooling the world around her of being totally sober / having bubs / getting married etc.  As a close friend in the states, I had NO idea she was on MMT, in fact only 2 people knew. Only her dealer and husband knew she had began using H again after the second bub, because he found it.  When she passed (it was all over the press), everything came out in the wash.  How she traveled a great distance to a clinic for her dose and how long she had been using H and things for add (to appear thin).  She looked very healthy, although frail as she was always a normal weight her entire life.... towards the very end.  Every suspected eating disorder but never anything of this sort.  But while she was secretly on MMT, she absolutely visited me in the states and had a largish bottle she kept in her locked suitcase that was she said was some sorta herbal stuff she was testing and worried my pup would get into it.  I thought nothing of it,  now I'm thinking it was methadone.  I of course can only assume and I shouldn't. But given that she was using AND the amount they found in her home during the inquest into her death, that she didn't miss a clinic appearance - this leads me to believe she traveled with it.  She could not have "scored" while with me, and we were together always (she slept IN my bed - so she didn't have any privacy other than the bathroom). I don't speak to her widow,  and even if I did I think it's a tactless subject to ask "did she travel to the us with it.?". I truly don't think he'd know anyway, she was sneaky with him as he didn't tolerate partying. 

Please ask your Rx Dr and report back  I'd love to know because I travel and due to fear of getting into issues with customs, I have stayed to the states for work and passed on jobs in Germany and the UK. I no longer work as a nurse, I could if I wanted to (not in MMT) but in psych where I'm trained.  However, I chose my dreams instead and I'd hate to go back to state psych work because I'm losing money by not traveling.

 

[blissopifree 2]

I get mines in plastic bottles when traveling that hold around 50mls each.They have all my details on the bottle such as name, date ,amounts and pharmacy details.I also have a letter from my drug worker (cpn) with my flight deets such as amount im traveling with amount daily along with flight times and that being treated by my cpn along with contact details of how they can be contacted if need be.....

 

[SaintAlien]

To the OP @RGseeker I wanted to answer again to you, so there is a post JUST FOR YOU

MMT is to do the following:

stop cravings

stop the seeking behavior

block the ability of H or opiates giving you a buzz (after you hit a certain dose amount)

Allow you to focus on why you became dependent and find new hobbies, since you aren't seeking.

Pain is your body telling you that something is wrong, which is what (oddly) MMT does right.  It allows us to feel pain, so we seek help. Imagine if we didn't feel pain while on it? It does ease pain levels up to 3 on a scale of 1-10. 3 being a tooth ache, but otherwise you need to see a GP and go from there.  When we first start MMT, we do get an initial high if the dosage is too high to start with.  Starting levels in the us are typically 15 - 30 with every other day increases for 2 weeks via dispensing nurses choice. At that point the "dope sick" symptoms are ceased and you are now at the starting point to get you to a place to begin holding the withdrawal or "dope sick on pause", so that you can function.  

You can speak to your case worker there at the clinic for a small 5mg dose increase to see if it helps.  From experience, it does not or it doesn't sustain past 5 days. The only way to feel nothing is to be on dangerous levels and I do not wish that for anyone.  I hope you find help and solace my friend.  Please update us

 

[SaintAlien]

I get mines in plastic bottles when traveling that hold around 50mls each.They have all my details on the bottle such as name, date ,amounts and pharmacy details.I also have a letter from my drug worker (cpn) with my flight deets such as amount im traveling with amount daily along with flight times and that being treated by my cpn along with contact details of how they can be contacted if need be.....

Good (sounds similar to my situation).  I would just triple check because laws change in various countries and right now with immigration issues and traveling bans, I would be afraid of confiscation until you leave and then being ill during your vaca.

 

[RGseeker]

Thank you greatly for your replies,!!!!! It means a great deal of respect coming from members like yourselves

 

[ElectroNymph]

I actually found 5 x 14 tab strips of 10mg meth in my drawer yesterday. Was quite surprised as I'd forgotten they were there!

Luckily it wasn't DFF118's. I can take them like Smarties.

 

[SaintAlien]

You just happened to find methadone.  Whaaaaat?

But seriously traveling with methadone is insane.  In the US, methadone has federal and state laws.  Some states make it worse than others, some clinics are impossible.  For me it was impossible.  It's the reason I quit MMT twice, and even though many days I wish I were still on it, many days I'm glad I left it.

 It is true that if you have a legit rx for benzos, you may never get into MMT, in fact, there are very few clinics left that allow benzo + MMT in my area which is one reason I had to leave.  They were never going to extend my take homes, never going to give me vacation bottles - I want to travel the world, meet people, do things with my life.  For god's sake these clinics don't realize this.  And for the poster who mentioned that you only needed a 3 hour course to prescribe subs - that doesn't surprise me at all.  At my clinic, so many of the counselors were, well, not that smart.  And just not that good at counseling.  They were limited, to say the least.  I mean, an addict does not a counselor make.  It can definitely help, but there are pitfalls as well.

Take care,

Amen!

It's so early and my day is insane so I'm going to make a list and go from there:

State to State:

If you are on weekly take homes, you need a note from our Dr regarding this to be carried and a UA before and after; however, we prefer that we established you at the next state and at a clinic to pick up your take homes.  Our concerns are: selling, being around those that steal, triggers to overdose etc.  You can "guest" at most all clinics for $5 a day.

Now with benzo's:

Methadonia came out (a film) and all hell broke loose.  We need our psych because there's a reason an addict uses and we need to get to that reason before tapering. We used to script benzo's with done, but now it's done for the "vets aka lifers".  It's done for people who've been on take homes and were on benzos at least no less than a decade.  If you have a script for a LOW dose benzo and that Dr speaks to us - we will give it a pass in your UA or "permission to be". However, I think it really is something we'd rather never see and a worry we don't want from the DEA. 

The seminar for suboxone (subutex was a day at least) - was stupid.  You basically were grouped as:

Addiction housing (mmt / rehabs in or out)

Internal Med Dr

Pain Mgmnt Dr

Sub DR who could take X amount of sub patients per county hence the Dr's setting up shops in several and wanting cash

The entire thing was a keynote speech and the Jersey Shore guy spoke for 15 mins (the situation?) about how it changed his life as a pill abuser. the rest was different Dr's from other countries and makers of.  It was a sales pitch / addiction fair:  3 hours.

I actually found 5 x 14 tab strips of 10mg meth in my drawer yesterday. Was quite surprised as I'd forgotten they were there!

Luckily it wasn't DFF118's. I can take them like Smarties.

strips? You mean subs? We do liquid and tablets or are they different where you are?