Methadone dosing question - Pain Management Message Board

mainecoon66 · 07-31-2006, 08:15 PM

Hi everyone..hope you are having a good evening. I went to see my PM doc today and she started me on methadone 10mg every 12 hours. First of all, I have to thank all of you who have posted here about the benefits of methadone. Without reading those I don't think I would have been as open minded as I was to trying it. So here's sending a big

and thanks your way!

Anyway, I did have a question, which I will be asking my pm doc but thought I'd find out what your all's opinion and experience is. In my appt my doc mentioned deciding on a schedule to take the meth on, and suggested 10am and 4pm so that it would be in max effect when my activity is highest. On the bottle it says take every 12 hours, so that's what I will be doing until I talk to her. But I was wondering, what dosing has anyone tried and found successful (or not)?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts on this.
Take care,
Vickie

texascritter · 08-01-2006, 01:39 AM

Hi !! I just started methadone last week. I take 10mg 3 times a day. It works wonderful as far getting out of pain. The side effects are what has been the most bothersome for me. First it makes me so sleepy that I almost fall asleep sitting here at the computer. It has my stomach upset all the time. I've only actually thrown up once. It just always seems to be right there waiting to happen. I sleep alot. My appitite is next to nothing. I have to force myself to eat and to stay awake. So for me I have to decide if being out of pain is worth it. Either way is no quality of life we are all hoping for. I can say being out of pain is wonderful. I hope this helps. I've been told that it takes up to a month for everything to settle out and not have the side effects. I hope this is true. Please stay in touch and we will compair our results with each other and know if we are reacting the same to the meds. Take care. TEXASCRITTER

RetiredDirector · 08-01-2006, 10:55 AM

Hi Vickie: I've been on Methadone for 3+ years and I am on 180 mg per day. My scripts say 60 mg TID. That would be every eight hours, but with my doctors OK, I take 10-20 mg throughout the day. By the nature of Meth, when taking it for pain, normal dosing is every 4-6 hours. Addicts taking it for maitenance, take one dose per day.

I have found there are several side effects to Meth, which I suffered with only a couple and they went away fairly quickly when I started taking it. The only ones I still have are I get sleepy when driving long distances, so I only take a minimum dose before leaving to go somewhere. Once we arrive, I can take additional medication. I also get sleepy when reading and watching TV. In other words, while doing non stimulating activities, you tend to get sleepy.

As for it's pain killing properties, Methadone is one of the best. It's one of the stronger ones on the market (Fentenyl is the strongest) and most people get by with under 100 mg. I take 180 because of my high tolerance to narcotic painkillers. There are a couple others that write into the boards that are taking what I take or more, but not too many.

As far as your dosing, I wouldn't be afraid to take the meds aa your doctor suggested, no matter what's on the label. There has to be some instructions on it and I have the same situation. My doctor told me to take it as it works best for me. You might take it at 10:00 and 4:00 and see how that works. For my situation, taking it throughout the day works best for me and I have the OK from my doctor. You may find some other times work better for you and you can ask your doctor about it. Also doseage, you may find you'll need additional meds after you've taken it for awhile.

One thing I do want to remind you and Texascritter of and that is the brand of Methadone your script is filled with. Do not let them fill your scripts with Methadose by Mallinckrodt. Insist on Methadone by Roxanne. There is a big difference with Methadose being an inferior product. I have told my pharmacy I will not accept any script filled with Methadose. I want Methadone by Roxanne and as long as you tell them, like I did, there's no reason they can't do it for you. You may have to call them a few days before you'll be filling a script that you'll be in on a certain day and then they can order it for you, if they don't have it in stock. Methadose can be as much as 20% weaker than Methadone.

Good luck to you and I hope the Methadone works as good for you as it has for me.

Sick of Hurting · 08-01-2006, 11:33 AM

My husband was on 180 mg. of oxy, and went off of them because of health problems he was having. We felt like is was due to too much medicine, he was on about 10 other medications. He went for about 2 months with nothing for pain but lortab 10 mg. 3 times a day. He had lost down to 120 pounds, he is 6' 2". He almost died on me. We found a wonderful pain management doctor that has put him on methadone 10 mg. 4 times a day, and 2 other medicines. A big change from what he was on. He is doing better now than he was when he was taking all of that other stuff. I hope that methadone works for you and continues to work for my husband. Keep us in your prays, we need all of the prayers we can get, we have really been through alot, and by the grace of God we have made it.

From the Wife of a Husband that is Sick of Hurting

ozzybug · 08-01-2006, 11:47 AM

Vickie-
Hey girl...

I hope the methadone shows you great results in getting those pain levels down. Please let us know how you do with it! Fingers crossed over here that you don't have really bad sleepies or nausea..

Take Care!
Lezlee