Couple questions about methadone....

Rrector

I've been on Methadone for about a year and a half. Currently I'm at 180 mg. a day. I know it's high, but I've really built up a tolerance. I take meds for sleep at night. I take Klonopin, Elavil, and Ambein, 10 mgs. Ambein is about the best there is and it works great for me. Also, I don't take any BT meds due to the high dose I'm taking, but there are times when I wish I had something.

tkgoodspirit

Hey LibraBalancer,

I use Methadone as a b/t med. I am on the Duragesic patch 50mcg every 48 hours, with 10mg of Methadone up to 4 X daily as needed. This combination works best for me. But I got the opposite effect from the Methadone. It made me sleepy at first. It's better now. I have just been dx'd with Chronic Fatique Syndrome so my doc has prescribed me Provigil to help me with my mental clarity and the fact that I was taking 4-5 naps a day, sometimes for up to 3 hours at a pop! That's a lot of sleepin'! Anyway, I also was dx'd with Fibromyalgia in 2002 and my doc prescribed me Klonopin to help me get deep restoritive sleep. I haven't really tried anything but the Klonopin, and stupid me, didn't even realize until recently that it is an anti-anxiety med! I like it because it helps me sleep so heavily that I don't move around in my sleep. I wake up most mornings in the same position I went to sleep in, which is good for me, because I have some pretty instense pain from 3 herniated and torn discs in my lower back. I have a rope that is tied to my head board to help me roll over onto my side and pull me up in bed. I can only sleep on my left side, when I do lay on my side because I have bursitis in my right hip so bad it feels like I'm laying on a rock. But I DO wake a bit groggy in the morning from the Klonopin. I take 1mg at bedtime. And usually sleep all through the night, maybe sometimes waking up to go the pottie, but I go immediately back to sleep. So, for me Klonopin is working great, has been for 3 years.

Hope this helps you some.


tk

LibraBalancer

Dircetor, I wouldn't say 180mg's daily is alot. I mean if taken at 1st time you'd be dead! LOL, butof course tolerance and no ceiling on methadone. But you take no BT meds. Do you feel like you need to at anytime? Or your just saying that your Dr. feels that your methadone level is too high for him to Rx you BT medicaitons?
Goodspirit....I just read about the Provagil. I'm confused...does it have amphetamines in it? Or is it just ampethamine like...in the way it plays w/ dopamine? I dunno, I read some strange things about it...it seems unclear to me, but does it work good I hope. My mom deals w/ alot of staying awake issues. At least I think she does because she drinks coffee practically every moment shes awake! LOL, and her coffee is DARK AND THICK, it's scary stuff. But I just thought it strange (but if it works for you GREAT) that you take methadone for BT pains, when it takes it like and hour or more to start being really effective. I even read somewhere that it shouldn't be taken as a BT med. but interesting that you say it works. I actually read that if your on methadone as a base drug to take something along the morphine or oxycodone line for BT. But your not, your on Duragesic. Which I didn't have BT meds when I was on Duragesic, sure wish I would have though. And good to know about the klonopin. Maybe I'll mention that drug specific, after I read a little more about it, for my newfound insomnia. Because I too have a terrible time tossing and turning at night. And have a few herniated disks, which I've had surgery on, but only made things worse it seems. So to sleep undisturbed in one position all night sounds like a DREAM!

-James

Rrector

Hi James...I wanted to respond to a couple questions you had in your post. As far as my Methdone dose, I think it's pretty high compared to other people who have doses much lower. I think my doctor feels that 180 mg a day should cover my pain and BT meds shouldn't be necessary. Although my scripts are written 60 mgs TID, I pretty much take it as I need it throughout the day. No two days are probably the same. As for the Klonopin helping with sleep at night, a lot of people take it for that reason. Personally, I take Klonopin, but also take Ambein at bedtime too. The combination of the two works really well, and I think most people could get by with about one (1) mg at bedtime. If I were you, I'd ask my doctor for some Klonopin and If that didn't work you might consider asking for some Ambein.
.

tkgoodspirit

Hey James,

Thanks for the questions. I hope I can answer them! LOL As for the Provigil, I had heard about it on the Fibromyalgia board, and I have both FM and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so I asked my GP about it, and he said it is usually for those with narcolepsy (sp?) and diabetes who deal with mental clarity and fatigue problems. Best I can tell, and I haven't really researched the med, which I WILL do now that I find I can't answer too much about what it does, is that it acts similar to neurontin, but that really doesn't make sense either. I guess I don't have a good answer! LOL I know that it DOES seem to help. I take 200mg in the morning and I DO notice I am not needing the 4 or so naps during the day. I can't address the issue of it keeping me awake at night, cuz of the Klonopin. I would ask your doc about it if you think it would help you and your doc agrees. It is pretty habit forming from what I hear, and I don't look forward to coming off it someday. Now about the Methadone as b/t, it seems to keep my pain at "bay". The reason I am on the Methadone is becaused I asked for it because I was on Percocet for b/t but my insurance company through my husband's job was switched and the copay for the Perc's went from being $10 to $43! Quite a jump there! I knew Methadone was cheap and asked my PM doc and he seemed to think it would work okay. I don't really take it too often, and I know it takes awhile to "kick in" but it lasts longer than the Perc's. I was also building a tolerence to the Perc's after having been on them for 2 years. I was taking 10/325 4 times a day. So, I use the patch every 48 hours, and when I feel like a little pain is starting to "peek" through I'll take a Methadone tablet and it seems to keep everything "steady" instead of peaking and falling like it was. Gosh I hate that! LOL Feel gooooood, feel baaaaad! Up and down like a dern see saw! My main problem right now are the tender points. I have so many that are inflamed, and I am out of my Lidoderm patches, but I see my PM doc on the 29th, so I can hold out. I also have a cream that I get from a compound pharmacy (which this new insurance doesn't cover AT ALL!) that contains, Keto-something or other! Baclofen, Lidocaine and another anti-inflamatory ingredient that I can rub on the "owie" parts.

I'm right now trying to recovering from a viral infection which is causing me screaming headaches. My husband just got over broncitis and pnuemonia and OF COURSE despite all the Lysol I sprayed around the house, it caught me anyway!

But I hope that helps. I agree, I think your mom would be better with some kind of med rather than all that coffee. YIKES! I used to be able to drink a lot of coffee, but here lately I can only get down about 2 cups before my stomach protests.

Thanks for asking. Oh, and I am taking the plunge and going to have my PM recommend a NS to evaluate me for back surgery when I see him this month. I can't really afford it, but I am so sick of not being able to move around. My big worry is how I'm going to "feel" afterward as far as the Fibro and the CFS is concerned.

So, pretty soon I'll be joining you all with all your fusions, 'ectomies, and hardware! My rheumy thinks it's too late to totally fix anything tho, since I can't raise my leg or foot anymore than a couple inches off the floor, and when I lay down, my right foot kinda "droops" more than my other foot.

Take care!

tk

mydogsobe

Watch out for the widrawls you all. Nothins worse, be carefull and I would never ever go back to Methadone again.

You WILL SUFFER

cakes

I just started Methodone, a low dose until I get adjusted. I have Norco (10/325) for BT. The problem is that I am so tired, I can't function, but if I don't take both, I have terrible pain. Any suggestions?
Thanks, by the way, I am new to the board. I have severe back problems.