Discussions that mention methadone

What's the difference between methadone and subatex/suboxone? With the recent Anna Nicole tragedy revolving around methadone and to see what she was like when "supposedly" on methadone - it seems very different from the subatex/suboxone group.

Any thoughts....

methadone you have to go to a clinic to pick up every day. it's very controlled. where as the sub is given in pill form.
the clinic I go to for my methadone is pill form but mixed with water.

why would anyone want to get high on methadone? I"m there for a purpose and that's to get clean. methadone has saved my life.
even though I have to drive there almost everyday, I have take homes on wed. and for sat. and sun. so I have a break. but that comes as a reward and if you prove you're doing well and that's having no dirty urines and not missing any days for no good reason.

it is very difficult some feel to detox off the methadone once you've started it. I started on 90 mg and went down to 5 mg but within a seven yr period.
I did not rush it but took my time. if you go down slowly, you only feel irritable on the 2nd to 3rd day.
it's tolerable though and nothing compared to detoxing off of an opiate cold turkey.

you do build up a tolerance to it and do not feel the effects of it if you're on a lower dosage. I couldn't stand the feeling of it when I was on a higher dosage. it made me constantly groggy, falling asleep and nodding all the time and it does not look pretty on a face that's fallen asleep with a droopy mouth and loosened muscles in the face.

so there are pro's and cons to it but there is with life then too.

I've heard nothing but bad things from people on sub. there's always problems with their dosages,etc.

I don't know much about sub and if you want to know more, ****** it.

I hope I was able to help you somewhat.

Linda

Hi there ACL2006,

I was on Methadone for pain through my pain management doctor. I did not have to go there every day to get it. I was given a weeks supply at one time and increased the dosage untill the pain was at a scale of 2-3 pretty much gone just annoying then. The goal was to achieve a level of low to no pain with the least amount of medication. I was not offered the Methadone until all the other stuff no longer worked and I really needed a longer acting drug.

I am an addict and alcoholic and have been clean and sober for almost 3 years. I have also been on workers comp about the same amount of time. I have wroked very hard to stay clean and sober through all of my injuries and life issues. When on the pain meds I always told docs of my addiction and recovery and I also never abused them. I used them as prescribed.

I don't know much about Sub, but I have a friend that is taking it and she says she loves it and does not feel anything but relief from it.

I am not a doctor and can only tell my own experience or what I have seen others go through.

My drug of choice has always been Methamphetamines. Like to go fast I guess. Now I just like to idle along and take life as it comes.

My experience with Methadone is this....It was great because it did take the pain away more than any other drug. Not because I was "high". It did not really make me feel high so to speak but sleepy all the time. I did not like that at all. I am also a student and it interfered with my studies, and memory. Sometimes I would wake up at night and catch myself falling asleep on the toilet. I did not like that. Sometimes I would cry when I took it because, I hated the side effects.
After a few months I decided that it was time to go off and I started a taper that turned into a long drawn out sick deal that I finally had to just CT at the end and it was very hard physically. I did not ave any cravings for it at all.

As far as Anna Nicole is concerned I think that she was abusing it.

Anyway my suggestion to you is to make a list of questions about the 2 drugs and get with you Doc and discuss them.

Will you be taking one of these for a detox purpose or for pain?

Are you an addict and have in the past abused street or pain drugs?

Are you actively participating in recovery at this time and clean?

I am just wondering why you asked the question.......investigate more because I am not a doc and can't tell you anything but my experience....Methadone was hard to get off of but everyone's body is different.
Chrissy

Just to clarify re the myth of the methadone clinic -- you do not have to go to a clinic to get methadone. Doctors can write for it -- in fact, any doctor with a DEA license can write for it whereas with subutex or suboxone the doctor needs a second DEA# obtained through specialized detox training with the sub drugs (basically a short education course). The reason most people think you need to go to a clinic for methadone is that very few doctors will write for it. I have been getting a 2 week supply of it for over a year now. And from 2 doctors (no, not at the same time -- I switched shortly after starting with one whom I did not like). So you do not HAVE to go to a clinic. Anyone who can write for sub can write for meth.

[QUOTE=TrampyG;3101634]Just to clarify re the myth of the methadone clinic -- you do not have to go to a clinic to get methadone. Doctors can write for it -- in fact, any doctor with a DEA license can write for it whereas with subutex or suboxone the doctor needs a second DEA# obtained through specialized detox training with the sub drugs (basically a short education course). The reason most people think you need to go to a clinic for methadone is that very few doctors will write for it. I have been getting a 2 week supply of it for over a year now. And from 2 doctors (no, not at the same time -- I switched shortly after starting with one whom I did not like). So you do not HAVE to go to a clinic. Anyone who can write for sub can write for meth.

The problem is the only way a doc can prescribe methadone is if they prescribe it for pain. It is illegal for them to prescribe it for opioid addiction. Any doctor can also prescribe Suboxone or Subutex the same way, they don't need the special X# unless they prescribe it for addiction. It's weird but true.
search for "DEA articulates policy on Suboxone"
Jake

Just my 2 cents - everyone here is right!

Any doctor can prescribe methadone for pain, and also for addiction, but only for two days for addiction - that would give someone who was severely addicted time to get through the "intake" at a clinic somewhere.

I currently take a low dose of methadone for addiction and I read up on it before I took it and also am learning all I can in order to be an advocate for it. Methadone saved my life - maybe not my physical life, but my marriage, my financial life, my spiritual life, kept me with my child, and generally allowed me to turn my life around after painkillers took my old life from me.

Anna Nicole was almost surely taking other things with her methadone or overdosing on it - low doses help when trying to abstain from drug use. The perfect way to describe the way I feel when taking methadone is this: Like I have never done drugs. Not that I am now clean from drugs, but like I never took them. I don't feel damaged at all. I have followed my orders from the doctor at my clinic to the letter and take home doses for six days, so I only go to the clinic one day a week. On that day I see my counselor and pick up my doses. It is simple. I am getting ready to wean off now. I understand that it is supposed to be hard, but I am committed to going very slow and easy.

I'll tell you anything you want to know about my experience with the clinic or the med itself.