Discussions that mention methadone

I am a 32 year old woman who was very addicted to Vicodin ES, I started taking them Oct. 1994, due to a severe Auto Accident, my Dr was giving me 80 Vicodin Es/every 10 days, my doseage instrusctions were: take 2 tablets every 4 hours for pain, I was taking 8 per day, it started off at 4 a day, but the pain was real intense, so he up ed the dose to 8 per day, and after 6 months, he tried to tapper me off, well, I have NEVER been addicted to anything, and I was feeling real cold, I had severe chills, ect. [the normal withdrawl symptoms] and I did not know what I was going to take for the pain, I had 7 ruptured disks in my back, he did do 3 surgerys but all that did was make it worse, So a friend of mine, said that methadone wa a good pain management program, and it would stop my withdrawl symptoms, So I started taking methadone March 3, 1998, i am still on methadone, 100mg/day, then in 1999 I got married to a JERK, and he beat me and my daughter [who was being treated with chemo and radiation for cancer] So I went to a psyhciotrist, and he put me on Xanax 1mg 3/day, and that helped me sooo much, It was like everything was lifted off of my shoulders, I finally had enough strenght and courage to leave my abusive husband, but my daughter had already had emotional abuse scares on top of her cancer, she just gave up when she was 6 years old, and passed away, That was when i hit ROCK BOTTUM! I started taking 6 Xanax's a day, or I'd poop 1 every time I thought I needed 1, I had 2 Drs writting them for me, 1 wrote me 180 every 2 mths, and the other wrote mr 90 every month, so I had enough to take 6 a day now, PLUS 100 mg of methadone, I want now to get off of them both BAD! I have finally found a great man who has never did drugs, and knows everything about me, my addiction, and he says that he will do whatever it is to help me, [like hide my xanax from me and start giving me 4-5 a day, then after 2 weeks 3-4 a day, and on and on, well we tried that, and I would end-up BEGGING for 1 more during the evening time, and he loves me and didnt want to see me cry and have the 'cold shakes' so he'd give-in, and finally told me that he couldn't help me anymore because he loved me too much not to give me what I wanted, but he couldnt stand to see me going through withdrwals, So I was wondering if ANYONE out there has been in my shoes, or is a family or friend of someone with the same problem as me. The nurse at the methadone clinic told me to tapper off the methadone 1st because the xanax would HELP ALOT with withdrawls from methadone, then tapper off of the xanax after i have been completely off the methadone for 2 weeks to a month [because I have heart trouble and he [the nurse] is worried I could go into heart failure, if I try to do too much at once] So PLEASE if anyone knowsd ANYTHING about taking XANAX with methadone please help me

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Rachelle J Kelley

I know all about the addiction to hydrocodone and xanax, but the methadone throws me for a loop. i suspect the nurse it right about tapering off your dosage of methadone then the xanax. i think extreme, intense couseling is needed in any case, which is what i intend to do about my problem. love to you...

I think you need to come off the methadone first, and I know that xanax does help with that. But, trying to come off 100mgs of methadone is not easy. You do get your meth from a clinic? I would suggest going into an inpatient rehab after you drop your methadone dose. It is nearly impossible to do on your own! Good luck!

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I have been going through methadone therapy for pain for over a year now and it soooooooooo takes care of my pain but my doc will ABSOLUTELYNOT write Methadone and Xanax together.... it is a deadly combo!! I would taper off of the Methadone first and have the Xanax to fall back on ( to help with the Methadone withdrawals) I heard that the withdrawals are terrible! then ween yourself down and then completely off of xanax... thats what I would do. Good Luckand let me know how it turns out for you!!! You willbe inmy prayers!! :angel: [FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][/FONT]

Hi,
I am very sorry to hear that you have been allowed to get so trapped by these drugs. My mother has a severe xanax addiction. She is 70 years old and was never addicted to anything b/f that. We did an intervention about 4 years ago and she stopped taking them, however now my daddy has stage 4 lung cancer and she is convinced that she has to have xanax in order to survive this. The problem is with her and maybe you too is now she is an addict and can never take tranqulizers again. She is so mad with everyone in my family b/c we will not allow her to get them, her doctor is scared to prescribe her anything but buispar for anxiety. Now she has taken to drinking wine. We have all of her medications in a time released pill dispenser b/c she went to a pain clinic that prescribed methadone along with lexapro and cimbalta. Two weeks later we were in the ER for over 12 hours waiting to see if she would live or die. The meth caused the anti-depressants
(serotonin) to build up in her system and reach toxic levels. She did really well w/o the xanax until my daddy got sick and now it's like, she will do ANYTHING to get them. We really don't know what to do for her anymore, it is very sad, because my daddy's the one dying, but she can't see past her own wants to do whats right, and all the attention is on her, not on him. My advice to you is this. Expect it to be the hardest thing you have ever done. If you believe in God great, if not you might want to start b/c you will need him. If you really love this man and want a life with him don't put the responsibility on him to cure you. Take responsiblilty for your own addiction and get professional help. You will need him, but if he feels like it's up to him to get you through this, it will be more than he can bear. If you do indeed love him don't shoulder him with that, if it fails, he has to live with the guilt. There are lots of good professional help out there, find one that's right for you and your situation. Most importantly, BELIEVE that you can do this. Be honest with yourself, you will always have a issue with addiction, but you can overcome it, people do it everyday. My mom will get through this w/o xanax b/c that is not an option anymore, she won't like it and it's going to be hard, but she will survive, and so will you. Best of luck.
God Bless,
Cyndi

Rachelle --

Your combo at those amounts are bad, period. Withdrawing from an opiate like Methadone will not kill you but you will most likely feel like you wish it would. Trying to kick that much Xanax can actually kill you, cause severe seizures and can really kill you.

If your husband knows and is there with you, in-patient detox under medical care is really the best for you. If that is out of the question, taper the meth over a few months, decreasing by a few (maybe 5 mgs) avery few weeks until your practically down to nothing. Once you are off Methadone for a couple weeks, work on the xanax taper. Talk to your doc or seek out an addiction specialist.

The road ahead will be tough but it can be done. I speak from experience, as most of us do on these boards.

P