How to Begin Methadone Treatment for Opiate Addiction?
Question by Frady: How to begin methadone treatment for opiate addiction?
My husband and I are seeking methadone treatment for our addiction to opiate pain killers. We have been taking opiates daily for almost 2 years. My husband and I start at 2 Lortab 10 mg and go from there. We take up to 10 pills per day. Not only do we take Lortabs, but we also get Percocets, Dilaudid, Morphine, Tylenol with Codeine, etc.
I started taking such pills 6 years ago as needed after I had been prescribed Lortabs for muscle tension migraines resulting from a car accident. I never took them regularly until 2 years ago. It is very important that my husband and I seek help for our addiction. We began with prescribed pills, then sought them illegally.
Not only are we destroying our bodies, but we are spending all of our money on these dumb pills!
I have the # for a local methadone clinic and will call tomorrow to start. We are nervous and I am just wondering how the program works. Any details would help us greatly. Thank you so much… you are helping us get clean
Best answer:
Answer by Chas
The first thing to do is go in and fill out the paperwork,
then I’m not sure if you have to have a urine test that day or you have to come back the next day. You MUST test dirty for opiates or you can’t get in the program. So don’t go in there thinking being clean is good, it isn’t for this one time only. The nurses will pretty well explain what you have to do next and determine what dose to start you at.
Then they will have you see a clinic doctor there. Then they will start dosing you. I’m not sure how much you start with from pills. For smoking heroin it’s 40mg. Then you pretty well control the dose from then on out if you are talking about a mainenance program.
For the 15 day detox it’s different after you see the doctor. They start you at 40mg and reduce the dose everyday for the next 14 days. If you are on a lot of pills a day it’s going to be hard not to get sick.
But I’ve been on the maintenance program for about 18 months and it’s not much fun at all. Your whole life revolves around dosing. At first you will have to go every day and dose. After you have tested clean for a few months you will start to earn take homes. But if you test dirty for anything but pot you lose the take homes and have to start again. It’s a crappy way to have to live. Vacations, trips, everything will have to revolve around dosing.
It took me almost a year to get off it at 90mg a day. In my opinoin it is a bad drug. It’s far more addictive than even heroin. If you really want to get clean use the maintenance program to get yourself off everything. Don’t let thm talk you into going higher and higher with the dose. They will try,,, it’s how they make their money.
I went down the road you and your husband are going. Mine got so bad I started smoking heroin because it was cheaper and easier to get. I had a chronic pain problem from a car accident. Abusing pain meds and then getting messed up with methadone changed my life,,,and not in a good way at all.
I learned my lesson by going through withdrawls a few times,,,and I’m not a kid. I would rather die than do it again. I still have to take a lot of pain medication every day for a cervical spine injury. But I never take more than directed no matter how bad I hurt because I know what that leads to. I never have to worry about running out or refills because I never take more. I know that the price you pay at the end isn’t worth the little bit of fun you have now.
Here are a few links I think you guys should look at. If there is anything I’ve left out just e-mail me. Good luck
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/methadone/index.html
http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=477&action=detail&aeproductid=Adam2004_1&aearticleid=001522
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