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Posted by: J Miller on 2012-01-16, 20:49:53
You will most likely get withdrawal symptoms. While you've been on methadone you've been feeding your dependence so when you stop taking it the withdrawal will start just like if you stopped taking heroin. If you are dependent on one opioid you are dependent on all of them. That's why you taper the methadone over a few weeks. I think you are making a huge mistake by jumping off like that. I would not be surprised if you're back on heroin within a week. Doing a 21 day detox is not substituting anything. It's a detox and it's only for 21 days. I have to say that I strongly disagree with you that methadone is a substitute for heroin or that it's nearly as bad as heroin. You will hear a lot of people say stuff like that but I have never come across anyone who said things like that that knew what they were talking about. They are usually just repeating what they've heard from others, or read on the internet. Methadone is a medication used to treat the brain disorder of addiction. It does not, and neither is it meant to be, a substitute for heroin or any other drug. What it does is treat the obsession and compulsion to use drugs that addicts have. It's really no different than an antidepressant that removes the depression. Methadone removes the obsession and compulsion and allows people to live normal lives without constantly being preoccupied with getting and using drugs. People get hung up on the fact that methadone is in the same family of drugs as heroin and narcotic painkillers but that just means that it works on some of the same brain receptors. It does not mean that it's a comparable drug in any way. Immodium, the over the counter diarrhea medication, is also an opiate. Does that mean that it's equal to heroin? Methadone can be abused. It can cause a high when used recreationally. But when used to treat addiction correctly by a doctor it does not cause a high or any kind of impairment. It only allows addicts to live normal, productive lives while feeling and acting normally. Heroin does none of those things. Methadone Maintenance Treatment has a higher success rate than any other treatment method available. It saved my life and without it I would be dead or living like I was. I've tried a bunch of other treatments and every single time I've relapsed within a few weeks. But thanks to methadone I no longer have any cravings or desire to use drugs and can live the life I was supposed to live. All I have to do is to take a medication in the morning just like I have to do to keep my allergies under control. It's a small price to pay to have a good, drug free life. If I was on heroin or a drug similar to heroin I wouldn't function at all. But thanks to methadone I more than function. I thrive. How that can be a bad thing I don't know. ETA: Methadone is actually not harmful to your health and you don't become more dependent the longer you take it. Once you're dependent, you're dependent. It doesn't matter if it's a week or five years. It's true that you would get withdrawal symptoms after a 21 day detox but it would be a lot milder than just jumping off at 60mg. That's why they do a 21 day detox and don't have you just jump off. Getting sick is not inevitable though. By doing a slow taper using methadone or suboxone you can get off fairly painlessly with only very minor symptoms. The way you are doing it rarely works and I think you're making a mistake. Since you've only been using for a pretty short time your symptoms may not be that bad and you can get through it but if you will have full blown dope sickness your risk for relapsing is high. I wish you well and I hope you can hack it and never touch heroin again but if you don't I hope you will give methadone or suboxone a chance. It is possible to continue to go to school or work while tapering with suboxone or methadone. |
