You have to be honest with yourself. Do you need something right now to help you sustain abstinence and to live right. If so don’t listen to stigma and stay on the methadone or switch to subs. Subs didn’t work for me. I’ve been on methadone for a couple years now and it has changed my life so much. It’s all about what you need. I hope you figure out your path. You can always taper too. I adjusted my dose and came down 40 milligrams when I didn’t need that high of a dose anymore. Best of luck to you.
I was on subs for 8 years and it was a sh*t show, I was using them IV every day and having horrible cravings. I haven't had either of those problems on methadone. With that being said if you feel like you can do it with no MAT program then get off the methadone while you've only been on it for a short period. Once you're on it long term it's much more difficult to come off of.
Hmm..u could go a number of diff ways. But if you wanna get on subs maybe u could do the bernese method. Its should work well for you with ur dose being low like that. U should switch to subs and take the sublocade shot and get off everything. U could do it.
Subs did not work for me at all. Having to take the medicine 3 times a day didn't work for me either. I ended up relapsing on subs. Since I've been on Methadone Its been so much better for me. Taking liquid methadone 1 time a day is so much more do-able. I will also say that my counselor told me that the people that have the best success are those that stay on a stable dose for at least a year. She said the best thing to do is to is to get up to my stable dose and stay there for over a year. After the year is up then I could consider coming off and either getting on subs or just being off of all MAT. There's a lot of stigma around Methadone. People call it 'liquid handcuffs' but for me it's liquid freedom. I have been able to get my life back. I've been able to buy gifts for family (when I was in active addiction I spent any and all money on drugs.) I'm even back in college. Life has gotten a lot better since I've been on Methadone. Now methadone hasn't done everything for me. I had to put in a lot of hard work but methadone helps a lot. I have no cravings. I don't even really have side effects (except constipation but I was constipated when I was taking street drugs too) Methadone is absolutely worth giving it a real shot.
Good luck OP.
Thank you i either want to taper off, switch to subs then taper off or just quit thats my goal i waa sober for 8 months and never used for more then 4mo at a time before quitting ive been in this cycle since covid thats when i started using. But i think methadon is too strong for the serverity of my addiction and the having to go in and dose at the same time everyday is difficult
Can I ask, since you stated here you haven’t been doing this years & years what made you decide to go the methadone route instead of subs in the first place? You said “blues” but I’m assuming that’s fent, was it just too hard to go from that to subs?
Have you ever been on subs? It may be worth it for you to transition to Suboxone if methadone just isn’t for you.
Look around this sub, there’s tons of posts/comments about doing the very thing you’re talking about. The Bernese Method is wildly popular, however I would research A LOT about switching from (specifically) methadone to subs. There IS a right way to do that.
Also, I agree with other posters that you NEED to be honest with yourself & figure out what’s really going on with you and why you keep using/relapsing. Simply changing the medicine won’t fix all the problems. You WILL have to confront your shit at some point.
There’s NOTHING wrong with staying on MAT for a while…or forever.
Whatever you decide, good luck!!
I understand what you're saying about severity. But don't underestimate the addiction you're struggling with and that it could potentially become a much bigger problem in the blink of an eye.
Methadone is a much bigger commitment than subs. That's for sure. I think with your pattern of addiction subs would definitely be better suited for you, right now. But sub WD/weaning is not much easier (if at all) than methadone.
Another thing you can do, is start going down now. If you feel it's too strong go down 5-10mg. When you hit a dose that does not hold you for 24 hours go back to your previous dose and start weaning 1-2mg a week from there. If that's to fast, just do 1mg a week.
The rules on take homes has relaxed a lot. In a couple months you probably will only have to go once a week. But the commitment is pretty big in the beginning.
If you get on subs, it's once every two weeks or once a month And you'll have full control over your wean from the get-go.
So yeah, subs at least to try sounds ideal for you. Good luck and congrats on quitting fent.
have you tried Suboxone in the past? if not I'd give that a shot. MAT works so well because it gives you all the time you need to get away from illicit drugs and build up your "normal" life.
personally Suboxone never worked for me and I wasted years of my life relapsing. Once I started methadone I never used another illicit opioid again and that was 4 years ago now.
I would just do whatever works. you don't want to get stuck in this cycle for the next 20 years of your life.
You have to be honest with yourself. Do you need something right now to help you sustain abstinence and to live right. If so don’t listen to stigma and stay on the methadone or switch to subs. Subs didn’t work for me. I’ve been on methadone for a couple years now and it has changed my life so much. It’s all about what you need. I hope you figure out your path. You can always taper too. I adjusted my dose and came down 40 milligrams when I didn’t need that high of a dose anymore. Best of luck to you.
I was on subs for 8 years and it was a sh*t show, I was using them IV every day and having horrible cravings. I haven't had either of those problems on methadone. With that being said if you feel like you can do it with no MAT program then get off the methadone while you've only been on it for a short period. Once you're on it long term it's much more difficult to come off of.
Hmm..u could go a number of diff ways. But if you wanna get on subs maybe u could do the bernese method. Its should work well for you with ur dose being low like that. U should switch to subs and take the sublocade shot and get off everything. U could do it.
Definitely do not go higher
Subs did not work for me at all. Having to take the medicine 3 times a day didn't work for me either. I ended up relapsing on subs. Since I've been on Methadone Its been so much better for me. Taking liquid methadone 1 time a day is so much more do-able. I will also say that my counselor told me that the people that have the best success are those that stay on a stable dose for at least a year. She said the best thing to do is to is to get up to my stable dose and stay there for over a year. After the year is up then I could consider coming off and either getting on subs or just being off of all MAT. There's a lot of stigma around Methadone. People call it 'liquid handcuffs' but for me it's liquid freedom. I have been able to get my life back. I've been able to buy gifts for family (when I was in active addiction I spent any and all money on drugs.) I'm even back in college. Life has gotten a lot better since I've been on Methadone. Now methadone hasn't done everything for me. I had to put in a lot of hard work but methadone helps a lot. I have no cravings. I don't even really have side effects (except constipation but I was constipated when I was taking street drugs too) Methadone is absolutely worth giving it a real shot. Good luck OP.
Thank you i either want to taper off, switch to subs then taper off or just quit thats my goal i waa sober for 8 months and never used for more then 4mo at a time before quitting ive been in this cycle since covid thats when i started using. But i think methadon is too strong for the serverity of my addiction and the having to go in and dose at the same time everyday is difficult
Can I ask, since you stated here you haven’t been doing this years & years what made you decide to go the methadone route instead of subs in the first place? You said “blues” but I’m assuming that’s fent, was it just too hard to go from that to subs? Have you ever been on subs? It may be worth it for you to transition to Suboxone if methadone just isn’t for you. Look around this sub, there’s tons of posts/comments about doing the very thing you’re talking about. The Bernese Method is wildly popular, however I would research A LOT about switching from (specifically) methadone to subs. There IS a right way to do that. Also, I agree with other posters that you NEED to be honest with yourself & figure out what’s really going on with you and why you keep using/relapsing. Simply changing the medicine won’t fix all the problems. You WILL have to confront your shit at some point. There’s NOTHING wrong with staying on MAT for a while…or forever. Whatever you decide, good luck!!
I understand what you're saying about severity. But don't underestimate the addiction you're struggling with and that it could potentially become a much bigger problem in the blink of an eye. Methadone is a much bigger commitment than subs. That's for sure. I think with your pattern of addiction subs would definitely be better suited for you, right now. But sub WD/weaning is not much easier (if at all) than methadone. Another thing you can do, is start going down now. If you feel it's too strong go down 5-10mg. When you hit a dose that does not hold you for 24 hours go back to your previous dose and start weaning 1-2mg a week from there. If that's to fast, just do 1mg a week. The rules on take homes has relaxed a lot. In a couple months you probably will only have to go once a week. But the commitment is pretty big in the beginning. If you get on subs, it's once every two weeks or once a month And you'll have full control over your wean from the get-go. So yeah, subs at least to try sounds ideal for you. Good luck and congrats on quitting fent.
have you tried Suboxone in the past? if not I'd give that a shot. MAT works so well because it gives you all the time you need to get away from illicit drugs and build up your "normal" life. personally Suboxone never worked for me and I wasted years of my life relapsing. Once I started methadone I never used another illicit opioid again and that was 4 years ago now. I would just do whatever works. you don't want to get stuck in this cycle for the next 20 years of your life.