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Posted: September 1, 2019, 10:53 AM
16 years on 40mg methadone from doctor as chronic pain patient.
Stable for many years, though age aches & pains (arthritis) along w fatigue, low level depression —- lots of Advil on top of methadone. Within the last year, doc says she must now reduce dosage to 20mg due to new regulations. Although methadone has worked well, I experienced monthly stress including “she’s on vacation” struggle to get med renewed. Always a stressful day waiting for the renewal—month after month, year after year. She also has hundreds of new patients. She doesn’t do much than use google, web md, and writes critics she’s not healthy, herself. When taken down quickly from 40 mg to 20mg, 2 things happened: Insomnia Going to the bathroom up to 9 times a day, easing to 5 or 6, for months. I collapsed on a Sunday and again on Wednesday and ended up in ER. Cardiologist said it was likely heart attack. He said he didn’t want to be quoted but with my I’ll health, weight & horrific family history, he gave strange recommendation. He recommended I drop sugar and eat high fat diet. I have done “heart healthy” for years and have gained and lost weight. I did research. I gave it a try. Bacon, eggs & sausage every morning. Fish, chicken, steak, pork, lard, tallow etc and lots of local in season vegetables. No sugar and I dropped all processed foods (sugar is added) I lost weight like water —50 lbs in a few months. I increased salt (natural only) Weird results: -no more type 2 diabetes -no more high blood pressure But weirdest thing was I dropped Advil and one day realized that my pain, something I’ve known from age 35 for more than 20 years was gone. I stopped playing musical instrument due to arthritis in 2013. I lost the weight by eating like my grandparents did but couldn’t exercise. When I saw pain was gone I began exercise. I went from needing help to take off a t shirt to doing pull ups. Depression gone. I never knew how sugar (“...cose”) impacted the brain causing 2 hour fluctuations so much related to depression and anxiety! I also didn’t know that sneaky food company scientists added sugar to everything. (Even Morton salt!) and the damage of inflammation. I’ve even returned to competitive sports st my age! Doc not pleased. I began my own weaning saving extra tablets (5mg) to break up and do a soft landing taper. Over fifty & Mojo have inspired me. I’ve been terrified of running out of medicine for 16 years. Had only she (or I) knew something about nutrition! (She’s obese) Before that, I had been in pain centers for years. No one ever asked what I ate. I never did street drugs—likely because I had no access to them otherwise I would have medicated the pain & depression with them. I am no longer afraid of tapering off. Breaking up tablets I hope to have tiny chip of about .5mg per day. After stable, I’ll skip 1 day per week. Then I’ll skip 2 days per week, and so on. I wish that others had a home supply in order to be in control of their taper. | ||
Posted: September 3, 2019, 10:15 AM
Good morning Chronicpain:). Your taper plan sounds really good. Tapering slowly is the way to go IMO. We have a lot of similarities in our journey. I’m 57 and do keto. I had to chuckle when you were describing the breakfasts you eat. I eat the same way. Sugar is the devil for sure. Anyways I too saved extra medication in case I couldn’t get it anymore. It’s sad that you have to worry about that. Had I not of done that I would of been given 3months to detox off of 30ml. I have detoxed off of 80ml in 80 days but it didn’t last. But I will say that even then the symptoms were tolerable. But it dragged on and on and it mentally got tough. I went to the doctor for help and got it. Hopefully your able to have your doctor help you if you need it. Clonadine was a life saver. It calmed me down and helped relax me. I was so afraid to make that jump but when I did it was so easy. I was at about 1mg for two days when I jumped. I was taking crumbs but it helped me I believe to have an easy time with jumping. Your doing amazing with this taper. Keep on doing what you’ve been doing. Have a great Tuesday............peace
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Posted: September 3, 2019, 7:08 PM
Did you need meds when you due the slow taper?
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Posted: September 4, 2019, 9:54 AM
Good morning Chronicpain:). Yes I did use meds when I jumped. I also smoked marijuana during this time too. I didn’t do it all natural.
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Posted: September 4, 2019, 4:31 PM
Do you think staying at 1mg per day (7mg per week) for a few weeks and then dropping even further (6mg per week, 5mg per week, etc) would be a soft landing without any meds?
I have the time, though not sure about the patience. | ||
Posted: September 4, 2019, 8:28 PM
Oh yeah that would work IMO. That’s a great taper plan Chronicpain.
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Posted: September 5, 2019, 9:01 AM
Thanks.
I’m now right in 1mg per day. I hope to stay here for a few weeks but I am impatient. I can break tablets down to what appears to be .5 mg. The fear for me is what happens 3-4 days after the final jump. 15+ years is a long time. | ||
Posted: September 5, 2019, 10:03 AM
Good morning Chronicpain:). You can do this and you’ll do fine. Your low enough that even now jumping is doable. The longer you taper the better and that’s what you’ve been doing. Don’t stress your doing great. Can you talk with your doctor about your concerns about jumping? Don’t be afraid to jump you can do this. Take one day at a time. Each day you get a little stronger on less methadone. Until you don’t need it. Do you have support? Not going through this alone helps too.............
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Posted: September 5, 2019, 10:18 AM
At 40 mg the doc said stopping was easy —- I learned that she knows nothing about it.
She’s very unhealthy and here inn Florida, quite a few look healthy. Switching docs isn’t easy. | ||
Posted: September 6, 2019, 10:40 AM
Good morning Chronicpain:). Ya switching doctors isn’t easy. I find a lot of doctors don’t know that much about withdrawals from methadone. Or they simply don’t care. At least we know now how the doctors are regarding this. That way we don’t ever have to go through it again. You are doing everything you can each day. Giving yourself time in between drops and letting the body stabilize is what I did too. Your doing awesome. Have a wonderful Friday............peace
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Posted: September 6, 2019, 12:25 PM
Thanks!
Another reminder of not wanting dependency—- Rx filled 48 hours after due. Had I not tapered, I would have been suffering. Office blamed pharmacy Pharmacy blamed office. I did the monthly stress & anxiety thing for too many years. | ||
Posted: September 8, 2019, 4:18 PM
Day 5 of 1.25 mg
Fatigue — Some sneezing Rough stomach —cramps and constantly going. Took 12 year old child dose of Imodium today after not having had any in 4 days. I do wonder if I’m feeling like this dropping from 2mg to 1.25 if I should jump off abs get it over with, or stay at 1.25 mg until I stabilize. | ||
Posted: September 9, 2019, 9:34 AM
Good morning Chronicpain:). How are you this morning? Imodium is a great med to utilize while withdrawing. IMO. That’s what my doctor gave me too. I was taking 2.5 ml approximately and dropped to 1 ml for a couple days and jumped. I would of dropped and continued to take methadone if it were available that’s just me. Whether that low of a dose helps or not wasn’t the point for me. It helped me mentally and that’s a big plus when reducing my anxiety. I really had an easy time at the end and I believe it’s possible if you taper slowly. That’s what you’ve done too. Your in a good place. Just take baby steps and celebrate daily how far you’ve come. Before you know it you’ll make that jump.......Have a beautiful day.......peace
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Posted: September 9, 2019, 11:59 AM
Better this morning. Yesterday the stomach cramps were very rough. I was out and thought I was beyond it but had to rush home.
I’ve gone from decades of blind faith to not wanting anything to slow down my health. Do you think Imodium slows down the healing of the stomach (gut bacteria, etc) I was going on the hour yesterday for 12 hours even after using child dose. Today I had my 1mg (it’s a tiny bit smaller than the 1.25mg tablet) and my stomach isn’t as bad. No Imodium today. I’ve wanted to jump off now but yesterday convinced me to first stabilize at this level first. I’m eating well and walking which helps with the fatigue. Thanks for Checking in with me | ||
Posted: September 13, 2019, 7:06 AM
Update — after stomach cramping Sunday, I became impatient and jumped off this week.
48 hours now with no methadone. Last night slept 4 hours —wide awake at 1am and very itchy. Fell back asleep with broken sleep 3am -5am but itchy gone. I don’t stress on the insomnia. It will resolve & I don’t trust any medicines that target the brain. I Feeling good this morning. Stomach not too bad. Being on high fat diet, I can always fast. The challenge for me is all the horror stories about half life withdrawals on days 4 and 5. Day 6 I have to fly (lengthy) & need to be ok to stay seated for 6+ hours. | ||
Posted: September 14, 2019, 4:53 AM
72 hours since last dose.
Fell asleep 8:30pm and woke up at 1:30am. I’m grateful for the sleep. This begins Day 3 today. Admittedly nervous about Days 3-5 from everything I’ve read. Day 2 I walked twice, lifted weights for a few minutes & dealt with stomach issues with 1:2 dose of Imodium. This morning I am hungry. I think it’s s good sign. Without inflammation from high glucose diet, this seems so much easier than what would have been on sugar. | ||
Posted: September 15, 2019, 7:44 AM
96 hours since last dose.
Feeling...good. Stomach seems better. Some energy downtimes but only lasted an hour or so. Sneezing during the day continues. Histamine healing? Runny eyes, congestion only last 60 minutes or so. Sleep: 8pm to 12:30am. Wide awake from 12:30-2am but fell back asleep till almost 5:30am! I wonder with the very slow taper and dropping of sugar for the last 90 days... Have I dodged a bullet? | ||
Posted: September 16, 2019, 5:56 AM
Sun in Florida is nice.
120 hours since last dose of 1mg. I feel very good this morning. I fell asleep at 8pm. I woke up at 11:55pm thinking it was morning. I refused to get upset. Eventually I fell back asleep till 4am. This has been relatively easy thus far. Sneezing, running eyes cones & goes as does fatigue. I want healing so I am not using any sleep aids. I’m not allowing any drug to impact my brain. I don’t judge those that do...if there’s any place for compassion, it should be here. It’s just that after diet change, especially sugar and processed food dropping, I don’t trust drugs nor doctors pushing them. I believe chronic inflammation is behind the epidemic of pain patients, depression and anxiety that prior generations did not see in such extreme percentages as we do. This includes children who struggle to concentrate. I dismissed this, year’s ago but once I experienced it there’s no turning back. Stomach yesterday wasn’t great but improving. I used a single child dose of Imodium which helped. This post has been edited by Chronicpain on September 16, 2019, 7:35 AM | ||
Posted: September 18, 2019, 6:58 AM
Day 6. Stomach & insomnia. Business Travel day so I fasted & it was better.
Exhausted, I slept 5.5 straight hours. I traveled for the first time in 15 years without the anxiety of meds—-no fear of losing them —what a feeling. This has been way easier than I feared. Long slow taper —it works. | ||
Posted: September 18, 2019, 7:01 AM
Day 7
I woke up feeling great. (5.5 straight hours sleep as posted above) and just a few sneezes. From trading so much over the past few years, I keep waiting for trouble that doesn’t come. I am convinced that slow taper and NO bodily inflammation is winning combination. The issue of needing Imodium continues. This post has been edited by Chronicpain on September 19, 2019, 4:42 AM |
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