Hi, I'm Clare. I haven't been posting much lately, but your post caught my attention. I have never taken Methadone, nor have I had opiates for more than a day, so I'm sorry that I can't help you in that respect.
I am, however a recovered(ing??!!) drunk, so I can relate a bit to the struggle that you face. I know that getting off of a drug is a lot different than booze, but what helped me when it really bothered me was to tell myself 'just make it through the next few minutes' and once I did that it was better. It seemed with me that a large part of my addiction was actually a state of mind...baby steps and taking it one day (sometimes one minute) at a time helped.
If you have a point of failure, don't beat yourself up over it - just get back on that 'bicycle' when you feel strong enough again. I'm in a lot of pain right now so I hope this doesn't sound preachy, as I mean it for encouragement. I'm a much better writer when I don't hurt so much. Even if you reduce the amount you take, (if you feel it is a problem) then that will be a success!
Joanne, please know that I think you are very brave, and I will pray for you on this journey - I know you'll win!
Hugs, Clare
At Thu, 2 May 2002, joanne Thorpe wrote:
>
>I see many have written on Mehtadone. I have been on it for 4 years now
>and tried to detox once last summer. It was really awful as I went from
>6 pills per day to 1 and 1/4. I had to lie around all summer (after my
>last surgery with Dr. Korell) and felt as though I had a severe flu.
>What surprised me is the lack of help that I was offered by my health
>plan. There simply wasn't any and I was treated like someone who used
>it for heroin withdrawal. They actually suggested that I go to one of
>those clinics with the drug addicts. Needless to say the nerve
>regenerated and the pills slowly crept up to 3 per day but now I am
>about to do it again and this time I know how to do it. You can only go
>down by 1/4 pill per week and if the skin burns too much, Clonidine
>works well. For the agitation, Valium works wonders. And that is all
>there is out there for help with the exception of an inpatient treatment
>center in which they bring you down quickly by putting you in a coma
>like state for 4 to 5 days. It is 1,500 per day. No thanks. Wish me
>luck, please. Love, Joanne
>
>--
>Joanne
>