http://www.heroinaddictionhelpguide.com/methadone-addiction/ Helping you to overcome drug addiction Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:21:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://www.heroinaddictionhelpguide.com/methadone-addiction/#comment-7643 Nina Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:06:59 +0000 http://heroinaddictionhelpguide.com/?p=1857#comment-7643 I was originally placed on methadone as a substitute for the Percocet and Hydrocodone 10/500 that I had become addicted to after an injury to the brachial nerve plexus in my right shoulder. The methadone left me able to function on a daily basis without the euphoric high and drowsiness but I found myself emotionally numb as well as free of the chronic pain. During this time I suffered the deaths of my father, eldest son and baby brother all within 5 months. I started taking more and more methadone as it helped me avoid feeling the grief and loss. Eventually I was taking up to 200 mg a day. I decided 8 months later that I had to stop. I decided to try to go "cold turkey". I almost died during seizures from the acute severe withdrawal. My husband found a clinic that would help me. They started me off at 50 mg a day and took me up to a "comfortable" level of 120 mg over 3 months. At that time my assigned counselor helped me to find a good psychiatrist to help me deal with my grief and loss and start to work on the PTSD which was a huge contributing factor to my use to begin with. During this time I was diagnosed with breast cancer and while my use did not increase my forward momentum sort of stopped. I was 3 years into treatment before I made the real effort to decrease my dosage and really start the process of clearing my body of the drug now that my mind was more clear. The first few months were a breeze. I hardly noticed the decreases. The last 20 mg however have been incredibly difficult. I feel every single mg that I decrease and I have started only going down by 1 mg per week. However I will state unreservedly that without the mental and emotional base support BEFORE the medication decreases I would not have any real chance at living my life drug free. The psychological treatment is as important as the physical. I was originally placed on methadone as a substitute for the Percocet and Hydrocodone 10/500 that I had become addicted to after an injury to the brachial nerve plexus in my right shoulder. The methadone left me able to function on a daily basis without the euphoric high and drowsiness but I found myself emotionally numb as well as free of the chronic pain. During this time I suffered the deaths of my father, eldest son and baby brother all within 5 months. I started taking more and more methadone as it helped me avoid feeling the grief and loss. Eventually I was taking up to 200 mg a day. I decided 8 months later that I had to stop. I decided to try to go “cold turkey”. I almost died during seizures from the acute severe withdrawal. My husband found a clinic that would help me. They started me off at 50 mg a day and took me up to a “comfortable” level of 120 mg over 3 months. At that time my assigned counselor helped me to find a good psychiatrist to help me deal with my grief and loss and start to work on the PTSD which was a huge contributing factor to my use to begin with. During this time I was diagnosed with breast cancer and while my use did not increase my forward momentum sort of stopped. I was 3 years into treatment before I made the real effort to decrease my dosage and really start the process of clearing my body of the drug now that my mind was more clear. The first few months were a breeze. I hardly noticed the decreases. The last 20 mg however have been incredibly difficult. I feel every single mg that I decrease and I have started only going down by 1 mg per week. However I will state unreservedly that without the mental and emotional base support BEFORE the medication decreases I would not have any real chance at living my life drug free. The psychological treatment is as important as the physical.

]]> http://www.heroinaddictionhelpguide.com/methadone-addiction/#comment-5916 Heroin Addiction Help Guide » The best Solutions how to beat methadone and make it through Methadone Withdrawal Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:58:05 +0000 http://heroinaddictionhelpguide.com/?p=1857#comment-5916 [...] the withdrawal medicines given to such patients are typically ineffective if the person with the methadone addiction is taking greater than 40 mg a day of the [...] [...] the withdrawal medicines given to such patients are typically ineffective if the person with the methadone addiction is taking greater than 40 mg a day of the [...]

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