Greetings everyone,
A little back story I was involved in a serious mva and suffered some pretty serious back, hip and knee injuries. After multiple surgeries I was referred to a pain management doctor and after being on percocet for 5 years i lost my insurance and was no longer able to afford my physical therapy or treatment. After multiple failed attempts to quit cold turkey i began to just purchase pills wherever I could get connected. After a 7 year battle with percocet addiction I was blessed to be accepted into a methadone treatment program in my area. Ive been able to kick the pill habit and have been pretty successful with the methadone treatment. So far 449 days!! I know that medication assisted treatment gets a pretty bad wrap from some rehab experts. However Im so glad that i tried it out for myself because there are so many wild scary stories that will deter you from going this route but it has honestly changed my life. I’ve been able to maintain at a very low dose now for over a year but I’ve heard all of the stories about methadone being harder to stop than the percs. I still suffer from chronic pain and at my annual exam my physician asked if I wanted to start a blind detox. He explained that I would then be able to be discharged from the program and seek help thru a private practice by transitioning from methadoneto suboxone. He explained that switching would be difficult and that i would have to drop all the way down before i would be able to switch 
. It totally freaked me out to even consider the idea. Ultimately I told him that I wasnt ready but I may decide to do so in the future. This medicine has given me my life back. Im able to enjoy life again and im not sure if im ready to gamble with that. So please if anyone has any experience with detoxing from methadone or transitioning from methadone to suboxone please share your experience. Thank you and God bless you all.
Hi there I’m one of the success stories! I was on methadone for a while then when I got lower I swapped to espranor ( subs) I tapered down with my doctor and towards the very end I felt really nervous but it works! I felt rough for a couple of weeks but I knew what to expect. Good luck with your journey your be fine just make sure you have lots of support around you x
Hi I have a long history with methadone 15 years on and off ,I’ve failed methadone detox 4 times I’m not going to liy it’s brutal,I hear story’s of ppl coming of subutex and it’s a fraction of the time and pain.with methadone I didn’t sleep for 10 days straight,the pain was in and the process takes weeks into months before you start to feel eemi human again I’m tapering off now on my last attempt but I’m swapping over to subutex when I get to 15 ml to give myself a easier ride with withdrawal I take my hat off to anyone that comes off methadone without swapping over to something else .I’ve been a iv herion user for 20 years so pain doesn’t really effect me ,but methadone is a beast my advice would be if possible get low enough and get off it.all the best.
Hey mate another success story. I had been on oxy for a number of years full time taking 200+mg daily after a bad car accident. I had come off them cold turkey twice but both times found myself back on them within a week or so. I finally had enough and seen a doctor. Was prescribed to methadone. Started at 40mg and moved to 30mg over 2 years. Personally methadone was just another way for me to abuse opiates, and eventually i would get back on oxy because of it. Methadone is the devil aswell in my opinion. I would use it when i had no oxy mainly, but were days where would do both. Long story short, it took a good mate of mine to intervene and fly me interstate to his house for a 10 day stint. I finally shook it all. The method i used, was to completely cut out all methadone, and use a fast release oxy instead for a week or so before quitting it all (if cold turkey)
Methadone has a very long half life and can be brutal to come off. Alot harder than 200mg daily oxy. It can be done people. Not sleeping was hardest part for me being in construction, but it can be done with a strong mindset. Im 2 months sober now and feeling human again. All the best everyone
Tremendous accomplishment @GapFilla ! Thank you for explaining what worked for you. Welcome to the community!