How I Overcame the Withdrawals of Methadone

Five years ago, I was addicted to heroin.

It wasn’t just a casual addiction. It was a lifestyle. It consumed my every waking moment.

I was tired of it. I wanted change. So, I went to my doctor and he prescribed me methadone as a means of getting off heroin for good.

For a while, it worked. With my one dose of methadone a day, I was free from the clutches of my addiction.

Sadly, before long, all that changed as I became addicted to methadone. While it wasn’t as bad as heroin, it still felt like I wasn’t in control of my own life.

Overcoming the withdrawals of methadone wasn’t easy. However, by forcing myself to push through, I can now happily say I am completely drug-free.

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Since my one-a-day dose from the methadone clinic wasn’t enough to feed my addiction, I began getting methadone on the side through illegal means.

I knew this wasn’t right, but I couldn’t stop. I needed help, but I was too afraid to confess to my friends and family, as they thought I was doing better.

So my first decision? I called a drug support hotline. They were able to give me the support and encouragement I needed to make a full confession to my loved ones.

They were a bit disappointed in me, but were quick to offer me their love and help by confiscating all of my pills and promising to keep a closer watch on me.

If you need a hotline filled with understanding representatives to talk to, call 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) .

Talk to Your Doctor

After gathering courage from my friends and family, I spoke to my doctor about my addiction to methadone.

I wasn’t sure how he’d react, as my confession would show that I had gone behind his back to increase my dose. It would be a huge violation of his trust.

Luckily, he was completely understanding and was quick to forgive me for my mistakes.

Even better, he knew exactly what to do to help me.

Instead of simply canceling my methadone prescription and kicking me out the door, he began to slowly taper off my doses.

To begin, he straight up decreased my dose by 20 percent each day, until I was down to 30 mg. After that, he decreased it by 5 mg each day until I reached 10 mg. Finally, he decreased it by 2.5 mg per day until I was no longer on methadone at all.

Am I Dependent on Methadone?

Those recovering from opiate addiction often require months or even years of methadone treatment, which often means they will become dependent on the drug.

Face the Symptoms Head On

Methadone withdrawal does produce a number of unpleasant symptoms. However, these are NOTHING compared to the terror of heroin withdrawal.

For example, when I first went to my doctor for my heroin addiction, he measured my symptoms on what’s known as the Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS). I almost maxed out the scale with a 37.

However, when I was going through methadone withdrawal, my score was only an 11.

Even though my doctor was super careful with his slow tapering of my dose, I clearly still had some symptoms to deal with.

However, the fear of the symptoms was definitely worse than the symptoms themselves. Because I had been expecting the process to be just like heroin withdrawal, my mind built it up much greater than it actually was.

By doing a bit of research ahead of time, you can prevent this false terror from brewing in your head. It will save you a lot of internal struggling.

Overall, I would certainly not want to go through the withdrawals of methadone again in my lifetime. But I’m glad I did.

It showed me my inner strength and helped me known just how determined I can be.

Are you ready to kick methadone to the curb once and for all? Get the process started by calling a support hotline today at 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) .