[Confed]

I have a chronic pain condition which I've suffered from since 2001. My doctor now has me on 20 mgs. of Methadone twice a day. Plus, he's given me Percocet for when the pain gets a little worse. QUESTION: Since I understand that Methadone negates the effects of other opioids, am I likely to gain any benefit from the Percocet?

QUESTION 2: I've also read where Methadone doesn't give patients "highs" like other opioids, yet it's becoming an increasingly abused drug. If it doesn't produce highs, then why would anyone want to abuse it?

Thanks!



No pain...no pain.

[Stallion]

1st off, methadone does not block the effect of opiates, like naltrexone and other opiate antagonists. It is mearly a very long acting opiate agonist, like morphine or heroin but 2-3 times longer in duration. this is why it is prefered for heroin treatment, because it only requires one shot a day to avoid wd rather tham 3-4 for heroin. This also means that it has a much longer wd period than heroin or morphine however, and people coming of of methadone have described WD's lasting a month or more. So mixing methadone w/ the oxy in the percs won't send you into instant OD like suboxone would, but I would be careful using them for breakthru pain b/c methadone stays attached to your opioid receptors longer than you may think making OD more likely.

as for your second query, many heroin users say that injected methadone provides less of a rush/euphoria than heroin or morphine, but this may in part be a placebo effect since the set and circumstances of getting high in private and getting high with a doctor in his office as part of a court ordered drug rehab can heavily alter the experience. blind trials have shown that patients cannot tell the difference between morphine and methadone on the initial hit, but the harsh WD's of methadone keep it from being a favorite among abusers of narcotics.

Information = Freedom

[Confed]

I've only been on methadone for two months. Should I be concerned about becoming addicted for a very long time? Also, is there a way to avoid the sleepiness that comes with methadone. I seem to be sleepy all day and don't want a caffeine addiction on top of everything else.

I will say, for me, methadone does a better job than Oxycontin.

Much obliged for the info!



No pain...no pain.

[Stallion]

Remember, addiction and dependance are two different things. Addiction is antisocial behavior and dangerous abuse of drugs, so no you have no need to worry about addiction. You have probably developed some dependence after two months of regular use and it would be unwise to abruplt stop all narcotics. as I said before, methadone is hard to get off of b/c of the long w/d period and the length of action of the drug. It's great that it controls your pain, and I would only use the percs if really necessary.
as for the drowsyness, theres nothing I know of short of traditional stimulants (caffine, amphetamines, ephedrine etc) that would combat the drowsyness, but these are dangerous to mix w/ sedatives including narcotics. Perhaps someone else has some advice for you on that isssue.

Information = Freedom