[Annie 5]

Hi everyone, you too Mike, I think I finally finally figured this out. I am writing out of concern for my cousin Mike. (He doesn't have a computer) I am hoping that someone can give me some answers and advice for him. Mike is 53 years old and in 1998 was diagnoised with hepatitis C, he went through treatment for 3 years I think, and is now hepatitis free, and is checked yearly to make sure it hasn't come back. Mike is 5'4 and weighs 200lbs., at least 40 lbs overweight is my guess. Mike is on vicodin 7.5/3.25, four pills a day. He has back problems and is on disability. He has been at this same dose for 4 years now and doesn't get the relief he did in the beginning but refuses to ask dr. for increase. At times he also suffers from severe depression, sometimes so bad he stays in bed for seven days straight. I live in Georgia, Mike lives in Florida and I am (pretty much)his only living relative. His dad was murdered ten years ago and then his only brother and mother passed away these last five years. When he has bad days he sometimes takes methadone that he gets from a friend, which his dr. did not know about until recently when he did a pop drug test. Not sure what it is called when he thought he was having his usual office visit and the dr. requested a urine sample, saying he wanted to check the level of vicodin in his system. Mike takes 70mg of methadone one day and 80mg the next day, goes back on his vicodin for maybe two weeks and then does the 150mgs(2 days) of methadone again, then back to vicodin, some months that is a total of 300mgs of methadone in one month. He never takes his vicodin when taking the methadone. He says the methadone works better than the vicodin, he gets that euphoric feeling, he has lots of energy and does alot of physical things that he doesn't normally do when he is taking his vicodin. When his urine came back positive for methadone, Mike told the dr. he just tried it the one time and wouldn't do it ever again. The dr. said he would retest Mike when he came for his next appointment in three weeks. Mike called me and had me look up how long meth stays in your system, so he would pass the next urine test. I told him it said casual use was 2-4 days and chronic use was 7-10 days. He made sure that it was 12 or 13 days he stayed away from the methadone prior to the retest. He was devasted when he got the call that he tested positive again. I was amazed that he would even chance it, but he thought by 13 days it was out of his system, and he drank lots and lots of water and cranberry juice thinking that would help also. The day after dr. called with the bad news(failing second urine test), Mike did his two days of 150mg, that was Nov.13 and 14. His next dr. appointment he will be off the meth for 25 days. Does anyone know if he will test positive again? I have read alot since finding this website yesterday but I still am not sure. Mike wanted me to ask a few other questions, if anyone could reply I sure would appreciate it. 1. Does methadone stay in urine or blood longer? He wants to ask dr. to do a blood test along with the urine test. 2. What should he use to flush out his system? 3. Does smoking cigerettes affect the test, he has been smoking twice the amount he usually does. 3 packs a day. 4.Would drinking beer help flush his system? Mike wants to try and go cold turkey off his vicodin for 5-7 days, starting tommorrow. He thinks everything is just built up in his system and thats the only way to clean it all out so he can pass his next urine test in 25 days. I thought maybe that the meth is being stored in his fatty tissues. 5. Would having hepatitis C years ago affect his test, maybe he has liver damage. Lastly here is the other meds Mike takes,(all prescribed by dr.)for acid reflux he takes (1)Prilosec 20mg, once a day. (2)Avinza 90mg, once a day.(time released for pain)(3) Simvaftatin 40mg once a day.(high collestrial) spelled wrong, sorry. I know this is alot of questions so any help anyone can give I sure will appriciate. In the meantime I'll keep reading and learning, this site is so amazing and has so many nice caring people. I want to help someone if I can. I'm 51 and have had my share of dr.s and meds. Thank you in advance for any helpful advice you can give me to pass along to Mikey. I hope I did this right. Going to cross my fingers. Annie

[Mike VG]

Hi Annie, I see you finally figured it out. I want to read your story, but I'll have to do that a little later on tonight. I just wanted to Welcome you.
Mike VG

[zachman21]

Your friend needs a lot of help.!!!!!!!!!!

1st he needs to be upfront with his Doctor about how much pain he is in.
But depression will add to the pain.

So he needs to also be on the appropriate meds for the depression. That will seriously make a good difference in his future.

Also the fact that he is doing the meth ? Why cant he tell the Doc that what he is taking is not enough. Sounds a little funny?

Plus now he has built up a Meth addiction which needs detox help.............!

And he cannot go off his daily pills for 5 - 7 days, because he will get very very sick...

Your friend needs to go to his Doc and lay it all on the line, and get on the right program for evrything.................

Doc's also need to listen and assist. thats their job. If they will not listen to him, ask to be referred to a pain clinic for evaluation to be put on the appropriate program.

I hope this shows you that a lot of things needs to be met head on and quit the bull.... Meet the issues head on.

[mpvt]

Your cousin is a opiate addict and what he is going through is typical addiction behaviour.He should see a buprenorphene doctor as methadone is way out of his league and he would end up having more problems then he needs.If he's been on a weak pain killer like vicodin 7.5 for that long then he is not suffering with chronic pain.You need to be firm but understanding with him.He needs to realize that he has an addiction problem.Good luck and you are a very good friendand relative to him.......Dave

[Cats Meow]

Methadone can be detected in urine up to 7 days, I would assume at least the same in blood, blood tests are more accurate so therefore it may be detected there for longer. The drug test for methadone is a very specific panel in urine and it's not commonly checked for, I'm not sure about blood, but I would not count on it not being detected. Forget about flushing the drugs out of the system, they tests are so accurate, they are pretty much infallible.
Having Hepatitis wouldn't effect a drug test, no.
Since he has so many problems, he really needs to be honest and upfront so that he can get proper treatment, doctors know this happens, it's not that big of a stigma, it's common and they should be willing to help. Things just can't be hidden forever, there comes a point where it is futile to even try.
Hope this helps.

[krakotoa]

Methadone is metabolized through the liver, although i do not see his hepatitis having a large effect on the time. While it could have an effect, I am assuming he gets liver enzyme tests fairly often, thus discounting liver failure.

Also i agree with Zach, your friend should be honest with his doctor. If it possible, maybe you could offer to go with your cousin for some emotional support. I know it may seem odd to go with a grown man to the doctors, but he may be afraid of Depression and his binging on methadone are some serious problems. Depression is going to make pain management more difficult, and the shock on his body of getting sudden doses of methadone is not safe.

If he needs stronger pain medication, then he should speak to doctor. As with many medications, his tolerance to the vicodin is normal. Also he may want to see a pain management clinic. I believe they would be able to provide him with medication that would be better suited to his needs. Also therapy for depression would help with his pain as well as his overall wellbeing.

I know I made a lot of suggestions, I am not trying to be condescending, I just think that treatment for those in need is important. Also I know how hard depression can be to deal with, and I think that it's nice to see you helping him, it is a lot easier if you have someone to support you.