[james48]

I'm new here,so let me introduce myself. I'm a 48 year old male who became
addicted to lortabs 10 years ago. It started out simple enough. My dentist
prescribed me 24 - 7.5 mg lortabs after treatment for an abcessed tooth.
I loved the way they made me feel and i was only taking the prescribed dose.
I ran out after 6 days,and felt depressed because I didn't have my little
energy booster. I didn't have any withdrawals other than a few days of
cravings after my original script ran out.

A few months later,I ran into an old friend who was on long term pain
management. He not only had scripts,but had street connections to
am almost limitless supply of Lortab 10's. Needless to say,I began using again
and realized I became an addict. I never became heavily addicted. My habit
never exceeded 5 10mg pills a day,but like any addicted,I needed those to
function normally. I really want to get off these,but the last time I detoxed
I felt like pure garbage for a week,and really don't want to go through that
again.

The question I have is I work with a man who's basically in the same boat
as i am. We've been talking about getting off these for awhile now. He
bought a 10mg methadone tablet,broke it in half and took one 12 hours
after he took his last lortab. he took the other half 48 hours later. He told
me he had no withdrawal symptoms from coming off lortabs.The methadone
made him feel normal and now he's been lortab free for 7 days and says he
still feels good. His habit was also 4-5 lortabs daily for several years.

Now onto the question, a part of me says this is just too easy. If I did the
same,would I eventually suffer some form of withdrawals after the methadone
wore off? Is the methadone just putting off the withdrawals from lortabs?
Should i just quit the lortabs cold turkey and deal with being uncomfortable
for a week or so?

[mpvt]

Methadone is far to strong for your addiction. If you are really serious about getting into recovery then get into a suboxone program.
Your friend is just prolonging the withdrawls and at the same time raising his tolerence as methadone is a much more powerful drug then hydrocodone.
Go to suboxone.com and read up on buprenorphene (subutex,suboxone). Then use the doctor locator and get a list of prescribing doctors in your area.
Trying to do this with street dope won't likely work and you'll end up with either a worse addiction or in jail..Good luck to you and I hope you get into a proper recovery. Keep posting here for support .......Dave

[cagirl]

Hi there....first of all welcome you are at the right place to help you through your addiction there are many caring people here that will help you...you are headed the right direction, admitting you have a problem and wanting to quit....I dont really know much about methadone only what I have read here..I went cold turkey so it can be done yes you will feel bad for a week maybe longer but it will be worth it in the end..My story like yours 10+ yrs. On vicodin and loratab now 69 days clean today..Thanks to alot of willpower and reading posts here daily helped me...You can do it!!! Keep positive and fight it, keep in mind you are not alone It can be beat !! Good Luck and keep Posting!!

[james48]

Thanks for the quick response mpvt. I will not go the methadone route.
It may sound strange,but before my hydrocodene addiction started I was
afraid of taking pills. I've still never taken anything stronger like Oxycontin.
I've seen what those do,and I won't allow myself to open that door.

I get mad at myself sometimes because back in 2005, I was clean for 6 months.
Hurricane Katrina hit my area hard,and I lost all of my street connections.
After a few weeks without my drug, I started feeling like a new man again.
I was happy and hadn't felt that great in years. Unfortunately,another
co-worker at the time had found another supplier,I relapsed and here I am
3 years later. I know in my heart if I can make it through those terrible few
weeks of withdrawals this time,I will have the power to say NO! when the
opportunity to re-lapse occurs again. I want my drug free life back.

[zenith15]

James, these posters are right when they say methadone is way too strong for the addiction you have going. Suboxone would be a much better choice for you.

I am a methadone patient--I have been on MMT for 4 years and it has saved my life, absolutely. I was addicted to hydrocodone, just like you. However, I was addicted for almost 20 years off and on before getting on MMT and had an ENORMOUS habit, using the liquid equivalent of 100 5mg lortabs a day. (I used Tussionex cough syrup, which had 10mgs per tsp, and there are 6 tsps in an ounce, and I was drinking 8 oz a day, all at once, so that's what it works out to).

Someone with a light habit like yours can taper off fairly quickly with Suboxone and probably be just fine.

[melinda7.5]

Hi James
I was addicted to ocycontin and vicodin,I did a taper down to two 5mg a day then I jumped off and went cold turkey,I was still sick for about 5 days I procrastinated for ever before i finale did it.I have been clean now for about 3 months,I feel so good now,my life has peace in it.
Its really hard to be where you are sitting right now,but the time goes by so fast,(after you get through the w/d)LOL...just do it my friend...you know you can !!!We will all cheer you on....let us know how your doing...
Talk to you soon, Melinda

[mrmichael67]

Originally Posted by james48

I'm new here,so let me introduce myself. I'm a 48 year old male who became
addicted to lortabs 10 years ago. It started out simple enough. My dentist
prescribed me 24 - 7.5 mg lortabs after treatment for an abcessed tooth.
I loved the way they made me feel and i was only taking the prescribed dose.
I ran out after 6 days,and felt depressed because I didn't have my little
energy booster. I didn't have any withdrawals other than a few days of
cravings after my original script ran out.

A few months later,I ran into an old friend who was on long term pain
management. He not only had scripts,but had street connections to
am almost limitless supply of Lortab 10's. Needless to say,I began using again
and realized I became an addict. I never became heavily addicted. My habit
never exceeded 5 10mg pills a day,but like any addicted,I needed those to
function normally. I really want to get off these,but the last time I detoxed
I felt like pure garbage for a week,and really don't want to go through that
again.

The question I have is I work with a man who's basically in the same boat
as i am. We've been talking about getting off these for awhile now. He
bought a 10mg methadone tablet,broke it in half and took one 12 hours
after he took his last lortab. he took the other half 48 hours later. He told
me he had no withdrawal symptoms from coming off lortabs.The methadone
made him feel normal and now he's been lortab free for 7 days and says he
still feels good. His habit was also 4-5 lortabs daily for several years.

Now onto the question, a part of me says this is just too easy. If I did the
same,would I eventually suffer some form of withdrawals after the methadone
wore off? Is the methadone just putting off the withdrawals from lortabs?
Should i just quit the lortabs cold turkey and deal with being uncomfortable
for a week or so?

To answer your question, James.....no, you will not suffer wd after the methadone wore off if you do the same as your friend did. If your intentions are to take a total of one 10mg methadone pill in two halves like your friend did, then it would work fine in terms of making the lortab wd easier. No doubt. I don't suggest you go on methadone either, but taking a total of one 10mg methadone is hardly "going on" methadone. It's nothing near the same thing. If you were to want to go on a more structured detox, then suboxone would be the way to go instead of methadone. But, if you want to do what you wrote and are looking the ease the wd from the lortab, then taking that one 10mg pill over that time like your friend did will definitely work without causing wd from the methadone. Absolutely. Just use it for what you intend and then not anymore after and you will be fine.

[Morpiator]

Hey James. I agree with the person who said if u take the methadone like u planned, u should be ok. It takes a few days for meth to really work its way into your system, so u'd be fine. U also said u never went over 5 pills per day, so perhaps with a good support system u wouldn't need to take suboxone or anything, which would be the ideal way to go. One thing is for sure: u DO NOT want to become physically addicted to meth, especially since u have this window of opportunity to break the opiate chain. I shot dope for nearly a decade, and was on meth for the same amount of time afterwards. It saved my life, but I'd take 4 days of heroin withdrawal over 3 weeks of methadone withdrawal any time! Best wishes to you.

[james48]

Day 1 of going cold turkey. I am off from work today,so I can rest if needed
I slept for 12 hours,so that has helped. Overall I feel like ********************,but i've had
moments where I've felt ok and glad I am trying to go through this. I know
The longer I stay off those pills,the moments I feel good will only increase
in duration. Tommorrow is the day i worry about,I have a 12 hour shift,and
later on today, I'll go get a bottle of Immodium AD to keep me out of the
bathroom all day. Wish me luck,and thanks for the support here.

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by james48

Day 1 of going cold turkey. I am off from work today,so I can rest if needed
I slept for 12 hours,so that has helped. Overall I feel like ********************,but i've had
moments where I've felt ok and glad I am trying to go through this. I know
The longer I stay off those pills,the moments I feel good will only increase
in duration. Tommorrow is the day i worry about,I have a 12 hour shift,and
later on today, I'll go get a bottle of Immodium AD to keep me out of the
bathroom all day. Wish me luck,and thanks for the support here.

James ... so glad you stayed away from the methadone and are doing this the quickest way even if it will be tough for a few days or so. Something that might help would be checking out the Thomas Recipe for opiate detox. It's a proven method of easing the detox symptoms. Lots of people here have used this method for cold turkey detox. Simply go to Google and type in The Thomas Recipe. There will be lots of links come up. Check it out. Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing. Good luck and God bless.