[lgiovino4150@hotmail.com]

Make sure to eat,Princess.Subuxone is a wonder drug,but retards the desire to eat!So be sure to snack frequently.Eating actually increases the medicine's effectiveness. Good luck,sweetie.

[mella]

Hi everyone , let me start by saying i glad you are all trying to get yourselves and loved ones help and give support . I am a mom of 3 boys the oldest has been a drug user since age 14 he is now detoxing from methadone rapidly from the local clinic , He has a lot of anger issues and the detoxing is making him a hard person to deal with seems his girlfriend and i are the enemy i found this site searching for some answers to getting him more help even though he hates me right now I'm glad i found this because i hoping this will help me since i am now in counseling trying to come to terms with liefs issues in general i have never done anything like this before so please bare with me for i am new to all of this. I'm hoping this will help me let go of how angry i am a my son whom continues to blame me for all of his inner demons and getting him hooked sometimes i do feel like i was responsible . I don't want to go on and on just looking to maybe help get support and maybe give some support back. Thanks A MOM WHO TRULY CARES AND IS HURTING

[mpvt]

First off, why is he rapidly detoxing off methadone?????You think he's bad now,just wait.Coming off methadone is not the same as coming off morphine of heroin.It takes a long time to get the patient down on their dose.You never drop more than 10% a month on methadone.People that try and detox rapidly generally suffer from withdrawls for at least 3 months (PAWS,Post Acute Withdrawl Syndrome) and this is pure hell on earth.

Is he trying to lower his dose to switch to suboxone or is he trying to come off the methadone all together???
How long and at what dose was he at on the methadone????
What is his drug abuse history???
As much info as possible would help in allowing us to know what he and you are going through and what to expect.....Dave

[want2quit!!!]

hi, im not a doctor, but, i know what your son is going through, and honestly, i think the best advise for him, would be to get him into a medical detox facility. i've been myself, not for methadone, but just as bad, but, i've seen a lot of people like him, and, with the medications they have to detox him, and, some are, most are not, opiates. i dont know where you live, but if your from the Mass, boston area, i can give you the names of some REALLY good places. if not, just look online for treatment facilties that might work for him. good luck!! to both of you. and just to say, i think you helpling him out is really nice. he's lucky to have a good support system like you!

[steve sponaugle]

This 2003 Yale School of Medicine study revealed oral magnesium megadoses increased pain relief and reduced opiate use, in methadone patients. Magnesium appears to be reducing overfiring of NMDA glutamate receptors, which are involved in pain memory. Magnesium can also relax muscle spasms. Prolonged constipation produced by opiate use may also be reduced with magnesium supplementation.

Florida Detox seldom finds adequate serum magnesium levels, during patient pre-testing.

Steve Sponaugle
Research Director, Florida Detox
www.floridadetox.com

J Addict Dis. 2003;22(2):49-61.
A preliminary, controlled investigation of magnesium L-aspartate hydrochloride for illicit cocaine and opiate use in methadone-maintained patients.
Margolin A, Kantak K, Copenhaver M, Avants SK.
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Substance Abuse Center, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.

Based on pre-clinical studies suggesting that magnesium (Mg) reduces cocaine self-administration and potentiates the antinociceptive effects of morphine, we conducted a preliminary randomized clinical trial investigating Mg for the treatment of illicit cocaine and opiate use. Eighteen methadone-maintained patients who used illicit opiates and cocaine received either Mg (732 mg/day) or placebo for 12 weeks. Overall, findings showed that the percentage of urine screens testing positive for opiates in the Mg group (22.6%) was half that of the placebo group (46.4%), p = .04; the difference was even greater in the "medication compliant" sample (Mg: 16.3%, placebo: 47.9%), p = .02. Cocaine craving was lower in the Mg compared to the placebo group, but there was no difference between groups in cocaine use. These preliminary findings suggest that Mg may have a beneficial effect for reducing illicit opiate use. It is possible that a higher dose of Mg than was used in this study may be needed to decrease cocaine use.

EMPHASIS ADDED

[steve sponaugle]

This 2005 study indicates methadone maintainence patients exhibited decreased mental performance, compared to abstinent opiate abusers, who were matched for age, education, pre addiction IQ, employment status and lifetime drug abuse. Many methadone users call the reduced alertness, performance and sleepiness "being on the nod."

The good news is that opiate users with similar opiate use history had improved mental performance,when opiate use ended, and mental performance does eventually improve, when opiate use ceases

Steve Sponaugle
Research Director, Florida Detox
www.floridadetox.com


Verdejo A; Toribio I; Orozco C; Puente KL; PŽrez-Garc’a M. Neuropsychological functioning in methadone maintenance patients versus abstinent heroin abusers. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 78(3): 283-288, 2005. (20 refs.)

Several studies have reported on neuropsychological status as an important contributing variable in drug abuse rehabilitation outcomes. However, few studies have dealt with cognitive impairment in methadone maintenance patients (MMP), despite the fact that methadone is the most frequently used opioid substitution treatment in European countries. The objective of the present study is to contrast the neuropsychological performance of MMP with that of abstinent heroin abusers (AHA).

Participants were matched with respect to age, education, pre-morbid IQ, employment status and lifetime drug abuse, and they underwent a set of tests aimed at assessing visuo-spatial attention, processing speed and executive functions. Although processing speed and attention deficits have previously been the focus of studies with MMP, executive functions have not received a similar degree of attention. The purpose of comparing matched MMP and AHA is two-fold: firstly, to test the differential effects of current opioid consumption and past opioid abuse on cognitive-executive performance and secondly, to assess the potential consequences of opioid-related neuropsychological deficits. Results showed a significantly slower performance by MMP on processing speed, visuo-spatial attention, and cognitive flexibility tests (Five Digit Test (FDT) parts 1 and 3; Oral Trails (OT) parts 1, 2; Interference 2-1), and less accuracy in working memory and analogical reasoning tests extracted from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS III). Effect sizes for significant comparisons ranged from 0.67 to 1. These results seem to suggest that methadone consumption by itself induces significant cognitive impairments that could compromise drug-treatment outcomes in MMP.
EMPHASIS ADDED

[mpvt]

The problem with methadone is it's overprescribed and by that I mean there are way to many people on that shouldn't be.
Methadone should only be used (I'm talking about addiction and not pain patients) as a last resort and for addicts with extremely high tolerances.To many hydrocodone addicts are taking methadone and all they do is nod all day.I have been on methadone for almost 6 years with the first 4 years at 400mgs a day and I never nodded.I work and have worked since I was stabilized.
I'm now down to 190mgs a day and doing justas well when I was at 400mgs but my brain chemistry changed due to the fact I wasn't abusing short act and even long acting opiates.
Buprenorphene is the drug everyone should try first if they feel they want to go the Opiate Replacement Therapy way......Dave