I am currently going off my methadone and am on 21 mgs. I've been on it 5 years. For the past few months I've been in constant fear of being sick, so before I would go down on my dose, i would extract a little of my dose myself and store it in a pill bottle. It takes over a week for them to put me back up on my dose if I become sick. That way, when they lower my dose enough when it will affect me, i can take a little it of it and make it thu the week. But I'm not sure how long it can be stored for without going bad?
Diskets - Does anyone know how long liquid methadone can be stored for at home before it goes bad?
Question posted by Hippy5566 on 3 Dec 2010
Last updated on 31 January 2019 by Kingbuba
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3 Answers
Kingbuba
31 Jan 2019
You cannot trust all the shelf life dates because that is partially marketing. I read a study on how many opioids were cached supplies for global emergencies. Most of them maintained their efficacy over years past the shelf life dates.
Jackie Weston
31 Jan 2019
it can be kept for one year if properly stored right
tamara4U
5 Dec 2010
Hi, this is tamara. I acquired the methadone habit thru taking my then- boyfriends methadone tabs for a disc problem. Two months later I decided
to stop. I was taking 30 or so m.g. by then. At first I thought I had the flu. Had the boyfriend not scared me to death my telling me I was about to suffer terrifying withdrawals, I'd of just thought I had a very long flu. I continued to use his tabs for several more months, ending up at 90 m.g.s. Finally, I put myself in the clinic and kicked the boyfriend to the curb-- I was naive then and had no idea what I'd gotten myself into, and he should have educated me--not realizing I'd be at the Clinic for six years!!! Today I know that I'm 100% responsible for my education regarding all drugs, and for my recovery from them.
I have had it with the Clinic--they do not seem interested in expediting
my tapering (I'm a cash client). Through a fluke of Admin. error, the
computer started tapering me over the Thanksgiving Holiday, and quickly.
I went from 35 to 18 m.g over the TDay holiday as it wasn't until the following Monday that anyone was in to fix the computer (the Nurse couldn't do it).
I was amazed to find that other than aches, and joint pain, and then only
at night, I was fine!!! Since then I've been going down every couple few days. As of this coming Thursday, I'll be at 13 mg. The third night is a little rough, sleeplessness being the worst so far, but Unisom helps greatly (no more than two tabs if you don't want an antihistimine hangover). I SWEAR BY WHEATGRASS, drinking at least one ounce a day. Valerian, melatonin and fish oil have helped, and I take at least a half hour walk every day, sometimes a two hour hike, like I did today, out in nature. No red meat.
I will not start taking other meds to help me thru this,, though I understand
if others need to. I'm done. Metha- DONE. No more drugs.
Remember, there are little kids with cancer, or others in intolerable pain who
just deal with it--and women, most of us have had babies and discomforts during the entire nine months-- we can DO this.
I realize everyone is different, and maybe never having been a heroin addict
has made me different on a cellular level, I'm not sure. I'm just grateful that
it hasn't been that hard SO FAR. I don't know what things will be like once I'm down to 10, 5, etc... but I'll keep you all posted.
thank heavens for this site and everyone on it!!!
Blessings,
In Light and Love, Tamara
Swanie
6 Dec 2010
Tamara:
I've read your original post now and would really like to know how you continue to do. You commented on my post about getting off Methadone. I was put on it because of nerve damage and TN. I'm determined to get off of it just like you, so be sure to keep us posted, esp. after you taper again.
Hippy5566
7 Dec 2010
Tamara, Thanks for the reply!! That really makes me feel alot better. I've also been on methadone about as long as you, this is going into my 6th year as well. The only exception being I did use heroin and any other opiate out there :( But I've pretty much had an opiate in my system for over 10 years and I'm 25 years old. I've heard when people have opiates in their system for over half their lifetime, whether they want to be clean or not, their body just cannot function without it and they will never feel normal again w/o it..which really scares me! My clinic sounds a lot like yours. They have "lost" my paper I have to file EVERY TIME I want to decrease my dose, they've "not received" my phone calls, the doctor and dosers have "lost" my slip. It's always something! And yes, I pay cash as well and I know what you mean.. I feel like they get you on methadone and try and keep you permanantly.
I find it funny how it's NEVER a problem to increase my dose, just to decrease?? That makes no sense. They should encourage us wanting a life without any drugs.
I've been going down on my methadone for almost 2 years. In the begining anywhere from 5-10mgs at a time, to the past year of 1-2mgs every week. I just went to 20mgs Monday morning. I honestly have felt okay until I hit 21mgs. I have a lot of stress and anxiety in my life which doesn't help. Besides that being on an all time high, I wake up to stomach cramps which send me to the bathroom.. my hands shake nonstop from 1pm on, my hands are constantly sweaty and i'm having sweats, and I'm ALWAYS cold. As of right now I"m still sleeping..I wake up a lot at night but am able to go back asleep, but am up by 4-5am. But for what I thought I'd feel like at 20mgs years ago? This is nothing! LOL
At this point I am considering going thru 36 hours of detox from my methadone and switching to suboxone for 1 week to combate the rest of the withdrawls. I've been and gotten off of suboxone before and it wasn't that bad. I, like you, don't want to be on anything anymore as well!! I saw a Reiki Master who specializes in herbs and shamanic medicine... and I told him all of my symptoms I've had and he mixed me up a blend of organic chinese herbs to drink as a tea. It is supposed to help with my withdrawl symptoms and help metabolism the methadone thru my body faster. I am hanging on by a thread these days w/ my stress/anxiety ..so I plan on throwing myself into this and fully believing in it..and just maybe it will work! :) As far as Unisom, I will try that. How does WheatGrass help? I have never had that. I have Fish Oil at home..but what would that do? And yes, valarian root is in my tea :) At this point I am not exercising at all, b/c it makes me feel worse. This Reiki Master is suppose to give me some suggestions for that.
I'm sorry you are going thru this, but it is nice to know I am not alone and someone feels the same as I right now!
respected72
11 Dec 2010
I have been going to the clinic for almost a year now. I am at 100 mg. I have been there for a couple months. I don't know when I should start to dose down or go up or what. I want off it though I have only kicked methadone cold turkey once and I was on fifty mg. It was'nt that bad but I am not sure about a hundred. I need some advice. Lee
Hippy5566
20 Dec 2010
Respected72, the highest I got up to was 100mgs. I've been on methadone going on 6 years, and have been decreasing my dose for almost 2yrs. I've been doing it really slowly b/c I'm terrified of being in withdrawl. That's good to know that when you did it cold turkey it wasn't that bad. I've heard from a lot of people that methadone is 10x harder to detox off of than heroin. Knowing when your ready to go off pretty much depends on you.. from my experience, the methadone clinics can really be helpful and gets your life back on track, and they help make you a functioning person in society again... but I feel they try to keep you on it for $ purposes. I've been "talked out of" decreasing my dose, they've "lost" my decrease papers, "forgot" to tell the doctor, it goes on and on. But boy when you want to go up, they put you up! So when you feel you are mentally ready to get off, and want it for the right reasons...
talk it over w/ them and make a plan. I started off going down very slowly so I didn't feel it. From 100mgs to 22mgs..and I've been okay. Hope everything works out for you! :)
tamara4U
27 Dec 2010
Hi again. I'm actually doing great, but your w.ds sound a lot worse than mine have ever been. My last dose at the clinic is this Friday! I have much praise for the Clinic--I got a lot of good recovery there. Yet, at the final hour they ARE having a tug-of-war with me when it comes to letting me go. Two weeks in a row the paper work has been delayed in tapering me. I decided to miss my payment date on purpose and for the first time EVER the computer didn't start automatically tapering me, defeating the purpose of my not making the payment. That's weird. And my councelor refused to decrease my dose by the amount I requested, keeping it to a smaller mg than I felt I could handle. You know, it's my program and they're always telling me I get out what I put in; well, it's always been in my hands and I will not sucumb to F.E.A.R: false evidence appearing real. The wds are just going to be what they are.
I need to get out of the magical thinking that I have to take something to deal with the effects of taking (or not taking) something else. Hey, we all are going to be uncomfortable in life! Some people have amputations, some survive horrible car wrecks, some have m.s, some are crippled... GETTING OFF METHADONE WILL NOT KILL US. As for never feeling the 'same' again, I don't believe it. I just do not. I believe with all my heart, it's just a state of mind. Trust me, stay on methadone too long, and this is what you become: the frog slowly boiling in the pot. This is a scientific fact (unfortunately for some poor long dead frog) Put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it naturally jumps out. Put a frog in a pot of water and then boil it slowly, and the frog stays in, boiling to death. It never notices. Methadone is just like that!!! Now that I'm almost done, I'm waking up. I didn't realize how sedated I was. My sex drive is back, I'm lucid dreaming again, I'm interested and involved with others, my hobbies and exercise routine is re establishing itself... attraction from and to the opposite sex is just exploding, I'm making friends and have an expanding social life with 'regular'people... I'm going back to school to finish my Doctorate.
So hang in there. Be courageous. Trust the process. You will come out of this the way you choose to come out of this. No drug decides that for you.
Or the lack of one.
HeroinADDICTOC80
1 Oct 2011
The answer to the Actual question the op asked: How long before Diskets premixed with water will go bad? I believe that the real issue is how long before the water that the methadone is dissolved in becomes a bacterial breeding ground?
Unrefrigerated, even from a clinic with the cleanest, most pure non-sterile water, bacteria will begin to build up to unwanted levels within 5-7days. Refrigeration will add 10-15days to that, So it can last 21+/- 1 days at best.
Methadone HCl, being very soluble in water, will dissolve in the water & separate itself from the insoluble(the majority of the Diskets contents). This would be the ideal time to do an extraction. Yet, even if no simple extraction is preformed, the "take home" bottle's water will evaporate if the cap is left off, leaving only the original contents of the disket, dry of course and that can be stored indefinitely.
My Clinic has used almost every single formulation in the past 5 years. 99% of the time its the Mallinckrodt Methadose 10mg/ml concentrate, cherry. But other cherry concentrates we have used/tried were Roxane and to a lesser extent Vistapharm. We also tried, both Methadose clear 10mg/ml con SF/DF and Roxane clear 10mg/ml con SF/DF. The Concentrates will last for Several YEARS, unrefrigerated.
Yet, I only used diskets for 2 weeks, during a interim period when "software upgrades" for the comp linked to dispensing pump caused havoc for a week, and the clinic elected to manually medicate w/ tabs. Noticed that there was no way id have been able to travel w/o the concentrate.
BarbieLuvs
23 July 2012
My story is somewhat like your's Tamara. I was a crack smoker. I had a "friend" that would roll his rock in Fentanyl (unbeknownst to me). We hung out every night for a few weeks. Then one night I elected to stay home. I was fine until I tried to go to bed. Sleep was a fruitless effort. My arms and legs had an energy like no other I had ever felt. By morning I was in full blown withdrawals. My "friend" called and asked me how I was feeling. I thought that was a bit strange as he had never asked me that before and I was, in fact, feeling horrible. I told him that I had a terrible flu. He told me that I did not. Ten minutes later he was at my house explaining what he had done. I didn't believe him when he said that I was withdrawing. He squeezed out some gel from his Fentanyl patch and put it on my tongue. Thirty minutes later I had no more "flu" symptoms. He was right. Without my knowledge he had turned me into an addict.
I joke that dope broke me of my crack habit (I could only afford one or the other). I suddenly found myself immersed in a world that I had only once read about. I ran the gamete of opiate addictions until it finally culminated in heroin abuse. I was a 30 something year old white woman going into buildings in the South Bronx with thousands of dollars on me to cop. By this time I was pitching it to pay for my habit (30-35 bags every day). My entire existence had become about heroin. Five to ten times per week I would make that trip from CT to the Bronx. The rest of my time was spent selling it and worrying that the police were going to kick down my door. I hated what my life had become. So I went on Methadone.
I have been sober from heroin for 3 and a half years now!! I am currently on 10mgs. of Methadone. I am, however, prescribed 75mgs. (Initially I was on 120mgs. but I slowly tapered to 75mgs. through the program. I didn't like the way that they handled the taper process so I started controlling the drop myself.) My experience with the Methadone programs have not been all that great. So, I began tapering myself as I get 13 take home bottles every time that I go.
I began my attempt at getting clean at CT Counciling Center (Danbury, CT). I can't believe that someone hasn't shut their doors. I saw so many unjust things take place within their walls. There are certain staff members who treat the patients punitively. Unfortunately, these staff members are the ones who are in charge. I transferred out of there and went to a program that is a 3 hour round trip from my home. For the first 5 months I had to make that trip 6 days a week. Eventually I earned my take homes. Did I mention that I have stage 3B breast cancer? I have had a double mastectomy, countless infections and some serious pain. My doctors have prescribed me 80mg. Oxy Continin (didn't take them). Then they prescribed me (of all things) 100mg. Fentanyl patches (haven't used them either). I have decided to push through my pain and instead of getting hooked again, I decided to live life on my terms. Hence, the self tapering.
I am happy to report that I am doing extremely well and hope to be off of Methadone by the end of summer. There is life after addiction. If I can do it, anyone can!!!
I would also like to mention a drug called Ibogaine. Haven't heard of it?? That's because the patents ran out on it. So the drug companies can't make gobs of money from the product. However, it is said to reset the receptors in your brain. What does that mean? It means that in most cases one dose will cure you of your addiction. ANY addiction. It isn't legal in the U.S. but you can go to Mexico, Canada or Europe to receive treatment. You can learn more about this miracle drug by researching it online.
To anyone struggling with addiction, you are not alone. The shame isn't in your disease. The shame is in you not reaching out for help with your disease.
You owe it to yourself to take that leap of faith. I believe in you!!!
currydana
25 Oct 2012
I totally agree yes i am someone who needs to be on pain meds for life.. im at about 45adosenever over 60mg and iv estopped as of today at 40 mg.i was there 2months this time but will bgoing to a pain managment dr..im 48 hrs clean and go to pain clinic on monday.i have pain meds now and can take them but want to know when i can start taking them wout wasting them.
Related topics
diskets, opiate withdrawal, methadone, fear
Further information
- Methadone uses and safety info
- Methadone prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Methadone (detailed)
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