I have been taking opiods off and on for about 8 years. I've been to rehab several times with no long term success. I've done methadone and suboxone treatments again with no long term success. This time im back on methadone for the second time, i've been on the program for 15 days and im concerned if i wean to fast im setting myself up for failure. Any advice?
If you're on methadone due to substance abuse, how fast should I wean down?
- Asked
- 21 May 2010 by monkeylee2375
- Updated
- 14 Feb 2012
- Topics
- opiate dependence, substance abuse, methadone
Responses (1)
I have been fighting an abuse/addiction problem of opiates since I was a teen. There is no one right way to get clean. Counseling, treatment, inpatient, outpatient, NA. I've done all of the above. I think it takes a complete lifestyle change. Even if you have to leave your family(especially if they are enabling you) New friends, new neighborhood, city or state. When you are ready and tired of being tired you will commit to getting clean. I personally don't think it matters how fast or slow you are weaned off methadone or suboxone. You're obviously scared. I am too. I'm in the very beginning stages of ANOTHER attempt to get clean. I'm scared to death and unsure but right now there is more involved than just me. I can not see my fiance' until I show I'm trying to straighten up. My love for him is stronger than my love for myself and I will not let this demon win this time. I've always called opiates "my demon". I'm not a very religious person but I'm spiritual. My mother always told me "everything happens for a reason, good or bad." Find out what those reasons are.

Further Information
- Methadone Information for Consumers
- Methadone Information for Healthcare Professionals (includes dosage details)
- Side Effects of Methadone (detailed)
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I couldn't agree more. I've had subjects in cases, family, and I still have family members addicted to heroine. and It's completely awful seeing your family ripped apart by a foreign substance. Like the above person stated, "it takes a complete lifestyle change", and in all honesty that is the only thing thats going to throw you in the right direction. Methadone had had been proven to be even more addictive than those drugs you are trying so desperately to get out of your life. It is a step in the right direction, but if you still associate with the same people, live around the same problem, this "demon" will pry its way right back into your happily ever after. A friend of mine for example; was hooked on tar heroine. She had never looked worse. She had warrants out for her arrest and was on the run from everyone, even her family. Her sister is a patrol officer in the same city that I worked, which had a warrant on her as well.
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We arrested her in a felony traffic stop in the same town her sister (officer) worked on her birthday. She ended up having a child and getting clean for a while, and now, shes in the same place with the same people, and I'm about 100% sure that year or so of sobriety, has gone to waste because of the people she associates with. Ultimately the decision is yours, but I'm sure you already know, peer pressure is what will get you.