Methadone half life
Common Questions and Answers about Methadone half life
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I remember when I was doing my bachelor of nursing learning about a link between long term opiate therapy causing weight gain for 2 reasons - odema (water retention) and metabolism slowing down. I remember methodone, due to both its super long half life and the fact that therapy of methodone is usually long them - being mentioned specifically.
It has an extremely long half life, meaning 24 -36 hours after you take a dose, you STILL have half of the previous dose still in your system. Taking more methadone only worsens this half life effect, and can result in both cardiac rhythm problems and respiratory stoppage. Do NOT take any more methadone than you are supposed to be taking.
If I were you, I would call my doctor and ask him what to do until you see him.
Here I sit, wide awake at 1:30 a.m. I did a 21 day subutex taper after 100-200mg. methadone a day. I started feeling some withdrawal the first day I stopped the subs. I would suggest a longer taper in hind sight. 20/20 right? I still feel as mentally prepared as before, but physically I'm sick. With the long half life of the dupe, anybody think I'm having withdrawal from the methadone? Last methadone was 30 days ago and last sub 2 days ago.
s ceiling effect it will only cover up to 30 mgss of methadone due to the long half life of methadone...in itself/without the long half life..methadone is not a whole lot stronger than hydro or oxy..just sticks around for a while...hydro and oxy can usually be started the next day as ithey have a short half life...wds begin the next day often...a methadone user may have to wait a few days after dosing to go into wds///starting sub and not being in wds will cause u to be sick...
I totally agree that you need to discuss a tapering schedule with your doctor/surgeon for the methadone. Methadone has a long half life, so it does take a good while for it to be completely removed from your body - therefore, it'll be important that the taper be started far enough in advance of your surgery to allow for enough time for a proper taper according to your doctor's instructions, as well as time for the methadone to be completely eliminated from your body prior to surgery.
I think I had withdrawals all last week since I went from 40mg a day of lotab to 2mg of methadone in 3 days. I know methadone half life way longer but from some research I did you needed to build up a tolerance for the max half life. Ex: a person that eats 100mg a day would have the full 72 hour half life while someone that ate a total of 5mg in 3 days may only have 24 hour half life.
Welcome to the forum, Alexa!
Sorry you haven't rec'd a reply yet.
Are you wanting to stop taking all narcotic pain meds or just trying to control your pain better?
Imo, taking methadone for only 7 days shouldn't be too bad to get off of. It does have a MUCH longer half life than hydrocodone and is a MUCH stronger synthetic opioid. You may have some w/drawal symptoms for a few days. I'm glad you decided NOT to go back to the clinic.
Methadone, like all opiates can cause respiratory suppression. It has an extremely long half life, and because of this, 24-36 hrs after your last dose, half that amount is still in your bloodstream.
Methadone can also cause or worsen heart rhythm problems, specifically prolonged Q-T SYNDROME and can lead to further problems.
What should you do?
Contact YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY and DO NOT take any more methadone unless and until instructed to do so by your doctor.
I also have a Stressfull job and that creates Anxiety. Methadone Saved All that. My issue was, my Methadone abuse. I couldn't settle for the prescribed amount given - I usually took twice as much as prescribed.
Honestly, the only reason I quit using was because I couldn't control it.
Yes - IM Very happy to be Over the Methadone - But now What? Now my Back is Same as Usual and Have no idea what Im going to do for back pain? What the Hell am I going to do now.....?
i've always had the understanding that the drug with a long half life is harder to withdrawal from than drugs that don't have that long half life.methadone has a long half life,i believe thats why it takes so much longer than hydros to withdrawal from.valium has a longer half life than xanax,but some people on the forum say xanax is harder to withdrawal from.
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