question about methadone and marijuana?
I have been on methadone maintenance for about 2 weeks now. It’s been a life saver in helping with withdrawal and I no longer have to be shooting up all day long. I find it really helps kill any withdrawal I have but it doesnt get me near as high as heroin or morphine ever did. I smoked some weed the other night and it was the first time i got stoned while on methadone. I didnt find the high to be as good as it was on morphine or heroin as well. I used to love getting stoned on heroin and morphine but I find it is not enjoyable at all on methadone. I also found it took away from the effects that methadone produces. It took away the warm, relaxed and social aspects of the methadone. It also made me lazy and put me in an agitated mood. When I woke up the next morning I didnt feel that great at all. When I got my daily dose of methadone I slowly started to feel better again. This is great because I used to love smoking weed and now since it takes away from the goodness of methadone I am not going to smoke anymore. Does anyone know why this happened? howcome I got this reaction with the methadone and not with any of the other opiates I have used (oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, heroin, dilaudid, codeine). And did this happen to anyone else on methadone (like any similar experiences)? Thanks
P.S. I dont need/want to know about how dangerous mixing methadone and weed can be. and I dont want no “go ask your doctor” answers.
John: thanks for the reply. I started using opiates fr anxiety/depression and a severe case of adhd. Stimulants helped me but didnt help the anxiety at all and made me more depressed when they wore off. I truly believe I am the “hyper” type you mentioned and I think I have a dysfunction in the opiate part of my brain. I think I will be on this for life because since i’ve been on opiates I havent had a depressed stage at all. Some people say that opiates give a mood boost and you get tolerance to it. But I must disagree with that. I did get tolerance to the methadone and yes the euphoria has gone away but the antidepressant effects havent left. I am an opiate user for life because they truly make me feel normal! not high. Just like stimulants lose there good feelings and there euphoria over time but te effect they have on concentration doesnt go away the same goes for opiates. The antidepressant effect doesnt fade away but the calming and euphoric effects do. Thanks for your answer!!
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Actually I found the two to have a synergistic effect leaving me feeling GREAT!!!!!!!!……..but some types of weed can stimulate your CNS and that will counter act the sedative effects produced by the methadone.
Also remember that as soon as you have been on methadone for 5 weeks it is due time to start to reduce your dosage so as not to become addicted to the methadone, because the Post Acute Withdrawal from long term use can last close to a year.
If you do not have a chemical imbalance that leads you to seek out opiate type of medication in order to feel “normal” , then it is best to detox from the methadone as soon as possible. As long as you give it a month or a bit longer you have allowed ample time for the heroin to completely come out of your system. I wouldn’t stay longer than 5 weeks. Unless of course you are a hyper type who needs permanent sedation of some degree.
EDIT……Well I am also the HYPER type and methadone has helped me with ADHD and Over-anxiousness in general. While it is very true that the EURPHORIC effects quickly wear off, and with it some of the depression, anxiety, and add return, but only SOME……..It has allowed me to get full nights sleep. In fact you can pretty much SLEEP whenever you need to. It also helps with depression and anxiety.
Without it, I would wake up in a state of depression/anxiety and nervous stomach that lasted all morning, no matter how much slept the night before, because I had very “restless” sleeps.
Methadone works BEST for people who really NEED it to make them feel NORMAL.
Now they have Subutex* (buphrenorphine) which does everything methadone does BUT only for people who just need a LOW DOSE of methadone. For example, if you do FINE on only 30mg or less, of Methadone Daily, then you would be a good candidate for Burphrinorphine, which you can be given a script for “Once a Month” from a regular psychiatrist, in a doctors office, as opposed to a Meth Clinic, where the best you can hope for, is Once a Week! and you have to always give Urine Samples and have to see a counselor etc. etc
However, once you have made up your mind that OPIATES are exactly what you need to “correct” or at least “alleviate” the symptoms, caused by a chemical imbalance that was either acquired, or inherited. (either way, you need it to function) then, Bupe might be your best bet. BUT>>>>>>> IF you think you may want to come off some day, your best bet THEN would be Methadone OR Bupe and then, switch to methadone for 6 – 12 months and THEN detox slowly from the methadone, because the “Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome” (which is the after withdrawal effects such as depression anxiety and insomnia) from Buprenorphine, can take even LONGER than methadone.
This is because it has a LONGER “half-life” for the average effective dose, which means the time it takes for 50% to be cleared, which means that the remaining 50% will be subject to the same “half-life” which means that half of the 50% will take the same time to clear, and so on until about 1/64th (2^6) or SIX half lives, when it is said to be cleared out completely. ___>Theoritically it goes on forever like in Xeno’s parodox where he postulates nothing can get from point “A” to point “B” if any given point takes up ANY space at ALL then that length of space no matter how small, can be cut in half an infinite amount of times. And time can not move if every second can be split into infinity…………… if infinity means the never ending spliting of time or space, then how can any time or space accumulate. In order for it to have SPACE it must be FINITE because it wouldnt be measuable if it wasnt. You can not have infinity exist within finity. This is just a TRICK played on us by the MIND, because the EXISTENCE of ANYTHING is infinite when held in Conscious awareness because it comes from YOU and you can never put your own mind behind your mind to SEE it or stand UNDER it…….understand it. conscious awareness is the same as two mirrors refelecting the reflection ad infinitum_______<
but I digress:
I am one who needs methadone to feel closest to normal as possible and to avoid the morning sick feeling…………but I HATE the clinics where there is such a stigma and the people you must mingle with, etc. It is much better to go to a Doctor once a month for a script.
Good Luck and One more thing about Bupe…….it is harder to ABUSE because it has a Ceiling effect and you have to be VERY CAREFUL to be CLEAN before you take it, because the CELING effect is very strong and well PUSH everything down to its level, which means you can go into severe withdrawal if you are on, let’s say, 200mg of Methadone, and take an 8mg Bup or Subutex pill. It will flush everything above the potency of the pill OUT of your receptor, causing withdrawal symptoms ALL AT ONCE not slowly but ALL AT ONCE, which is why people have even DIED from not heeding this warning!
The second thing is: They Usually only perscribe SUBOXONE, which is (buprenorphine) with (naltrexone)
Naltrexone is an OPIATE ANTAGONIST which will Flush your RECEPTOR of EVERYTHING all at once BUT::::: It will only work Intraveniously …….( if you SHOOT it) otherwise it will have NO effect at all. The purpose of adding THIS to the Buprenorphine, is to discourage SHOOTING the drug. Which is why it is very difficult to get SUBUTEX which is Pure Buprenorphine without the Naltrexone opiate antagonist………But please REMEMBER the Pure Burphrinorphine STILL has a CELIING effect! Which means you must be CLEAN while taking it.
Also people have been known to SHOOT ………suboxone regardless, but who knows WHY they didnt have a problem. It is still a RISK which you shouldnt take.
I dont know why this happened….i just wanted to reply to say well done to you, you are obviously succeeding in getting over your addiction, and although i have never been an addict, other than to chocolate, and marajuana…..which arent the same at all…..i totally understand what a difficult time it is when your withdrawing from drugs…..you should be very proud of yourself for beating these drugs thus far, and i agree, if its stopping you smoking pot too, then thats also a good thing!
WTG you