methadone

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I do not post much, but wanted to join in on the Methadone thread.

First of all I am not a doctor or a nurse, but a patient with RSD that

has taken Methadone for about 8 years with no side effects whatsoever.

The things that I mention below are merely observations or things

that I have been told by my pain doctor over the years, as well as

things that I have researched on the drug. Please do not think that I

am trying to be a know it all, I am simply trying to throw out some

information on this powerful drug.

Methadone was originally " designed " as a pain medicine, its use for

drug addiction is a secondary use. But as we all know the public

hears Methadone and the eyes roll.

It has a very long half life and therefore you have to be very careful

when taking it. In other words, it stays in your system for a long

time and although you do not feel the affects of it, it is there. You

should take it at regular intervals at the same time each day if

possible. If you were to take a large dose on Monday for example, and

continue with the rest of your regular drugs, Wednesday or Thursday

you may see the side effects of taking a large dose of the Methadone,

trouble breathing, lethargic, extremely drowsy or any one of the other

glamorous side effects that we deal with daily.

I take 20mgs 3x a day approx 8 hours apart. I have been told not to

use this for breakthrough pain as it takes awhile to get into your

system. I also wear Fentanyl 100 patches with it and have had no

problems with the interaction of the two. I have recently been

started on Morphine and Cymbalta for the nerve pain of RSD. As we know

we are all different and what works for you does not work for me, or

what makes me sick is fine for you.

Hope this helps somehow. This is a wonderful drug that has gotten a

bad rap and it is sooooo CHEAP compared to the high cost drugs that

most of us take. I welcome any information that anyone has about this

drug or any other drugs that you are taking for chronic pain.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/14/2007 10:54:39 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

tetheredspinalcord writes:

They either don't work or make me sick. I've never tried methadone, but

I'm not sure I want to. Demerol seem to work on the pain and doesn't

cause the nasty side effects the others do. I've never tried lidocane

either -- your notes below about it are interesting. I've never heard

that before.

I'm scared of methadone too. My pain management Dr has been wanting to put

me on it but I've refused.

Right now I'm on Kadian a long acting morphine and it is working fine for me

at the moment. Why change things if you have something that is working for

you?

I've read about all the deaths from the methadone and it scares me to death.

I'll stick with whats working for me until its effectiveness diminishes and

then I will switch to something else.....anything but methadone.