Methadone withdrawal?

I am asking for a member on the fb page i am co-admin of. This lady is having a methadone drug holiday as instructed by her doctor. Her methadone isn’t working after being on it for several years. She is weaning off it but nothing she has tried to help with withdrawals is helping including medicinal cannabis. She is in a wheelchair so walking to get relief is a problem. Any one on here who has had to wean off methadone have any ideas i can relay to her.

[SueJohnson]

the Mayo Clinic suggests the following:

Drink more water or other liquids than usual.

Eat regular nutritious meals.

Use deep-breathing and stretching exercises, as instructed.

Do something to relax (for example, practice relaxation techniques, listen to music or read).

Use distraction (for example, humor or talking to someone with a positive outlook).

Use positive self-talk. Tell yourself "I can do this" or "This is only temporary."

As far as medications it depends on her symptoms: insomnia - bezodiazepines; for sweating, cramps, muscle aches, anxiety, and the flu-like symptoms - clonidine; for nausea zofran.

Etc.

[Hidden in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks Sue will pass all that on. She has been prescribed Oxycodone but told she has to get off the methadone first before starting the Oxy. Do you know if that’s right. ?

[SueJohnson in reply to Hidden]

Usually you can switch directly. See fpm.ac.uk/opioids-aware-str... for equivalent amounts

[Hidden in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks again Sue. Your help and advice is much appreciated.

[Sunofslash77]

hi there, my Rls problem is due to coming off methadone. Earlier this year I did a course of it and over 12 weeks reduced it down to zero. For a week I was fine and elated I was drug free again. Then it started….hell 😂 9pm every night my legs would start and I’d be awake all night, I tried all sorts including pregabs but I told my doctor I didn’t want them because their habit forming. In my experience (in UK) health professionals have no idea how to treat it RLS and I soon ran out of options. After 3 weeks I was exhausted. Every night I would trawl the internet for solutions. To cut a long story short, I called my nurse at the drug clinic and asked to be put back on a really small dose of methadone because maybe I’d come off it too fast. To my amazement she said because I had no opiates in my system they couldn’t prescribe. I was so desperate for relief I ended up going back to heroin just so I could be given meth again. Anyway I’m now at the stage of tapering where I’m down to a small dose. 15mg. I’m dreading getting to zero so the plan is to get it as low as possible and stay on it a while and get my life on track. I start a new job tomorrow so I can’t afford RLS again, it’s so debilitating. During my research I’ve picked up a few supplements that might work. Firstly magnesium glycenate before bed and ashwagandha capsules. I’m taking them now so their in my system when I’m ready to stop the meth. Obviously I can’t say if their going to work yet but I just have a feeling they might. I definitely sleep better and feel less anxiety. I’m going to add lions mane mushroom capsules too very soon. In the UK there’s a company called British supplements I use. All products are free of any nasties and the reviews of their many products are amazing. Some people are taking a stack of 2-3 herbs daily and it’s allowing them to get off ssri’s with no back lash. Whatever your symptoms, they have a natural herb to treat it. Give your friend my best wishes and I hope I might have given her food for thought ✌️