I went off methodone about 4 days ago and switched to oxycodone.
do you get withdrawal when going off methodone. I am suffering so bad - the same as when i went off mirapex. I need to sdo something. I have been walking for 2 days and I can barely stand up. Please help. It is bad. I feel like I am dying
Methadone has a long half life of 25 hours. That's why it covers RLS symptoms so well. If you switch to another opioid with a short half life- like oxycodone- you'll get opioid withdrawals from the Methadone.Oxycodone has a short half life of 4 hours.
So you would need to switch to the same equivalent dose of Methadone and take the oxycodone more regularly throughout the day ( every 4 to 6 hours) to prevent rebound RLS.
Why did you stop Methadone?
I didn't like the side effects of being sleepy all day and it did not let my restless legs go away comletely
Understand.It's trial & error to find the right combination of meds that covers the RLS but with side effects you can tolerate.
Average effective dose of oxycodone is between 30 & 40mg.
You could try 5mg 6 times a day or 10mg 4 times a day.
Here in the UK we can get lower dose pills of oxycodone and Buprenorphine.
I seem to recall that 10mg is the lowest dose pill of oxycodone in the USA.
I hope you find the right meds for you.
You would take methodone and oxycodone together? If so, for how long?
No. Either methadone OR oxycodone.
You ask doctor to give you the equivalent dose to the methadone you have been taking. He will calculate the oxycodone dose you need. BUT- be aware that the short half life of oxy means it may not cover your RLS symptoms as well.
You might want to ask your Dr. about substituting buprenorphine for methadone and not using oxycodone since it has a half life similar to methadone.
I have tried buprenorphine. It doesn't work well for me. I am using the oxycodone now. That is what I have. Is that a problem
Hi Lorri,
If it works for you, it's not a problem. The nice attribute of buprenorphine is that you can use a much smaller quantity of bup., usually .2-1.0 milligrams to totally eliminate RLS effects for around 24-30 hours, about the same as methadone.
Email Dr. B. and he'll help you out.
Good luck.
Paul
Why doesnt the methodone eliminate the rls for 24 hours. After I go to sleep at night I wake up a few times with rls. I was taking 10 mg methodone
In my case, 10mg covers my RLS quite well, but not perfectly. But I have heard that up to 20mg/day is sometimes allowed. Of course you might experience daytime sleepiness even more at that dose.
I didn't like the tiredness. I couldn't sit down without falling asleep. And since it did not make my rls go away completely I thought I should try something new. Maybe that was a mistake?????
Apparently you're fortunate enough to have access to several types of opioids. I'm not sure whether you've tried the gabapentinoids, which are usually suggested prior to the opioids. All I can think of is experimenting among them. Perhaps cannabis? Have you described your situation to Dr Buchfuhrer? Good luck to you.
When I take the methodone it doesnt take the rls away for too many hours. Maybe 2 hours. Why would that be. I went off the methodone beacause of that. I'm fight ing a loosing battle. I don't know what to do. I am taking oxycodone now for a few days and it helps. But when it wears off I get the rls again. Im miserable. Don't know what to do. I keep calling my dr and I don't know what else there is to do.
There is extended release oxycodone, I was on it for a while. I now take Percocet, that also seems to work better for me than short release oxycodone (no side effects).
I was on Targin 15 - 20mg at night and after 3 months it stopped working for RLS. I asked the doctor if I could switch to buprenorphine. I now am on a patch of 15mg and at night I take 200mcg of buprenorphine in the form of Temgesic sublingual and it works very well. I might add the the only reason I am taking such high dose is because I have cancer and I need the pain control but my observation is Buprenorphine is much better at controlling RLS than oxycodone.
Does your RLS go away when you are ill?
Suffering like hell since I tried to taper off a dopamin agonist 
Clonidine is a Godsend helping me go Cold Turkey thru last stage get off Ropinerole 
What helps you when you have a RLS attack?
I'm suffering badly with Pramipexole withdrawal despite help with Temgesic. Any advice please.
