Methadone: Methadone Facts

Question: Anyone have experiences with 5mg 3x a day methadone?

(Posted by: on 2012-01-14 13:49:59)

I just started it yesterday, btw i'm not using it for drug withdrawals i'm using it for pain relief i got it from my pain management doctor yesterday, please help i need people telling about there experiences because i've taken 2 so far and so far it don't seem to be working i don't know if it needs to mount up in your system or what to work better so please help Thanks:) Ok, so should i ask for them to up my dosage? I'm only 17 and go to a children's pain clinic so would they up it? Cause i need some pain relief desperatly!!!!

Posted by: belle on 2012-01-14, 14:02:41

Well your doctor must not think your pain is bad because the usual starting minimum dose is 20mg.......he has you only taking 15mg the entire day, the longer you take it the better it works cause it does build up in your system but I can almost bet you won't get any pain relief from such a small dose

Posted by: ? on 2012-01-14, 14:18:08

They do need to mount up in your system...about the 3rd day you should feel them working. If you don't feel they're working in a week, let your Dr know. he might up your dose or maybe you need something a bit stronger. Physeptone tablets are pretty strong. I know this because I was prescribed them a couple of years back for pain. They did work eventually. But like I said give them 3days then if not working within a weak go back and see your Dr. Hope this helps?

Posted by: J Miller on 2012-01-14, 18:48:49

It will take some time for it to start working as they should. Methadone has a long half life, meaning it stays in your system for a long time. The longer you take it the levels of the methadone in your blood stream will accumulate and after a few days you will get the optimal effect of it. After that the level in your blood will stay at that level as long as you keep taking it regularly. Give it some more time. Increasing the dose now could be a very bad idea. Because the level of methadone builds up in your system it's possible that it could build up to a toxic level which can be fatal. For this reason methadone is usually started at a low dose and then increased over time as you develop a tolerance for it. Everyone is different and with you being young and female 15mg/ day is probably plenty right now. It's best to stay on the safe side. Whatever you do please do not take any more than prescribed. It's quite common that people just starting to take methadone take more because they don't get the relief they were needing and sometimes it leads to the person's death. So just be careful and take your medication as prescribed. If you still don't get relief in a few days call your doctor and ask to increase the dose. Some people with chronic pain also benefit from taking a short acting opiate, like percocet or vicodin, for breakthrough pain.