How long did you stay on it before you quit? When I started Methadone it made me very, very sleepy also, practically so tired that all I did was lay in bed (not really, I went to school some, and I did a bit of stuff, but as soon as I got home it was right back to bed and I slept probably around 12-16hrs a day). I asked how long you stayed on it because, though like I said, it made me very tired when I started, that gradually started to go away after a couple weeks and after about
2 months I was doing much better. I am now at college full time, though I do still sleep quite a bit more than your average college student (I go to bed around 11-12 at night as opposed to many of my friends who go to sleep at 2-4 in the morning every night). I have read that this is a very common reaction with Methadone, also I was only on 15mgs daily (5mg three times per day), and I had previously been taking 8mg of Dilaudid every day, so it is not as if I was taking a large dose. I think it just makes people very tired when they start, however it does not cause the usual 'high', or foggy head and confusion that most other opioids cause, even when I first started. It just made me very tired. Of course perhaps I would have tried a different med when it was making me that tired except that my doctor said it was the only one he was willing to prescribe. I think this is because of my young age and the fact that I am in college, the doctor was concerned about
people stealing my meds from me or me becoming addicted to them. This brings up another plus of Methadone, it is less likely to cause psychological addiction than other opioids, though it does cause a nasty physical dependence that apparently has longer but less intense W/Ds than most opioids for some people. Maybe the biggest plus to Methadone is that some people claim that they do not gain a tolerance to it once they reach a certain dose that works for them, or more often, that tolerance grows more slowly than with other opioids. There is also a lot of scientific evidence to support these claims as well. All in all, methadone can be a very good pain med for some people.
There is one other medication that might help you. I read a post written about
it somewhere by someone who is prescribed it for pain, it is a medication called Levorphanol. Unfortunately, there is a good chance your doctor will not have even heard of it, much less consider prescribing it. This is because it is rarely prescribed in the US for some reason, however, in Europe apparently it is prescribed somewhat more frequently. It is another med with a very long half-life like methadone so it lasts a long time but does not have to be in Extended Release pills (which cause fluctuations in the level of medicine in the bloodstream). Apparently it is similar to methadone but without as many negative side effects. It might be worth a try to mention this to your doctor and see what he says, maybe print something about
it off of a reputable website with a bit of info so that he doesn't just think you are making something up if he hasn't heard of it (doctors sometimes have that God complex you know).
I almost forgot, you can also try fentanyl patches. I didnt see a mention of them anywhere in this post. They supposedly last 3 days before you have to switch to a new one, though some people feel like they stop working after 2 days. You should definitely ask about
those unless you tried them already.
Hope this is all helpful info and good luck finding a med that helps you.
Post Edited (Circa1988) : 1/16/2008 9:00:58 PM (GMT-7)