Doctors Who Prescribe Methadone (Page 3) (Top voted first)

I am addicted to strong pain meds and I am tired of having to come off of them, the withdrawal is awful. I went to a urgent care doc and was prescribed suboxone. I take anxiety meds too but he wants me to stop. I really need the anxiety meds but he wants me off them. How do I get him to change it from suboxone to methadone so I can take my anxiety meds?

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@WhoCares,
Hi. I actually wasn't tried on a lot of Opiates when I 1st began taking Methadone. As U say...most doctors will prescribe the other type medications for Neuropathy before anything else. Unfortunately, tho I went thru several trials of those types of medicine, nothing was giving me relief and I got nasty side effects from them.
I'm not going to list all I tried for fear that someone will assume I've been chomping down a bunch of strong meds for fun. It did take all of the 10 yrs. prior to my taking Methadone to figure out none of them were going to help. I was really suffering. Neuropathy like I have...does not let up no matter what U do. It is a 24/7 type of pain. Lying down in bed helps nothing. Even sleep doesn't help. (when I can get some) I've had several EMG's to verify my pain. So I know I am not over reacting to it.

So like I said...The very 1st pain management doctor I saw gave me Methadone to try and it worked. Halleluiah !! is all I thought. Finally, I was getting enuff relief to function sort of as a human being. I still feel plenty of pain. I can barely walk. I am slow as molasses !! My balance is way, way off too. And there is no way I can even wear a normal shoe. I have to wear sneakers or slippers. My only choice, if I want to walk at all. It's pretty awful when I get an invitation to something I have to dress up for. It looks pretty silly wearing a dress with sneakers or slippers !! I found a flat that I could wear that was made of lace, so I depend on them for fancy times.
If U read more on P.N. U will see how difficult most doctors find it to treat with any success. Nerve damage is extremely hard to fix. Unless they can find something else in U that is pressing on it. Neuropathy doesn't work that way. I think the way they explained it to me yrs. ago, was that the myelin shield to the nerves is damaged ? They don't know how to fix that. Or treat it properly.
Pain, in general is a very difficult thing to treat, and each person is different too. I usually have a high tolerance for pain. Always used to anyway. Until I got this. I didn't even take medicine for childbirth. Tho it was offered to me. I've always been more of a Tylenol type of person. Until I learned of the liver damage it could do. Now I will go to Ibuprofen, but in small doses. And with food in my stomach.
Thank U for trying to understand where I was coming from. But I will be being very careful to not give advice. I wasn't meaning to anyway. Just trying to caution some. I guess I was getting the wrong impressions too ?
Now I have to try to get some sleep if I can. I don't usually get much. Even with medication. I can't remember the last time I got a normal amount of hours of sleep. It must feel good to tho. I wouldn't know anymore.

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@jo--Oh I know. People are very ignorant about methadone and I was too at one time but Drs. should know more. You mentioned it being used in 1947. I believe that was mainly because of the war opium was almost impossible to get so a genius scientist invented methadone. Any feedback is welcome.....

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@Jo I am so glad that you found a doctor that was willing to stick it out and finally find the right medication for you. Now I am not sure of your medical insurance situation but, there is a new test out that is a Genetic Profiling test specifically for Pain or Opiate medications on a individual Genetic level for you. They take a swab from inside your mouth and send it off to a lab and they can tell you exactly which medications will be best for you and which ones wont touch your pain. It is a miracle test please ask your doctor about it next time you are there. You may benefit actually by having some break through medication for those times that you just are not getting enough relief from the methadone alone. youscript.com/healthcare-professionals/what-is-youscript/pharmacogenetic-testing/cytochrome-p450-2d6-genotyping please go read this.....you will like it and it will explain to you why some medications just will not work on you due to your genetic make up. I have extensive knowledge of Peripheral neuropathy in diabetics and non-diabetics and do know that there is very little if any relief. You are strong to keep an upbeat personality about it. YouScript may be an answer to many years of frustration and the best part is they provide you an wrist band and genetic proof as to why only certain medications and dosages work ON YOU.

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It was developed in Germany in 1937, mainly because Germany required a reliable internal source of opiates. Because it is an acyclic analog of morphine, methadone acts on the same opioid receptors and thus has many of the same effects. Methadone is also used in managing severe chronic pain, owing to its long duration of action, extremely powerful effects, and very low cost. Methadone was introduced into the United States in 1947 by Eli Lilly and Company.
Methadone is mainly used in the treatment of opioid dependence. It has cross-tolerance with other opioids including heroin and morphine, offering very similar effects and a longer duration of effect. Oral doses of methadone can stabilize patients by mitigating opioid withdrawal syndrome. Higher doses of methadone can block the euphoric effects of heroin, morphine, and similar drugs. As a result, properly dosed methadone patients can reduce or stop altogether their use of these substances.

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@WhoCares,
Ya know...I'm not sure I'm understanding all that your saying to me. For one thing...I have not been the only person to post incorrect facts about drugs in here. So why pinpoint only me ?
It's true that I have responded to several people in here, but only b-coz I like people and wanted to help or encourage, if possible.
Ms Tweetie has mentioned several things that if she knew so much about pain management doctors, she would've already known that most of them are Anesthesiologists. She has also gone to different states to get her meds. If this was b-coz she lives on the borders of both, then that can make sense however. I can't help wondering what Ms Tweetie's knowledge actually is. Especially since it sounds as if she has only just begun on Methadone. U, yourself just said the majority of PM doctors are also Anesthesiologists. I agree with U and said so.
Now I see that Pam agrees with my thought that Methadone does indeed not cause U to get a "high" like other Opiates do. So who is right here and who is wrong ? I think a lot of us are making mistaken posts lately. Either that...or we are just confused and misunderstanding each other ?
U have misunderstood me when I tried to explain why I have seen several PM doctors in the last several yrs. too. I would like to explain if I may...
The 1st 10 yrs. I had this pain, I had been tried on just about all of the medicines U mention here and then some. None of them worked for me. I had even tried Neurontin 3 times with no luck. I got very bad side effects from a lot of these types of drugs, also. I had never been tried on different Opiates until recently, and that was only done by one PM doctor who apparently had the wrong impression of me. He was assigned to me by the place that was giving me this new treatment for Neuropathy; which once again, did not work on me. When that treatment ended, this temporary PM doctor blew me off, but I was already on a waiting list to be taken into the hospital program I am now in. I just needed some temporary scripts to get me thru to when the hospital took me. (if they did ) He refused...altho he had told me he would find me another PM doctor when I finished that new treatment because he would not be giving me my meds anymore at that time. He was the one who also told me that he did not have the special license to write scripts for Methadone. Yet for 4 months, while I was under that treatment, he already had. Because of this situation, it may have appeared that I was "doctor shopping", but I assure U I was not. Not in the way U think it was.
I also have no idea what the term "nodding" is all about, by mixing certain drugs together. I've never heard of that in my life. But I have heard that mixing Opiates together and adding Benzos too can be extremely dangerous, as in stifling your breathing abilities. I know this is true because I also have Asthma & some drugs will do that to me. I haven't had a problem with the Methadone I am on, however. It's weird tho...b-coz when I tried straight Morphine, I had to stop it b-coz of breathing problems. That temporary doctor did not believe me !! I know that Methadone is a derivative of Morphine as well as other Opiates, but for some reason they affected me differently. And by the way...my Endocrinologist suggested the 1st PM doctor give me some form of Morphine for my pain. He's the one who originally sent me to them. That was b-coz he was also trying me on the other type of meds and had exhausted all he knew to try.
The only reason I was able to survive without Opiates for those 1st 10 yrs. of my pain, was b-coz I don't think it was a severe as it is now. It has worsened over time.
However, altho I've been taking Methadone for the last 7 to 8 yrs., I have not had to increase my dose a bit. I've been on the same amt. for almost all of these yrs.
To my knowledge...when your on most any other Opiates, like Percocet, Vicodin etc...U build a tolerance for them and must increase your dose often, as this happens. I've not experienced this on the Methadone.
I've even forgotten to take it on time until I feel the pain returning. Then I know I must have forgotten it and take a dose. I've regretted those times, b-coz once that pain settles in, it takes longer for the dose to work again. With the other types of Opiates, I knew exactly when they were going to wear off and needed to take another dose.
Methadone is very different.
I can only go by how I am affected. Not anybody else.
Not even how a doctor may expect me to be. Doctors all "practice". They are not all knowledgeable as we may think.
In my mind...the patient knows himself and the doctor must depend on what each patient tells him is happening or not. Each drug will work differently on every person or every malady. It has to be judged one problem at a time. And for each individual.
I hope U can understand my explanations better now.

It upsets me to be misunderstood to a degree that I'm being accused of false things. I realize I sometimes I type things in wrong, but I do try to correct those times.

If I can ever re-explain anything to U, please feel free to ask. I will attempt to make things as clear as I possibly can.
Thanks. I appreciate it.

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Jo I should have explained better. If methadone is at the proper dose most people just feel normal. You surely can get high off of it. It is not a blocker. Other opiates act differently that is why methadone was choice for addiction. I am sorry if I relayed my previous message incorrectly.

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I just wanted to reply about a comment, question that was posted before. Dr.s are able to tell if you are going to other Dr.s to get prescriptions filled. This is the Michigan Automated Prescription System which most Dr.s are now using. Your Dr. when writing a script can see if you have gone somewhere else for meds.

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The way I actually found out was when I couldn't remember a medicine that my old Dr. prescribed. The new Dr. said no problem he could look it up and then I inquired.

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Jo, I read your reply and will do the same. Can you tell me where you go to the doctor? I live in NJ as well and my husband and I are at our wits end. We are in our 60's and methadone is the only thing that works {edited for privacy}
Thank you

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JO, Tessa. Just wanted to comment about your posts. It's a shame that we have to live in fear of running out of our meds. The medical field just doesn't seem to care. I find myself counting the pills I have left in my bottle and the remaining days of the month. It shouldn't be so hard to find a Dr. but it is. I honestly hope things can be worked out. Take care and God bless.

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Pam, It is a real shame that Pain Management Specialists won't prescribe medicine for people who really need it. What is wrong with this picture? I don't include myself in the populace of people who were on heroin and weaning with methadone. Unfortunately, it has put a curse on people who truly need pain medication for chronic pain syndrome, etc.
Why don't they see this?
I am a retired nurse and years ago pain management was an important issue. They even made a chart on how to evaluate your pain so you could be treated more "humanely" if you will. I can see that got thrown out the window pretty quickly. Being in my sixties, I don't have too many years left in this lifetime, and I would like to make my remaining years as pain free as possible.
Open your eyes doctors; it seems the Hippocratic oath has been tossed out the window as well.

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@Tessa,
Got home a couple of hours ago, from a baseball game with friends. Something I could never do without having my meds. I was overdue for them by the time the game was over, so as I walked (ha ha) out to our car, I stumbled a lot. But it felt good to get out for a change. I almost felt human. But that is thanks...only to the Methadone.
U & your husband are most welcome for any help I can give U. I wish I could do more because I totally understand your situation. It's so true. How can doctors do this to patients who depend on getting what little relief they can from a drug that's like U say...working and inexpensive. It makes no sense, and it's cruel.
I feel very lucky now, that the doctor I'm seeing agrees with me.
All pain doctors should know more about Methadone to begin with. And know that once a Methadone patient finds a level of it that works well for them, most likely they will never have to increase that dose like they would if they were taking a different medicine. There is an extra ingredient in it that helps people for whom other drugs won't work as well on them. It is considered stronger than others, also... but it's really that extra ingredient that makes it more effective for some patients. My doctor just explained it to me today, but with my darn C.R.S., I can't remember all the facts.

He compared it to oral Morphine. Telling me how much more Morphine I would need to take to compare to the relief I get from the Methadone. The problem I would have taking Morphine instead, was that it bothered my breathing for some reason, where the Methadone doesn't.
Doctor explained a few things to me today, and gave me another letter to give to my pharmacy, so they would know that my doctor is aware of why I'm taking the Methadone.
It's become so crazy out there with this drug. It's very scary.
Most doctors, even PMDRs are pulling away from prescribing it. They are so afraid of the DEA coming down on them and taking away their licenses. I'm sure my old PMDR fell head 1st into that category and that's why she dismissed a lot of her patients when she did. Probably like yours did also. And some others I have noticed here too. It sure puts many of us in a bad situation, n' it isn't funny !!
Even the PMDR I see now told me that most of them won't treat a patient who is only on meds. They want to break away from this and treat pain in other ways if possible, so the DEA can't crack down on them.
I think it's awful that they can take such control over what a physician decides for his patients' well being. Where does that leave all of us ?
My PMDR said that only in rare cases will they continue to treat with only meds and I happen to fall into that category, so they treat me with the meds only. But it sure is scary. We shouldn't have to go thru this. The pain is bad enuff.
I personally just feel that if these drugs were created to treat severe pain, then they should be used for that.
The risks have to be weighed out between the doctor and the patient if there's no other choice or a long term treatment. It shouldn't be left up to the DEA.

Anyway Tessa,
I hope U will be able to make those calls soon, so U won't run out of your meds. That's gotta be the worst part of needing this stuff. Keep me posted on your progress. I am concerned for U. Or if U have any other questions I can possibly help U with, please do post again. Even if I can't help U, maybe someone else in here could. Don't give up !!

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Jo, I wish I could keep it together! Every time I think of the situation, I cry and I'm not talking a couple of tears; I mean bawling my eyes out. How can I pull myself together to talk to someone when I can't even pull myself together long enough to get a sentence out? This happens all of the time. I wish I could just get angry enough to spit out what I have to say and cry later, but it doesn't work that way with me. I'm just a blithering id***. I don't like myself for that.
If I ask you a question you can answer if you want and if you don't want to don't. I understand. Do you go to one of the clinics at one of the hospitals you recommended?
I know I am going to have to travel and I am up for that since we have been travelling to Scranton, Pa. to see our doctor since September. That is an 8 hour drive from where we live now(round trip). And of course now he won't be seeing us anymore. Well I'd better start my research. Thank you,Jo, for your support.

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Tessa, Tessa, Tessa...U go right ahead and cry all U want to. I am in total agreement with U on everything I have seen U say. I, too, have hit that good ole' number 60 and feel as U do, that I would like to be able live the rest of this short life in as little pain as possible. I have also spent many a day in tears, if only from the damn pain. Or feeling sick n' tired of not being able to have a normal life anymore. Like to be able to wear a normal pair if shoes once in a while.
Methadone is great, but it doesn't take all the pain away. But I want to be able to function, so I'm happy with I've got.
BTW, my answer to your question is...Yes, I do go to one of the hospitals I mentioned to U. It takes me a half an hour to drive there, so that isn't too bad.
I hate to drive. I wish it only took me 5 minutes. But I do understand that to find relief U sometimes have to be forced to drive hours to get it. U did say U were living in Central NJ right ? If so, then getting to one of these hospitals I mentioned shouldn't take U half as long as you've been driving. Are U familiar with any of the towns like New Brunswick, Edison, Plainfield, Elizabeth, or Newark ? The hospitals I gave U are all in those towns. So if your in N.J., U should realize that we have highways all over the place to get U where U need to go in decent time. Personally, I avoid highways myself if I can. So sometimes, U can even find back roads to get there.
I live in Somerset County. Which County are U located in ? Are U farther south in N.J. ? I've been told there are some PMDRs located farther down near Chery Hill also, but I don't exactly know who. I was also told there are several in north Jersey, by one of my pharmacists. And very good ones too. Those are just too far for me to get to.
I had looked in a magazine called The Best Doctors of New Jersey, at one time, and saw one or two of the doctors in it. That made me feel a little better. I just worried they would be too busy to accept any new patients. It stinks when U have to find a new PMDR. But it's their fault we have to. Unless we've moved. Which people do, believe it or not. lol
Oh my...I actually got a laugh out. Rare as it is these days.
Tessa...please don't give up now. If I could give U a name as if it were my brother who was treating me, I would love to. Believe me...when I was searching for a new PMDR, I ran all thru my phone book, looking under pain management. As it turned out....one of those names who would not accept me in his office as an individual patient turned out to be the exact doctor I was assigned at the hospital !! Hot stuff, huh ?
Goes to show ya that U just have to go thru the correct channels to get help..I was sort of angry at 1st, when I realized this, but how can I complain now ?
I know U get sick n' tired of making those depressing phone calls. I had gotten my best friend in the world to make some calls for me for awhile coz I just couldn't bring myself up to do one more at the time. It helps to have some support, and someone around to help U. Ask your hubby if he's willing to make a few calls for U so U can take a break. It helps.
Hang in there...I think this will work for U if U insist on it. I had to. We haven't been given any other choice. It totally sucks, but that's what it is. I know we are not alone. So we'll just have to help each other.
Sorry I yak so much.

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Just had to add i was in the same position where i lost my pmdr and couldn't get into a pain clinic for 2 WEEKS. I am embarrased to admit it but i went back to the methadone clinic and paid 80 dollars a week for 8 weeks, after i tried going 3days without any meds at all. The most horrible excrutiating and debilitating pain coupled with lack of medication. I thought i was in hell.

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@fingers.
I'm sorry U had to go to a Methadone clinic to ease your pain during the interim of your finding a new PMDR. I've heard that once U do that, it will remain in your file forever.
I wish U could've gotten thru that time w/o doing that, but I know how desperate U felt w/o your meds. I came close to doing that myself but fought it. Besides that...the expense held me back a lot too. Having to go there every week for meds & pay that much, is crazy. But I guess they figure your desperate and do whatever they wanna do to ya. And Legally !!
When your out of meds, after being on them a long time, the pain U feel is like 10 times as bad as U felt before. I know it was for me. I don't know if it's the withdrawal causing that, or if it's partly in our imaginations, or from not feeling that pain in full force for so long, that does that. I just knew I was in Hell too.
I couldn't stop the constant tears. I'd try to talk to the doctor & I'd break down. Got all choked up trying to explain anything. I had to stop making phone calls to look for a new doctor because I was crying so much, I couldn't get the words out & had to have my fiance' call for me.
All in all, I'm glad your doctor is taking care of U now. I bet it's a huge relief.

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Hi Jo,
I've had the most horrible last few days. Trying to save my methadone then my RSD kicked in and I've had to use the dreaded cane for 4 days or so. I hate that!! I have no feeling in my foot at times ( to the touch) but the pain can be excruciating. So needless to say I had to take my regular dose of methadone. It probably flared up because I stopped taking my regular dose.
I live in Ocean County, Jo. Really not too far from you at all.
I wish we could communicate via email rather than on here. Do you think we could do that somehow? You have become a good friend to me in such a short while and I do appreciate all of the advise you have given me.
Thank you so much.

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Hi Tessa, I just sent a post for U, but they aren't posting it yet. Hope U get it.

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Hi Jo, haven't received it yet. I'll keep looking.

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OK folks, this is why it is becoming more and more difficult for us to get the pain meds we need, especially those of us in intractable pain such as myself, 24/7. Here's an article from a Massachusetts newspaper I found. A 47 year-old woman was pulled over by police because she was driving erratically. When asked if she was taking medication she indicated she "had several prescription pills in her purse". When the police checked, they found NO prescriptions with her name on them, but straws that apparently had residue from snorting powdered medications. She was found with.

metrowestdailynews.com/features/x1570562034/Framingham-woman-faces-drug-charges

Police said " The drugs found in Fitzsimmons' purse included OxyContin, Klonopin, hydrocodone and other narcotics. She could not provide police with any prescriptions. OxyContin and hydrocodone are opiate-based pain medications, while Klonopin is an anti-anxiety medication." Police charged Fitzsimmons, of 24 Davidson Road, with 11 counts of possession of a controlled substance. I hope (tho it's not a Christian thing to say) that she experiences the bad side by experiencing some withdrawal symptoms. There's a photo of her (mug shot), and she looks really effed up.

Now THIS pisses me off.

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