Unfair Insane Methadone Clinic Detox

I have been a patient at compdrugs methadone clinic for 5 years. Never had dirty urines. I got 1 dirty 20 days ago and they took my dose from 185mg to 100 to nothing. 3 days. Is this legal and do I have a chance of fighting it. The doc. Dr. Alvin Pelt. is god at the clinic. Any ideas on what I can do would be welcome. Hopefully i can figure somethisg out b4 I blow my head off. Anyone out there whos gone thru a methadone withdrawal understands. Thanks all.

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REPORT

This does not sound right, something is wrong in this situation.

I suggest you contact your state methadone authority and file a complaint. Make sure you start a timeline and document it with as much info as you can remember, dates, times, names and what was said/what happened.

You need to find which agency your clinic is accredited through CARF (Commission on Accreditation Of Rehabilitation Facilties) or JCAHO (Joint Commission Accreditaion Of Hospitals Organization) and contact them to start your complaint. CARF 4891 E. Grant Road, Tucson, AZ 85712, USA, (520) 325-1044 or toll-free (888) 281-6531 voice/TTY, (520) 318-1129 fax

JCAHO (800) 994-6610 or send an email to [email protected]

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You may not have much recourse. Sadly they are not obligated to treat you or give you any more medications.

The only time treatment is obligated, under any circumstances, is in an emergency situation where the persons life is in danger and denial or medical care could cause their death.

Clearly you are not in emergency status, so this does not apply.

The only thing you can do is, if your symptoms become dangerous, you can go to your nearest emergency care facility for treatment.

How are you doing now?

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What is better for you: Lortab, morphine, or methadone? Thank you

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i been through withdrawals from meth. i dint live in he states. but as far as im aware dropping ur dose is life threatening 180 is high man. seek legal advice although u prob dont feel up to searching and hanging in offices. is there someone in the program higher up u can talk to. what that doc is doing is dangerous u are a classic overdose risk. If all else fails shoot the motherf****r. afterall those doctors are just government drug dealers. best of luck my friend.

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I cant believe how folks that are in pain quite often get treated in this country. Is this gentleman okay because when old hippies like me read the despair in your words they grow concerned. Is he okay? It is wrong for these folks to attempt to run every moment of your life, making you submit to their rules and their control. It is shameful what some of the institutions put good people though every day in this country. When I read these remarks and the words like dirty appear because they wont you to know how wrong you are. We are all human beings here for gods sake and have done nothing wrong. We deserve to be treated that way as well. While there are great ones that genuinely care about the patients wellbeing they work with and thank god for them, there are always these others and prehistoric rules that are as controlling as anything you would see prison systems utilizing. They are humiliating, degrading, and hell bent on making you understand how dirty your urine is and how wrong you are similar to Winston's demise in Orwell's 1984. Two plus two finally equalled five. I pray for a huge change for the sake of anyone going down this path. Just remember that your not dirty and your not wrong and you should be fine.

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this is a very serious issue i know down here they have to detox you within a 10-15 day period. this is called a HUMANE DETOX i still feel its inhumane especially for the amount of mg you are on. but it is better than what they did! You can write a grievance and call the state on them for not giving you a humane detox! I know people in other states on methadone maintenance and they also offer humane detoxes of 10-15 days

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They cannot do that, they have to step you down gradually. Not only is this extremely dangerous to your health but it is illegal.

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Honestly, methadone is a terrible drug...causes the same detox that any other opiate causes. You need to find a doctor that has suboxone writting privilages. It is a drug that acts as a narcotic but takes ALL and i mean ALL cravings away. I was on it for 3 years and it truly saved my life. It is somewhat expensive but what is your life worth? I took oxycontin and the withdrawl was the number one reason I continued to take it. Suboxone stopped all withdrawl symptoms and took the craving for anything away...it saved my life. Im not a big drinker or pot smoker but occasionally I will do one or the other, suboxone took the cravings for those away too. I did try to use dilaudid once on the suboxone and got zero effect. It is truly a gift from God, whoever created it was a genius. I think you should look into finding a doctor that's speciality is withdrawl through suboxone. They wean you so slow...like i said i was on it for 3 years and for some people it can be a lifelong therapy. I have never talked to anyone who has taken it that has had a bad thing to say about it..they all feel like it is a miracle drug and it is. Good luck to you...

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185 mg per day!! Nothing but your fault for wanting and getting your dosage that high! I was on everything in the book and was never above 95. Currently I am on 60 and detoxing. I dont understand why on gods green earth you were on your program for 5 yrs and you never started a detox. At the clinic I attend, they have a policy of no one above 100 mg per day. There are over 900 on the program. As for you being kicked off for just one dirty urine screen? I have a problem believing that. Are you sure you didn't submit a POLLUTED urine sample? That will get you promptly kicked off ANY clinic. Anyone that is on a methadone program knows what a polluted urine sample is so I wont go into that. Are you up to date on payment? NO balance owing? Have you attended all your required counseling sessions? The time I have been at my clinic I have seen people try everything in the book to scam the clinic and sometimes other patients. Something just dont ring quite true about your complaint. That ladder you climbed to get to 185 mg per day? You have to go down that same ladder when it comes to getting off the methadone, or did that ever occur to you? YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF! YOU HAD 5 YRS TO DETOX. WHY DIDN'T YOU???

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I flagged your response as unappropriate because no one should have to listen to the response (in this case, yours), filled with anger and completely devoid of empathy towards the person seeking help. Why are you on this forum?
First of all, it shouldn't concern you why this person's dose was above 180mg; different factors (it depends on an individual) might explain why his/her dose is relatively high (i.e. his/her metabolism, addiction history, health poblems, pain tolerance, etc). Clinics gladly raise their clients' doses, knowing they're prone to addiction, therefore ensuring numerous clients for life. Overall, clinics have an obligation to provide at least a semi-ethical, humane detox, no matter what situation led to an administative taper off the medication. MMT programs are insanely profittable businesses, hence the reason, most of the clinics nowdays are privately owned. If you have such unjustifiable rage towards this person's post, not only do you lack extensive knowledge about the ways clinics operate, but you also seem completely unaware of the dangers the rapid methadone detox poses to an individual.
Don't come to this forum if you're unwilling to listen, empathize and give productive advice. This might be the only place where people in need could turn to after already beeing mistreated and stigmatized by the medical community. And I suggest you do some research on the stringent bureaucracy, the actual prices of methadone, and finally, the yearly profits reported by methadone clinics, before you start blaming patients of these facilities.

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Sorry, Genevieve. My post below (#10) was addressed to JasonR (#9) for his ridiculous comments.
Several people in the forum already addressed your questions & suggested various possible actions you could take. You should definitely file a compaint w' CARF. Also, look into consuling with patients' rights' advocates offices- consultations with them are free. The way that clinic 'detoxed' you was totally illegal, not to mention, completely f'ed up. I was on a fee detox from 180mg, and the clinic I was going to at that time (in Santa Cruz, CA) was detoxing me by 4mg per day (which i think is relatively standard). It took a bit longer than a month but it was still too fast for such a high dose. Subutex/suboxone is indeed an amazing drug (both an opiate agonist & antagonist) but unfortunately, you can't be taking more than 30mg of methadone to switch from methad to suboxone (because of the huge discrepancy in tolerance). Benzos, especially valium, really do help with anxiety, pain, insomnia, & sensory problems when you're rapidly withdrawing from methadone. You should be careful if you start taking them, since, like methadone, they're also extremely addictive, & you risk developing a cross addiction. If you choose to take valium, ativan, or klonopin, you should slowly taper off them as soon as you feel that the worst is over.
Good luck to you and hope you're well:)

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JasonR don't think you're holier than thou because your dose is lower! Did you know many people on HIV or HEPC drugs go to a higher dose because some of these drugs affect the methadone dose. Some people on dilantin lose 40% of the methadones potency due to the dilantin. Look it up in the PDR and in the future study before speaking

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I just have a hard time feeling sorry for people who abused the drugs to get in this mess in the first place. I don't know how you got to such a high dosage but sounds a lot like my sister. She couldn't stay just on the metadone so was always having to find clean urine or masking agents. I know it is part of the addiction but as a real pain patient I know that you can try to maintain with your doc and take just what is NEEDED, or you can constantly ask for, receive more, and end up at the point no one will give you more. By this time you have lied so much, no one believes you any longer and true pain patients suffer. Most reputable clinics don't kick you to the curb, so either you cheated more then you claim or they were a clinic just out to get money and willingly gave you what you asked for. Sympathy from me, sorry no. I buried my sis due to her drug seeking behavior and can spot a lie from a mile. She was kicked out of clinics for failing, perfectly legal and went through hell, which never killed her but the dirty needles did. Go for the Suboxone if you REALLY want to get clean, but it will take all the fun out of the drugs for you, so which is it?

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Some people are not on methadone only to detox. My husband is on it for severe pain and the usual pain medications were destroying his liver. Many people don't know it but even high doses of Advil or Tylenol will destroy your liver and the usual pain killers contain high doses of tylenol. Give us pure pain meds that actually help and don't cause other problems to go along with the ones we already have.

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Good for you for sticking up for real people with real problems! My husband has to take 2 to 3 diaretics a day to relieve the pressure off his heart. These diaretics make him have to urinate every 15 to 25 minutes and thus before bedtime he is twitching and aching from having depleted his 130 mg. he gets each morning.

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i have been going to this methadone clinic for 2 years,
and i get 13 take homes every 2 weeks, well i went on vacation & did not ask the clinic if i could go(which i did not no i had to) but while i was gone the clinic called my house to come back in and do a call back, well i was not home, i have no cell phone & when i went back to the clinic to get my bi-weekly (13) take homes only to be told that i didn't come in for a call back so they took all of my previllages away & now they want me to come every day until i bill my self back up, this is so wrong & can they do this legally i'm so upset over this!!!

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i was on a program in CT at 210 mg . i did not want nor ask to be that high but every time i turned ina dirty urine with Cocaine,they would raise me up.. so much methadone i would be sleeping all the time. I did coke to stay awake a few hrs a day. I queationed the high dose with admin there, and they said they were trying to stabilize me.??? when i asked to reduce the dose, they refused said it was medically unadvisable. Then they proceeded to be detoxed there aver 3 months because i complained,,, put me back on the street, after two yrs i returned to the same program, the old doc was fired and they put me back on at about 100mg everything ok.. Doctors do screw up but what can you do?

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You obviously knew the program had a callback program if you have been there for two years.
My program made me sign a paper that explained the call back process and resposibility before giving any takehomes. If your program didnt do that, you can file a grievance with the program director and then the state dept of health.
If you did sign a paper acknowledging the callback I dont think there is much you can do. Really sux , but should have asked about vacation. My prog requires min 3 week notice before vacation

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Everyone has a different metabolism and different need for length of treatment. Your self-righteous attitude is TRULY annoying. There are people on Dilantin who must take over 1,000 Mg/Day. Grow up and stop being so judgemental. It's obvious that you are pretty young. Well, at 60+ years old, I have been on methadone for over 30 years and there is NO damage discernible.

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dr. pelt is God at compdrug. i think he gets off on detoxing someone who's been on methadone for years then make up a 'NEW RULE' and anything he says goes. dr. pelt is Satan in the flesh.

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Re: ted (# 17)

That's a lie. No clinic on earth would keep raising your dose as a result of drug screens with cocaine found in your system. In fact legally they would do the exact opposite. Before posting crap realize there are people who actually know the law. And no clinic on earth would kick you out for complaining about being on such a high dose you claim you never asked to be on. Get a grip.

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Re: Alex (# 207)

I’m in Maryland and go to Methadone treatment now for 6 years. My dose is 155. I work n just lost my Medicaid due to making to much money. My clinic is detoxing me at 15 mugs less a day for 10days. I’m sick as a dog n am about to lose my job. Any ideas what I can do?

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You could always see if they're are any other methadone clinics near you that is a different company? I'm getting kicked out of Chico Aegis methadone clinic for dirtys, but I found a clinic about 45 mins. away and thyre gonna take me, I have to move there and change my whole life!!!

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Last year when I started going to a pain management doctor he had me sign a contract. I had a list of meds and one of them Is adderall which I've been on for 4 years. Well I just got a letter saying I've been released for not complying. I called & they said I tested+ for adderall. I said I do every month & I've been on it for almost 5 yrs. I was told the doctor decided to release me because of it. Can he do that? He knew I was taking adderall when I started. I'm scared, as I was prescribed 50 mgs of methadone daily.

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omg i know that feeling. They took me from 180 to 30 bc of a 3 day miss since i was at hospital w/ my husband and overslept ... I DIDN'T WANT TO MISS MY DOSE But THAT'S CRAZY TO PUNISH ME AND THE DR (Dr.Dennis) said SHE WANTS TA SEE ME IN WITHDRAWALS FOR A WK BEFORE THEY MOVE ME UP 10 EVERY 3 DAYS THEN AT 60 THEY WILL MOVE ME ONCE EVERY 3 WKS OR SO... WTF!

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Re: ian rice (# 4)

I been going for over 3 years. I was on a 240 dose. I came down from 240 to 90 in 3 months. The doctor didn't know how to detox me, so i went down 8 mg every week. I went in detox for over 2 months day and night. I was still sick every day and night. I can't afford it anymore but i pay every week. I failed my lab screens for over 2 months, and now they want me to go to classes 3 nights a week from 6 to 9. I work every day and drive 75 miles every day to get my dose. I don't have time for classes and refused, so they are going to drop me off of 10 mg per day in 10 days. Can they do that to me? I'm a diabetic. What can I do? When I started this med I didn't have any cavities, but now 3 years later, my teeth pop out like popcorn. They are all bad. I think they should fix me teeth.

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You need to find out who they are accredited by. I'm having trouble with my clinic too . Then file a complaint with whom they are accredited by

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Re: JasonR (# 9)

Wow, how about you try to be helpful rather than accuse and blame him for his situation. You don't know his life, maybe he needed 180mg, ppl at my clinic are at 200 plus, just because you don't need that much does not mean nobody else in the world needs that much. Obviously a doctor, someone more educated then you decided he did need that much. Idk as far as what he did to be kicked off, if 1 u/a is the real cause, that's strange cause it takes 9 a year, or 3 in a row at my clinic in wa state. But to say he doesn't need that much and he should have detoxed in the 5 years he's been going is ignorant and stupid for you to say. Don't think you know peoples lives or what they need, it makes you sound like a ****.

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Re: Verwon (# 2)

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? OF COURSE THEY ARE OBLIGATED!!! HOW DO YOU THINK THEY GET PAYED?

IF THEY DON'T WANT TO BE IMMORAL, ROBOTIC, HEARTLESS AND SO ON THEN THEY ARE OBLIGATED BY BASIC HUMAN COMPASSION, RIGHT? But they would rather be nurses, counselors, doctors and whatever more than they want to be human.

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Re: Amy (# 8)

You are a unsympathetic JERK!
Who do you think you are anyways?!?

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