Methadone Problems

[Bannia]

I started taking methadone around 3 months ago for RLS. At first, it was great. It stopped my RLS symptoms, and I felt mostly ok. I had some lightheadedness at 5 mg, so I went back to 2.5 mg, and things were better.

Around a month ago, that started to change. I was tapering and stopping Trazodone, so I thought all of the issues were from that. However, I last took Trazodone a month ago, and things seem to be worsening. It started with pretty severe dizziness and exhaustion in the morning, which was easy to pin on quitting Trazodone. I’m sure it was a big part of it at that point. At first, taking my methadone dose would get rid of those symptoms for the most part, at least until morning, but that only lasted a short time.

However, the symptoms have expanded and changed in the last 9 days. I took my methadone dose at 2:00 PM, and every morning I was waking up feeling just awful. Very spacey headed, almost dizzy, weak, extremely tired, pain in my calves, slight chills in my arms, and diarrhea in the mornings. It was getting to where I couldn’t really do much. I have been through Suboxone withdrawal, and it definitely felt like I was in the early stages of withdrawal. I decided to increase my methadone dose to 3.75 mg. I felt better almost immediately, and days 3-5 after the increase were great. Unfortunately, it has gotten worse again. I am basically right back where I was before, and maybe worse. I got dizzy last night, and was very dizzy again this morning, after being up for around 45 minutes. I have moved my dose time back to 10:00 AM to try to alleviate some of the morning problems.

I usually feel somewhat better, starting around 90 minutes after taking the methadone, and feel ok for the following few hours. After that, I start getting very tired, sometimes lightheaded, my calves or joints ache, and just feel generally crappy. I am concerned that I am either building tolerance to it, or that I am just really susceptible to side effects. It’s becoming unmanageable, and I don’t want to take any higher dose, because my RLS is controlled, so any increase would be for the wrong reasons.

I don’t want to go back to uncontrolled RLS again, but I can’t continue to live like this, either. I would appreciate any insight from anyone who has experienced anything similar while taking methadone.

Thanks very much.

[Rustsmith]

Those are all potential side effects of methadone. So your best bet is to call your doctor's office and either get an immediate appointment or talk with a nurse. Don't let them tell you that you need to wait for an appointment next month, you need help as quickly as they can get to you. Explain that you are having bad side effects from the methadone and need immediate assistance TODAY.