How many of you are on a higher dose than 100mg?

Good morning all...I am new to this forum and am stuck between a rock and a hard place...I have chronic pain due to a car accident but I am also an opiate addict, my drug of choice being oxycodone...by the time I went to MMT I was taking between 10 and 15 30mg oxycodones a day...I did the intake at the clinic in Ocala, Florida and by the time I was going for two weeks, my husband and I realized that we were going to be broke if I continued to go...the methadone costs $15 a day and because we live 37 miles from the nearest clinic, the gas was costing another $200 a month in addition to our regular gas for everyday use...they made me come every day and said I would not see any takeouts before 3 months...anyway because the cost of my going to this clinic came to about $600 a month, I had to quit going...I went to my pain management doctor and the only thing he told me he could do was give me 40mg a day in pills plus he wrote me for 40mg in percocet everyday...because I do not want to take the percocet (because of my addiction) I am trying to get along on the 40mg of methadone a day and I am in misery...it helps a little in the morning but by noon I am back in withdrawal...I simply do not know what to do...the doctor says 40mg is all he is allowed to give me...does anyone live in Florida who would know of a doctor that would prescribe the correct amount (100mg has always been the dose I was comfortable at)...my only other choice seems to move down south...they have a clinic about 10 miles from my mom in pompano beach...my husband and I are very happy where we live but are so unhappy with my situation, we are fighting about it all the time...this problem is killing me and it is killing my marriage...when I was on 100mg a day in the past, I went to and graduated college, worked a full time job and raised my children...now I can barely get the hell out of bed...I am 55 and feel like I am just waiting for my life to be over...it is a shame because I know there is a solution...I just can't get to it...help please???

Mrs. Penguin,
Welcome to the forum! Most of our members here are or were chronic pain patients before starting MMT.
I find it interesting that your doctor will prescribe you 40mg a day of Methadone plus 40mg a day of percocet for pain when Oxycodone was your DOC.

Talk to your doctor. I can't find anything that puts a limit on the amount of methadone a doctor can prescribe for pain. Maybe this is a limit he set on himself. To be honest with you, if any of our members do have a doctor in your area that will prescribe the amount of Methadone that you are looking for I don't think they will say anything on here. One sure way to get a doctor shut down or over burdened with patients coming in for prescriptions is to post it on an online forum.

I understand your not wanting to move. But if it means your happiness then that may be your option. If you and your husband are at odds with each other over this it must be hell on your relationship.

I don't even know if the Percocet will help you but since your doctor did prescribe it have you tried taking it to see if it will help for break through pain? If it helps have your husband hold onto it for you to limit your wanting to dip into it early.


We had another member who was also from Florida and had a similar problem. Here is the link to that post and what some of the members posted back to him. https://methadone.forumotion.net/t342-methadone-for-both-pain-and-maitenance#762
I wish there was an easy solution for you but there really isn't. Good luck, I hope you are able to find a way to control your pain and save your marriage at the same time.
Dee

Hi Dee.[/b]..well, I did some research today and managed to find an MMT clinic that accepts Medicaid...it is about an hour and a half away from us but because the medication expense will not be so insane like the clinic in Ocala, my husband and I have agreed to go on Tuesday, check it out and hopefully, do the intake...because we now have a car which is much better on gas mileage than the jeep we just sold last week, the expense will be minimal for me to go to this clinic that is located in New Port Richey, Florida...only a half hour further away from us than the pain management doctor was...he is now 2 hours away but because we only have to go once a month, it did not seem so bad...but I have to ask myself why he lost his office that was closer to us and why do some pharmacies refuse to fill his rx's...my guess is that although he seemed on the up and up when I started to see him 2 years ago, that may not be the case now...my biggest nightmare has always been that he would not be in business any longer (like so many Florida pain doctors) the next time I show up for my next appointment...I will feel better being able to come clean with the new clinic about my dual reason for coming there instead of lying to this doctor about why I need the methadone...I kind of think that if he thought I had an addiction problem, he may terminate me or, worse, keep me as a patient until I just got so bad that I was back on the street trying to subsidize my prescriptions...that was a practice that has just about bankrupted my husband and me...especially since many of you know that oxycodone 30mg pills have gone up so much in price on the streets that people are doing things they would never dream of doing otherwise...I am sure I don't have to spell it out...anyway, I am glad I took the time to do this research because I was unaware that there were any other clinics in my reach but maybe I was wrong...I do know that they told me on the phone that I should bring something from the pain doctor stating that I have been discontinued as a patient but I am going to go and if they agree to dose me, I will just have them call the doctor and do whatever they need to do and sign a release of info...I do not want to discontinue the doctor if there is any reason that they would not dose me...that would leave me stuck in the middle and I cannot afford that...thanks for responding to my last post so quickly...wish me luck...I will let you know what happens next week...thankfully, I have enough methadone and percocet to last me until I get there on Tuesday...

Glad to hear that you were able to find the clinic. While it's always great to have a doctor that will prescribe your Methadone when you have questions like the ones you posted about, you also have to wonder how long that particular doctor will be around. Sounds like he is on his way out. For you that would be dreadful, cut off and out with nowhere to turn would be a disaster.

I honestly believe going to the clinic is the best choice for you. Even having to go everyday and having rules to follow will make it worth it when faced with the fact that you will finally be able to have the dose that works for you. I'm not sure but they probably want your records to see what dose the doctor had you on to make sure that your being truthful.
Be prepared though to start out on a low dose 30 or 40mg. You should be allowed though to increase your dose until you get to your optimal dose. Every clinic is different and they seem to have their own rules but they also still have guidelines to follow, State and Federal laws as well.

Good luck, and please do check in and let us know how it goes on Tuesday. I'll be waiting to hear something.

Hi all...I just got finished playing so much phone tag with the MMT clinic and the pain management office...it's almost like they want to see how far you will go and how much you can put up with to get the help you need...first I called MMT and they said they need discharge ppwk from pain management...so I called pain management and they said to have MMT fax them for the info...then MMT said they would not fax them that I had to bring in the ppwk...then pain management said it would be 48-72 hours after I request my records to even get them which means going to them 2 times in the same week (now you have to remember pain management is in Tampa-2 1/2 from me)...so I called pain management again and some other girl answered and she told me I could come tomorrow and get a discharge letter and records of my meds for the last 4 visits...I am hoping that will satisfy the MMT because otherwise pain management is telling me that my records will cost me $1 per page and I've been going to him for 2 1/2 years so that could be like $100...these people are such crooks...they get you coming and going...so tomorrow my husband is taking me to Tampa and I am not leaving there without what I came for...I only had enough meds to last until tomorrow so I have to get to MMT by wednesday or thursday at the latest when I will be in such bad withdrawals I will feel like putting a bullet in my head...it's one thing when you have never been thru it before but it's quite another when you know what's coming...I am already in quite a panic and I will be until I have that ppwk in my hand...with me it's like Murphy's Law...if something can go wrong it will...I know it will all be worth it in the end but right now the road ahead sems very long...so much traveling but hell, i'll be doing a lot of that once the clinic takes me as it is quite far from my home...I thought about just telling them that I've never been to pain management and then they would take me without all this rigamarole but I do not want to start out with them on a lie...I want to be up front about everything (for once)...I have been living so many years on lies between doctor shopping and trying to remember which pharmacy I had to use cash and which one I could use my medicare at...it was all quite tiring and dangerous too...I hear they are putting in new laws where all doctors and pharmacies will be connected so I am getting out of the game right on time...at 55, I am a little too old to be doing prison time and you can't even smoke there now I hear...anyway...that is the plan for the morning...get to Tampa and fight them for my ppwk and then get to MMT on wednesday because they only do intake till 9:30am and the pm doc is 4 hours round trip...I can't help thinking that I wish I were like a normal person who did not require opiates to live but it is what it is and I have been this way since I was 12 years old so I can tell you my brain does not function like a normal person but when I am on the MMT I get as close to normal as I can get...will let you guys know what happens...Barb