What do you guys think? As someone who’s been using opiates (oxy, heroin then fent) for 10 years, tried every treatment plan/combination under the sun except methadone and finally after 2 years of seriously destructive fentanyl use started methadone treatment to experience nearly instant miraculous results, I am convinced that because of how strong and severe fentanyl is, suboxone has been not working as well for addicts as it used to with heroin and oxycodone and hopeful that methadone treatment will come back into popularity.

I have spoken to a lot of clients at my clinic over the 2.5 months I’ve been going and today I spoke with the medical director, who told me that he has seen a huge decrease in the effectiveness of suboxone treatment in the last couple years. The patients have the same experience as I did; suboxone/sublocade didn’t work, they either continued to have cravings and use dope or they couldn’t wait the 24-48 hours because fentanyl withdrawal is so severe that 1-2 days is complete agony, and coupled with the fact that different fentalogues have different half lives and we rarely know what we’re getting it is Almost impossible to determine the correct amount of time to wait to not get precipitated w/d. Methadone being a full agonist solves this problem. The strict regulation also protects against abuse. I never had to do stuff like I do at my clinic when I was being prescribed suboxone by a random doctor who knew nothing about me…no counseling, no clean ua’s, no dose counting, none of that. As far as vivitrol goes, if we can’t wait 1-2 days, waiting 8-10 or more is out of the question.

I truly wish I had tried methadone sooner. My life may not be as fucked as it is today, but thanks to this clinic I have achieved a lot and got much closer to having my old life and self back. I only wish the many friends and family members I’ve lost to addiction over the years knew about this option. A lot of people (addicts) under 30 have no idea what methadone is or what it really does, or if they do they have the stigma that it’s old and outdated and suboxone would be a better choice. With fentanyl being so rampant and how strong it is, I think methadone is a better route than suboxone for sure. From now on with every addict I speak to, my first recommendation if they admit they need help will be METHADONE CLINIC ASAP. What do y’all think about methadone? How’s it worked for you compared to suboxone?