Posted by Mike L (152.163.204.179) on May 01, 2001 at 01:03:24:
In Reply to: Wait a minute..... posted by nancyc on April 26, 2001 at 18:27:57:
I Have used methadone therapy for my clusters foe 3 years. After 5 years of not working I was able to work 70% of the time after 3 months of treatment and proper titration. I have never told my dosage before but here goes. 90 mg 4 times a day (9 10mg tablets 4 times a day. I have no side effects from this as I am tested each month for reflexes with a timed test. I am much quicker then I was on other non-narcotic meds. Twice so far I had gone off this dose in a matter of 2 months with no craving or illness whatsoever. I asked my Dr. about this. He explained that for some the methadone acts on exactly the same neurotransmitters that are sending pain signals improperly and that when this is the case using methadone actually causes these transmitters to function more normaly and therefore causing completely different actions when it comes to withdrawing. After a month being off methadone my clusters resumed to 4-5 a day each lasting 3 hours just as before the methadone. Still if I had the choice of this many attacks and inaility to work at all I would choose to go through withdrawal to have a life again. Mike L