I've been going to the clinic off an on for over 10 years. I was all strung out on heroin before I got on the Methadone at the clinic. I went as high as 90 mgs. Right now I am at 50 mgs. I actually just got a paper on how they recommend to decrease your dose to taper off of Methadone.
How to decrease dose:
- 100+ mg. decrease 5 mg. every 14 days
- 50-100 mgs. decrease 2-3 mgs. every 14 days
- 20-30 mgs. decrease 1-2 mgs. every 21 days
- 1-20 mgs. decrease 1 mg. every 21 days if no symptoms of withdrawal
- Faster decrease is against medical advice
At the clinic here in Kentucky that I go to, this is how they recommend that you taper off. So far I haven't noticed any signs of withdrawal, but I definitely feel ya on being scared of losing your safety net. I was just talking with my counselor about this same subject this morning. She said that I can go down faster, but they just don't recommend it. It is a really slow and scary process, but you can do it! Best of luck!