Does methadone work?

I've had China white heroin that was almost the color of sawdust, and I've had China white heroin that was almost the color of Afghan black tar heroin. And then a few times I got lucky with a great deal on some China white heroin that was really China white.
They were all heroin ( and only god knows what else).
I learned earlier that the fentanyl patches I was drying the gel out of, powderize, then snort, is what everyone is referring to with the heroin epidemic. I was snorting the tiniest bit of a line. And I was by far the highest I've ever been off that stuff.
I hope he doesn't have his hands on some H cut with a patch.
But honestly the combo if I'm remembering right of powder H and powderized fentanyl gel, would make a grey concrete dust powder look.
I hope that's not what he has been doing. Earlier @True concern and I were talking about the same thing and I told him I was to scared to shoot it. I only snorted it, he told me that's what is killing so many, shooting fentanyl patches gel. Dang I honestly thought that was something me and a few of the most stupid junkies were doing. I didn't know it was being done nationwide.
Anyway whichever way you look at it, he's right it is heroin and even if he did know for a fact it was cut with this or that, there's no way for him to know what else is in it. But listen to this close, my mom had damp hands just slightly and she got my Suboxone for me and a guess some absorbed through her skin because she can't take pain meds at all and we had to take her to the er. She's ok but her blood confirmed buprenorphine.
So don't go touching the stuff. I would just leave it covered. I would suggest to just stay nieve about heroin. Nothing good comes from it. And if your not using it then I would just ignore it.
Since . Have some clean time and am really seeing how destructive I was being and how wrecklessly I was living, it has made me fearful of those things that I told people I had to have to live. I'm scared of heroin too now.
And I don't want to educate a recovering addict on the ins and outs of a new drug.
1. BecauseI want to protect you and everyone else from it. And
2. Thinking about it brings back bad memories for me.
C, I really am praying that he sees the error of his ways while he still has his life to be able to see with. And for you that you continue on your journey of healing. Remember that you told me we can only change us
God bless.

So it depends on what it get's cut with,and usually the addict doesn't know when it is cut with fentanyl but from what you have described it does sound like it is or at least it's highly probable.I can't be 100%sure as i haven't been around it in year's but usually from what i remember if it is cut with a laxative it usually has a brownish color and dealer's like to cut with laxative because opioids constipate you and subconsciously as addicts we think it's good dope when we can get high and still take a sh×t.Then there is tar heroin which looks like marijuana resin and that one is pretty easy to identify because it is actually sticky tar.Powdered heroin is definitely the strongest and scariest because it takes way less to get much higher and now cutting it with fentanyl makes it even stronger and deadlier.Again I can't be 100%sure and i pray to God it's not.

I'm going to try and clarify a little bit what i was saying about the opioid epidemic.So i used Fentanyl to make a point and it indeed is the scariest and biggest factor driving the insane growth of opioid abuse and the growth of mortality rate by overdose as if the chances weren't high enough with heroin alone now it's cut with synthetic opioid 50 time's stronger than high grade heroin or "China white" which is why it's measured in Mcg instead of mg's as @Josh111187 has pointed out i believe in a different thread.Other opioids are adding to the epidemic as well and the easiest way to explain it is when we first started out with our addiction we didn't immediately start injecting 80mg's of oxycontin at a time but infact it probably started out with 10mg norco then on to 15mg Percocet and loratab then 20mg roxy then 40mg Oxycontin and so on until we started eating fentanyl and Oxycontin and now the drug cartels are getting ten of thousands of fentanyl doses and are cutting heroin with it.What's really scary is at this time in society there is no way to increase the potency of heroin than with fentanyl and it leads to so many other potential societal epidemics like Aids and Hepatitis C which hasn't been studied properly at this time but i can almost guarantee both those number's are climbing as the more potent the opioid the higher the tolerance which leads to an even more intense detox which will in all likelihood lead to more people sharing syringes and i think we can all agree that's a bad thing.So if this opioid epidemic is not addressed in a serious manner than the potential societal impact can and will be even more deadly and serious than it has already become.We can already see that our communities in certain areas are being absolutely ravished by this epidemic, san Francisco is a place to learn about when trying to educate ourselves and see what this epidemic has in store for us.San Francisco is now only rich people and poor people and if you look at the side walks in san Francisco you can see for miles upon miles the streets lined with people shotting dope,needles collecting in storm drains which poses a major health concern as disease can be spread now through the water filtration system,urine and feces all over local communities people literally using front lawns as a public out house,i mean this epidemic needs to be taken very serious and it hurts my heart to see these thing's and know at this time all i can do is try to educate other's on what it can do to you and try to show where it could take you if not addressed as soon as possible.All this addiction want's is everything you have and it has no problem taking any moral fiber we may have and throwing it aside.I hope this doesn't come across in any bad way as i'm not trying to point fingers or judge anyone this epidemic has no prejudice,it doesn't care about anything or anyone and it gains strength through increasing it's strength and at this time it is stronger than ever before and that truly worries me and scares the sh×t out of me because i know the pain it can bring and i was lucky to survive my detox which took 27 day's just to be able to take 5 steps down the hall to the bathroom and the strength of this evil is 50 time's what it was when it tried to claim my life and that thought and knowledge is absolutely terrifying.Please everyone if you haven't already stop abusing this substance as soon as possible because it only gains momentum as time passes.Stay Strong and God Bless Each and Everyone Of you

I am very happy that you never tried any other substance,alcohol addiction is hard enough Without compounding the problem with other substance's.The recovery rate for one alone is very low and i imagine with every substance you add it get's lower.I can tell you from experience overcoming multiple addiction's at the same time is incredibly hard,literally every other thought i have is either about a substance or what a particular substance has caused in my life.I am having a very tough time i think because i had 3-4 seperate addiction's i steam rolled into one and i literally at this time in my life have to put all my energy both physically and mentally into the conversation about addiction because it's all i've ever known in one form or another so the simplest thing's like going to the grocery store or going out for dinner are so incredibly hard because i see alcohol every where and i smell marijuana all the time and visually i can tell if a person is one meth or opiates so when i step out the door the world is full of reminders everywhere i turn the addiction is making a case for me to come back to it.I try to explain this at times and i get the oddest looks so absolutely everything i do i have to weigh the pro's and con's before i even attempt life in it's simplest form....It's a constant fight to avoid one addiction and a never ending struggle to keep the other's at bay

Oh god I get that! Alcohol is EVERYWHERE! I live in Wisconsin so it’s literally, literally everywhere. At every event, even kids birthday parties. So when I first first got sober I kind of created a little bubble, a safe zone. My fiancé (whose a Normie) agreed to never have any in the house. I hung out with him and my family who are all sober, went to meetings and local sober events. And that’s it. I wanted to take baby steps and set myself up for success. I work around alcohol so that was very difficult for the first couple years. But I always always told my coworkers and bosses I was in recovery to kind of let the cat out of the bag Incase one day I thought of relapsing when they were all drinking after work. So fast forward to 4 1/2 years sober. I can be around alcohol, I can smell it, I can hangout with people who are drinking. ( but I can’t hangout with people who are drunk) that’s my line. It makes me too uncomfortable so if people or my friends start getting drunk I know that’s my cue to go. I’ve explained it to them and they all understand. So what I’m saying is, I know it can seem like it’s going to be this hard forever but I promise it won’t. I swear on my life it gets so much easier. Every day your sober things get a little easier. For instance when I first got sober my initial thought to encountering anything minorly uncomfortable was to drink. (We aren’t responsible for our initial thought but we are for our second third and fourth) anyway today it’s not my first thought or even top ten. It gets better and easier. We begin to enjoy sobriety more and all it has to off. The inner peace I feel helps keep me sober most of the the day, and I’m not giving that up

I did a bit of research yesterday and apparently i was incorrect when i said fentanyl was the strongest thing to cut heroin with.Now it appears they have increased the strength of even it.I read about something called "Carfentanil"and the color appears to be the same as your describing and it is 100 time's stronger than fentanyl per dose and this is just insane but 5000 time's stronger than heroin per dose.I googled it and those are the number's it shows.I don't understand how that can be....i can't see anyone surviving such strong opiates...i am lost for word's..

I looked that up also, and really...they don't. Its so sad an terrifying to think of if someone did get an addiction to this somehow, what the withdrawal symptoms that would bring on would be like. If the drug didn't kill you, I don't see how you could even have a remote chance of getting off.
I'm now seeing what you were getting at now, and agree we got out in time before we too were lost to it.
I thought I was a completely hopeless addict. And an old man in NA told me one day there's no such thing. This drug makes me question that though.

Ya someone up above is on our side and i hope and pray this stuff disappears....It is going to take this epidemic to a nation wide catastrophe if it doesn't

I like your staircase avatar,it makes perfect sense

So I’m trying to think of methadone and Suboxone in a way that I could relate to. Like in the way of alcohol. Tell me if I’m wrong. So I’m an alcoholic would my version of methadone be like going to a clinic 3 times a day to get a “doctor prescribed shot of vodka” in order to keep me from withdrawals? Am I understanding this correctly? If not could someone put it in terms of alcohol for me to better understand.

Yes exactly only thing is at a methadone clinic you don't get multiple trips a day you get your"get out of bed drink"and good luck until tomorrow morning.Methadone is not the way to go if your seeking a chance at true recovery,however it is the way to go if you just can't afford that "early morning drink" but once you have it the rest of the day and night someone will supply it for you

Thank you for helping me better understand it.That whole system seems so fucked. Ok so someone is addicted to something, instead of helping them get clean let’s supply them with a less potent legal alternative that will result in withdrawals if they try to stop that. Like OMG what were they thinking?!? And why does it seem opiate addicts no longer think they can quit on their own without the aid of other drugs? Because of this? What happened to good old cold turkey?alcoholics quit that way. Withdrawals are awful I get that, and I know opiate withdrawals are the worst and long winded but ****! I went through god awful withdrawals every single day. When I quit for good I as so so so sick. I felt like I was dying. And from what I’ve heard. Things may have changed so correct me if I’m wrong. But alcohol withdrawals are th only ones you can die from yet most alcoholics get sober without being on some sort or alcoholic substitute. I know withdrawals are terrible and you feel like your going to die but in actuality you won’t. I think we should go through withdrawals, we should be uncomfortable and sick for a period of time. It’s what helps us to never want to do it again. It shows us our inner strength. After I went through my last withdrawals I was obviously newly sober and I remember several times where I told myself I could get through anything because I had just gone through the most terrible toughest thing I’d ever done.

Also everyone who goes through withdrawals knows it won’t last forever. We know it will pass. It’s not like we’re under the assumption that we’re going to have to live the rest of our lives in that hell. But I do get that active addicts/alcoholics aren’t great at foreshadowing, and tend to not look far in the future. Sorry this whole methadone concept now that I understand it is kind of pissing me off. I feel like the system is failing addicts.

You wouldn't be wrong in feeling that way it is failing addicts

Yes i understand and you absolutely can die from opiate detox.I almost died 3 time's in my 27 day detox and had to be rushed to the hospital each of those 3 time's.I did cold turkey and nearly died and at that time i expected to die but i wanted to be buried sober with no substance in my body

Oh to better clarify why they don't do cold turkey often any more is because the strength is not just heroin strong anymore it is often enhanced with fentanyl which is 50 time's stronger than heroin and your internal organs get use to it so cold turkey detox from an opiate this strong will absolutely make your organs shut down and stop functioning completely,this is my fear for the addict in your life.He is using the deadliest form of heroin to ever exist and i try to supply as much info as i can so you and your fiance have a better idea on how to approach him and how important it is to try and help him because now there is Carfentanil which is 5000 time's stronger than heroin but its being used to cut heroin literally every batch could be the last.Im not trying to scare you im only telling you the truth this new stuff is insanely deadly

Thank you that makes more sense then. My addict has detoxed a few times without the aid of drugs or a detox center. His first time was on my couch, it lasted about a week with the first few days being the worst.

He is lucky sounds like he can do it cold turkey and i would say do that but the longer it goes the worse it gets