Carries

As you continue on methadone, carries are granted to increase your independence. A carry is a methadone dose that you can bring home with you, decreasing your visits to the pharmacy.

You are granted carries from the physician when you have given opioid-free urines for 2 consecutive months and are considered to be clinically stable. At this point, you are granted one carry, and you can decide which day would best suit your lifestyle. If you remain opioid-free for another month, you are then granted another carry. This can continue on for a total of seven months, giving you 6 carries. You then only need to visit the pharmacy once per week, getting the rest of the weeks methadone.

2 months drug free = 1 carry
3 months drug free = 2 carries
4 months drug free = 3 carries
5 months drug free = 4 carries
6 months drug free = 5 carries
7 months drug free = 6 carries

Upon receiving carries, the patient must understand their responsibility for their medication. Methadone is illegal to give or sell to anyone. One can be charged with manslaughter if someone dies after using there methadone (even if they took it without consent).

It is expected that people keep the methadone secure. Each patient must agree to purchase a lock box to store their methadone to prevent others from obtaining it. They must let us know if something changes in their situation or environment that makes it potentially unsafe for them to continue to get carries.

Carry privileges can be revoked if the patient does not adhere to certain guidelines listed below.

Your carry privilege may be lost/reduced if:

- You continue problematic drug or alcohol use
- You divert your methadone
- You tamper with your urine sample
- A physician strongly suspects that you are diverting your methadone
- The physician feels you are no longer clinically stable

Methadone should be taken at the same time each day, therefore if you notice an increase in cravings or withdrawal you should notify my physician. You should never double dose or decrease the time between doses because of cravings or withdrawals.