Congrats on you decision to quit pain pills Jenner.  You know, opinions are like a**holes, everybody has one.  Especially on the subject matter of utilizing methadone in recovery.  All I can do is share my own experience with you:

I have kicked heroin more times than I care to admit but my opiate addiction began with prescription pain pills over ten years ago.  I know the severity of opiate withdrawl and often found myself either using to ease the pain or turning to other drugs.  Methadone was one of those drugs.  I have two very different experiences in methadone clinics.  The first was a 90 program in which I was dosed only to the point of easing withdrawl pain and then weened off.  A 45 day split of dosing/weening.  I stayed cleaned 6 months after this experience.  However, I was not in recovery and it is no big surprise to me now that I relapsed.  My second and third attempts in the clinic taught me that in less supervised environment, the money is in the medicine and they really did not have my wellbeing in mind.  I'm an addict, so when you ask me every day if I need to got up another 5-10mg, I'm going to say yes.  Then when you cut the dose in half b/c I can't pay one day and then in half again the next, I realized very quickly how much harder methadone withdrawl is than the dope I was trying to kick in the first place and needless to say it led me back to a dark place with a needle in my arm trying to feel better.  So, I am not a proponent of methadone programs.

However, that being said.  I do believe that everyone's journey into recovery is different but that the most important facet is getting off of the drugs that you are addicted to.  I wish you the best of luck in your journey.  Please understand that there is more to recovery than just getting through the pain of withdrawl.  That is what the Narcotics Anonymous program is about.  We have online meetings every night at 10PM.  Please consider joining us so you can learn how others have gotten and stayed clean.