Methadone and a Comment from the Chair

Someone in the meeting said methadone means you are not sober. Do not stop, share, or extra-dose. Call the clinic. You can still sit.

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Key takeaway

Someone said you are not sober because you take methadone. Do not stop it, share it, or take an extra dose because of that comment. Call the clinic. Call 911 for trouble breathing, fainting, chest pain, or confusion. A share is not a prescriber. You can still sit in the meeting.

Last updated: 2026-10-06

Somebody said you are not sober because you take methadone. It may have been the chair, or it may have been a voice from the circle that filled the room anyway. The sentence is still in your chest. Your clinic card is in your pocket, or the number is in your phone, and for a second the comment feels bigger than the dose.

Do not stop. Do not share it. Do not take an extra dose because a person in a meeting frowned. Methadone for opioid use disorder is dispensed through a certified opioid treatment program. A share is not a prescriber. Call the clinic.

The comment is not a dose change

A.A. has no opinion on outside issues. A medicine from a clinic is one of those issues. The group can talk about drinking and what people did to stop. It does not get to edit a prescription from the front of the room. You can let the sentence sit there without obeying it.

If your body is in trouble, that outranks the argument. Call 911 for trouble breathing, fainting, chest pain, or confusion. Do not wait to see whether the room changes its mind. The meeting is a circle of people. NIDA describes mutual-help groups as peer-led, and they are not a substitute for treatment. Your clinic is the place that knows the medicine. There is a separate page on methadone treatment if you want that door in plain language. Use it for the care questions. Use the clinic for anything about today's dose.

You can still take a chair

You can stay in the seat you are in. You can just listen, and you can pass when the talk comes around. Sharing is up to you. You do not owe the chair a defense of the clinic, a history of every drug, or a performance of being the kind of sober they described.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. That desire can be real while a certified program dispenses methadone. Anyone with that desire is welcome. There are no dues or fees. If this particular room will not let you sit without a verdict, you can leave and try another. Meetings are in person, online, or by telephone. You can come back tomorrow to a different door and still be on the medicine your clinic gave you.

Call the clinic if the comment is tugging at the dose. If you cannot reach them and you are in the danger signs above, call 911. Do not borrow someone else's dose to prove a point, and do not skip tonight's dose to win the argument.

Tonight

Stay on the clinic's instructions. Call them if you are unsure. Then sit through the rest of this meeting and listen, or step out and find a quieter one. The comment does not get to hold the bottle or the dose.

If you need a treatment referral, call (800) 653-9376. The call is free to you. Treatment providers pay for the referral. If the night is a crisis, call or text 988. If you are in danger, call 911.

Additional Resources

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Common Questions

Do I have to stop methadone to sit in an A.A. meeting?

No. Do not stop methadone because someone in a meeting said you are not sober. Methadone for opioid use disorder is dispensed through a certified opioid treatment program. A share is not a prescriber. Call the clinic before you change anything about the medicine. You can still sit in the meeting. The membership test that applies here is a desire to stop drinking, and you can listen without defending your dose to the room.

What if the person who said it was the chair?

The chair can run the format. The chair does not become your clinic because they are holding the meeting. A.A. has no opinion on outside issues, and a comment from the front of the room is still a comment. If you are shaken, call the clinic when you get a private minute, and do not fix the feeling by changing the dose yourself.

Can I take an extra dose because the meeting rattled me?

No. Do not take an extra dose because a sentence landed hard. Do not share your methadone with anyone else, and do not take someone else's. Call the clinic and tell them what is going on. If you have trouble breathing, if you faint, if you have chest pain, or if you are confused, call 911.

Who do I call if I feel sick after a dose?

Call 911 if you have trouble breathing, if you faint, if you have chest pain, or if you are confused. Call the clinic about the medicine itself. A meeting cannot adjust a dose, and the people in the chairs are not a substitute for the program that dispenses it. Tonight, do not let a comment talk you into skipping, sharing, or adding.

Can I still want to stop drinking while I take methadone?

Yes. A desire to stop drinking is the membership requirement, and it can sit next to a medicine a clinic is already dispensing. You do not have to win an argument about the word sober before you are allowed a chair. You can listen. You can pass. If this room keeps making the medicine the topic, you can try another meeting, including one by phone.