How To Come Off Of Methadone?

Thank you for your time. I am taking 120 mg of methadone (4 doses of 30 mg per day) for a combination tearing both sides rear rotor cuff ligaments in both shoulders through medium to high above the head bench presses combined with a collapsed right lung pneumonia operation requiring surgery to remove co-agulated pus which could not be suctioned out. The recovery was twenty five days from an excellent surgery with surgeon useing hands to remove pus. Surgeon s superior required that I take IV morphine for 14 days in hosital an an onknown amount of morphine tablets for ten days upon relief. At the age of 50, I began to like the feeling derived from taking morphine, realized problem after one 10 day refill and went to the hospital s pain specialist who put me on 60mg methadone. When condition of shoulders determined by MRI, and shoulder pain severe, different MD doubled methadone. Now 1 year later, I have had appendicitis and see it as opportunity to get off methadone to a drug from which can be withdrawn. Am trying fentanyl patches in 50 microgram patches on or two each 3 days. I am now in mid fifties and want to move to a drug that can be reduced until DC ed as I hope to go back to the University of Leiden at the Hague or Cambridge in England, to finish LLM in Public International Law. Any advise wou be appreciated as most advice is unrealistic and/or useless. Thank you again