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What is Methadone?
Methadone is a medical opioid and analgesic prescribed primarily to heroin abusers trying to beat their addiction. Similar to heroin in the way it acts on opioid receptors in the brain, methadone is listed as a Schedule I drug in the U.S. and heavily regulated in other countries due to its morphine-like properties.
By mitigating the severity of withdrawal symptoms affecting a chronic heroin user who stops taking the drug, methadone helps people resist overwhelming cravings for heroin. In addition, methadone inhibits opioid receptor activity so that users do not experience the euphoric drowsiness produced by heroin, morphine and other strong opioids.
Methadone maintenance therapy for heroin and opioid abusers can last for several months or several years, depending on the severity of the addiction and how committed the user is to the program. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, most patients need at least 60 milligrams of methadone daily to achieve optimal results. Some patients may require higher doses of methadone before they experience relief from withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
Methadone Addiction–Is It Possible?
Although methadone effectively blocks the euphoric, intensely pleasurable effects of heroin and other addictive opioids, it also carries the risk of “re-addicting” the person because of its lesser but still evident, opioid analgesic qualities. Moreover, when methadone is prescribed for chronic pain, patients can quickly develop a tolerance for the drug that ultimately leads to an addiction unless addressed preemptively.
Critics of methadone maintenance therapy designed to treat an opioid addiction claim that it forces heroin users to trade one addiction for another, albeit a legally prescribed addiction. Methadone users will naturally build a tolerance to the milder effects of this synthetic opioid and need more methadone to achieve the pleasantly euphoric sensations they originally experienced at the beginning of their MMT.
Alternately, proponents of methadone maintenance therapy say that it not only helps heroin abusers beat their addiction but also reduces their risk of contracting hepatitis, HIV/AIDS or other infectious diseases contracted from sharing needles and other drug paraphernalia with fellow users.
Signs of a Possible Methadone Addiction
- Using heroin or another opiate while taking methadone
- Drinking alcohol while taking methadone to enhance its effects
- Lying to the clinic doctor about symptoms in order to obtain more methadone
- Taking larger doses than prescribed
- Engaging in illegal activities to purchase methadone on the street
Overdosing on methadone can easily happen when recovering heroin addicts develop a tolerance for methadone and inadvertently ingest dangerously large amounts while “high” on methadone. In addition, users have been known to combine methadone with powerful painkillers like hydrocodone or oxycontin to enhance its heroin-like side effects.
A methadone overdose may be identified by the following symptoms:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Weak pulse/low blood pressure
- Shallow, labored breathing
- Disorientation
- Extreme drowsiness
- Muscle twitching
- Clammy, cold skin
- Bluish lips and/or fingernails
A methadone overdose can be fatal and demands immediate medical treatment to avoid shock, heart failure or coma.
Going “Cold Turkey” to Detox from Methadone
Addiction specialists strongly recommend entering programs provided by detox centers that are specially designed to help people overcome a methadone addiction. Although early-stage withdrawal symptoms are manageable with over-the-counter medications, later-stage withdrawal symptoms are so severe they inevitably compel the person to use methadone again for relief.
Dehydration and shock can occur from attempting to go “cold turkey” due to excessive vomiting, diarrhea, inability to keep down liquid and excessive sweating. While methadone withdrawal reactions are painful and extremely uncomfortable, they are not usually life threatening unless the person going through withdrawal suffers from pre-existing cardiovascular or respiratory disorders that are exacerbated by the stress of detox symptoms.
Methadone Detox Centers
Treatment for a methadone addiction involves medication, psychotherapy and life skills counseling to help patients recognize and successfully cope with “triggers” that usually precede uncontrollable cravings for methadone. Inpatient detox centers allow methadone abusers to live in the facility until treatment is completed. Outpatient detox centers offer services on an outpatient basis for people who may not need a structured environment 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Subutox
The process of detox begins with doctors providing the patient with drugs that alleviate initial withdrawal symptoms–congestion, fever, joint pains, rapid heartbeat, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Subutox (buprenorphine hydrochloride) is often prescribed for treating withdrawal from methadone, heroin and other opioids because it reduces cravings and helps methadone abusers function as well and normally as possible.
Subuxone
Once a patient has completed a medically supervised detox, they may be taken off Subutox and placed on another drug called Subuxone. In addition to buprenorphine hydrochloride, Subuxone also contains naloxone, a substance that prevents methadone addicts in recovery from abusing Subuxone during the maintenance stage of methadone addiction treatment.
Skills Training and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Skills training counseling and CBT are mainstays at methadone detox centers. Both are highly therapeutic, encourage recovery and help prevent relapse using principles of operant conditioning and social learning theories. Skills training teaches patients to recognize and avoid situations or states of mind in which they are most vulnerable to relapse. CBT strategies complement skills training by providing patients with cognitive and behavioral strategies to manage these situations in a productive and healthy manner.
Support Groups
Methadone detox centers also incorporate support groups for patients who have experienced a methadone addiction, detox, relapse or are in methadone maintenance therapy. The efficacy of support groups is supported by hundreds of research studies indicating that substance abusers who receive support, advice and encouragement from people suffering the same emotional, physical and mental issues is nearly as effective as medication and psychotherapy.
Get Help Today for a Methadone Addiction
Methadone addiction is treatable and manageable. You can easily find detox centers operating near you by using one of our directories that lists the best rehabilitation facilities available. In addition, there may be insurance applicable to your situation that covers most, if not all, of the costs of treatment. To learn more about insurance coverage for a methadone addiction program, visit https://rehabreviews.com/benefits-check/.