Methadone: Common Questions

What is Methadone?

Methadone, also known as Dolophine is a oral medication that comes in liquid, pill, and diskett form, and is primarily used to treat narcotic addiction to heroin, Dilaudid, vicoden, and other opiates.

Methadone is currently the most effective treatment for heroin and opiate addiction, but is also used for patients experiencing chronic pain.

How do I know if methadone is right for me?

Do you have an opiate addiction? Have you tried other recovery options? These are just some of the questions you will be asked by the clinic's doctor when you go in for the first time. After you answer all the questions, the doctor will go over everything with you, and it will be at that time you and your doctor together can deciede if methadone is an option for you.

Why would I want methadone, isnt methadone just a drug replacing another drug?

Methadone is a legal MEDICATION used to help eliminate withdrawl and cravings, and enable's the patient to focus on underlying issues they may have, and from there they will be shown how to deal with these problems and build a productive,safe,healthy,drug-free life.

How long will I have to be on methadone?

There is not SET time limit so it depends on the person. Some people take methadone for only a short period of time, while other's stay on the program. Again, how long a person stays on methadone is up to that individual themself.

If I join a methadone program, will I have to the clinic everyday?

Yes,at first. You have to remember, when you first join a methadone program, you need first to get stabilized on a correct dose that is suitable for you, and this sometimes takes awhile, so if you didnt go everyday, it would be hard to get the increases or decreases you may need, but once you are stable, and have had NO dirty urines, and have not missed any appointments, you will be given take-homes. Generally take-homes begin after 60 or 90 days, depending on the clinic itself, and there policy.

How much does it cost for methadone treatment?

This varies from clinic to clinic. Some clinic's accept insurence, and have grants for people that are low income and cant afford the normal rates. Also, there are clinic's that give discount's to there patient's if they've attended there theripy sessions and have given there urine tests. Be sure to ask the clinic your going to what type of insurence plans they accept, if they have grants for low income patient's, and if they offer discount rates.

Methadone: Brief History, Law

Form

• Methadone comes as tablets and ampoules of clear, injectable liquid. Both are prescribed under the trade name Physeptone.
• It's also found as a brown, orange or green linctus of varying strengths or as a mixture known as DTF, which comes in the same colours as the linctus, but is stronger. Don't inject - injecting anything is stupid! There's a risk of overdose and, if you share needles, of getting infections like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B or C.

The methadone effect

The effects of methadone are similar to heroin, but it's not as powerful.

• There's no intense hit, which is why heroin users don't like it as much.
• The effects are longer lasting than heroin - pain relief and feelings of well-being can last up to 24 hours.

What you won't like

You may also suffer from nausea and vomiting, severe constipation, stomach and back pain and loss of sexual drive.

Methadone is as addictive as heroin. You can quickly gain a physical and psychological dependence to methadone if you use it regularly and this can be as strong as heroin dependence.

Methadone tolerance
This builds up with continued use, although not as quickly as with heroin.

• Because methadone is chemically similar to heroin, methadone tolerance can be transferred to heroin and vice versa.
• Methadone tolerance is quickly lost. If you don't use it for a week, your tolerance will be back to near zero. So if you take your "normal" dose again it can result in an overdose.

Withdrawal
Methadone withdrawal is even tougher than heroin withdrawal.

• If you're trying to come off methadone, you must get professional help because your dose needs to be brought down gradually over a period of a few weeks.
• The physical and psychological effects can be as bad as for heroin, but the real problem is that the withdrawal symptoms can last for six weeks or more. However, the pain and fear will gradually reduce after the struggle of the first 2-3 weeks. No matter how hard it is, remember that people have done it before you.

What is methadone

Methadone is a man-made chemical that has similar properties to opiates such as heroin. Most of the information on heroin goes for methadone as well. It's often used by doctors to wean addicts off heroin on a controlled regimen.

Methadone and other drugs
Some people have started using methadone to help them come down from ecstasy and amphetamine. It's true that this will take the edge off a comedown but it's an extremely dangerous way to do it. The abrupt change to your heart-rate puts your heart under great stress; if you don't know what you're doing you may take too much or mix it with dangerously high levels of other depressants such as alcohol or tranquillizers. The net result is your heart-rate and breathing slow so much they could stop completely.


The Law
Methadone is a Class A drug, but it's schedule 2 which means it's only legal to have if it's prescribed for you by a doctor. It's illegal to give it away or sell it to someone else.


Safety
As with heroin, you can't guarantee your safety on methadone but you can lower the risks. Most importantly, don't mix it with other drugs.

If something goes wrong

unconsciousness

• If your friend is breathing, place her in the recovery position. Call an ambulance. Tell the medical staff what your friend has taken - it could save her life. Be prepared to resuscitate your friend if she stops breathing.
• If your friend vomits while unconscious, check that she's still breathing.