Methadone Addiction No Better Than Heroin Addiction

by AdamS on June 15, 2012

For years, methadone has been used to carefully get heroin abusers off of heroin, without them becoming terribly sick or dying due to severe withdrawal symptoms.  Doctors prescribe their patients methadone as a treatment to help them cope with the heroin withdrawals, but sometimes the treatment is worse than the disease. The methadone maintenance program is only supposed to last a few weeks and taper the usage to slowly let the heroin addict come down and minimize the withdrawals.  Many of these patients develop methadone addictions that last for years and end up eventually needing methadone detox treatments.

Out of The Pan and Into The Fire

There is a big misconception that methadone is an okay drug to take; because it is used as medicine to help people get over heroin addiction.  When a heroin addict is cured of his addiction to heroin by taking methadone, it almost enables them to continue to take methadone since they already got past the biggest obstacle.  The truth is that methadone is just as addictive as heroin and produces very similar feelings in its users.  In blind trials, users were given both heroin and methadone orally and were unable to determine any differences between the feelings they experienced.

Dangers of Methadone

Methadone addiction is oftentimes a consequence of heroin rehabilitation.  The biggest danger of methadone is that it is extremely easy to overdose on, much more so than other opiates.  It can be fatal in two different ways.  The first is by simple overdose, or just taking too much.  It is very hard to gauge how much methadone is too much.  Quite often in individuals, the amount of heroin tolerance they have built up doesn’t correlate with how much methadone tolerance they have and they will take too much thinking the effects will be similar.  The other way methadone can be fatal is by causing heart arrhythmia, which is a common side effect.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Methadone addiction can be treated and overcome by going through methadone detox.  However, a common problem associated with methadone detox, is that the detoxification process takes several weeks to complete.  Methadone addicts are likely to experience the same type of withdrawal symptoms that heroin addicts have to go through during detox.  These symptoms include sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and severe headaches.  It is highly recommended that an addict gets professional help when thinking of going through methadone detox, as it can be a very difficult time.

The methadone addict should first have the full support of their family and friends when seeking help.  Once they have established a strong support system, they should look for qualified professional care.  There are several methadone detox and rehabilitation centers all over the United States.  These facilities are staffed with medical professionals to watch over the detox process and ensure the safety and well-being of the addicts.  If you, or anyone you know is suffering from methadone addiction, please get help immediately.

 

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: