Comparing Methadone And Suboxone Maintenance Treatment

As previously discussed, the program the author would choose to evaluate is MAT treatment programs. This population consists of individuals that have been diagnosed with opiate use disorder, and receive opiate-substitution medications, such as Methadone or Suboxone. These program evaluations would be consumer-centered, performed in the clinics they receive services. Interested stakeholders would include the treatment center where the participants receive services, as well as other MAT service providers. Additionally, the funding sources for these individuals and program centers, such as county, state, and federal agencies, along with medical insurers, would also gain value from the program evaluation research.

Some other treatment options may include; Morphine (for pain management), Buprenorphine, Ibogaine, Naltrexone, Levo-Alpha-Acetylmethadol (LAAM or Ultra-Rapid Opioid Detox (UROD). (Source) However, none of these methods have been proven to be as effective as MMT. MMT is highly effective because; it is long lasting ( 24 hours), especially when compared with morphine(which only lasts 6-8 hours) and it has a very high success rate of about 85% within a year of starting treatment. After 3 years of being on the MMT program the success rate climbs to 94% in many clients. (source) A current MMT user shared; “I started taking methadone because I couldn't stop myself from taking drugs, I was taking any kind of prescription opiate from codeine to demerol and morphine.I stopped drugs when I went on methadone. I had one relapse within the first year but have been clean ever since.” (Interview) It is clear when faced with these statistics and this testimony, that MMT is by far a more effective way of treating opioid addictions.

There are a variety of treatment modalities, both conservative and emerging, that clinicians, therapists, and doctors use to treat heroin and opioid dependence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), 12 step programs, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are just a few that have been used in the past, and even today, in the treatment of substance dependence. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is yet another form of therapy; particularly for opioid and heroin dependence, that has been around for decades. However, it has recently begun to spark interest and controversy in light of the growing epidemic.

In October of 2002, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Suboxone for the treatment in the United States of opiate addiction (Mintzer, 2007). It is a medication-assisted treatment; however it “does not require participation in a highly-regulated federal program such as a methadone clinic” (Stuckert, 2013). It does not cause the high or euphoria feeling associated with opiate dependency. In fact many patients that have taken the treatment have said that they have felt little more than having more energy and no real high at all (Thompson-Gargano, 2004).

Even though Methadone and Suboxone both treat opiate addiction, their use is controversial; however the benefits of their use outweigh the controversy. Especially the benefit of thousands of healthy drug free babies born to mothers that are opiate addicts, but had the choice for Methadone treatment daily, to give their unborn child the chance to be born

America has a major problem with opioid addicts, and many facilities are helping the addicts by providing safer options to taking the drugs their bodies crave. Methadone clinics are places where people addicted to opioids can receive medicine-based therapy. Opioid use, drugs such as heroin, morphine, and prescribed painkillers, has increased in the US with all age groups and incomes. People become addicted to these drugs when they are prescribed, recreationally used with other addicts, or they are born addicted. Many health institutions are addressing this issue with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted

Solution l: Other drug treatment facilities use partial opioid agonists like methadone and suboxone. Suboxone is a combination of two drugs that reward a user for correct usage, block the effects of other opioids, and if misused gives a nasty hangover. The drug gives the user similar

“In 1949, Isbell and Vogel, working at the U.S. Public Health Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, showed methadone to be the most effective medication for withdrawing addicts from heroin (Joseph, Stancliff, & Landgord, 2000, p. 347). Further studies revealed that administering methadone to an addict for seven to ten days had a relapse rate of more than 90% when treatment ceased. “By 1998, the number of methadone patients in the United States had increased from the original six research patients in 1964 to about 44,000 patients in New York Stated and 179,000 patients worldwide” (Joseph, Stancliff, & Landgord, 2000, p. 347). The number of individuals enrolled in MMT continues to increase as the methadone clinics and the overall effectiveness of MMT gains

Methadone is a synthetic opioid drug which was first used in World War II for the treatment of pain. Since then, methadone has become a popular choice for treating those addicted to other opioid drugs such as heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and hydrocodone. It is used to reduce dependency and the treatment should help them become clean. Even though, the policy of giving methadone to drug addicts is not a cure, it is a good one. Fortunately, the Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) is a reliable way for those with an opioid addiction to stop and not restart the use of opioids. For many, methadone treatment provides an opportunity to regain balance in both lifestyle and priorities. (“Opiate Addiction and Treatment Resource”). Everyone deserves

In the video Opiate Addiction: Understanding Replacement Therapy, Scott Farnum talks about methadone replacement therapy. There were many topics covered in this video and the topics were introduced in a psychoeducational format. The topics covered included a brief history opioids, brain chemistry, post acute withdrawal syndrome, abstinence based treatment programs verses harm reduction, and how an individual asses the damages of opioids on the brain. As a counselor in training, I found all the information useful because I have not studied methadone replacement therapy in detail.

Until recently, there was a dramatic disconnect between this research and drug court operations. The consequences of this disconnect included relapse, overdose, and death. While drug courts were designed to accommodate those in need of medical care, most operated under the misguided and dangerous practice of requiring defendants, as part of their successful program completion, to stop taking life-saving addiction medication prescribed by their physicians. This practice, which is at odds with decades of scientific and medical research, put individuals with opioid addictions in the precarious position of either having to stop taking their effective medication and risk relapse or use their medication and face incarceration. To compound matters

¨ More than a quarter of a million Americans are enrolled in methadone clinics, where they participate in “methadone replacement” or “methadone maintenance” to treat narcotic addictions to heroin or morphine, or prescription painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, OxyContin or Vicodin.¨ (Novus Detox, 2016) Clinics that treat opioid addiction use several combinations other than methadone to be effective. In addition to daily methadone treatments, there are also random drug test to make sure the individual is complying with the program. There is also individual and group counseling that provides education and support with each being customized with goals set forth by the patient. Some addiction require patients struggling to seek professional help with a psychiatrist and/or speciality

A literature search was conducted using Ovid MEDLINE (1946 to May Week 4 2015) and Embase (1996 to 2015 Week 22). Keywords used in the search were suboxone or buprenorphine, methadone, opioid, dependence, efficacy, and outcome. From there, 187 results were limited to English language and Humans studies, yielding 178 articles. Of those, 10 results

The participants were randomly assigned to either two weeks of detoxification using Suboxone or twelve weeks of extended Suboxone treatment where the daily dose was gradually decreased starting at week nine and discontinued at week twelve. Follow-up evaluations conducted at six, nine, and twelve months showed increased rated of opioid use in both groups compared to the end of the treatment period; however, rates of opioid use were lower in the extended treatment group (Leonard, 2009).

Methadone is a good choice for patients who have tried to detoxify naturally or are worried about withdrawal symptoms. It is a synthetic opiate which helps patients to wean off of heroin and other opiates because the dosage level and purity can be closely monitored by healthcare providers, leaving little danger of misuse or overdose. It does not provide the same sensation or “rush” as heroin, but it satisfies the opioid cravings because it activates the same receptors, just much slower and less intensely.