How Does Methadone Replace Opioid Addiction?

Have you ever witnessed an addict experiencing the effects of withdrawals from opiate abuse? Having witnessed my 24 year old son go through these, while I was experiencing them right by his side, was an eye opener. Even though Methadone and Suboxone both treat opiate addiction, their use is controversial; however the benefits of their use outweigh the controversy.

By discontinuing abuse, addicts can reduce their risks for overdose. In addition, the possibility of transmitting and acquiring diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B or C, bacterial infections, endocarditis, soft tissue infections, thrombophlebitis, tuberculosis, and STDs is significantly reduced (“Methadone Maintenance Treatment”). Most importantly, patients’ mortality rates are reduced considerably (“Methadone Maintenance Treatment”).

While trying to fight drug addiction, most say that using the well-known drug methadone, helps fight the existing addiction- take drugs to stop taking drugs? When someone is fighting an addiction, one may decide to try and take action to cure their addiction by seeking help. Seeking help may consist of going through a treatment process of taking the well-known drug Methadone. This drug is known to help people fight their addiction to pain pills, heroin, crack-cocaine, and many others, or does it? The Methadone treatment is also known to start addiction. Everyone has their own opinion of the treatment process. I have conducted much research on this and will provide you with my found information, and also my own opinion. In the end,

One of the most interesting facts that Scott Farnum mentioned was about the withdrawal period of Opioids. As a substance abuse counselor in training I have heard a lot about the withdrawal from opioids. More commonly than not, individuals believe that withdrawing from heroin is the worst withdrawal of any drug. When in reality, alcohol and benzodiazepines have the most severe and deadly withdrawal. However, opioids have are worse post acute withdrawal syndrome.

Methadone treatment is considered an effective way of treating opioids addiction if administered properly. Research shows high dosage of methadone is more effective than low dosage (Amato, Davoli, Perucci, Ferri, Faggiano, Mattick, 2005).

Besides preventing withdrawal, methadone treats the mom’s opioid addiction. About 70% of pregnant opioid addicts will relapse back to illicit opioid use (heroin or pain pills not prescribed to them) if they are taken off methadone. We also know that women enrolled in a methadone treatment program are much more likely to get prenatal care, and babies born to moms on methadone have higher birth weights than mothers in active addiction. If the mother is dosed with methadone, the baby is much less likely to be exposed to infectious agents like HIV and hepatitis from shared needle use. The baby also won’t be exposed to adulterants that can cause fetal damage, if heroin is being used.

If a physician feels the risk are minimal, they might simply monitored the patient and supply them with prescribed medications to help deal with pain or sleeping issues. For deep-rooted addictions, a medically monitored detox process is often necessary. This kind of a opioid detox process places the patient under the watchful eye of a professional medical staff on a constant basis. If the withdrawal symptoms become too overwhelming, tapering medications might be used to allow the body to withdrawal is a slower and safer manner.

Methadone is one of the most common medications used to treat opioid addiction. It decreases the symptoms of opioid withdrawal and inhibits the euphoric effects caused by abusing heroin and prescription opioids such as oxycodone. When used as prescribed and under the supervision of a trained physician, methadone is an effective complement to treatment. SAMHSA also recommends patients remain on methadone treatment for at least 12 months. Many people require multiple years of treatment. When discontinuing methadone treatment, patients should slowly taper off of it under doctor supervision. Buprenorphine decreases the potential for opioid abuse, reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings and decreases the risks of overdose. Because buprenorphine

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse provides guidelines and recommendations to healthcare providers in terms of how to screen for an addiction. Opioid addiction is screened primarily through patient interviews involving both specific and open ended questions about their lifestyle, mood, and drug use. A psychiatric exam may also be administered to look for psychological factors indicating an addiction such as depression, anxiety, and other psychological symptoms related to addiction and withdrawal. Withdrawal is evaluated by gradually taking a patient off opioids and if symptoms of withdrawal are found the severity of the withdrawal itself is then evaluated.2 If a patient is diagnosed with an addiction to opioids then the transition to tertiary prevention, or treatment will occur. However, treatment will only occur if early detection and screening techniques are utilized fully by healthcare provider otherwise it is likely an overdose will kill the opioid

Opiate addiction can cause many negative changes in the brain. This leads to the structure and functioning of the brain to perform lower than usual. As a result of constant consumption of the opiate medications, addicts lose most of their ability to cope with pain naturally without taking use of pain medication (Torres, 2014). This low tolerance of pain leads to the addict experiencing a higher level of pain since they consistently have high levels of opiates in their system (Torres, 2014). Opiates have the ability to produce withdrawal symptoms in a few hours after the last dose (Opiate Withdrawal Timelines, Symptoms and

There were no Cochrane meta-analyses or systematic reviews for comparing methadone and Suboxone maintenance treatment head-to-head. There were 8 trials that had specific populations or were under-powered that I had difficulty choosing between. Before I tried deciding between these articles, I chose to search Medline for any more leads. After searching Medline, I found a rapid response report by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health that compared Suboxone and methadone head-to-head. After looking into this review more, many of the trials I was considering choosing from Cochrane were included in the study, such as one by McKeganey, Russell, Cockayne (2013) which compared methadone and Suboxone in context of opioid

It should be noted we don't offer an in-house detox program. However, we can offer a referral to a reputable detox facility in the local community. Following detox and the overcoming of opioid withdrawal symptoms, the focus shifts to counseling (family included) and goal setting. The first phase of treatment focuses on therapy. Once the proximate cause of the addiction is isolated, we shift towards phase II of treatment. Here, we work with our patents to provide them with coping skills they will need to avoid using opioids in the future.

When a person becomes an addict or even dependent for a prolonged period of time, treatment is necessary. Though there are a variety of different ways that each person can be treated. Usually a person who is dependent is gradually taken off the opiates, by a process known as dose reduction. Subsequently a dependent person may also have some type of therapy to help alleviate the pain at the same time as the dose reduction. On the other hand for an addict, things are different because they must stop using the opiates all together. Today there are many medications such as methadone, suboxone, or subutex that doctors use to help ease the symptoms of withdrawal. Similarly the process of dose reduction is used in this case as well. Most addicts must also enter a program like in-patient or intensive out-patient rehab, where they must learn to cope with problems

The discussion entailed the methadone use in recovery of the clients and the general assessment of the program used in the recovery process for the group. Methadone is effective in eliminating the symptoms of withdrawal in opioid-addicted individuals. It was realized that

In addition to stop drug abuse, the goal of the treatment is to return individuals to productive and functioning at anywhere, anytime and any places. According to a research that leads individuals in treatment over lengthy periods, it happens that most people who get into and remain in the treatment stop using drugs, it decreases the criminal activity and does really improve individuals occupational, social and psychological functioning. For instance, the increase participation in behavioral therapy and decrease both drug use and criminal behavior has been shown in the methadone treatment. But, individual treatment outcomes still depends on the appropriateness of treatment and related services used to overcome those problems, the quality of