What is your opinion of Methadone treatment for opiate addiction?
Just want to hear peoples opinions of the use of Methadone perscribing for the use of opiate addiction detox. This isn’t just about the use of methadone for detox from heroin but also about the detox of all opiate addictive narcotics. Whatdo you think aboiut it, do you have any experience with it, do you think methadone is succesful for detox or not? Or any other opinions you have about methadone use. Have you ever heard of methadone being abused etc….basically anything you want to say, personal or medical opionions would be great too, say what ever you like, i need your opinions for some research i am doing (i just need to read wehat you say, i’m not going to write it up or anything) Thanks in advance.
p.s i am posting in 2 different places so i can get answers from a varity of people, not just people looking at ‘health’ and not just looking at ‘medicine’ thanks.x
I think Methadone can be a highly effective drug for opiate dependency but it is typically better when used for life.
Generally switching from the abused drug (heroin, morphine, oxycodone) to methadone is fine. Most people will eliminate or reduce their intake of other opiates. Most addicts typically find it to be very difficult to stop Methadone. So if an addict does stop heroin (for example) and ONLY use methadone and he gets counseling and other behavior treatments then it is likely to be a great success. But often people will need to stay on methadone or their lives will literally fall apart in withdrawal, even when done with extreme care. Suicide rates are far higher in people stopping Methadone vs. IV heroin.
Methadone is good for short term detox. But several studies have shown that Morphine works just as well.
Methadone is more about maintenance, rather than detox.
Most people who have taken opiates long term (by prescription, without abuse) will not switch to Methadone- they just lower the dose of the pain medicine and have little problem.
And buprenorphine is becoming very popular for detox, especially in non IV opiate addicts. Methadone is still preferred for IV drug users, especially heroin.
Methadone also has several risks such as cardiac arrhythmia and respiratory arrest that other opiates do not cause as often.
And Methadone is certainly abused. An addict might run out of heroin and just use high dose methadone to stop withdrawal to for the little high it might provide. But methadone causes much less of a high compared to anything.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Methadone used to be bought/sold much like any other class-A drug when I was younger. I believe dispensing methods have made that harder these days though I am no longer in touch with anyone on the drugs scene so can’t confirm it.
Replacing one dependency with another does not seem like progress.
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September 15th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
To my way of thinking substituting methadone for heroin is just substituting one opiate for another without the high. In order to get clean one still has to get off methadone. The physical dependency remains, it is the psychological dependency on the high that is removed with methadone. Albeit there are no unsterilized needles involved and the drug trade makes no money off methadone.
Detox is still needed to be clean !
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September 15th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
First of all, everyone knows that methadone has killed more people than heroin. It is an awful, stupid, expensive diabolical poison that some half-wit deemed it a good idea, and everyone else believed him as he had letters after his name (I can think of 4 of those letters) and no matter what opiate they think it is going to cure now, how can that work? Give Meth to a smack addict, and they get addicted to meth. Or die from meth. Or do meth, high isn’t big enough so they do both. How is it any different for any other drug? Ketamine, coke, tamazepan-where do you draw the line?!
I am talking as a user of drugs (Well, was-bit too old now.) I used to do pills MDMA when they first came out, and speed quite a lot. But pills changed-they weren’t MDMA anymore. They were just a pill with a bit of speed, a bit of smack and not much else that was digestable. I thought it was a shame because people weren’t getting MDMA anymore-the whole reason they were called ecstacy. New pills came out, like K&C’s (ketamin and coke) but after a while, they got tainted, and so I got bored of them.
What I am trying to say is that I was lucky that I could do a smacky pill and enjoy it for the night, but some people couldn’t. So they look for the smack rush. Then they get a problem. Then after they have stolen all they can steal, and been arrested too many times, they plead addiction. He gets sent off to a ‘doctor’ who perscribes him something more lethal than smack. Now the addict has 3 options-
1-Take the meth and hope it doesn’t kill him
2-Take the meth and sell it for money, then buy smack.
3-Take the 3 meth shots in one go, come down too early and rob to buy smack.
When I was doing drugs, I had the fortune to be able to use them as ‘recreational’ but other people I knew liked it a bit too much. I met an old friend that was a smack addict and needed money to see his aunt. As I had a quite good job, I said I would buy his methadone off him, as he had nothing else to sell. In my mind, the less he had, the better, and I bought his train ticket myself. So I was stuck with this stuff that I didn’t want and cost me for something I didn’t ask for. But I was bored, so I took it. I was in a pub, having a nice time, but when I went to leave, I couldn’t stand up. I thought I was pretty complis mentis, but apparently, I wasn’t! I got chucked in a taxi home, and all that time I was thinking ‘those poor fu(%#&$ on Heroin-how is this a sub? It was awful.
References :
So back to your question. In my very humble opinion, I think methadone was a way of doctors pretending they have a cure to the pandemic of heroin that they couldn’t control, people believed them that this would solve the problem, pharmacutical companies were making it faster than they could rub their hands together and to top it off, it is backed by the government and paid for by the citizens that want drug addicts off the streets.
So yes- methadone is about as a good invention as a bowler hat with sleeves.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Methadone has legitimate pharmacological uses outside of treating heroin addiction but is not without some minor side effects (such as weight gain which some peoplen report). However, the cycle of addiction from heroin and the hygienic, social and criminal problems associated with heroin use are far greater than the cycle of addiction to methadone. Eventually, most opiate addicts stop using. It is not clear why they suddenly stop but it is widely observed that there are few old heroin addicts. Methodone is safer than heroin but both are addicting.
References :
I am a forensic psychopharmacologist, scientist, author and taught neuropharm for many years.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I think Methadone can be a highly effective drug for opiate dependency but it is typically better when used for life.
Generally switching from the abused drug (heroin, morphine, oxycodone) to methadone is fine. Most people will eliminate or reduce their intake of other opiates. Most addicts typically find it to be very difficult to stop Methadone. So if an addict does stop heroin (for example) and ONLY use methadone and he gets counseling and other behavior treatments then it is likely to be a great success. But often people will need to stay on methadone or their lives will literally fall apart in withdrawal, even when done with extreme care. Suicide rates are far higher in people stopping Methadone vs. IV heroin.
Methadone is good for short term detox. But several studies have shown that Morphine works just as well.
Methadone is more about maintenance, rather than detox.
Most people who have taken opiates long term (by prescription, without abuse) will not switch to Methadone- they just lower the dose of the pain medicine and have little problem.
And buprenorphine is becoming very popular for detox, especially in non IV opiate addicts. Methadone is still preferred for IV drug users, especially heroin.
Methadone also has several risks such as cardiac arrhythmia and respiratory arrest that other opiates do not cause as often.
And Methadone is certainly abused. An addict might run out of heroin and just use high dose methadone to stop withdrawal to for the little high it might provide. But methadone causes much less of a high compared to anything.
References :
I am a medical student at a research university in Montréal for both psychiatry and internal medicine. I have a specialist degree (Hons. BSc) in pharmacology with a focus on psychopharmacology. I have interned under two psychiatrists, one neurologist, and at a chemical dependency rehabilitation centre. In addition I have worked as a pharmacy assistant.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
It’s treatment. And the pharmaceuticals earn from it. So wether it’s succesful or not … few shareholders care.
It can only ever be as succesful if the individual’s will to lead a drug-free life is determined enough.
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