Methadone is a common synthetic opiate with medical uses, like a heroin addiction treatment, and as an analgesic. Essentially, this opium works in substitution therapy. Some individuals with a substance abuse problem develop tolerance to methadone slowly due to its analgesic and sedative effects.
A methadone overdose can disrupt the cardiovascular system’s work, suppress breathing, impaired consciousness, and cause pulmonary edema and acute renal failure. In some cases, an individual goes into a coma.
Some individuals consider this synthetic opium harmless and safe. Therefore, they initially use it to get high, and the body doesn’t experience negative consequences. In some cases, addicts take it instead of other prescription medications, dealing with the drug addiction problem alone. Unfortunately, they develop methadone addiction.
Eventually, they search for phrases like “methadone clinic near me” to get assistance. Since this opium causes less euphoria, addicts take it alongside other psychoactive drugs. Consequently, they get a poly-addiction.
Long-term use leads to a mathadone addiction that’s impossible for an addict to eradicate alone. Consequently, a person with this substance dependency needs professional assistance from a narcologist that prescribes a safe and effective treatment.
How Methadone Addiction Develops
According to SAMHSA, methadone lowers opioid cravings and withdrawal while blocking or blunting the effects. This synthetic opium alters how the nervous system and the brain respond to pain, providing relief. Methadone’s impact is slower than morphine and other strong painkillers.
Apart from its use for heroin addiction, doctors prescribe methadone to patients in too much pain from surgery, long-term illnesses, and injuries. This synthetic opium blocks the high that a person gets from heroin, codeine, morphine, oxycodone, and hydrocodone while providing a similar feeling. Therefore, some people consider it a replacement therapy. But, methadone is a part of an addiction treatment plan, not a cure.
When a person starts taking methadone, they don’t experience significant euphoria. Instead, they get a feeling of well-being, calmness, and self-confidence. Their emotional state gets stable with a positive mood. Also, a methadone user retains thinking clarity and reaction speed, meaning they are ready to achieve success by doing great things. This condition pushes a person to prolong their drug use in most cases.
After some time, the drug’s positive effect disappears, and the users feel psychological discomfort and unsure about themselves. Fears and anxiety come in, prompting them to increase their methadone daily dosage and intake frequency.
The addiction disappears after using the drug for 2-3 weeks regularly. Thus, a person feels like they don’t need the help of a methadone clinic. Unfortunately, the problem escalates, and the addict switches to intravenous injections from oral methadone. Also, they become irritable, fussy, and less active. They also perform several tasks simultaneously without completing them. Also, they get late constantly in everything they set to do.
Methadone Addiction Symptoms
Once a person uses methadone for about a year, they stop enjoying its intake. Instead, they constantly feel panic and fear, with an increasing need for its thrill. Consequently, the methadone addict starts using alcohol, sleeping pills, sedatives, and other drugs. And this aggravates their existing situation.
But the already developed mental and physiological dependence prevents the person from refusing to use methadone. In some cases, a methadone addict’s loved ones may search for phrases like “methadone clinics near me,” trying to get help for them. If the addict doesn’t get professional assistance, they may die from AIDS, an overdose, sudden respiratory arrest, hepatitis, or toxic substance poisoning.
Methadone Withdrawal Symptoms
Research indicates that short-acting opioids like heroin and long-acting opioids like methadone have almost the same withdrawal symptoms but varying onset duration. When a person stops using methadone, they may experience the following withdrawal symptoms.
- Lachrymation
- Nausea and vomiting
- Consciousness confusion
- Breathing difficulties
- Severe pain in joints and muscles
- Excessive out-aggression or aggression
- Decreased appetite
- Psychosis appearance
- Nightmares and insomnia
- Increased irritability
- Hallucinations
You may start searching for the phrase “Subutex clinic near me” online if your loved one exhibits such symptoms. Essentially, only a specialist can safely and quickly relieve these withdrawal symptoms and improve your loved one’s well-being. Also, they can prescribe a treatment or therapy for the addict. Failure to seek professional help can lead to sad and unpredictable consequences.
Treatment For Methadone Addiction
Medical experts treat methadone addiction in narcological hospitals through rehabilitation and the provision of round-the-clock psychotherapy assistance. Essentially, addicts receive constant supervision while undergoing classical detoxification to relieve the withdrawal symptoms while improving their general condition.
Doctors can prescribe ultra-rapid opioid detoxification for severe addicts under general anesthesia. Also, the patient receives medication to stimulate the lungs, heart, nervous system, and kidneys. Intravenous injections of complex vitamins, saline solutions, sedatives, and nootropics may also be necessary. Antipsychotics can also help eliminate psychosis.
Some patients undergo a course of a group or individual psychotherapy to teach them to deal with their addiction while resisting temptations. Methadone addiction treatment can last six months or more, with the patient undergoing a rehabilitation course to learn to live without drugs and return to society.
