About Methadone and Maintenance Treatment
What is Methadone?
Methadone is a long-acting, synthetic, narcotic drug that has been used for over 35 years to treat opiate addiction. It is an opiate "agonist," which means that it acts in a way that is similar to morphine and other narcotic medications. Methadone is widely distributed to body tissues where it is stored and then released into the plasma over an extended period of time. Properly prescribed methadone is not intoxicating and does not create euphoria, sedation, or an analgesic effect. Its effects do not interfere with ordinary activities such as driving a car. The medication suppresses narcotic withdrawal for 24 to 36 hours. Patients are able to perceive pain and have emotional reactions. Most important, methadone relieves the craving associated with heroin addiction; which is a major reason for relapse. Among methadone patients, it has been found that normal street doses of heroin are less effective at producing a high, thus making the use of heroin more easily resisted.
Methadone's effects last for more than 24 hours so people in treatment need to take it only once a day. Also, methadone is medically safe even when used continuously for 10 years or more. Combined with behavioral therapies or counseling and other supportive services, methadone enables patients to stop using heroin (and other opiates) and return to more stable and productive lives.
Who needs Methadone maintenance?
Individuals who are addicted to opiates (heroin, narcotic painkillers, and other opiates) benefit greatly from methadone maintenance treatment. Prescribed doses of methadone relieve withdrawal symptoms, eliminate opiate cravings and allow normal functioning. If drugs control your life and you fear the illness of withdrawal, then methadone is a safe medical approach to treatment.
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The prospect of seeking treatment for a drug or alcohol addiction is a significant event in a person’s life. Our medication, along with counseling, can help you get your life back on track. Let us help you on your road to recovery.
It is never too late to change for the better.
Regret is a powerful emotion that can keep people from moving on with their lives. When it comes to substance abuse, this is particularly true. People may want to seek treatment, but they may feel as if they are too far gone to get clean and that their ideal lives have already become impossible.
The road may be long and hard, but that does not mean that it will not end at a destination that former drug and alcohol users have been searching for their entire lives. Let us help you get your life back.