Methadone is a temporary treatment option for a dangerous dependency on opioid-based drugs. It’s used to treat heroin addiction or to ease the symptoms of withdrawal from abuse of prescription painkillers. A methadone clinic will offer this drug in a professionally supervised setting.
Methadone will help relieve the unfathomable temptations and cravings primarily associated with opioid addiction. However, by itself, methadone is not a permanent solution for addiction treatment to opioids, and there can be severe side effects.
What Methadone Can Do
Methadone clinics can be an immediate source of relief for individuals addicted to certain types of opioid-based drugs. Here are a few of the things that Methadone can do for you.
- When taking methadone in a supervised environment, it can help reduce withdrawal symptoms.
- By blocking the effects of opioids, methadone can help reduce cravings.
- Without the physical cravings for opiates, clients can function more normally.
Side Effects of Methadone
However, using methadone to treat an opioid addiction falters after the initial benefits. Even though it may be helpful in the early stages of recovery, long-term methadone use will produce a series of problems.
An Opioid – While not an actual opioid, methadone is a synthetic form classified as an opioid medication. When clients use methadone as temporary relief from opioid cravings, they are not addressing the addiction at its core.
Drug Interactions – Methadone acts as a block in the brain’s opioid receptors, so it can prevent necessary pain medication from working correctly.
Drowsiness and Respiratory Depression – Methadone can create depressed breathing and a sedative effect. Clients who fail to search for the source the causes their addictive tendencies may elect to add legal drugs such as alcohol to increase the sedative effects of methadone.
Withdrawal – When clients have relied on methadone for long periods as a crutch to avoid a life-threatening opioid addiction, they experience similar symptoms as withdrawal from opioids themselves. Symptoms of methadone withdrawal include:
- Muscle aches, cramps, and muscle seizures
- Cold sweats and severe chills
- Irregular heartbeat
- Headaches and runny nose
- Intense cravings for more methadone
While a methadone clinic may be useful to remove the immediate danger of a dangerous problem with opioid-based drugs, it should not be considered a cure-all. Relying on methadone as a form of addiction treatment can create more problems.
SoCal Detox Facility In Orange County California
If you, or a loved one, are entangled in the perils of opioid addiction, you please call SoCal Detox today. Our drug and alcohol detoxification facility in Orange County, California, offers the tools to create a complete lifestyle change. Methadone is a temporary cure. Recovery is a lifestyle. Find the help you need today because your life could depend on that call. To talk to an addiction specialist and get a free consultation, call now: 888-590-0777.
