Methadone Addiction
Posted by Depression Helper | Filed under Depression Help
Drugs authorized to be legally distributed are present for the purpose of providing health benefits to one’s body. Medical professional prescribe drugs to make their patients feel better. However, these drugs may not be that angelic all the time. These drugs can help an addict in the detoxification and withdrawal process but these may also in turn become another substance of abuse in the long run. Drugs like these should be prescribed with close and careful guidance by the physician.
A synthetic opioid used to cure individuals suffering from pain is known as methadone. It is a severely well-tested medication that is protected and efficacious for the treatment of narcotic withdrawal and dependence. Heroin releases an excess of dopamine in the body and causes users to call for an opiate continuously occupying the opioid receptor in the brain. Methadone occupies this receptor and is the stabilizing factor that permits addicts on methadone to change their behavior and to stop using heroin. Methadone suppresses narcotic withdrawal for about 24 to 36 hours. However, this is only successful in cases of addiction to heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs. Methadone stops the high from heroin but it does not offer the euphoric rush.
Through the test of time, methadone has been successful in reducing crime, death, disease, and drug use. For one, methadone is acknowledge to be the most effective treatment for heroin addiction. It also prevents HIV/AIDS. It may be trivial, but methadone maintenance treatment the occurrence of injecting and needle sharing. Moreover, methadone treatment lessens criminal behavior and almost eliminates heroin use.
Then like any other opioid drugs, extensive use of methadone and without appropriate guidance could possibly lead to tolerance and eventually cause drug dependency. When taken under medical prescription and under a physician’s care, research suggest that long-term methadone maintenance treatment use is medically safe.
Deaths occur more frequently at the beginning of treatment in methadone programs; they are commonly a reason of abusive doses (i.e. erroneously estimated tolerance) and they are affected by related diseases (hepatitis, pneumonia). Methadone generally entails the entire spectrum of opioid side effectswhich includes the development of tolerance and physical and psychological dependence. Respiratory depressions are quite harmful. The released histamines can cause bronchospasms.
The addiction to the substance methadone happens when the body tolerates the substance thus, asking for higher dosage in the long run. And, once the habit is discontinued, withdrawal can happen. The physical changes due to the drug are similar to other opiates; suppressed cough reflex, contracted pupils, drowsiness and constipation. Some methadone users feel sick when they first use the drug. A woman using methadone cannot have regular periods but there is still a possibility of conceiving. Methadone is a long-acting opioid; it has an effect for up to 36 hours and can stay in your body for several days.
According to an article by two doctors addressing the question, “is methadone more likely to kill you than heroin?”, stated that methadone is not an innocent substance. One’s methadone maintenance is another’s poison. Actually, it depends mainly on the tolerance of the person. A lenient individual could take in methadone without feeling any ill effects, but not a non-tolerant person. For precaution it is sensible to start with low dosage and gradually increasing it, if the necessity to use methadone really arise. Also, it was stated in the article that methadone has been used illegally in the streets as a substitute for heroinwhich causes more fatal cases than heroin.
The methadone substance is used to correspond to addiction but tolerance can occur which can lead to one’s dependency upon the substance. That’s the danger of this drug. You think it’s safe but you suddenly becoming dependent to it.
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