Forums › Drugs › Heroin & Opium › What is Methadone?
Methadone
Hardly a drug normally associated with the party scene, methadone deserves a mention because there’s just so bloody much of it about now. Methadone is an opioid, a synthetic opiate. Like the better-know opiates, morphine and diamorphine (heroin), methadone is a powerful analgesic, or painkiller. Although methadone is still occasionally used for pain relief, it’s far more common to find it being used to ‘treat’ people who are physically dependent on heroin. In the UK, the number of people using heroin has been steadily increasing. Methadone use has also been increasing.
Treatment, as in making you better?
Well, not exactly, no. Just stay with the idea for a moment that ‘drug addiction’ is more than a pharmacological problem. It’s not just about the chemical, the drug. The drug does tend to play a pretty significant part, and yet it’s never the whole story. Someone taking methadone instead of heroin can definitely let go of their dependent heroin habit. The methadone stopos the ‘withdrawal syndrome’. If I’m heroin dependent, and I’m withdrawing, and I take methadone…it stops. The methadone will get rid of cramps, and nausea, and vomiting, and diarrhea, and all the other nasties that make a heroin habit unpleasant. If I keep on taking it, I don’t get ill. If I stop taking it, I get…errrr…well…an opioid withdrawal syndrome.
Treatment, as in getting you hooked?
Well, you don’t have to put it quite like that. It’s true that regular, dependent methadone use does of course fit neatly into the ‘addiction’ model described in our ‘reducing the risks’ pages. And methadone dependence has some benefits over heroin dependence, for some people. If you’re living in the UK and can get methadone on the NHS it won’t cost you all the money you can raise each day just to stay on top of the habit. Even if you pay for a private consultation and ‘script it’ll be a lot cheaper than the brown. Methadone is available as a liquid – linctus or methadone mixture – which is swallowed, meaning you don’t need to inject. Some people of course do inject, and injectable ampoules are sometimes prescribed. Tablets are also available. Like many other medicines some of these prescribed drugs are diverted and become available illegally.
Treatment, as in getting stoned?
The guidelines for prescribing methadone indicate that enough should be given to prevent physical withdrawal symptoms – when you are prescribed methadone it is not supposed to give you a buzz, or make you feel stoned, or however else you describe it.
The physical effects of methadone are similar to other opiates (like heroin); suppressed cough reflex, contracted pupils and drowsiness. Regular use will cause constipation. Some methadone users feel sick when they first use the drug. If you are a woman using methadone you may not have regular periods – but you are still able to conceive.
Methadone is a long-acting opioid; it has an effect for up to 36 hours and can remain in your body for several days.
In terms of ‘treating’ an opioid withdrawal syndrome the medication is very attractive to many prescribers – it last a long time, is stable in liquid form and is cheap to produce.
Most treatment services that offer prescribing will want to manage a ‘reducing’ dose of methadone. The idea behind a reducing script is that you stabilise the ‘patient’, then gradually reduce the dose until they aren’t using methadone anymore.
This style of ‘community detox’ doesn’t work for everybody. The people for whom it works least well are the people who ‘top-up’ their ever-decreasing medication with either illegally-bought methadone, or heroin.
Some people see little point in drawing it all out, and find it easier to reduce or just stop using heroin without ever taking methadone. Methadone’s primary benefit to the user is that it manages physical opiate dependence legitimately. In the UK, it’s very difficult to find anyone who will prescribe heroin, or morphine, to treat opiate dependence.
Treatment, as in safe?
Not as such. For several years now, methadone has been the cause of more accidental poisonings (overdoses) in the UK than heroin. It’s really worth reading that last sentence again…
Methadone is a very potent drug, and individual doses vary for each person. What’s prescribed for my friend could kill me, easily. If you are using methadone that you have bought illegally be aware that you could overdose on an amount that would seem ‘normal‘ to somebody else – especially if you are not using opiates regularly, and have a low ‘tolerance’ (it doesn’t take very much to affect you). Differences in tolerance are caused by how often you use a drug. If you are using methadone regularly – prescribed or not – taking a higher dose than normal, or using other depressant drugs (like alcohol, heroin, tranquillisers or sleeping tablets) at the same time could cause you to overdose. If you do lose consciousness and vomit you may well choke.
If you become drowsy you should not try to drive or operate machinery – you could easily have an accident.
Methadone is very dangerous for children. An ordinary daily dose for an opioid-dependent adult is likely to kill a child. If you store methadone at home it should be kept where children are not able to get to it – in a high cupboard, not by your bed or in the fridge. If a child does swallow methadone they should be taken to the Accident and Emergency Department at your local hospital immediately – let the doctors know what has been taken, and if possible at what time and what quantity.
Treatment, as in legal, right?
Sometimes. Methadone is controlled by the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as a Class A, Schedule 2 drug.
Other Class A drugs include heroin and cocaine.
You are closer than you have ever been to being clean – try not to rush it – give yourself and your body time to adjust :group_hug
I have a horrible anger towards this stuff nowadays. 5 years ago I never thought i would say that.
When I got clean I didnt like the clear head that I had – I enjoyed the fuzzyness and warmth of meth.
I was on 20mls when i swapped to subutex and I wont go back to subbies ever again – but i’m glad you are doing well
I have been there for 14 years all in all so we both have been there DD.
I can totally empathise with you – feel free to IM for sure – all my details are on this website to add me, just post a message or offline message and i will pick it up when i log on after work.
Glad you are doing well.
xx
aww i luv u sooooo muchxxxDDD:group_hug
i love you to !!!! :love::group_hug
i have been on methadone for pain for the past 3 years…. have tried to get off of it several times. This time I have not had any in a month!
I am proud that i have gotten this far with God’s help. I had xanax to help out at first but now i am off the pain meds and don’t need to go to my dr. who is 2 hours away he want call in my xanax unless i go in and pay the 250.00 a visit and i just don’t have that money. I still am not sleeping, sneezing, aching, and have nooooo energy. Some one please let me know when this well get better.
my middle daughter is having surgery on her foot in 8 days i have to feel better to go with her. i have great support from m;y great husband and my wounderful 3 daughters they know why mommy is sick, and they support my dicision to get off the methadone i guess i just need someone to tell me ive been there and you can do it.
and to know how much longer this sick feeling will last. thanks
My god u deserve a bloody medal for what u have done,i take my hat off to you…
You are sooooo through the worst of it now and slowly things will start to fade,alot of what you are feeling are alien to your body as the meth has blocked pain n aches for so long,so anything that u feel now is amplified so many times over because your mind n body have forgotten what pain is like,believe me i know how that feels but not gonna go into it,my story bit different to yours but we both have the same goal,to be rid of methadone…
Every day when you wake up u are one more day closer to leaving this horrible stuff behind,every day is another step in the right direction and all these horrible symptoms are your bodys way of tellin you its gettin better, dont look at them as negative,try looking at them as positives..Unfortunately u have no choice but to go through this but it will take time but my god it will be worth it at the end.
Normal pain killers will help the aches and the sleep thing will fade,not what u want to hear i know,we would both like a quick fix but aint gonna happen.
You are a very strong person and u should feel so proud of yourself for how far u have come,well done and i mean that from the bottom of my heart
xxDDDxx
:love:
thank you soooo much you don’t know how good that makes me feel. my husband tells me that every day, but i love getting it from other people. allot of people looked down on me thinking i was a herion addict. but it was for pain. me i don’t care how you got on it…. you are caught in a prison with that stuff. and i am still going strong even had company yesterday and got out and went out and paid bills. it is getting better with every day. Let me know how you are doing please. i would love to have someone to keep giving and getting encourage ment. oh yeah do you know when the sneezing stops lol i sneeze like 8 to times right after the other lol hope to her from you soon
Well have forced myself to come on here n post a note,been readin through the last few weeks n not sure whats gone wrong….feelin shit,real shit,my heads all over the place,cryin all the time,cant sleep,not eatin,feel like wanna curl up in corner n die,sad i know but just how i feel,Im so sick of fightin this shit,its a constant struggle from one day to the next with no fukin release.I even thought about gear yesterday n i aint done that for a long time,not cause i wanted some but cause i wanted to feel what ive come to know as normal,know it aint but been like that for so long this is alien to me,like wakin up from some long sleep n its so scary,im scared of myself n what i am capable of doing to myself n thats fukin sad,got shit goin round my head ive not thought of for years,feel like im on a merry go round n i cant get off…One min im up n the next im so low its horrible,i hate myself n everythin ive done cause this is all my own doin n boy thats fuked up,this is why made myself post this on a downer so hopefully can read back through it n make some sense of somethin.The light at the end of the tunnel has gonne n cant seem to find it,used to suffer panic attacks n im startin to feel like that again when im down,scared of myself,how fuked is that…..
Will read back through this later n think u silly cow get a grip,n boy im tryin so hard,this is the hardest thing i have ever done and im so scared of failure,bein scared of your own mind is the most scariest thing in the world
Boys n girls heroin fucks u up make no mistake about that!!!!xxDDDxx
sad 2 hear ur feeling down 😥 hopefully u will read this back later and say get a grip :group_hug
Sure i willxxDDDxx
looooooooooove you ddd, go eat some sweets! BLUE ONESSSSSSSSS
I wish,have had to stop takin them,started to use them to make myself feel better,fuk why did it have to be me with the fukin addictive nature,control control control,what i keep bloody mutterin to myself n some shitty little man in me head says fuk off fuk off fuk off……lifes a bitch and somexxDDDxx
Things are gonna be up and down
life has a habit of fucking us up, when we least need it,
just hold on to your goals and look back at how far you have come,
give yourself a hug and a treat,
simple things can help,
and dont try and rush yourself
we’ve all fucked it – somehow or another and to one extent or another – dont be so harsh on yourself, forgive yourself as its the only way to move on and stay possitive, harder to do then say I know – but your doing all the right things
its gonna be a long tough ride, but hopefully worth it
keep strong :group_hug:group_hug:group_hug
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Forums › Drugs › Heroin & Opium › What is Methadone?