Most people associate methadone with opioid treatment, to help addicts get off heroin, for example, and ease them into recovery, free of any drugs or pharmacological intervention. By design it works, but as with anything, there are times when the use of the drug is abused.
For starters, methadone is a synthetic opioid, and beyond drug addiction treatment, methadone is used as an analgesic for treatment of various pain conditions. It is a powerful pain killer, used as a substitute for morphine, and it is less expensive. When methadone is prescribed, there is careful monitoring of the dosage and frequency of use, so patients are closely watched.
Why methadone for opioid addiction treatment? Patients are placed on a methadone program to help with the withdrawal symptoms from addiction to opiate drugs, such as heroin. Those suffering from the disease will explain that the withdrawal is worse than the actual addiction, so many avoid treatment for fear that the withdrawal will be too severe. Also, when off their opiate drug of choice, addicts have to deal with the intense cravings that go along with abstinence.
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