padrinan (CC0), Pixabay

Harvard Health Publications reported in 2009 that over 100,000 people were on methadone replacement medications. The other name for methadone treatment is substitution therapy. It is a treatment designed to help individuals struggling with opiate addiction manage withdrawal symptoms and cravings with another opiate. Methadone treatment is considered a safe and effective opiate addiction treatment especially when administered under medical supervision. Methadone is deemed a full opiate agonist, which prevents people from getting high when using other opiates, like prescription painkillers or heroin. If you want to use this approach to treat your opioid addiction, you can get help from a top methadone clinic Louisville KY. Before you canter off to one of the many methadone clinics in Louisville Kentucky, here is what you need to know about the treatment.

How Does Methadone Work?

People addicted to heroin have strong cravings for drugs they cannot stay away from it despite knowing the real danger that the continued use of these substances poses to them. The strong urge makes it highly likely that they will relapse even after detox. In most cases, people with heroin addiction problems experience several instances of relapse as they try to recover.

Methadone clinics in Louisville can help these individuals to avoid relapse. Because methadone is a long-acting opioid, it works by filling the same opioid receptors in your brain as prescription painkillers and heroin do. This means that people on methadone treatment don’t feel intense withdrawal symptoms or cravings for heroin. This way, patients on treatment can focus on therapy, which sets off a strong recovery basis without having to simultaneously battle relapse and cravings.

Because it is a long-acting opioid, methadone can stay in the body for 56 hours. It means that methadone is effective in maintenance medication because you don’t need to take it several times during the day.

Benefits of Methadone Use

Because individuals on methadone treatment don’t need to battle continual cravings or experience intense withdrawal symptoms, the chances of recovery are greater. If you choose to enroll in a methadone clinic in Louisville KY, the following are the benefits that you should expect to get:

  • It reduces the chances of being infected with an infectious disease because it stops opiate use.
  • Criminal activities reduce because individuals stop the use of illicit drugs.
  • Methadone leads to an overall improvement in life quality.
  • It gives you a better chance for long-term recovery
  • You are likely to participate in addiction treatment better because you are not distracted by withdrawal symptoms.
  • It improves your social standing.

In most cases, methadone maintenance therapy makes stability possible during the early days of recovery. It lets patients focus fully on recovery, which allows them to face the primary reasons that led to opiate abuse. Patients can get a job and even find balance in life. Individuals can also return to parenting duties and create stable home environments for their families. Additionally, patients may get a reduced sentence if they can show the judge that they are currently in a methadone clinic in Louisville KY.

As research shows, people who get on a methadone maintenance program are likely to limit alcohol and substance use. Once you opt for addiction treatment in one of the several methadone clinics in Louisville Kentucky, you will need to take the medication for a long time. If it reaches a time when they have to discontinue the use of methadone because of a change in their life circumstances, patients must be weaned from the drugs safely. This must only happen under the supervision of medical personnel.

Although it is a requirement that patients visit a methadone clinic in Louisville KY to receive daily dosages, some allow for take-home medications. But if you have been approved for takeaway methadone, you will only get a limited supply of medications. Also, individuals will be required to account for every dosage they receive, keep the medications in a sealed container, and comply with random audits.

While there are other medication-assisted treatments for patients struggling with opiate addiction, methadone is considered the most treatment for severe opioid addiction. As Harvard Medical School says, about a quarter of people enrolled in methadone clinics in Louisville Kentucky will, over time, abstain from methadone. Another quarter will continue to use methadone, while the remaining half will likely be on and off the medication.

What are the Side Effects of Methadone Replacement Therapy?

Patients choosing this type of treatment for their addiction may experience a few mild side effects like constipation, stomachache, and sweating. In rare cases, the use of methadone replacement therapy can have serious side effects like:

  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Slowed breathing
  • Nausea
  • Itchy skin
  • Restlessness
  • Vomiting

In case you experience these side effects, get in touch with your methadone clinic Louisville KY and immediately consult your prescribing doctor. They may have to adjust the dosage or even prescribe another medication for your situation.

Users should also be wary of long-term side effects, which may include respiratory problems. This is according to CESAR (Center for Substance Abuse Research).

Methadone Use Cons

The biggest potential danger of using methadone to treat opiate addiction is the risk of abusing it. As it is an opiate, the medication can be addictive. Critics view replacement drugs as just substitutes for one addiction with another. In some cases, methadone can be abused by patients. There is also the risk of psychological dependence on the medication. Abusing methadone can lead to several side effects like:

  • Depression
  • Low blood pressure
  • Insomnia
  • Difficulty urinating
  • Respiratory problems
  • Nausea and constipation
  • Sexual disinterest
  • Loss of appetite
  • Irregular heartbeat

Conclusion

It’s up to the person to decide whether to use methadone or not. Since the 1970s methadone clinics in Louisville Kentucky have been treating people struggling with opioid addiction. Methadone replacement therapy has many benefits. When you are on methadone replacement therapy, you don’t have to fight continual cravings or severe withdrawal symptoms. You can focus on recovery, which makes it faster.