Methadone Uses

Question by Mark: What medication ls affective with methadone?

Best answer:

Answer by Kidx
The only thing to worry about while taking methadone are taking other medications that react badly with the methadone, such as other pain pills, or “downers,” so to speak. I know that Xanax is especially dangerous, because it can stop someone’s heart if they are taking methadone along with it. The doctor or treatment center that prescribes the methadone should be able to tell you what you can and cannot take while on a methadone regiment. Anti-depressants and ADD/ADHD medication should be fine.

Answer by Sparrow
Do you mean effective?
There’s no way to answer that question without knowing first what exactly you mean- what symptoms are you trying to treat? Are you asking what to take with it to get a buzz?
I can tell you that methadone is time released, and contrary to popular belief, does not impair cognitive ability, slow motor function, or produce feelings of “euphoria”. In layman’s terms, it aint going to get you high. Taking more can kill you via overdose, but you’ll never actually get buzzed from it.
It’s a relatively safe drug, when taken as prescribed- the key words being “as prescribed”. As a time released medication, an addict or someone trying to get a buzz who is not familiar with the pharmacology of methadone, will mistakenly assume that they haven’t taken enough when they don’t get high, and end up taking more, or taking other meds or alcohol in conjunction with it, and end up ODing. That is why there is so much anti-methadone rhetoric about how terrible it is, and why so many people are propelling the methadone-ban effort- without ever really understanding the first thing about the actual medicine, and the great things it has done. ANY medication, when taken NOT as prescribed is dangerous- even OTC medicines- so this is a case of blaming the treatment (Methadone Maintenance Treatment) instead of the disease (addiction). It’s sort of like saying chemotherapy is an awful drug and should be banned b/c of it’s terrible side effects- sure, chemo is a pretty nasty drug where side effects are concerned- but it’s a damn good way to live if you have cancer.

There has been a lot of propaganda in the press lately about the dangers of Methadone- the bulk of which is directly related to a few celebrity deaths that were caused by the mixing of methadone and alcohol, or methadone & other medications. What is not so well known is that NONE- ZERO- of those cases involved opiate addicts taking methadone in a methadone maintenance program. All of them were the result of a personal physician prescribing methadone for pain, to patients who abused the medication by taking it with other drugs, creating a lethal reaction.

The Harrison Drug Act made it illegal for physicians- general practitioners- to prescribe methadone to patients for opiate addiction. Only MMT clinics, which are strictly regulated, may prescribe it for addiction, and in doing so, are required to adhere to rigorous standards of regulation. Addicts must come into the clinic daily, be dosed by a nurse, and demonstrate they’ve consumed-the dose before leaving. They must take frequent, random, supervised drug tests, and complete a host of other treatment plan obligations. Take home doses only become a possibility after years of total compliance o the program, and even then, are only given in small increments- which they must be willing to bring in if called, to show they are taking them as prescribed.
A general practitioner, on the other hand, can prescribe methadone to whomever he sees fit for pain management, and there are no other regulations. This is where we have the entirety of the cases of improper prescribing due to greed, a lack of understanding about the pharmacology of methadone, and a loophole in which drug seeking behavior can access methadone if they find the right doctor. Unfortunately- it’s people who are staying sober with MMT who lose out- we make easy scapegoats.

Part of the reason methadone is so effective in treating opiate addiction & severe pain is its time released capacity: a single dose lasts 24 hours MINIMUM- and dosing does not adhere to the usual standards: height, weight, and previous opiate tolerance has no bearing on your tolerance. Even more importantly, tolerance never develops, so once the right dose is found, the patient remains o it for as long as they take the medicine without increasing dose.
Those are the reasons why it doesn’t get you high.
If you sincerely are taking methadone that was prescribed to you, and want to know about potential interactions, your prescribing physician or MMT clinic physicians are your best resource. However, because of the danger of interactions, no physician worth their salt would prescribe something to you without advising you of those potential issues. So my guess, you have a drug problem, or are socially using- in which case, kindly spare those of us who have a real need for it, and educate yourself.

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