In many cases when a person begins using drugs it is their own decision. They might say something like, “Oh, maybe I should try it just this once.” One of these drugs could be an opiate analgesics like heroin, Vicodin, or OxyContin. In some cases, some people can become addicted right from the start, and in a number of drug treatment centers methadone can be used to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms. This drug, however, can be abused and some end up with detox methadone withdrawal symptoms. 
Methadone and other opiate analgesics influence the reward pathway, which is responsible for driving our motivational feelings of reward and behavior. The cells responsible to pass the correct signals to the brain are called neurons, and the information flows from one neuron to the other by crossing a small gap called the synapse. These pathways can become skewed when there is an extended period of opiate abuse.
So, in the end a person’s reward signals are crossed and they find themselves behaving in ways, drug seeking and obsession, completely out of character.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information primarily focuses on advancing science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. Genomics is the scientific study to define the genetic makeup of an organism. Through their processes, the NCBI is able to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatment modalities for substance abuse. Of course one of those is methadone and the effects of detox methadone withdrawal. 
In a study, where data was supplied from the Services Research Outcomes Study (SROS), 99 drug treatment facilities in the United States were surveyed. Comprehensive interviews of 1,799 individuals, five years after their discharge, was done. Success was defined by either abstinence or any reduction in substance abuse. Of these individuals, there were four modalities compared: inpatient, residential, outpatient detox/methadone, and outpatient drug-free.
There were only minor differences between the modalities of treatment with regard to effectiveness, but the cost-effectiveness modalities varied greatly. The most cost effective treatment, which to me is sort of obvious, is the out-patient drug free program.
Although I like stats, I think only looking at numbers misses the human relational aspect of treatment. It doesn’t take the individual into account. Treating addicts as individuals and learning what motivates them to get sober will influence these outcomes.
Including behavioral therapies, there are a medications used for the treatment of heroin addiction. If therapy and medication are linked in a treatment protocol the patient has a better chance at returning to a stable, productive life. One of the medications used is methadone, and like other drugs, if not used correctly the patient could find himself in detox methadone withdrawal. 
Methadone: Used for more than 30 years to treat patients with opiate addictions. It is a synthetic opiate medication that binds to the same receptors as heroin. Taken orally, its effects are gradual and sustained, which can be misleading for a person wishing to abuse it. Not understand the delay of the medication, an addict, wishing to get high quicker, will take more and then suddenly they have overdosed.
Following a physicians directions on taking methadone is important, as is attending behavioral therapy like Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Methadone is a synthetic opiate, a narcotic pain reliever for medium to severe pain. It is also used in addiction treatment for heroin, Vicodin, Percocet, Morphine, and other opiate drugs. If not managed properly an addiction could occur and the user, if they decided to stop using, could find themselves with a detox methadone withdrawal.
Withdrawal from methadone is much slower than from heroin, and as a result this could create a long-term addiction, without the harsh side effects. A lot of methadone maintenance therapy patients require continuous treatments that could last for a period of several years.
Two benefits of using methadone on patients over a period of time is that it cost approximately $13 a day compared to the cost of incarceration (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1998a), and the second is that it has a significant effect on the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Heroin users are known to share needles and participate in at-risk sexual activity, which are both factors in the spread of disease.