Detox Methadone Withdrawal

Detox methadone withdrawal is its own entity, separate and apart from any withdrawal symptoms experienced during withdrawal from use of the opiate substance itself. Methadone is a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in assisting with opiate withdrawal and drug detox.

An older yet still effective medication, methadone is more difficult to obtain and harsher that newer medications such as buprenorphine, dispensed under the brand names Suboxone and Subutex. Patients who are embarking upon detox methadone withdrawal have, with the help of the use of methadone, arrived at a point in their drug detox process where they are no longer dependent upon the original addictive opioid substance.

But methadone is also an opioid, albeit a partial rather than full agonist. For this reason, the National Library of Medication (NLM) reports that patients can expect to undergo withdrawal symptoms, which can be managed through strategic reduction in methadone doses so to avoid quitting “cold turkey.” It can take some weeks or months to wean the brain and body through detox methadone withdrawal, which can produce flu like symptoms, mood swings, sleeplessness, and issues with anxiety and depression.