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.
Anyone addicted to methadone needs to be aware of a few things related to detox methadone withdrawal. These are the withdrawal symptoms, complications of withdrawal and treatment options.
The detox methadone withdrawal symptoms mimic the flu with the associated diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, runny nose, sweating and muscle aches. Additional symptoms include insomnia, anxiety and agitation.
Aspiration can be a complication for a person going through detox methadone withdrawal. That is when vomit is inhaled into the lungs. The person may also experience dehydration from the diarrhea and vomiting. People who go through detox and then return to methadone use are at risk for overdosing because of their reduced tolerance.
There are various treatment options available to lessen the pains of withdrawal. Medications can be used that reduce the symptoms of withdrawal. Another option is long-term maintenance. This is a weaning process where the methadone dosage is gradually reduced. This procedure lessens the withdrawal symptoms. Some programs include a more controversial method of detox methadone withdrawal. This method involves anesthetizing the person and injecting opiate-blocking drugs. Many specialists deem this procedure a risky option.
Detox methadone withdrawal is a challenge to any individual who wishes to progress to the stage of recovery where there is no further dependence on any medication to live a normal daily life. While there are many individuals who are content to continue with a medically proscribed course of methadone over the life of their recovery, others are more eager to become completely medication free. But there is always the question of how detox methadone withdrawal will impact their life while they are going through the process.
Methadone is an opioid (just like the drug the individual is using to detox from), and for that reason, side effects can be dangerous and highly unpleasant if the medication is stopped all at once. It is important to take the guidance of a licensed addiction treatment professional to avoid common symptoms like agitation, anxiety, muscle aches, weepiness, inability to sleep, cold-like symptoms, cramping and diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. These symptoms, which are often quite severe if detox methadone withdrawal is entered into too rapidly or suddenly, can disrupt home as well as work life, impact social relationships, and damage health.
Sources: National Library of Medicine, National Institute on Drug Abuse
When contemplating embarking upon a course of detox methadone withdrawal, it can be easy to become intimidated by the long list of physical symptoms that are associated with the process. Withdrawal itself can be a challenging process, producing symptoms that range from chills to fever to joint and muscle aches to irritability, nausea, diarrhea, sleeplessness, agitation, anxiety, depression and more. However, methadone itself, while FDA approved to treat drug addiction, is a habit-forming drug that has its own set of withdrawal symptoms and challenges.
This is why sudden cessation of methadone causes what is known as detox methadone withdrawal. Symptoms can include teary eyes, constipation, sleepiness, fever or sweating, chills, muscle aches, weakness, moodiness, headaches, runny nose and other cold like symptoms. With detox methadone withdrawal, the individual should be under the supervision and care of a licensed substance abuse treatment professional at all times. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association (SAMHSA) cautions that properly supervised detox methadone withdrawal can take from one half to one full year or longer. In some instances, newer medications, such as buprenorphine, are introduced to reduce the methadone withdrawal symptoms and ease the withdrawal process.
Other Sources: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000949.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682134.html
Methadone has been a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for detox methadone withdrawal for over three decades. Recently, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) issued a statement cautioning medical professionals about the propensity for misuse of methadone, which can be lethal when used improperly. Proper use of methadone continues to prove effective in managing opiate withdrawal symptoms, but careful monitoring and combination with behavioral counseling and support services is essential to present misuse during detox methadone withdrawal.
Mental problems associated with detox methadone withdrawal vary by the individual – just as no two individuals respond equally to treatment, no two individuals will experience the same exact symptoms. However, during detox methadone withdrawal, reports indicate a greater likelihood that the patient will experience mental disturbances due to anxiety and depression. As methadone detox withdrawal progresses, the patient is left unshielded from the same issues that led to the substance abuse in the first place. While mental health disturbances such as depression and anxiety are mild in some cases, they can be quite severe in others, and underline yet again that methadone detox is not intended as a standalone recovery program.
The official White House policy on detox methadone withdrawal is that “methodone is a rigorously well-tested medication that is safe and efficacious for the treatment of narcotic withdrawal and dependence.” This well respected government agency has allowed the use of detox methadone withdrawal services in treatment centers for over thirty years. Taken orally once per day, methadone itself works by suppressing opiate withdrawal symptoms for the 24 to 36 hours. Methadone is also approved for use with opiate-addicted mothers, further evidence of its stability and effectiveness to manage the withdrawal symptoms of the detox process.
Unfortunately, methadone itself can become addictive, and when that happens the individual finds themselves facing detox methadone withdrawal. With detox methadone withdrawal, the individual is once again facing the full severity of detox symptoms. This is where suboxone can really help to safely manage the symptoms of detox methadone withdrawal. Suboxone is a newer medication that is also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with managing detox withdrawal symptoms. The use of suboxone, which is not as easily abused and is formulated to cause severe illness if injected, can be an effective solution to manage the effects of detox methadone withdrawal.
I heard back from my friend who lives up in San Francisco. It seems he is doing better and was able to find the help he needs at the drug treatment facility I told him about. He told me when he arrived in Orange County he was experiencing a heavy detox methadone withdrawal; the shakes, nausea, and a host of other symptoms.
They took him in, set him up with Suboxone and he’s been attending individual and group therapy sessions right on the campus. I could tell his spirits were up because he was commenting on a possible move to Southern California. I just told him to sit tight and not make any big moves for at least a year if he could help it!
It is advice I freely give because it’s what I was told when I was first getting sober, oh so many years ago. There is a certain ‘pink, fluffy cloud’ that more often than not follows us when we are first getting sober. We sometimes believe that this is the time to make big moves. Sure, sometimes we need to clean up the wreckage of the past, which could include a move of some sort, but if the change is not ‘needed’ then sit tight and just let life begin. Changes can come later.
Are you newly sober? Have you made big changes in your life?
I received a call from a friend in the Bay Area this week. When I don’t hear from him, I worry, but that’s just part of my recovery life. I accept it fully. When I first lived in San Francisco, I moved into a house with two apartments. He lived across from me and I watched his life unravel due to meth.
Although I’ve worked, and lived, in the addiction/recovery industry since I was fourteen (way more than half my life), I’ve never watched someone’s life spin out like that. In two words? “Horrifyingly Amazing ” My neighbor/friend was in and out of detox treatment numerous times while I lived there, and then one day it just seemed to stick. He still hadn’t regained his good looks and needed to work out some past financial calamities, but he was on the road to recovery.
So, his call this week was surprising. It turns out he’s been using methadone and has become addicted. He stopped using and quickly began experiencing detox methadone withdrawal. He needed the drug to cope. His life was beginning to spiral down again, and he was afraid of overdosing.
I suggested an Orange County Detox facility down in Costa Mesa, CA. They have a great and successful reputation for using Suboxone for people like him. I am hoping he is on his way.
Do you have any stories of suffering from methadone addiction?
Typically Methadone is used as a substitution therapy in the treatment of an opioid addiction. As this medication is addictive, the users may experience a detox methadone withdrawal. In addition to addiction treatment, this medication can be taken as a pain management treatment, which it often is. This powerful narcotic can be misused and abused. Of course when this happens the patient will be subjected to a detox methadone withdrawal.
How do you know if an addiction to Methadone has started?
Typically the best way to discover an addiction is to stop using the drug or medication. Withdrawal symptoms run the gambit from chills, aches and pains, tremors, depression, delirium.
That sounds frightening. Maybe the person shouldn’t stop, right?
Well, that isn’t the best course of action. A lot of addicts tend to think that way. Long-term use and abuse to any narcotic will create other problems — social, health, economic — to the users. There are treatment options available that allow the person to detox safely, comfortably, and most importantly with results.
Have you had an addiction to Methadone? What did you do to get help?
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.