How Methadone is Addiction?
Welcome to the topic. “How Methadone is Addiction?”
If you or your loved one is trying to stop opioid abuse or suffering from opioid use disorder, methadone can assist you in this regard. It can help you go through recovery without cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Some people think that the use of methadone is just like trading one addiction for other. But this is a misconception; it can help you in recovery.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, methadone is a Schedule II narcotic. That means this drug has a high potential for abuse, which can lead to ultimate addiction. It is illegal to use this drug without a doctor’s prescription.
Some common street names for this drug are fizzies with MDMA, chocolate chip cookies, amidone, and wafer.
Does Methadone Give You a High?
If a person does not have an opioid use disorder and he/she takes methadone, it can give them a high. But there is a quit greater difference between the high that gives you heroine than the methadone. Due to the low risk of addiction, it is used to treat opioid use disorder.
It won’t make you feel high if you take the right doses according to the prescription of the doctor for opioid use disorder recovery. It works on the same nervous receptors on which other opioids work like oxycodone and heroin etc. It can stay in the body for about 1 to 3 days and can perfectly block the high of other opioids indeed.
Can I Overdose on Methadone?
As it can stay in a person’s body for 1 to 3 days, this is a long time, you can overdose it. It can build up in the body of the user very quickly. If your doctor prescribes you to take methadone at home you must take it according to the prescription.
The signs and symptoms of methadone are the same as the overdose signs of other opioids. They include:
- Shallow and slow breathing
- Blue lips or fingernails
- Clammy skin
- Convulsions
- Stomach spasms
- Weak pulse
Individuals who are taking its high doses can suffer from severe health problems even death. Most cases related to methadone overdose death are found in people who take it at home, whether for recreation or pain relief.
Every opioid use disorder treatment requires you to go to the doctor each time you need it and highly supervised doses you take at home. This will make you less vulnerable to addiction or overdose.
Can I Take Methadone With Other Drugs?
It is unsafe to mix methadone with other opioid drugs. If you take it with heroin you will have greater chances of overdose. That’s partly because it stays in the body for a longer time and reduces the effects of other opioids. You will try more drugs for the same effects and overdose both opioids.
While taking methadone don’t take the medicines that make you sleepy e.g.
- Sedatives
- Sleeping pills
- Anxiety medicines ( especially benzodiazepines)
- Other pain medicines
- Allergy medicines (antihistamines)
Some other medications include:
- Diuretics
- Antibiotics
- HIV medicines
- Blood pressure or Heart medicines
- MAO inhibitors
- Medications that can change your heart rhythm
If your healthcare professional prescribes you methadone, tell him about any other medicines you are taking meanwhile.
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