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Avatar universal

I'm gonna ask this question in a new thread, cuz I don't think anyone will see my 1st question below...

Hey......what is it about methadone that gets people addicted? Because, l Have read soooo many times here on this forum from the veteran members here that methadone is an opiate BLOCKER meaning it blocks the receptors in the brain that make you feel high. (right?)
Well....then how is it so addicting? Cuz when I took pain pills, it was to get HIGH. period. But if methadone doesn't get you high, then what is so addicting about it? I took a methadone tab once, and it was like taking a tylenol for me. It didn't do squat.
I'm really curious about it because it just seems strange to me that people get addicted to it.
(shrug)

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214255 tn?1205635636
I know people that are so far gone one oxy's that they let methadone dissolve in water and drink it to get high I think it's discusting!!! And I know for a fact it isn't an opiat blocker and it does get you high and if you're trying to get off opiats I wouldn't do methadone. I've heard of people being on it for yrs... Just some advice
Helpful - 0
228686 tn?1211554707
We're glad to help. Just try to be aware, methadone is a hot political issue. It's a terrible answer to the drug crisis. Part of it's popularity is that governments feel they've finally found an answer to "how can we make money off all these addicts without legalizing drugs?"
    The other part is the change in views on pain management. Pain used to be considered a healthy part of healing. Now the attitude is "pain shouldn't be suffered". I suppose the world will have to suffer through all this until they change viewpoint yet again, hopefully to something more appropriate.
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Avatar universal
Thanks guys for answering. Savas---that makes sense, what you posted. Now I kind of have an idea about what methadone is. I really didn't know, to be honest. I always thought it was something they give to heroin patients for their withdrawals. Now, I know they give it as a pain med, too! A friend of mine has a son that's a quad (yeah, terrible story there....kid was 16 perfectly healthy and did a backflip off a fence----broke his neck. Freak accident, to be honest....the injury was like one in a million the doctors said. Long story short...the kid is now a quadraplegic at 19. It was a tragedy, and such an awful thing to happen to a kid.) But anyway......his doctor just started giving him methadone for a pain medicine. He may be a quad, paralyzed from the chest down, but he still has a lot of pain.  :-(
Anyways thanks for reading and responding.
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Avatar universal
The Nazi's loved methanphetamine's  (can't spell),in order to keep their pilots awake during flight (or the soldiers as well). LSD was also created by a government in order to use as a weapon....(dose up the enemy and attack them easier). Funny how almost all drugs were created in some way like that.
Helpful - 0
228686 tn?1211554707
Well, that's a common fallacy. Methadone is one of the most misdescribed drugs for political reasons.

It used to be claimed it was an opiate blocker, which just isn't true. NOW they claim it blocks opiates at high doses, which STILL isn't true. They're just rationalizing needing to give out huge doses to try to stabilize new patients since they can't legally do split dosing anymore.

It is an opiate. The MAIN difference is it's a full antagonist as opposed to a partial antagonist, like most other opiates. This means (layman's terms) that it bonds fully to the receptors and stays there for an extended period of time.
It doesn't offer a "high" per se. If you take to much, you will get "sleepy". Enough, you'll die (overdose).

If you took it while having an opiate addiction, you wouldn't have felt anything except "well". Which is supposed to be the intent.

Did you know methadone was originally created by the Nazi's in an attempt to find a drug that could help their soldiers deal with the harsh Russian winters that were killing their troops? The idea was to make them immune to the cold by overwhelming the pain receptors with a narcotic, crating a form of "super soldier".

The stopped using it for obvious reasons.
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