Can someone explain methadone for me?

[SableZen]

I see post after post of people talking about methadone addiction and withdrawal. I'm getting the impression that methadone is being made available as a 'band-aid' for opioid addiction that often just ends up making things worse. Is this a fair impression to get? Anyone credit methadone for helping them break an addiction?

As I understand it, methadone (at prescribed doses) does not get one high. However it still is active on similiar receptors in the brain as other opioids (which prevents feelings of withdrawal)? It also has an extremely long half-life in the body which equates to extremely long and difficult withdrawal when discontinued? And a final question, how does methadone compare to suboxone chemically? What makes it superior as an aid to opioid addiction?

Just trying to understand things better...

[SableZen]

Thank you for your answers. It makes me wonder though, why a short acting antagonist wouldn't be superior for tapering people off, considering the excruciatingly long withdrawal period that ensues from methadone use... to me that just seems to be setting people up for failure in more ways than one... especially considering most relapses occur from PAWS. That's very sad to know.

By the way, I have no doubt addiction is a disease in every sense of the word now.

I'm working on a masters in family counseling, and someday in the future I'm sure my experiences and everyone's experiences that I read about here will come into play in a positive way. Thank you again for your answers.

[lucyred68]

I was a methadone addict.  it was prescribed for me by a dr. for extreme back pain.  i asked him if it was addictive, he told me "slightly".  i thiught it was safe.  2 years and 40 lbs later i decided i need to be off of it.  it stole my personality, rotted my teeth, stacked on the weight, destroyed my sex life, and my ability to reason and remember.  i went through 31 days of physical withdrawals, and 21 days with no sleep, but i finally kicked the stuff.  it is poison, and if you check the addiction chart, you will see that it is considered the most difficult to wd from.  i have been clean from it for nearly 10 months, and have absolutely no desire to ever touch it again.  i will gladly warn anyone away from it, as it nearly destroyed me and my family.  i never tried suboxone, as i had no insurance and couldn't afford it, but it has to be better and esier to get off of than methadone.  hope this helps.    Lucy

[bubbaganoosh]

Ok Methadone in the begining is great, you drink it feel a  feeling of well being/contentment  etc. i will try to honestly give you the positives negatives, lets start with the positives. Good thing about it it stabilises you so your not all over the place  , one dose once daily. I'ts cheap clean affordable i guess another positive, yes has a long half life you never really feel any WD on it assuming your on the right dose. Negatives well it can vary with people but you can stack on some weight on it, and for some reason alot of people crave sugar, i could drink gallons of chocolate milk on it when prior i wouldnt normally bother with that kind of thing, so up go the pounds ,some days i will have to fight not to touch sugar, like a huge craving, great i have no drug cravings but now i have a new one called sugar,  sure there are some skinny minny's on the done so everyones different. side effects seem to be the most bothersome for alot of people.....  you can sweat on it you may be sitting there in summer and feel all drentched. Forget long holidays over 2weeks you will need to organise your life round methadone, spontaneity and methadone dont go together,  its priorety no 1.  it gets worse for some people they have urines all the time , big costs at clinics, that alone turns into a stressfull lifestyle ,  so bottom line when you feel like you have finally beaten your old addiction be it percs or herion, you find yourself with a new one perhaps not as stressfull as the old but still one that consumes your life none the less, you wont know true  freedom untill your of methadone. But when your desperate well methadone can look very appealing,mistake no 2 choices,   Most people would tell you they will walk through a blizzard to get it, and if not theyre lying, its (((((Extremely Addictive))))) some people call it synthetic H, My GP said once to me he had a herion addicted couple say they would rather use H , than go onto methadone , well that's my version of it but you will get some that may say methadone saved my life i am a lifer, i am working etc etc i have my life back,  and thats great if it wasnt for the weight gain and side effects i may feel different too but mentally your still stuck there i feel, and it will always be a priorety before anything else, is addiction a disease i dont know? will we always need medication i dont know? NA/AA says otherwise and theyre are people out there who are proof of it but you will get alot of people on methadone say they tried the NA/AA way and it didnt work and argue black and blue methadone is the only way  no other way for them. So many different story but in the end i guess its what your willing to settle for and what you call  qaulity of life.

[Penelope14]

Looking back I now realize that this is like putting a band-aid on a disease that should be dealt with in a different manner, & I used to blame the doctors & addiction specialist etc, but it was me, I made a bad choice, I shoud have never got onto methadone! But I now am at a place in recovery where I understand what I need to do to find the light at the end of he tunnel, I stay away from any triggers, & this includes people, places & things that may cause me to relapse, I also do alot of posting on here, & even when its seems like the craziest question or concern I may have I always get so many wonderful people who undestand, they get it! I also go to NA & and have made some great friends thru going to meetings, as detoxing off methadone is not easy but can be done.

[wait2long]

i was on methadone, transitioned to suboxone...2 totally different drugs not to be compared...methadone is a full agonist meaning you get the full "benefit" of the opiod effect, it can be and is abused and mixed with other drugs that prove to be deadly, getting off methadone you are looking at up to 6 weeks of physical withdrawals and up to 3 years of PAWS, dependent on dose and length of time on it..its hell in pill/liquid form...

suboxone is a partial antagonist -  An antagonist is a drug that blocks opioids by attaching to the opioid receptors without activating them. Antagonists cause no opioid effect and block full agonist opioids. Examples are naltrexone and naloxone. Naloxone is sometimes used to reverse a heroin overdose.
Buprenorphine is a partial agonist meaning, it activates the opioid receptors in the brain, but to a much lesser degree then a full agonist.

[SableZen]

I'm not looking at it for myself (at least I'm doing my damndest not to ever go there again) - just concerned about what it seems to be doing to people from what I've read here. The official literature and use of it doesn't seem to be matching up with reality. Very curious about it though from my own past experiences with opioids.