Why Choose a Methadone Clinic for Help?

Methadone clinics provide medically supervised withdrawal, long term detoxification, and methadone maintenance treatments for individuals who need help overcoming opioid dependencies. While there are, certainly, other choices of medication assisted therapies available for opioid dependent individuals and various treatment approaches and settings, there are many reasons to choose a methadone clinic for help.

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How Does Methadone Work?

Over the last several decades, methadone has been proven to be a preferred medication for use in opioid treatment programs (OTPs) when it is combined with appropriate counseling, education, and psychosocial services. Methadone is a long acting opioid that lasts 24 hours or more to relieve the cravings and withdrawals from illicit and short acting opioids such as heroin, oxycodone, and morphine while reducing physical dependence on them.

Methadone is a full opioid agonist that works by occupying the same opioid receptors in the brain that other opioids do, however, its mechanism of activation is much gradual and slower. It is most effective when a stable daily dose is administered daily and the person achieves a cross tolerance where the effects of any shorter acting opioids, should they be abused, is blocked, rendering their abuse pointless.

How Does Methadone Help?

According to the SAMHSA, “Opioid addiction is a problem with high costs to individuals, families, and society…and people with opioid addictions and their families experience severe reductions in their quality of life.”

At optimal doses, methadone is a safe medication that helps the person remain comfortable and engaged in their opioid addiction recovery treatment without producing the euphoria or sedation that are commonly associated effects of the shorter acting opioids.

Without the multiple cycles of intoxications and withdrawals that an opioid dependent individual experiences daily and sometimes, several times a day, the brain’s chemical imbalances can return to a more normal state and their overall health and social functioning can be improved. They are able to work, go to school, drive, operate machinery, and live productive and satisfying lives without having to suffer the multitude of consequences associated with illicit opioid abuse.

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Why Choose a Methadone Clinic For Help?

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “For decades, studies have supported the view that opioid addiction is a medical disorder that can be treated effectively with medications administered under conditions consistent with their pharmacological efficacy, when treatment includes comprehensive services, such as psychosocial counseling, treatment for co-occurring disorders, medical services, vocational rehabilitation services, and case management services.”

Since their establishment in the early 1970’s, methadone clinics have been some of the most reliable treatment resources for people who have become addicted to heroin and other opiates. In the United States, methadone is the only full opioid agonist medication available for use in OTPs that can provide the highest level of pharmacological help under federal regulations and SAMHSA‘s OTP monitoring and registration system.

Who Should Choose a Methadone Clinic for Help?

Perhaps, no other medication has been as closely regulated and monitored as methadone to prove efficacy and safety and although the partial agonist, buprenorphine, has shown significant promises for some individuals, it remains the preferred choice of long term medication assisted therapy for opioid addiction treatments.

Whether seeking to detox from illicit opioids or to maintain long term abstinence from them those who should choose a methadone clinic for help include:

• Anyone with a dependency to opiates for more than a year
• Those who have a history of unsuccessful previous attempts to cease illicit opioid use
• Those who have a continued risk of relapse despite having participated in another opiate addiction treatment program
• Those who use opiates intravenously, are at risk of opioid overdose, or at risk of contracting or spreading communicable diseases such as Hepatitis C, HIV, AIDs, or STDs
• Those who have co-existing physical or psychological disorders as a result of opioid abuse or have unwanted conditions exacerbated by continued use
• Those who engage in criminal activities or risky behaviors to continue using
• Those who have suffered social consequences because of their use.

For help finding the right methadone clinic for you call 800-678-5931(Paid Advertiser) toll free today.

Methadone Detox

Methadone clinics have the expertise and resources to help you recover from opiate addiction.

In a methadone detox program, the methadone can be gradually tapered off over a set period of time allowing the person to continue recovery efforts on their own. It is recommended that the opioid dependent individual stay on the methadone for the feasible amount of time it takes to eliminate illicit opioid use while gaining the independence necessary to manage a normal and productive life that satisfies their basic survival needs. That’s where a methadone clinic can be most beneficial.

Since methadone detox can last up to 180 days, this time is often insufficient to help the person with all of their psychosocial needs and remain abstinent long-term. They may begin a detox program and transfer to a methadone maintenance program where they can remain for the long term they need to protect themselves from the relapse risk while also continuing their recovery efforts.

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Methadone Maintenance Programs

Many people dependent on opioids relapse after several months of abstinence with an increased risk of overdose if they return to their previously normal dosage amounts too quickly. They may begin a detox program and transfer to a methadone maintenance program where they can remain for the long term they need to protect themselves from the relapse risk while also continuing their recovery efforts.

Psychosocial help received in a methadone clinic helps to find access to medical treatments for common diseases associated with IV use such as HIV, AIDs, hepatitis, STDs, and infections. Agency assistance through the clinic or referrals can link individuals to counseling and behavioral health programs, education, vocational, housing, financial, and other social programs to help address issues that would limit their social functioning and self sustaining abilities.