Have you found yourself addicted to methadone? You’re not alone in seeking help from professionals and other people in your life to get you through this challenging time in your life. There are several ways a person can get addicted to this drug that many people might not realize. Learn more about how you can get the support needed to seek professional help before it’s too late.
Why People Take Methadone
You might be wondering: why do people take methadone? You might not have even heard of it. There are at least two reasons people choose this drug over other medications: helping addicts with withdrawal symptoms and saving money.
Helping Addicts through Withdrawal Symptoms
Are you a heroin addict? Some medications can alleviate the withdrawal symptoms and pain that happens when you detox the drugs from your body. According to American Addiction Centers, methadone can prevent heroin and other opioid addicts from getting withdrawal symptoms. It can also help with the pain that comes with it. Most people are monitored by a doctor 24/7 at a rehabilitation center during their methadone treatments. A doctor can make sure each patient takes the correct amount every time because it can become addictive if they stray from their prescription.
Everyone who is prescribed this drug should go by the directions their doctor specifically instructs. As Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration states, people can become addicted to this substance even though it was meant to help wean them off opioid drugs.
Methadone: Cheaper Painkiller
There are instances where doctors will prescribe methadone as a painkiller. It does help treat addicts through their recovery process, but it can also benefit people with pain issues. People pick this type of painkiller over others to save money since it’s a cheaper option than other painkillers.
However, people need to be very careful when they take this kind of drug for pain relief; it’s very easy to overdose on this type of painkiller. As American Addiction Centers stated, a person who intakes even one dose over the limit they were prescribed can result in an overdose. This may result in means you can result in death or serious health complications. Here are some symptoms that can indicate you are overdosing:
- Stupor
- Convulsions
- Signs of fatigue where you can’t seem to stay awake
- Respiratory depression – shallow breathing
- Lips and fingertips showing signs of a bluish tint
- Vomiting
- Coma or death
If you are showing any of these symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately. Convulsions or some of these milder symptoms can quickly turn into more serious health conditions. Always take overdoses seriously, because they can become deadly fast. It’s safer for medical professionals to oversee your health when you are overdosing versus self-medicating.
Support System
If you are have used methadone to help with your other drug addictions or with the withdrawal symptoms, then you might need all the help you can get. For some, getting addicted to methadone along with your previous cravings can make it hard to fight temptation. However, you can always rely on your support system to get you through the tough parts. Having family and other support systems can be crucial to your recovery.
Family and Research
Family can be a major inspiration for you to get the treatment you need for your methadone addiction. Nobody wants their children to have to see them overdose or be someone they don’t recognize anymore. Fight for them and yourself so you can see all those significant things they will want their loved ones to be there for.
Your spouse can help you research and figure out the type of treatment that’s best for you and your family. For example, looking up MethadoneNearMe.com and other great websites can be beneficial to you and your spouse. It can provide you with excellent information that will allow you to figure out your next step.
Having financial issues or children to care for might prevent you from getting inpatient rehab. However, all is not lost, because outpatient drug treatment is there for you and your family. They can offer lower prices and still allow you to get therapy and group sessions that you will need to get sober. Knowing you and your family are not alone in this struggle to sobriety can guide you through the tough parts of your recovery process.
NA Meetings
For those who might not have a family anymore or need more encouragement to seek help, Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings can be there for you. Narcotics Anonymous meetings might help someone find the courage to get the help they need. Sometimes it takes seeing other people who are in a similar place to discover the strength to seek professional help.
Having this kind of support before and after outpatient rehabilitation treatment can be the difference between relapsing and living a sober life. Staying on track can be hard without some type of support system, whether that’s your family or a group of people who struggle with their own addictions.
How to Treat Methadone Addicts
Like with any addiction, detoxing is the first step in receiving the best care for overcoming your addiction. Drug toxins must leave your body somehow, but having a medical professional monitor the detox is essential for any type of opioid detoxing.
Methadone Detox
Are you ready to stop using methadone? Getting clean isn’t always a pretty sight or feeling since you have to detox the drugs from your body. This means that you’ll have to go through withdrawal symptoms. As reported by American Addiction Centers, methadone doesn’t have severe symptoms like other opioids since it was created to help treat heroin and other addictions. Methadone can cause the following withdrawal symptoms when you undergo the detox process:
- Chills or a fever
- Watery eyes or a runny nose
- Sweating
- Feeling of Restlessness
- Muscle aches
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
- Tremors or shaking
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Anxiety or irritability
- Tachycardia
Tachycardia is the most serious of these symptoms because irregular heartbeats can lead to more serious heart conditions. Anyone going through methadone detox should seek medical help so medical professionals can oversee your health during this vulnerable time. While these symptoms aren’t that life-threatening, medical professionals can be there in case something terrible happens during your detox process. You have to be careful when you are detoxing alone because you never know if a pre-existing condition or other factors can make these symptoms worse.
Whether you take methadone to relieve withdrawal symptoms or other painful health conditions, it’s always essential to take the prescribed dosage. Your family doesn’t want to see you overdose, so try to seek help when you think you are getting addicted to methadone. Find the power to get through this challenging time in your life!