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Posted by: emmeline on 2010-04-27, 06:58:18
Methadone is a very long acting medication. It is used in opioid addiction treatment for precisely that reason--because it need only be taken once per day to sustain a stable level in the blood for 24 hours. However, it also takes much longer to taper off than short acting opioids. If someone were to cease using heroin abruptly, for example, they would be physically ill for 3-5 days. With methadone, the acute physical withdrawals are more like 3-5 weeks. It isn't that the symptoms are more severe--they simply last much longer, and the human body can only withstand so much vomiting, diarrhea, high blood pressure, sweating, etc. In fact, people can and have died from methadone withdrawals--usually in jail where they are unable to seek help, and usually from cardiac arrest stemming from electrolyte imbalance due to dehydration, or stroke due to high blood pressure. The recommended rate of tapering, in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms, is no more than 10% of their dose every 2-4 weeks (this would be for someone on a methadone clinic or taking it for pain), all the way down to 1 mg before stepping off. Anything less will produce withdrawals. It can take awhile to do a proper taper, obviously, and people tend to get impatient and go too fast or stop too soon, causing them to become sicker than they ever expected to feel. They usually relapse and end up having to start all over again. However if your friend is using street methadone that is a different matter. They should get into a methadone clinic and allow the clinic to complete a safe taper for him |
