Methadone for Drug Treatment

Methadone has been used in the United States as a treatment for opiate opiate addiction for more than 50 years. Beginning in 1947, methadone has been most often used to treat those suffering from heroin addiction. Because its effects last as long as 24 hours, methadone was and is an effective harm reduction tool, allowing those addicted to street drugs to avoid contracting transmittable diseases and overdosing due to the variable purity of heroin bought on the street. However, methadone need not be a lifelong maintenance tool. An addictive opiate, when you are ready to quit using methadone, you may require a methadone rehab like the one provided for women at Orchid Recovery Center.

At Orchid Recovery Center, we can help you take the next step toward abstinence when you are ready to trade in a life characterized by addiction for a drug-free life.

Methadone for Drug Treatment: The Discovery

During World War II, methadone was unexpectedly discovered in Germany at I.G. Farbendustrie at Hoechst-am-Main. The benefit of its analgesic properties would not be realized for some time and, for this reason, it was never used to treat pain during the war. The assumption is that this was the result of doses that were too high and came with overwhelming side effects. Soon, however, the efficacy of methadone as an analgesic and controllable substitution for those suffering from opiate addiction was soon to be discovered.

Methadone for Drug Treatment: Established in the United States

Three years after its introduction in the United States, U.S. Public Health Service hospitals established methadone as the treatment of choice for opiate addiction. Heroin addiction was a burgeoning epidemic in this country during the 1950s and to understand better how to deal with it, the New York City Health Research Council funded Vincent Dole, MD, with a research grant to study methadone as a possible treatment. He and his research team discovered that a single daily dose was all that was needed to prevent withdrawal symptoms, a key characteristic of any successful opiate addiction treatment.

The problem with methadone for drug addiction treatment? Helping study subjects break their addiction to methadone was no simple feat. In fact, addiction to methadone was just as dangerous to the person's health as heroin but for different reasons and the attempt to quit the drug "cold turkey" brought on debilitating withdrawal symptoms just like other opiates.

Methadone for Drug Treatment: Expansion in the United States

By the early 1970s, it is estimated that as many as 25,000 patients across the country were taking methadone to treat opiate drug addiction. As the public became aware of methadone treatment, questions about the efficacy of substituting one addictive drug for another came to the fore. In response to this, federal regulations concerning the drug—who could prescribe it, under what context and in which settings—were instituted in 1973. These regulations were strict and applied to methadone dispersal whether it was prescribed for pain management or opiate addiction. A few years later, these regulations were lifted when pain was the reason for the prescription but even today these rules are still in place and heavily enforced when methadone is prescribed to treat drug addiction.

At Orchid Recovery Center, we believe that methadone is an excellent treatment for drug addiction and that its benefits are undeniable when it comes to harm reduction. However, on the road to an addiction-free life, methadone treatment is merely the first stop, not the destination.

Methadone Addiction Treatment at Orchid Recovery Center

At Orchid Recovery Center, we treat women who are addicted to methadone whether or not the addiction began through a prescription to treat chronic pain or heroin addiction. No matter the benefits of methadone treatment, the fact remains that methadone overdose deaths are a reality and their number in the United States rises every year. The medication is inexpensive compared to other opiates and for this reason it is becoming the prescription of choice for pain management. This increase in use has led to increase in abuse, addiction and deaths.

If you or someone you love is addicted to methadone and needs treatment, contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today.