Some say methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is just trading one drug for another including some very high profile critics like Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain. You know what? I agree with him. Sounds funny coming from a guy that leads a weekly recovery group at a local methadone clinic, but first for those that aren’t familiar with these programs take a look at the Wikipedia link below and then I’ll explain myself.
Click “read more” for the rest of the story…
“Well run opioid treatment programs provide the dependent individual with an array of rehabilitative services. Therapeutically prescribed doses of methadone and LAAM relieve withdrawal symptoms, eliminate opiate craving and allow normal functioning. The efficacy of these medications increases significantly with counseling and on-site medical and other supportive treatment services. Medical personnel supervise treatment and nurses or pharmacists administer the medication to patients, most typically on a daily regimen until the individual is stabilized. Patients in some programs also provide toxicology samples, which are tested for the presence of methadone and drugs of abuse.~ from Wikipedia
I’ll give you a hint about the key to my support of my local MMT center, it’s in the first two words of the paragraph above (Well Run). Well run in my opinion means frequent drug tests for those that are in treatment and disciplinary measures for illicit drug use. More importantly, the MMT center should offer a recovery program for those in treatment. The patients should have the opportunity and even be urged to join a recovery program. My local clinic, a well run one if I say so myself, goes as far as making employment a part of their requirements as well as mandatory group meetings. The MMT gets them to a place in life where they can think and operate within the bounds of normal society, and a recovery program can free them from the bonds of their addiction and allow them to excel beyond the world of clinic visits and take home meds.
MMT may be just trading one drug for another, but there are some huge benefits for those who do so. Its legal, work and driving are possible while dosed, and more often than not patients can return to a normal life instead of constantly hunting a high. When you add the benefit of being exposed to and hopefully enrolling in a recovery program you will get my vote every time. I would go as far as saying I wish there was a drug that worked in a similar manner for alcoholics, but I will save that topic for a later blog.
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asdWhen I was younger and more stupid I was naive enough to believe they could and would substitute any opiate/opioid in therapy for heroin/”diamorphine” how wrong I was. In Britain only 3 are commonly used: methadone, subutex (buprenorphine) and dihydrocodeine (“DFs”). some doctors also prescribe “MST”s – ie morphine sulphate tablets. You cannot crush these tablets and inject them. I did a dihydrocodeine detox and was absolutely fine during the dsay when my heroin was substituted initially for 120mg dihydrocodeine every 4 hours. But at night we had to go 12 hours on what in the day would last us 4 – ie just 120 mg and descending!! Also I think I did better than I might have because I had a supply of these before going into that place and so had already dropped all methadone and was taking 120 mg DFs every 4 hours for 12 hours of the day supplemented by £10 worth of heroin for the other 12 hours … won’t bore with more details but methadone most DEFINITELY is NOT the ideal medication from any viewpoint. Dihydrocodeine is SO MUCH BETTER. It is available in sustained release format & everything. Only downside is it can give SEVERE constipation… oh well.
Many thanxx for your comment at mine. Fantastic site here!
for my discussions with the pharmacologist at the clinic. I will try to see if I can get her to chime in here and give us her comments. I can tell you what she is going to say though, and that is if you were cheating on the program from the beginning how can you honestly rate its effectiveness?
She’s tough.
Give us an update on the rehab or bust so hopefully I can post some good news. Take care of yourself.
TDA
I agree with you on the MMT. I wonder if their are any alcohol treatment centers that do have the ability to prescribe “anti-alcohol” drugs besides antabuse. I have heard but have not researched that there are new drugs that do alieviate the desire to drink.
a story about new/alternative treatments for alcoholism sounds like a good topic.
I never even got asked for my name there. It’s Gledwood as in http://gledwood2.blogspot.com
to the site to make it easier to find how to sign in. I am using drupal instead of blogger and while it gives me much more flexibility (users can post their own blogs here), it is not obvious to those new to my site how to participate. In the right upper hand corner you can create a an account and then log in, this gives you the ability to post with name, create your own blog stories on this site, and to recommend user blogs for the front page.
I’ve got really mixed feelings about methadone maintenance. I know that if my husband had continued with the methadone program that he started when I first found his needles, he would have been able to work, to pay our bills, and work on his head. Instead, he decided to go cold turkey, and it’s taken months (MONTHS) for him to get his head anything close to right…I’m glad he’s not taking methadone, though, but I think it would have made our short-term situation a lot less wretched.
but unlike many others who support this type of treatment, I see it as a short term (year max) solution that should kick off a full fledged recovery program.
I have a 3 post “series” on my blog about my experiences with Methadone. The short version is this — it did not work for me to get clean, but it definitely saved my life. I eventually got clean after seven months of Buprenorphine.
Your first couple of sentences of this post got me ready to be really pissed off. Glad your bottom line is that you think it is an ok alternative for the first year when combined with other recovery tools/options/programs.
One thing though — if people continue to call it “switching drugs,” addicts will continue to view it as just another drug. Instead, why can’t we see it for what it really is — just another legitmiate TOOL, when used properly and combined with recovery, to end the cycle of opiate addiction.
Language is important.
Peace,
Scout
and I used the “one drug for another” line more as lure those that are against these kind of programs into reading my spiel. It has been my experience that detractors from such programs rarely have heard the other side and are more likely to read an article they believe agrees with their preconception of MMT. Much in the same way I thought that Senator Mccain was totally against the program, it was my like of sincere investigation on his stance that made me miss that he wasn’t totally against the program just the time frames and the requirement of other recovery resources. I disagree with his six month time frame feeling this is too short, but I think he is on the right track just once again using divisive language that may throw off someone not thoroughly researching the subject.
I am glad you did not remain PO’ed and would like to repost the series on your methadone expeience at TDA if you are agreeable.