# Doctors, what's the deal with methadone? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275 "2009-02-24T21:40:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/21 "2009-02-27T21:22:36Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > I don’t watch reality TV, but from what I’ve heard, Pinsky’s rationale is that these people would never get help at all except for the fact that it gets them on TV. > > –Cliffy So they’ll probably never stay sober. I think it’s pretty sad to exploit the sick and dying that way. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/22 "2009-03-03T20:31:54Z")
Sorry, Qadgop, I hadn’t revisited the thread. We’re in Canada. She is attending the Wasser Pain Clinic at Mt Sinai in Toronto. Due to the fact that Methadone is an opioid, it is classified as a controlled substance here. Since the doctor has to be licenced to prescribe it and the pharmacy has to be licenced to dispense it, the two will necessarily be familiar with each other. The pharmacy that she has to use is located in the same hospital as the doctor. We’d had to sign some sort of form that indicated we understood it to be a controlled substance and that we would keep it locked up at all times. We’d asked her neurologist if she could prescribe it, but she wasn’t licenced to do so and wasn’t interested in applying. Overall it is a pain, and one that we’d rather do without. She was also on a trial for a cannabinoid spray, but she did not find it effective or palatable. It tasted like filtered ashtray juice. There was a bunch of documentation required for that as well. For the record, neither of us imbibe in illegal drugs. She is currently taking Neurontin, Gabapentin and Lyrica. She has considered trying to take the Tegretol again, as it was very effective for her. She had taken it for a month before we took her to the hospital where she stayed for a week for the allergic reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/23 "2009-03-03T21:21:37Z")
Are you sure she is taking Neurontin _and_ Gabapentin? The latter is the generic form of the former. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/24 "2009-03-04T00:27:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I hear that. I don’t watch lawyer shows, for the same reason. Yep, and I avoid Software Quality Assurance shows like the plague. I don’t care how many awards they have I’ll just end up yelling at the screen. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/25 "2009-03-04T19:22:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > As a result, one may get an opiate addict to be a semi-productive citizen while maintained on methadone. I actually know of a surgeon who practices (with the blessing of the Medical Board) while on methadone maintenance (I’d never go to him). Semi-productive? If you can be a surgeon on methadone, I’d have to classify that as fully productive. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/26 "2009-03-04T20:41:29Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Semi-productive? If you can be a surgeon on methadone, I’d have to classify that as fully productive. hey, he only worked 60 hours a week! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/27 "2009-03-05T09:40:29Z")
I’ve known a couple of people on methadone maintenance, and speaking purely anecdotally, I’d have to say that I think methadone makes some people stupid. I’ve seen continuous evidence of considerable degradation of critical thinking skills over time, and I suspect possibly hearing impairment as well. Or maybe it’s listening impairment.😉 But I do have a [couple](http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120190793/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) of [cites.](http://www.springerlink.com/content/amv8d2bg3x2rle8b/) ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275/28 "2009-03-05T16:53:18Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > I’ve known a couple of people on methadone maintenance, and speaking purely anecdotally, I’d have to say that I think methadone makes some people stupid. I’ve seen continuous evidence of considerable degradation of critical thinking skills over time, and I suspect possibly hearing impairment as well. > > Or maybe it’s listening impairment.😉 > > But I do have a [couple](http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120190793/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) of [cites.](http://www.springerlink.com/content/amv8d2bg3x2rle8b/) If I’m reading right, the abstract on that first cite seems to indicate that it showed that methadone patients, particularly those with a history over alcoholism and heroin overdosing, have significant cognitive impairment compared to non-drug-users. No surprise there, but it doesn’t seem to say much about methadone in and of itself. Ideally you’d want to test somebody’s functioning before and after methadone treatment, but that could be a difficult study to perform. The second cite is just bizarre. “Methadone treatment had no effect on craving or mood. Patients were unable to distinguish between methadone and placebo treatments.” That doesn’t make any sense at all. Either I’m completely misunderstanding what the abstract says, or the abstract is misrepresenting the study, or the study was incredibly poorly designed and executed. Any long-term opiate user is going to be able to tell the difference between a dose of methadone and a placebo, and methadone certainly has an effect on craving and mood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-whats-the-deal-with-methadone/487275.md?page=1)