A relative of mine got hooked on heroin and other drugs. They’re off the drugs, but they go to a clinic and take methodone.
Recently, their mother offered to take them in to help with their financial difficulties. But there is no methodone clinic within hundreds of miles of their mother’s place, so they didn’t take her up on her offer.
Is my relative just as addicted to the methodone? Are they afraid of going off of it and going through delayed withdrawl? If they did go cold turkey, how strong is the urge to use heroin again?
I used to work under a methodone clinic and I had conversations with patients and person’s who worked there and from what I understand methadone withdrawl is often worse than heroin withdrawl because they gove a pretty much standard dose no matter what your previous heroin intake. So while you may have only use a little bit of “H” and thus your withdrawl from that would have been relatively minor, the methadone is a much larger dose and so the withdrawl is a lot worse.
Also from what I understand, the methadone itself is a lot worse for you than heroin. Other than it being “legal” it has no benefits.
Cite please? If you put aside the issues of addiction and overdose, opiates are clinically safer than coffee, IIRC.
As to the OP, I’d imagine the urge to use heroin after cessation of methadone would be all but irresistable. Methadone is not a cure for heroin addiction by any means. As Podkayne said, it’s used because it doesn’t get the users high.
I have read about some more promising treatments for heroin addiction on the horizon. I read the article a while ago, so I might not get all the facts straight. Apparently one of the new drugs is the first opiod ever synthesized that does not have addictive properties. The other is a bizarre little drug that actually makes addicts crave heroin MORE if they shoot up! I guess the withdrawl would be just as bad, but getting hooked again would be impossible. Both of these drugs are far better than methadone, if only for the simple reason that they don’t require addicts to visit a clinic every day of their lives.
Pretty sure, Timothy. I think the logic is that since heroin would make them crave opiates more, they wouldn’t use heroin more than once after taking the drug.
Like I said, it was a while ago that I read the article and I could be dead wrong about it. I’ll dig around for the article and post a summary if I can find it.
I had many friends who were on herion for a few years, including a roommate, and another friend that died in my living room of an OD :(. So, I think I know a bit about it. I used to drive him to the get the “done” (as he called it), and he was on methadone for about 6 months.
I think the whole thing sucks. He was no better on methadone than he was on smack, and plus it took an hour out of everyday to go down to the goddam clinic. He was able to kick (never for good, but for a few months at a time) a few times. Often, those miserable 4-5 days were just spent with the two of us sitting on a couch, drinking whiskey and smoking weed to try to keep him numb.
And, although I have never tried methadone, I would argue the fact that it doesn’t get you high. I’m just basing that on what several (6 or 8) friends have told me.
So, to answer the OP, I see it as a crutch. Trying to break an opiate addiction is not something you ever want to be a position to have to try and do. It ain’t pretty. And whether that means a program that takes 9 months to get you off, all you are doing is slowly spreading your withdrawal out over that time. From what I have seen, it is just better to bite the bullet and go through the 5 days of hell on your own (assuming you are strong enough to do so and you are in a stable envionment).
in my experience (working with offenders for 20+ years)
I’m not a big fan of methodone.
It is useful for the heroin addict that still has a job etc. Not very useful at all (IMHO) for the addict that has already bottomed out and lost everything.
From my clients’ experiences:
Heroin addiction has many components. Generally, the addict craves the drug, cops, then has the euphoria, then the nodding out. Then comes the short period of time between nodding out and the shakes because they need to cop more. this is the time that they rip and run and do whatever to get the $$ to get the drugs. depending on the severity of the addiction, the cycles can be as short as about 8 - 12 hours.
For the switch to methodone, you take care of the craving and nodding out phases. Now, if you have a job to go to in the meantime, fine, you’ve filled those hours. Otherwise, you’ve got a herion addict with lots of time on their hands and nothing to do.
It’s my understanding that many clinics are actually offering a tapering off program these days (which is preferred). folks used to get their dose of methodone and sell it to get the $$ for heroin. great system.
To me, it is in your cousin’s best interest to not be addicted to any of these substances.
Methodone CAN be helpful in the treatment of addiction, as long as there is an ending date. to simply intend to keep them on methodone for the rest of their lives is, I believe, the wrong approach. Addiction needs to be treated as a condition . I believe that people can get out of addiction, but not by trading substances. The pattern is still there.
Many, many cons have told me that methodone aided withdrawal is harder overall than cold turkey.
If an addict is injecting then methodone in drink form can help them get over ‘needle high’ which is what users experience when preparing their works before shooting up.
This is a total experience for the user and includes more than just the obvious direct effect of the drug.
The psychological experience of anticipation during the ritual of preparing the drug for injection is a serious part of the addicts life.
Taking methodone helps break that part of the habit but the chemical addiction still remains.
If you think that this is strange just think of smokers who restart after several weeks.They have got past the physical withdrawal but they miss all the little rituals that went with it like maybe the rattle of the matches in the box, or the lack of something to do with unoccupied hands.It is often these little things that bring them down, some thing too with heroin addicts.
A methodone program is supposed to be structured to gradually decrease your dosage over a 6-12 month period, depending on the severity of your addiction. The theory is that you can only obtain methodone from your clinic, and since they regulate your amount (and you must drink it in front of them), you should be cured eventually. The problem comes up because, while the prescribed dosage of methodone will allow you to function, more will get you high. Resourceful junkies will find an outlet for anything. That’s when they wind up staying on methodone by going out and copping it, and they are then substituting one addiction for another.
The difference is that their new addiction will be partially subsidized by the state, or Medicaire, and they believe that possession, since they are in a program, is ok if they are busted (it’s not). It’s not the greatest solution, but unless something better comes up, it’s all there is short of a radical cold turkey deal. Pick your poison. The correct methodone program must also be supplemented with some type of psychiatric treatment to address the root of the addiction, along with the whole ritual of getting high. The program must end within a year. Methodone treatment by itself is worthless bullshit. The other problem is that it is often done as a result of a conviction, and not because the addict wants to get clean. It creates hostility, and an even greater desire to get high. Either way, I am not aware of any program that addresses the biggest question of how to get on with your life again, if and when you are “cured”. There doesn’t really seem to be any good solution - methodone treatment, or continue as a heroin addict?
What everyone who is familiar with this (i.e. someone close to them is addicted) needs to remember is that you are dealing with a heroin addiction, and that’s a tough thing to cure. Trust me, if a junkie could trade it for a fix, they would literally take food out of a baby’s mouth to do so. I can tell you about people who have stolen from their mother’s purse, and worse, to score.
Whatever method of kicking is tried, the only way they will stop for good is if a: they absolutely want to, or b: they die.
Plain and simple? The best way to stop shooting heroin is to never start.