Can Methadone Centers Help Me Overcome Fentanyl Addiction?
If you’re addicted to fentanyl, you may feel like your life is out of control. You might have scoured the web looking for the best treatment options to end your suffering.
In your searches, you probably came across methadone. It’s a drug that is commonly used to help addicts get off of opioid substances. However, is it appropriate for helping you overcome fentanyl addiction?
In order to answer that question, it’s important to first understand how both fentanyl and methadone work in the human body.
Understanding How Fentanyl Works
Fentanyl is a little different than other opioids because of its potency. Because it is synthetic, it can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine.
Normally, it is used to treat patients that have severe pain after surgery. However, when people abuse fentanyl, it can become a serious danger to their health.
Typically, fentanyl is injected, swallowed, snorted, or taken as a tablet. Regardless of how it is consumed, it will still have the same effects on the body.
Once fentanyl enters the body, it begins to mess with your brain’s chemistry. It will bind to opioid receptors located in the parts of the brain that control emotions and pain. This is what causes the drug’s euphoric and relaxing effects.
However, this area of the brain also controls important body functions, such as breathing. If you take too much fentanyl, it can cause you to stop breathing.
Other hazardous effects of fentanyl include:
- Drowsiness
- Nausea
- Coma
- Confusion
- Constipation
- Addiction
- Death
If you’re addicted to fentanyl and feel like you’re trapped, please give us a call at 800-994-1867Who Answers?. We want to help you get off this drug once and for all.
Understanding How Methadone Works
Methadone is also a synthetic drug; however, it is far less potent than fentanyl. It works by changing how your brain responds when you take fentanyl.
It will block the opioid receptors in your brain, preventing fentanyl from attaching and creating its hazardous effects.
Methadone will also prevent you from feeling the pleasurable effect of fentanyl. In fact, if you try to get high on fentanyl at all while on methadone, you will feel nothing.
Methadone is also a good tool for reducing withdrawal symptoms, as it helps ease your brain off its physical addiction to opioids.
It can be taken in a variety of forms, including pills, liquids, and wafers, depending on what a clinic prescribes to you.
Using Methadone to Treat Fentanyl Withdrawal
With all of this information in mind, you can easily see that methadone is a great treatment for fentanyl addiction. Taking methadone will prevent you from getting high off of fentanyl.
Additionally, it will ease your withdrawal symptoms and cravings so you aren’t tempted to sneak a dose to stop your pain.
The positive effects of methadone on fentanyl addiction were noted in a study done on patients from MassHealth. In this study, patients who were addicted to fentanyl that took medication treatments such as methadone were 50 percent less likely to relapse. The patients were also 50 percent less likely to die because of overdose or adverse side effects.
As you can see, methadone is a great treatment for fentanyl addiction. However, the only way to get a prescription for methadone is to get help from a local methadone center. Because of federal regulations, your primary care physician is unable to distribute methadone to you.
To get started with treatment and find a methadone center near you, call us at 800-994-1867Who Answers?.