I Want to Help My Loved Ones Understand Methadone Maintenance Treatment

It can be difficult for individuals who have never suffered from addiction to understand the concept of maintenance treatment and why it can be a beneficial and even necessary program for certain people. Explain the facts below to your loved ones so they can understand the benefits of methadone maintenance.

Call 800-994-1867Who Answers? now to find rehab centers that offer specialized treatment that will be specifically catered to your needs.

Methadone Maintenance Over Quitting Cold Turkey

Your loved ones may be confused about your choice to attend methadone maintenance treatment. When you decided to quit your abuse of opioids, they may have expected you to do so cold turkey, as this can often seem to many people who have never experienced addiction to be the only way to completely recover. However, going cold turkey can be very dangerous.

• According to the National Library of Medicine, “The biggest complication [during withdrawal] is returning to drug use.” People who don’t receive some sort of medical help for their symptoms are likely to relapse back to drug abuse because their symptoms will be nearly unbearable. If this happens, the potential for overdose is also very high.
• Those who are able to get through withdrawal without the help of a medical program then often avoid attending addiction treatment, which is absolutely necessary to create a strong and lasting recovery.
• Just because someone is no longer dependent on a drug does not mean their addiction is gone. If you are addicted to opioids and do not receive the proper treatment, you could relapse just as easily as if you were still going through withdrawal.
  

  MMT can help you recover from addiction and feel normal again.

Methadone curbs withdrawal symptoms, occupies the opioid receptors in the brain, and minimizes cravings for the drug. All of these effects help to reduce the severity of the issues experienced by a recovering addict to make the entire process easier and, above all, safer.

Methadone Maintenance is Not Addiction

Some people believe that taking methadone in a controlled way is simply replacing one addiction for another. This is completely untrue. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Buprenorphine and methadone are prescribed or administered under monitored, controlled conditions and are safe and effective for treating opioid addiction when used as directed.”

When a person is addicted to a substance, they struggle with being able to control their use of that substance. They will take more and more and continue to use it even when they know it is dangerous.

The behavior of taking methadone through a medically supervised program is nothing like this, as the dosage stays constant, the individual does not experience cravings for the drug, and it does not cause the euphoric and sedative effects that occur when one abuses opioids.

Instead, the medication will allow you to participate in everyday activities, like driving a car, while it blocks the opioid receptors.

Methadone Maintenance Works

Methadone maintenance is a safe and beneficial program that has worked for thousands of individuals, and your loved ones will hopefully come to understand how it can help you by learning more about it. If you would like to find rehab programs that utilize methadone as well as other treatment options, call 800-994-1867Who Answers? now.

Helping a Loved One Accept Methadone Maintenance Treatment

An estimated nine percent of the U.S. population abuses opiates within any given year, according to the U.S. National Library …