by Justin Mckibben | May 18, 2017 | Addiction Medicine, Detox, Heroin, Maintenance Drugs, Methadone, Opioids, Prescription Drugs, Withdrawal
Ever since Methadone was introduced to combat opioid dependence, it has been leaned on by countless people over several decades to treat opioid abuse. For a long time methadone clinics have been looked to as a source of relief from an addiction to opioids, but are they as effective as people seem to think? Over time more people who have used methadone to try overcoming serious addictions have realized methadone maintenance also comes with a great deal of damaging side effects.
What is a methadone clinic?
A methadone clinic is a clinic for the dispensing of methadone. Because this is a schedule II opioid analgesic drug, access must be restricted. Methadone clinics are a way to provide people with this medication. But before you rush out to find the one closest to you, there are a lot of things to consider.
What is a Methadone Clinic: History of Methadone
Firstly, let us not that methadone is an opioid drug. It is used to treat pain, like most opioid medications, but most people know it as a maintenance drug for detoxing from dependence on other opioids, such as heroin. Methadone, sold under many brand names, including:
- Methadose
- Dolophine
- Symoron
- Amidone
- Physeptone
- Diskets
Different countries have different brands as well. A few footnotes of the history of methadone include:
Methadone was developed in Germany by Gustav Ehrhart and Max Bockmühl.
The United States approved the use of Methadone.
About 41.400 kilograms of methadone were manufactured globally
What is a Methadone Clinic: Methadone Detox
Methadone is available in various forms, including:
- Pill
- Sublingual tablet
- Two different formulations designed for the patient to drink
Drinkable forms include:
- Methadose- the ready-to-dispense liquid form found in theUnited States.
- Diskets- tablets designed to work like Alka-Seltzer, dispersing rapidly in water for oral administration.
The most common method of administration is the liquid form, because it allows for small dose changes. Methadone is almost as effective when administered orally as by injection.
Detoxification using methadone is intended to be a way for people addicted to opioids such as heroin or powerful prescription drugs to taper off, but at the same time detoxification using methadone has been met with a great deal of controversy.
Many who oppose methadone clinics refer to this strategy as methadone substitution. As a treatment of opioid addiction methadone is heavily criticized for its role in what some call “social control of addicts.” Many who oppose methadone suggested that the drug does not function as much to curb addiction as to redirect it and maintain dependency. In other words, some insist methadone is essentially keeping people addicted, but making sure the money goes to drug manufactures and methadone clinics instead of street dealers.
What is a Methadone Clinic: Methadone Side-Effects
There are so many adverse effects of methadone, which may vary in range and severity depending on the individual. There include, but are not limited to:
- Sedation
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Perspiration
- Heat intolerance
- Dizziness
- Fainting
- Itching
- Weakness
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleep problems
- Nausea
- Hallucinations
- Memory Loss
- Weight gain
- Stomach pains
- Mood changes
- Restlessness
- Decreased libido or impotence
- Urinary difficulty
- Blurred vision
- Skin rash
- Low blood pressure
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Heart problems
- Respiratory problems
Some of these adverse effects of methadone use are much more serious than others.
What is a Methadone Clinic: Withdrawal Symptoms
There is also a massive list of possible withdrawal symptoms from using methadone. This is one of the primary issues many people have with methadone treatment.
Physical withdrawals include:
- Runny nose and sneezing
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Sweating
- Chills
- Aches and pains (especially in joints)
- Sensitivity to pain
- Hyperventilation
- Tremors
- High blood pressure that may cause strokes
Others are more concerned with the mental aspect of the withdrawals experienced from methadone.
Cognitive withdrawals include:
- Suicidal ideation
- Drug cravings
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Delirium
- Hallucinations (auditory and visual)
- Agitation
- Anxiety
- Panic disorder
- Paranoia
- Delusions
- Apathy
The irony is that methadone withdrawal symptoms are even reported to last significantly longer than withdrawals from some other opioids. In some cases, people may even try to treat an opioid addiction with this drug not knowing that it is actually a much worse opioid to withdrawal from.
What is a Methadone Clinic: Methadone Overdose
As mentioned before, there are some very real dangers when it comes to using methadone.
- Between 1999 and 2004, deaths in the U.S. linked to methadone quadrupled.
- In 2004 reports credit methadone as contributing to 3,849 deaths, 82% of which were reported as accidental.
- In 2011, there were 4,418 deaths in the United States involving methadone. At the time that made up 26% of total deaths fromopioid poisoning.
Respiratory depression is probably the most common overdose risk related to opioid drugs. Other symptoms of a methadone overdose include:
- Hypoventilation (slow/shallow breathing)
- Drowsiness
- Cool, clammy skin
- Limp muscles
- Unconsciousness
- Coma
- Excessive vomiting
- Risks are greater with higher doses, as well as mixing methadone with any other drugs.
The risks of methadone are very, very real. In fact, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Advisory back in 2006 about methadone titled “Methadone Use for Pain Control May Result in Death and Life-Threatening Changes in Breathing and Heart Beat”. In the report, the FDA stated that they received reports of death and life-threatening side effects with patients who were newly starting methadone.
Both individuals who were starting methadone for pain, or who were trying to switch to it from another powerful narcotic pain reliever were included to be at an elevated risk, according to the FDA.
What is a Methadone Clinic: Another Way
Getting off of powerful opioid drugs, whether they are prescription narcotics or illicit street drugs, is possible without the use of methadone. While maintenance drugs can be useful to some extent as a means of harm reduction, these should not be considered as sustainable means of addiction recovery. Maintenance drugs are typically only ever effective if utilized in combination with therapy and other forms of addiction treatment.
Luckily there are other ways to get help. It is possible to be safely and effectively removed from a methadone taper through a safe medical detox. Understanding methadone can also be fatal is of vital significance. Methadone detox can be deadly if not supported by a medical staff with the right medications to help ease the pain and discomfort of the detox. Medical detox combined with a holistic treatment program is a proven strategy for saving lives.
If you or someone you love is struggling, do not wait. Please call toll-free now. We want to help. You are not alone.
CALL NOW 1-888-922-5398
by Justin Mckibben | May 5, 2017 | Addiction, Detox, Drug Abuse, Heroin, Opioids, Withdrawal
Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is a Schedule I controlled-substance in the United States and is considered by many to be the most addictive drug in the world when compared to other more popular illicit drugs. Heroin is typically associated with the highest likelihood of developing an addiction both psychologically and physically.
Given the fact that the country is facing the most deadly drug epidemic in American history thanks to the opioid overdose outbreak, heroin abuse is now a primary concern facing most of the nation. Other opioids, like prescription painkillers, have contributed to the rising rates of heroin use, and the addition of other potent drugs like fentanyl, heroin is more dangerous than ever.
Heroin overdose is currently one of the top causes of accidental death. People use more than the body can handle and it shuts down. Also, the withdrawals of heroin can be particularly difficult. So how long does heroin stay in your system?
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System: Important Elements
When asking how long does heroin stay in your system we have to examine some of the important elements that impact the effects of heroin on the body. Heroin is typically injected intravenously to make a faster impact, but it is also smoked or snorted. Heroin has longer lasting effects compared to drugs like cocaine and meth, but it also has a shorter half-life of only approximately 30 minutes.
What does half-life of heroin mean? Essentially, when an individual uses a single dose of heroin, it will take about 30 minutes for half of the drug in the person’s system to be flushed out. However, some studies actually suggest that this half-life is as short as 3-8 minutes, not 30.
The accurate amount of time it would take is not cut and dry. The half-life of heroin depends on a number of factors for each individual, including:
- Height
- Weight
- Age
- Genetics
- Body fat
- The amount taken
- Purity of the drug
- Method of use
- Metabolism
- Health of the liver
- Kidney health
- Hydration
Not all bodies are the same, so of course not all bodies will be able to get rid of heroin at the same exact rate. A body with more fatty tissue and less hydration will probably retain the chemicals longer than someone well-hydrated with a lean build.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System: Drug Testing for Heroin
Some might hope they can measure the presence of heroin in the system based on drug tests. Of course the length of time a drug is detectable with a drug test depends directly on the rate at which heroin leaves the body. Different drug tests often have different lengths of time they measure, so one might be able to tell you someone used heroin, but it may not be particularly active in the body.
Approved drug tests through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for heroin use:
- Blood
- Saliva
- Urine
- Hair follicle
Heroin is typically no longer detectable in a person’s urine after just 2 days, but some tests have detected positive results in up to 7 days.
Blood and saliva tests aren’t often used for most opioids because they have such a short half-life. It can only take about 5-6 hours for heroin to be undetectable for these tests, but in some cases it may actually last up to 2 days.
The only effective long-term test for traces of heroin is the hair follicle test, which can detect heroin for up to 3 months or more. However, if you are trying to find out if heroin is still active in the body, the long-term doesn’t really help.
Many tests now look for heroin metabolites, which are what is created when the liver metabolizes the drug. These stay in the system much longer than the actual intoxicant, so while you can detect the presence of the metabolites, the drug itself isn’t necessarily active. However, many believe that among long-term and/or frequent heroin users, the drug may actually remain in a person’s system for much longer than detectable on a drug test.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System: Withdrawal
One reason many people will want to know how long heroin stays in the system is for the sake of overcoming their withdrawal symptoms. Especially for those who are familiar with suffering through these painful periods of abstinence, the question of how long does heroin stay in your system is about avoiding extended discomfort.
Withdrawal symptoms of heroin include:
- Sweating
- Insomnia
- Malaise
- Extreme anxiety
- Depression
- Itchiness
- Excessive yawning and sneezing
- Runny nose
- Cold sweats
- Chills
- Severe muscle and bone aches
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Cramp-like pains
- Involuntary spasms in the legs, arms, and neck
Heroin withdrawals will not be the same for everyone. The same things that impact how long it stays in the system will also impact how severe the withdrawals are. Other substances that are used along with heroin will also have an impact on how serious the withdrawals can be and how long they may persist.
It has been estimated that heroin withdrawal symptom can start within 6-12 hours from the last dose and may be present up to 5-10 days.
How Long Does Heroin Stay in Your System: Overdose Danger
One big reason things like the half-life matter is because of how it increases the risks of overdose.
If we say that after ingesting heroin approximately 50% of the drug has been cleared from the body in somewhere between 8-30 minutes, what tends to happen during this time is that many people assume by time their “high” ends, most of the heroin is already fully cleared from their system. However, when the “high” ends, up to 50% of the heroin will still be in your system, and so will its metabolites! So while some people think the high wears off that quick so they may think it’s safe to do more, there is still a fair amount of that drug present in the body.
Although heroin is quickly metabolized and eliminated from the body, its metabolites remain present for a longer duration. When heroin is used it is de-acetylated into 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM). This chemical then metabolizes into morphine. Morphine’s half-life is estimated to be between 1.5 and 7 hours. As a result, the morphine in the body created by using heroin could stay in your system for 1.60 days before it is entirely eliminated.
So when we ask how long does heroin stay in your system, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing. What we can say is that one thing the probably contributes a lot to the skyrocketing rates of overdoses and deaths is that people don’t understand the heroin half-life or how long it stays in the system.
The longer the drug is in the system, the harder it will be to detox from it. That is why medical detox is so crucial to effectively and safely getting off of heroin. It also shows why treatment can be critical to lasting recovery. If you or someone you love is struggling, please call toll-free now.
CALL NOW 1-888-922-5398
