The most important symptom of heroin addiction is tolerance. It requires more drug to get high
Methadone Detox from Heroin – Is this the best answer for all?
Methadone detox for heroin addiction is the most common form of medical opiate detox in the world. Methadone is a synthetic opiate that in many ways mirror the effect that heroin has on the body. How can this be a good thing? Because the dosage level and purity is closely monitored by doctors and treatment staff, there is little danger of overdose.
What are the advantages of methadone detox for heroin?
The most prominent advantage of methadone detox is the reduced impact of withdrawal. Simply put, withdrawal symptoms are much less intense when the individual is receiving smaller and smaller doses of than when they attempt to undergo natural detox and go “cold turkey” all at once.
Methadone detox is also a closely supervised process, insuring that the individual is under medical care during their withdrawal. By having someone watching over them, the individual is less likely to drop out of the program and relapse.
Where does the methadone detox for heroin take place?
Although some drug rehab facilities offer medical detox, most often, methadone detox for heroin addiction takes place at a stand-alone clinic. Methadone clinics can be found in almost every city in the United States and are notable only for the way they blend in with other businesses in the area.
The individual must visit these facilities regularly (in most cases daily) in order to receive their professionally-supervised dosage of the drug.
What are the risks of methadone detox?
A small but significant percentage of individuals who undergo methadone detox for heroin addiction will actually become addicted to the synthetic opiate itself. This does not happen often, but when it does, it leaves the individual fighting a “two front” war against addiction – one versus the methadone and another against the original heroin addiction.
Every day, drug rehab centers admit individuals who have a methadone addiction – begging the question, “would they have been better off going through the withdrawal symptoms associated with natural detox in the first place?”
Who should consider methadone detox?
Any individual who is suffering with a heroin addiction should consider methadone detox for that part of their recovery (it is important to note that detox in and of itself does NOT represent a full addiction treatment plan).
Methadone is a good choice for those who have tried and failed to detox naturally – or are afraid of the withdrawal symptoms that come with that type of treatment.
