Methadone Drug Addiction .com

How long does the detox last? And how long does it take? Does the baby go through a lot of pain?
Serious answers from people who have gone through it please.

I'll be frank with you so that you have an honest understanding of the experience, but please don't take anything personally, because I'm not trying to scare you. I applaud that you are asking ahead of time and not taking it lightly, because many people do take it very lightly and it's offensive to the nurses who care for their children, sometimes up to 2-3 months in our nursery, and even longer in the NICU.

The withdrawal is dependent on how much methadone a person is on....obviously the more methadone, the harder the withdrawal for the infant.It can take a week, it can take months. I'm sure you know that drug use can result in premature birth, and for our purposes, methadone is a drug, and if a baby is premature, that could affect the withdrawal, too.

We routinely assess the babies for their withdrawal symtoms. We are looking for how well they eat, how much the vomit, if they have tremors or seizures, how long they stay asleep in between feedings, and what their cry sounds like...is it a piercing cry or a normal cry? They get scored on a scale and then the score is totalled. You want the scores to be lower each day...often they are not, and the score is what determines when a baby gets to go home. A higher score may mean long term hospitalization or even intensive care unit hospitalization (especially with seizures).

In order to treat the symptoms and help with the withdrawal, the babies are given a solution called DDTO, which is an opiate, just like heroin. This solution makes the symptoms less intense, just like a drug abuser using their drug of choice...but instead of increasing the amount of drug, like a user would, we have to decrease the drug to help withdraw the baby.

THis often results in a great deal of discomfort for the baby. They often have very acidic stools that cause terrible excoriation on their bottoms, and the scream for the better part of the day when they're awake, often. I have to say honestly that its terrible to watch. It's hard for the nurses to watch. The babies long for attention and crave soothing. We need to keep their cribs away from stimulation, and sometimes cover them to keep the light low....often we place simple black and white drawings to let them focus on so that they can learn to entertain themselves.

As a parent, what you can do to help the situation is to visit your baby often. Come and feed him, bathe him, and change his diaper. The separation a baby experiences while in a nursery can be developmentally harmful, so if you minimize that separation, your baby will be in a better situation.

One other note, often we find that addictive personalities tend to try and make the nurses turn against each other. They find a particular nurse that they like, and they will bad mouth other nurses to that person. It's a destructive behavior and doesn't make you look like a better parent, which is why we think people do this....It is frustrating because the nursery nurses are all there because they geniunely care for those babies.

Good luck!

2007-05-02 12:52:00 by dragonflyer

Day 11 of me at 0mgs of methadone...i talk a little about the benefits of marijuana during a opiate withdrawals...especially methadone...and get ...

Hi, i have just started on a methadone programme for Opiate drug addiction. I know very little about methadone, i want to know what dose people take and for what? also how long it is used for? i've heard a lot of people say they've been on it for years and i find that quite disheartening, it just seems like i am swapping one drug addiction for another! I also want to know of it's success rate for leaving patients clean of all drugs long term? If anyone has ANY helpful information about Methadone treatment i would really appreciate it. I don't know anyone personally who has been through a methadone program so it would be great to hear anything from people who have had firsthand experience with Methadone. I feel about out of my depth here and need some advise! Thanks in advance.

The time methadone is used to detoxify an addict from an opiate addiction depends on two things, the particular opiate that one is addicted to, and the severity of the addiction meaning how often they use, and how much they use. Also methadone treatments are not the only method to treat, and detoxify from opiate addiction. See here:

http://www.careflorida.com/opiate-detox. html

I hope this was of help to you.

2009-04-12 13:34:11 by Cleo

My son has herniated and bulged disks due to automobile accident. He became addicted to narcotic medication that was given to control his pain. Went through detox but doctor wants him to go to methadone clinic to manage his pain. He completed detox 3 weeks ago and has had no narcotic pain pills since, but today started on the methadone program. I am having a hard time understanding this, can anyone give me insight from personal experience?

I took methadone for pain in my hand (I had a flesh eating bacteria in my hand and lost one finger.) They had been giving me large doses of pain meds in the hospital, and I slowly built up a tolerance to them. Methadone is an excellent pain releiver, but it is something to respect also. It is potent and if he already has an addictive personality he should be aware that someone will monitor how much he is taking. If he is going through a clinic, they will only give him what he needs for a set period, to prevent him from abusing it. Remind him not to take it with any other narcotic he may have or sleeping pills and absolutely no alcohol. Evidently he is being given the methadone through a program, because of his previous addiction to the other narcotic meds, and this is a very good idea. The program should only give him small doses and he will not be able to get more than he should be taking. That is probably why his doctor decided to go this route. The methadone program will treat his pain, it is not being used to detox him from the previous narcotics. He needs to also be aware that if he goes to any hospital, he absolutely must tell the doctors and staff that he is on methadone, so they do not give him anything to interfer with his treatment. Good Luck and I hope this helped.

2008-01-04 14:49:37 by Mom

A relative was taking Oxycontin for about a year (arount 160 mgs a day). He started a methadone program last week and is taking 25 mg a day. How long before the OC is out of his system? And how long should he take the Methadone before it's safe to detox from it? He was told it should be a short term treatment and is planning to only take it for a couple months. Any info on this, including the withfrawal from Methadone would be helpful!

sorry to here that,
it`s all converted to dopamine
once his body figures out how to make it`s own.

2006-11-28 13:36:31 by bellagirl1414

I am 42 years old and have dab led with drugs all my adult life from downers to uppers but for the last 2 years Iv got myself totally addicted to heroin ,Iv try ed many methods to try and kick the Habit to no avail . Everything from cold turkey counselling groups to detox programs ,Iv literally spent a fortune .I have now came to the conclusion that a methadone program is my last hope,I no many will disagree but some things work for some people and some don't The problem in my area of Scotland seems to come down to funding ,If you are considerd by a prescibing team not your gp I may add this could take up to a year which I think is a bit much ,many people with a bad habit could be dead within a year .I now Im going to get people replying to my quesion with very negative veiws but not all drug addics are thievs and criminals I my self have ajob and do not curantly have a criminal record but all this could change for the sake of priscibing me the apropriet medication .Is there any way round this system or am I just going to have to go down hill rapidly .I have a wife and 2 young children that I adore and my wife has stuck by me but she cant take much more and both my kids know nothing about my habit but for how much longer I dont know ,one is 12 and the other 8 ,any help would be greatly apreciated .Please no negative replys such as get a life you junky or methadones not the answer I know what I would like to try as Iv tryed most other avenues .THANKS FOR LISTNING TO MY PROBLEMS

Hiya

I know exactly what you are saying as my brother has the same problem and became hooked years ago, we are in the glasgow area and to be quiet honest most gps now are more or less handing out methadone. Go to your gp and be completely honest, the only problem you may find though is they usually start you at a pretty low dose, If you are near the glasgow area email me and i will help as much as i can and will speak to my brothers drug worker to find out ways you can go about it, hope i can help and lastly

WELL DONE FOR TRYING TO HELP YOURSELF

Do not let anyone tell you different, we all make mistakes its facing up to them that really matters

Best wishes to you

2009-06-03 14:59:14 by LYNNSGARETHS