Methadone maintenance is a type of treatment for individuals in Ola who are dependent on heroin or prescription opioid medications. This method of treatment has been around for a very long time, and the overall concept is that individuals are no longer wrapped up in the drug abusing behavior that was caused by their addiction since the methadone they are taking satiates cravings and prevents withdrawal. Similar to heroin, methadone is a full opioid agonist and stimulates the same neurons in the brain as heroin. This is what makes methadone so successful as a substitute for heroin and prescription pain killers.
Patients involved in methadone maintenance therapy have to dose on a daily basis to avoid withdrawal symptoms from the methadone itself. This might be financially and logistically burdensome, but some people feel it is a better alternative to a heroin addiction. Nevertheless, someone beginning methadone maintenance therapy should know that methadone detoxification is considered far more challenging than even heroin detoxification and withdrawal. Once taking a moderate dosage of methadone, there are some detoxification facilities that will not take methadone maintenance clients seeing that detoxification can be very challenging and rates of relapse are considerably high.