Methadone maintenance is a type of treatment for people in Brea who are addicted to heroin or prescription pain killers. This type of treatment has been in existence for a very long time, and the general notion is that individuals are no longer involved in the drug seeking activities that was caused by their addiction because the methadone they are taking satisfies cravings and prevents withdrawal. Like heroin, methadone is a full opioid agonist which stimulates the same neural receptors in the brain as heroin and other powerful pain killers. This is what makes methadone so effective as a substitute for heroin and other prescription opioids.
Patients involved in methadone maintenance have to take it every day to avoid withdrawal from the methadone itself. This might be financially and logistically difficult, but some people find it a better option than a heroin addiction. However, someone beginning methadone maintenance therapy should be aware of the fact that methadone detoxification is known to be way more challenging than even heroin detoxification and withdrawal. Once on a high dosage of methadone, there are some detoxification facilities that will not take methadone maintenance clients since detox can be so challenging and rates of relapse are considerably high.