Methadone Addiction Severe Pain Leads to Severe Addiction

Methadone addiction is characterized by a person who is dependent upon taking regular and frequent doses of methadone hydrochloride. Methadone is a synthetic opiate that was created in Germany during WWII. Methadone was originally created to help relieve severe pain.

Methadone is still sometimes used to alleviate pain, but it is most often used to treat addiction to other narcotics, particularly heroin. It is used to treat other drug problems by being used as a replacement drug during detoxification. Since its effects are capable of lasting up to 24 hours, it is only used once per day in detoxification programs. Unfortunately, the use of methadone to overcome a dependency to another drug can easily lead to methadone dependecy if not monitored carefully.

As with most drugs, a person with a methadone dependency will develop a tolerance for methadone. This means the person needs to take more methadone in order to achieve the same effect.

Methadone can adversely affect the entire body in the form of muscle spasms. Methadone can also cause harm to the respiratory system. Some common side-effects of methadone to the respiratory system are slow, labored breathing or a general difficulty with breathing. In some cases, a person will stop breathing completely, which can lead to death.

A person with a methadone dependancy may also experience constipation resulting from spasms in the stomach and the intestinal tract. Methadone can also affect the heart and blood vessels, resulting in a weakened pulse and low blood pressure.

Since methadone can also affect the nervous system, a person suffering from a methadone dependency might also experience disorientation or drowsiness. Methadone can even lead to a coma.

Whether methadone is used as a prescription or not, a person using methadone will experience methadone dependency. Therefore, any person using methadone will experience withdrawal symptoms when attempting to discontinue methadone use. The withdrawal symptoms of methadone are so severe that many have discovered that methadone is more difficult to overcome than other drugs, making methadone an extremely controversial method for treating drug addiction.