9. Is the use of
medications like methadone simply replacing one drug addiction with another?
No.
As used in maintenance treatment, methadone and LAAM are not heroin substitutes.
They are safe and effective medications for opiate addiction that are administered
by mouth in regular, fixed doses. Their pharmacological effects are markedly different
from those of heroin.
| As
used in maintenance treatment, methadone and LAAM are not heroin substitutes.
|
Injected, snorted, or smoked heroin
causes an almost immediate "rush" or brief period of euphoria that wears off very
quickly, terminating in a "crash." The individual then experiences an intense
craving to use more heroin to stop the crash and reinstate the euphoria. The cycle
of euphoria, crash, and craving - repeated several times a day - leads to a cycle
of addiction and behavioral disruption. These characteristics of heroin use result
from the drug's rapid onset of action and its short duration of action in the
brain. An individual who uses heroin multiple times per day subjects his or her
brain and body to marked, rapid fluctuations as the opiate effects come and go.
These fluctuations can disrupt a number of important bodily functions. Because
heroin is illegal, addicted persons often become part of a volatile drug-using
street culture characterized by hustling and crimes for profit.
Methadone
and LAAM have far more gradual onsets of action than heroin, and as a result,
patients stabilized on these medications do not experience any rush. In addition,
both medications wear off much more slowly than heroin, so there is no sudden
crash, and the brain and body are not exposed to the marked fluctuations seen
with heroin use. Maintenance treatment with methadone or LAAM markedly reduces
the desire for heroin. If an individual maintained on adequate, regular doses
of methadone (once a day) or LAAM (several times per week) tries to take heroin,
the euphoric effects of heroin will be significantly blocked. According to research,
patients undergoing maintenance treatment do not suffer the medical abnormalities
and behavioral destabilization that rapid fluctuations in drug levels cause in
heroin addicts.
Information contained above is courtesy
of The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for more information please visit:
http://www.drugabuse.gov
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We
at Synergy Group Services have personally faced the disease of alcohol and drug
addiction as a family. It is our journey of recovery that has given us the passion
and the desire to use our knowledge and skill to help other families suffering
from the disease of drug and alcohol addiction.
Synergy Group Services
is a family/physician owned and operated drug and alcohol rehab center in South
Florida offering individualized Drug and Alcohol Treatment programs to provide
dignified rehabilitation care in a multi-modality environment.
Drug
and alcohol rehab programs in Synergy, combine the traditional (12 step) programs
with the alternative rehab therapies like the holistic methods of drug and alcohol
addition recovery to ensure a success rate with minimized chance of relapse in
every one of our clients.
Synergy believes strongly in dual
diagnosis rehab and treatment as a complementary tool in addiction recovery.
Our personalized recovery and addiction
treatment programs for alcohol addiction treatment, heroin addiction treatment,
prescription drug addiction treatment, and Suboxone treatment are designed for
successful recovery of each individual from his or her specific addiction. For
more information, contact us at our toll free addiction help line 1-888-267-8070.
If
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