Methadone Withdrawal: Symptoms, Timeline, and Detox

When you’re experiencing extreme pain, however, you may need more relief than your body can provide. While methadone can cause dependence, it’s long-acting effects are what also help prevent physical withdrawal. Many opioid medications also create a feeling of calm and sometimes euphoria, which is part of the reason they can lead to dependence. All opioids work by binding to certain nerve receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other areas of the body.

Methadone and Pregnancy — Safety, Risks, and Effects

This is because the point of a taper is to ease your body off methadone so that it is gently weaned from the drug. By slowly reducing your methadone intake over time, your body gets used to progressively smaller doses of the drug. When a person suddenly stops taking methadone, withdrawal symptoms often start within 30 hours of the last dose of the drug. Symptoms intensify over the first three to eight days and then resolve around 10 days after the last dose of the drug, although resolution may take several weeks in some cases. Some symptoms like anxiety, depression or insomnia may linger for an additional few weeks to months. When you quit taking methadone, it takes several days or weeks for your body to expel all of it from various tissues.

Utah Drug and Alcohol Statistics

Tapering is preferable to quitting methadone abruptly because quitting cold turkey is painful. People who are accustomed to taking high doses of methadone experience worse withdrawal symptoms than people who usually take small doses. Outpatient treatment is also an option for those whose methadone addictions have been diagnosed as minor by a substance abuse professional. Outpatient treatment is also generally recommended for those who have completed an inpatient program but are still new to sobriety.

Medications Used When Tapering Off Methadone

• Therefore, some people discuss remaining on methadone treatment but at lower doses, if tolerated.
• Once a tolerance is developed, the body does not respond the same way unless the amount consumed increases.
• The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) publishes that nearly 2.5 million Americans reported abusing methadone at least once in their lifetime as of a 2012 national survey.
• Opioid withdrawal is rarely dangerous for healthy adults, but some people need to be more cautious than others.
• Some symptoms of withdrawal occur with most substances, while others can vary by substance.
• Quitting methadone can be a long and frustrating process, even for people without an opioid dependence.

However, be mindful that even correct long-term use can result in withdrawal symptoms. If your body has become dependent on another opioid medication, your healthcare team may prescribe methadone to help you break that cycle of dependency. Methadone is an opioid medication that’s used to treat severe pain. It’s also commonly used to treat dependence to other opioids, like oxycodone and heroin.

Opioid

If you are taking your methadone as directed by your doctor, you are likely dependent on your medication. That means you may experience some of these withdrawal symptoms if you miss a dose or suddenly reduce your dose. Talk to your doctor if you experience methadone withdrawal symptoms and want to adjust your methadone treatment dose.

Get professional help from an online addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp. Enter your phone number below to receive a free and confidential call from a treatment provider. During detox, the goal is to keep the brain as balanced as possible. While it is slowly weaned off methadone, its chemical makeup is regulated. This allows the brain to start producing, methadone withdrawal moving, and reabsorbing neurotransmitters like dopamine on its own without the interaction of methadone.

Reversing an Opioid Overdose

For that reason, you must speak with your doctor about what to expect. Quitting methadone can be a long and frustrating process, even for people without an opioid dependence. If you are using methadone to manage chronic pain, you may still be physically dependent on it and experience withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit or reduce your dose.

Most people experience withdrawal symptoms within 2 to 4 days of their last Halfway house dose, and these symptoms typically last 7 to 14 days but may last longer. Some physicians recommend continuing methadone therapy indefinitely. If you are thinking about discontinuing this drug, talk with your healthcare provider about the pros and cons. In this type of therapy, a team of healthcare professionals will closely monitor you as you’re tapered slowly off the medication in a safe and controlled way.