How to deal with Methadone withdrawal with Dr Rodriquez and Delray Center
Methadone withdrawal
“Lets talk about Methadone withdrawal. Methadone withdrawal for the most part looks like opiate withdrawal with a few differences. The first difference is that Methadone withdrawal comes on a little later then opiate withdrawal. If somebody stops using an opiate a conventional opiate whether it be a prescription medication or heroin the person will experience withdrawal within a matter of hours to within a day or so. They will start to feel the typical symptoms clammy skin the goose bumps the hot flashes nausea yawning runny nose sneezing teary eyes a lot of pain they feel like you have the flu. An overall sense of discomfort and often depression no energy and difficulty sleeping. Now with Methadone it comes on a little later. Maybe not until the second or even third day will a person experience full withdrawal symptoms coming off of Methadone. this is due to the long half life that Methadone has it last much much longer then pretty much any other opiate medication that exist on the market. Even longer acting medications like oxycotton or MScotton really are short half life medications. They are in a long half life slow release shell but really once that medicine wears off the withdrawal comes on pretty quickly. Methadone itself is a inheritly long half life long acting medication that in no matter how its delivered will last a very long time and of course the withdrawal comes on much later. Other notable elements about Methadone withdrawal is that it can tend to drag a bit longer then regular opiate withdrawal. It comes on later and it takes longer to resolve as well as taking longer to hit its peak of intensity. Sometimes not until day 3 4 or even 5 depending on how much the person has been taking and how long they have been taking it for. It can drag out well over two to three weeks in terms of moderate to mild withdrawal symptoms and certainly post acute withdrawal is more common with Methadone and it could drag out to a few weeks to even months depending on the person and how long and how much Methadone they have been on. Bone pain is a symptom more specific of Methadone withdrawal that gives the illusion that Methadone is coming out of there bones. Really it’s a manifestation of heightened pain that anybody would experience coming off of pain pills or Methadone its just that the bone pain is specifically tends to happen with methadone withdrawal.” Delray Beach FL West Palm beach FL Boca Raton FL Parkland FL Ft Lauderdale FL
Raul J Rodriguez MD, a double Board Certified Psychiatrist and Addictionologist, discusses addiction and family history http://www.delraycenter.com
