Methadone Treatment in Codeine Rehab

For those dealing with codeine addiction, methadone treatment may be a perfect solution. Depending on your treatment needs, you may choose a clinic which provides methadone treatment to wean you off of the abuse of codeine. There are benefits and drawbacks to methadone treatment, so consider whether or not it fits your needs before seeking codeine addiction treatment.

Methadone Treatment for Cocaine Rehab: Pros

As a treatment for codeine addiction, methadone can be very beneficial. Methadone maintenance is very good for individuals who need treatment for their codeine addictions, who have become dependent on codeine and need it every day, and who need to go about living their lives while receiving treatment.

According to the NLM, long-term methadone maintenance “involves slowly decreasing the dosage of methadone over time.” Sometimes, this could last for a year or more.

The CDC lists some of the positive aspects of methadone treatment for codeine addiction:

• Methadone “does not cause euphoria or intoxication itself (with stable dosing), thus allowing a person to work and participate normally in society.”
• It can be taken once a day.
• It relieves cravings and withdrawal symptoms caused by opiates/opioids.
• It “reduce[s] risk of overdose” in opiate-addicted patients.
• It blocks the sedating effects caused by codeine and other opiate drug abuse.
• It is usually successful when other treatments have failed with a patient.

Methadone can be taken once daily as a part of codeine rehab.

Methadone maintenance is part of a highly beneficial treatment plan that has been used since the 1960s to treat patients who are addicted to heroin and other opiate-based drugs. Codeine abusers who have tried other treatments and not been able to stop are encouraged to try methadone maintenance.

Methadone Treatment for Codeine Rehab: Cons

While it can be a good treatment plan for codeine addicts, methadone maintenance does have some cons as well. For instance, even though the method has better scientific evidence for its success than any other, “it is still politically controversial” (Harvard Medical School).

Many people do not want to gradually taper off their dependence on a drug but instead want to be rid of their addictions. If this is your hope, there may be more efficient ways to treat your codeine addiction. Some other cons of methadone treatment are:

• It is often necessary to visit the treatment facility every day to get the medication.
• There is still a high risk of abuse, overdose, and other issues involved in methadone maintenance.
• “It has been estimated that about 25% of patients eventually become abstinent,” which may be too low of a number for some recovering addicts.

Should I Choose Methadone in Codeine Rehab?

You may need methadone treatment, or you may not. It all depends on what you are looking for in your treatment. If you are hoping to wean yourself off of codeine and other opiates quickly and you have not had problems with addiction before, methadone maintenance may take too long or be too involved of a process for you.

If, on the other hand, you have been through addiction treatment before and nothing has worked, you may want to consider methadone maintenance. If you just want to stop abusing codeine and other opiates and be maintained by medical professionals and their help as you work through a long addiction, methadone maintenance could be the right choice for you.