by TL Morgan

Created on: December 16, 2008

The Other Side of Persriction Methadone !

There are actually several reasons for a patient to be prescribed methadone. I have read several articles on that condemn methadone users as drug attics, and that could not be farther from the truth. Methadone, in some cases, is prescribed for withdrawal symptoms. However, methadone is widely prescribed for patients that have chronic pain. Pain from nerve damage, injuries acquired from accidents, herniated discs, and any other condition that leaves its victims in severe, uncontrollable pain.

Methadone is usually prescribed by physicians that specialize in patients with chronic pain, ie. pain clinics. They perscribe the methadone as part of a specific drug regimen that is tailored to the patients, type of pain or injury. Methadone is used along with pain medication, muscle relaxers, inflammatory drugs, & even anti-depressants, ( the anti-depressants adjust the seretonin levels in your brain which in turn can to a certain degree, help to regulate pain).

The patients are usually required to sign a contract, that in short says, the patient will not receive any other medication from any other physician without the prescribing doctors knowledge. The patient is also drug tested on a regular basis to ensure that their chemical levels are not in any type of a danger zone, due to the mixture of medications that most chronic pain suffers have to take to even be able to function at a low level.

Methadone, if taken properly and monitored, is not the ugly, dangerous drug that ill informed people make it out to be. There are people that could not perform basic daily activities, if not for the use of methadone, and they have never had a drug dependency problem in their lives.

Now, that does not mean that methadone does not have a dark side. Every perscrition drug, if not taken properly, and managed by a physicain, is a dangerous drug. Just like any other narcotic, there is a chance of dependancy. This is why the physicains that perscribe these types of drugs must keep constant contact with their patients. Pain clinics, usually require their patients to maintain monthly office visits because of this.

The biggest reason that methadone gained such a dangerous stigma is because it is used in rehab patients that are in withdrawl from heroin. The reason being because when a person withdrawals from a drug such as heroin, the heroin attacks your nervous system, when you stop the drug suddenly, the patient goes through a gross amount of pain. The nerve system is in shock, and wants the heroin, so in turn, the patient will have severe nerve pain. The methadone is used to treat the nerve pain, just like a chronic pain patient.

Before you can condem a drug, you should make sure that you are informed of all of its uses. You will be surprised at the amount of different treatments are managed with the same medication.

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