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Have Been Addicted To Drugs. Is On Methadone Program Taking Small Amount Daily. How Long It Should Be Continued?
My son became addicted to different types of drugs and went to doctors for help..she has him on the methadone program. He is only 21 and my concern is how is he going to get of this drug. He is happy to take it, 50mg prescribed per day, so my question is how long should he be on it? Please advise anything else about methadone. Thanks, worried mum.
Fri, 26 Apr 2013
Hello and welcome to Healthcare Magic. Thanks for your query.
I understand your concerns about your son's drug abuse problem. Methadone is given for de-toxification as well as as a maintainence program for opiod addiction. The maintainence dose helps control craving, reduce the chances of going back to unsafe, street drugs and the risks of iv drug use, such as blood borne infections, etc.)
The policy on how long the maintainence dose should be continued and when it should be tapered down varies from clinic to clinic. Generally, this started only after the patient has been free from illicit drugs for a considerable amount of time and feels able or willing to attempt to get completely free of substance use. So, I would suggest that you discuss about this with his treating doctor.
Wish you all the best.
Regards,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist
I understand your concerns about your son's drug abuse problem. Methadone is given for de-toxification as well as as a maintainence program for opiod addiction. The maintainence dose helps control craving, reduce the chances of going back to unsafe, street drugs and the risks of iv drug use, such as blood borne infections, etc.)
The policy on how long the maintainence dose should be continued and when it should be tapered down varies from clinic to clinic. Generally, this started only after the patient has been free from illicit drugs for a considerable amount of time and feels able or willing to attempt to get completely free of substance use. So, I would suggest that you discuss about this with his treating doctor.
Wish you all the best.
Regards,
Dr. Jonas Sundarakumar
Consultant Psychiatrist
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