You have very likely heard of methadone and you may even know something about the medication, but since a great deal of pop-culture knowledge on the drug is false, some of what you believe about the medication may also be false. Below are answers to some common questions about methadone.

What Is Methadone Maintenance Treatment?

Methadone is a synthetic opiate medication. Although it does provide analgesia, it is rarely used as a pain-killer and is much more frequently given as a part of an addiction treatment program.

Methadone has a long half life (a day or more on average), which means that the drug offers long-lasting effects. Taken orally and at therapeutic doses, methadone does not produce euphoria.

MMT is a form of substitution addiction treatment. While participating in an MMT program, opiate addicts take methadone instead of their usual opiate. Since methadone is a strong and long-lasting medication, addicts who take methadone do not experience cravings to use other opiates or the very strong withdrawal symptoms that compel the continued use of opiates.

Since methadone patients feel "normal" while medicated, they can participate in addiction treatment and generally get their lives back in order.

Who Is Eligible for Methadone Maintenance Treatment?

If you have a physical addiction to opiates and are over 18, then you may be eligible for MMT. If you start to feel sick if you do not take opiates, then you have a physical addiction.

If you sometimes abuse pain-killers or other opiates but do not have a physical addiction to opiates, then you should not enter an MMT program. Similarly, if you are addicted to any drug other than opiates (cocaine, meth amphetamine, Xanax, or others), then MMT will not work for you.

What Is Methadone Maintenance Treatment Like?

During your first week of MMT, your doctor will determine an appropriate daily dosage for you. As your dose changes, you may experience slight feelings of withdrawal or sedation/intoxication. Because fear of withdrawal symptoms perpetuates opiate addictions, it's important to reiterate that methadone will keep you from feeling much discomfort.

Once you and your doctor have determined what dosage provides relief from withdrawal symptoms without any intoxication, you will take this dose once daily. You won't inject methadone; methadone in MMT is administered orally, normally mixed with juice.

You will have to go to your local methadone clinic to take this daily dose under supervision. Methadone has abuse potential and you have to earn the trust of your clinical team before earning the privilege of take-home doses. Take-home doses are earned after a long history of treatment compliance, positive lifestyle changes, and clean drug tests. But for the first months or even years of a methadone regimen you can expect to travel daily, or almost daily, to a methadone clinic to take your dose under supervision. Most clinics will eventually allow weekly or even monthly reporting for MMT patients who have made sufficient progress.

Suddenly stopping the use of methadone will result in a very difficult period of withdrawal. To ease the withdrawal symptoms of quitting methadone, MMT patients will taper down their daily dosage over time, gradually reducing their use to minimize the severity of withdrawal symptoms.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) advises a methadone treatment duration of at least a year, although some people choose to taper over a period of many years. Some people choose to take methadone indefinitely, and it is safe to do so when advised by your treatment team.

Any questions you may have about MMT can be answered by treatment specialists at the National Resource Center at (877) 248-3026.