Methadone, an opiate blocker, is used in drug addiction treatment to help overcome opiate addiction, including heroin and prescription painkiller addictions.
The medication functions by occupying receptors in the brain that would otherwise be occupied by heroin or prescription drugs, reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with the drug use.
However, because it’s an opioid itself, methadone still carries the potential for abuse and addiction and should only be used under medical supervision.
Methadone- A opiate blocker
● It is true that methadone is an opiate blocker.
● When methadone binds to mu-opioid receptors, it prevents other opioids from binding to them.
● It is unlikely that methadone-maintained patients will experience a “high” or adverse effect if they attempt to override methadone with heroin.
Methadone is a synthetic opioid that is commonly used for treating chronic pain and opioid addiction. In people who are addicted to narcotics, such as heroin, it reduces withdrawal symptoms and satisfies cravings without causing a high.
How does it work?
Methadone works by changing your brain’s chemical makeup. The effects of heroin and other opiates are caused by your body producing something called endorphins.
Endorphins produce pleasurable feelings in your body and can also mask pain signals to your brain. Methadone stops heroin, oxycodone, or other narcotics from affecting you because it blocks those same endorphin receptors.
Methadone is used to help wean you off of other drugs. For example, many prescription painkillers are opiates (e.g., Vicodin). Methadone works by blocking those same receptors in your brain that other opiates do, making it difficult to get high from them.
But rather than use something like morphine as your other drug of choice, a doctor might recommend Methadone because it has a much longer half-life and a much lower potential for addiction.
Methadone Uses
Methadone is the most widely used medication for treating opiate addiction, and it has been proven to be one of the most effective drug therapies available today.
Doctors prescribe it to patients suffering from severe pain, such as that associated with cancer treatment or non-cancer-related chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and neuropathy (nerve damage).
It’s also used as an alternative to methadone when someone wants to wean themselves off opiates (such as heroin) or other opioid drugs.
Additionally, daily doses of methadone create a methadone “reservoir” in the body, which helps maintain consistent plasma levels of methadone.
Furthermore, if methadone is taken along with other short-acting opioids, such as heroin or morphine, the effects of the short-acting opioids are blocked.
Conclusion
Methadone is essentially a synthetic drug, but it was created to act very similar to morphine or oxycodone. It is a long term opiate blocker, that is meant to be taken orally and slowly released into the bloodstream.
