Services
Methadone Detox
If you struggle with methadone abuse, please know you are not the only one. Don’t risk relapse by trying to get off this powerful drug on your own, as the withdrawal symptoms can be severe.
Restored Path Detox is a place where you can recover quickly and safely.
You need knowledgeable healthcare providers and a medically monitored detox facility to get you on a tapering schedule to gradually lower your methadone use over time. Tapering will help decrease the severity of withdrawal symptoms and help you avoid a relapse. We can help you recover quickly and comfortably.
At Restored Path Detox, we’ll work closely with you to develop a plan for long-term success.
Our Approach
We match you with a combination of effective detoxification techniques to provide comfortable, caring, and integrated care. We’ll prescribe targeted medications to alleviate your symptoms of methadone withdrawal and prevent dangerous symptoms.
At Restored Path Detox, we combine non-narcotic medication-assisted treatment (MAT) options, round-the-clock medical supervision, and specialized addiction services. If you feel up to doing so, you are encouraged to participate in individual and group therapy sessions.
Our individualized approach includes:
- Medical, mental health, and whole-person assessment
- Case management and treatment planning
- Individual supportive counseling
- Supportive counseling groups
- 24/7 medical supervision
- Nutritious meals
- Medication management
- Continuing care planning
- Recovery support
Our Environment
At Restored Path Detox, we walk with you through every stage of early recovery in an inviting atmosphere that is unlike a sterile hospital ward. Our entire admissions process is very swift, and starts with a brief pre-assessment over the phone. This information helps our clinical and medical teams determine the severity of the methadone use disorder and identify which detox methods will be the most effective. Once admitted, you will discover a host of amenities that make you feel safe and supported during recovery.
Our amenities include:
- Comfortable, private, and semi-private rooms
- TVs in all rooms
- Executive wing with private rooms
- Cell phone access is available for executive-level patients, as clinically appropriate
- Gourmet meals created by licensed nutritionist
- Kitchenette area stocked with snacks
- 24/7 nursing on all units
- ADA-accessible bathrooms with toiletries
- Outdoor courtyard and garden area
- Inviting, well-lit common spaces
- Premium linens
- Massage
- Acupuncture
U.S. physicians can legally prescribe methadone as a Schedule II narcotic. It has accepted medical uses to treat severe, chronic pain, such as cancer. It is also used to treat addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin.
Methadone is available as a tablet, powder, or liquid. It is a painkiller used with patients in severe, persistent pain, but methadone is highly addictive.
Methadone is an opioid-agonist drug like heroin or opium, and while milder, it is still a narcotic. If you take methadone in any form, you risk harmful physical and psychological effects.
Some mild effects with short-term use are:
- Drowsiness
- Dry mouth
- Lightheadedness
- Urinary retention
- Gastrointestinal distress
- Sexual impotence
But you may experience severe side effects, such as:
- Irregular heartbeat
- Depressed respiratory function
- Tremors
- Unstable gait
- Fainting
- Seizures
- Anaphylactic reactions
- Death due to overdose
Psychological side effects include:
- Hallucinations
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Delusions
- Suicidal ideations
- Impaired concentration
Most U.S. data sources quantify drug abuse combine by combining methadone with other narcotics, so the precise effect of methadone can be hard to determine, however:
- In 2017, methadone was responsible for 3,194 overdose deaths.
- In 2014, it accounted for 1% of all opioids prescribed but responsible for 23% of all prescription opioid deaths.
- Per the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2017, about 261,000 people aged 12 and older reported using methadone for a non-prescribed purpose at least once in their life.
- Nearly 1% of U.S. high school seniors in the United States abused the drug at least once in their lifetime, according to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future Survey.
Methadone addiction can develop illicitly through misusing it or without a prescription. Research on methadone’s potency, such as a study in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, has discovered that snorting a powered version can result in a rapid high with an opioid-like effect but ultimately lead to severe methadone addiction. Long-term methadone use can cause brain, nerve, and liver damage.
Symptoms of methadone misuse include:
- Reduced reaction time
- Limited attention span
- Visual difficulties
- Reduced mental processing
- Slower affect
- Drowsiness
- Droopy eyelids
- Dry mouth
- Muscle flaccidity
- Reduced body temperature
- Lowered blood pressure
To get high on methadone, you need to take abnormally high doses more frequently than prescribed. If you opt to inject or snort methadone, the drug is released into your body over time and builds up in the tissues, causing long-term toxicity effects.
Overdose symptoms include:
- Low blood pressure and a weak pulse
- Constricted or pinpoint pupils
- Body spasms
- Dizziness
- Cold, clammy skin
- Blue lips and fingernails
- Absence of breathing or consciousness
Although methadone may be used to ease heroin and prescription painkiller withdrawal symptoms, the use of methadone itself may lead to dependence.
Like other opioids, withdrawal symptoms for methadone include:
- Agitation, restlessness, and anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Yawning
- Increased tearing or watery eyes
- Runny nose
- Sweating
- Shivering, trembling, or goosebumps
- Muscle aches or joint pain
- Nausea or vomiting
- Abdominal cramps
- Diarrhea
Withdrawal symptoms may take two to four days to develop and fade over ten days.
Your doctor may prescribe other medications during methadone withdrawal and dosage taper to help ease symptoms should they occur. These medications include:
- Clonidine for high blood pressure, nausea, cramps, and rapid heart rate
- Over-the-counter pain medications for headache, muscle ache, and bone pain
- Bismuth subsalicylate to help with diarrhea
- Benadryl or trazodone to help with insomnia
Many people attempt to ride out methadone withdrawal on their own. Let us help you.
One of the most significant risks of stopping using methadone all at once is relapse. Other health complications may require immediate medical attention, including:
- Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance
- Aspiration and infection
Tapering methadone use can help prevent severe withdrawal symptoms and decrease the risk of potential withdrawal-associated medical problems. Our medical team will determine and supervise a schedule for reducing your methadone dosing.
