Methadone and Other Medication-Assisted Treatment

Yes. Opioid substance abuse and addiction can be treated effectively with medication-assisted treatment (using either methadone or buprenorphine) combined with counseling.

Some patients dealing with addiction travel to a clinic every day to take their methadone medication, often under supervision, which may help keep their treatment on track. Treatment with medication is also available in the privacy of a doctor’s office from a physician who is trained and certified to treat painkiller dependence and other addictions.

In Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT), a form of medication-assisted treatment based on opioid-replacement therapy, methadone, is used to block the euphoria or “high” associated with other opioids—diminishing the effects of withdrawal and giving patients an opportunity to change their behavior and stop using heroin or prescription painkillers.

Methadone has been used to treat narcotic withdrawal and addiction for more than 30 years. A synthetic narcotic, methadone is itself an opioid—as is buprenorphine.

Methadone clinics and methadone maintenance treatment programs are subject to strict federal laws and regulations. To have access to methadone, you must enroll in a program that has been approved by state and federal governments. You may also have to take your medication at a methadone clinic, under staff supervision; and some programs require urine testing—both for screening purposes to identify illicit drug use, as well as to detect skipped doses of methadone.

Be sure to ask your doctor what other treatment options are available.