Warning issued on dangers of methadone

[Dark Knight]

People starting treatment with methadone have died and suffered life-threatening side effects, health officials said Monday in warning of the dangers of overdosing on the painkiller.


Overdoses of the increasingly popular narcotic can cause slow or shallow breathing and dangerous changes in heart beat that patients might not feel, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Those side effects, including reports of deaths, have been seen in patients starting methadone treatment for severe pain or who switched to the drug after using other strong narcotic pain relievers, the FDA said in a public health advisory.

The FDA warned that methadone only provides pain relief for four to eight hours, but can linger in the body for eight to 59 hours. That can lead patients to take more of the drug before it has been eliminated by the body, causing the drug to build up in the body to toxic levels, the FDA said.

More at link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_he_me/methadone_warning_1&printer=1

 

[OneLostGrl]

I'm actually surprised it took them this long to warn people.

 

[wasapi]

I understand the importance of warning people, I really do. What concerns me is that it may become more difficult for people to have it perscribed when it can be a useful form of pain control for those who take it responsibly.

After 5 spine surgeries I finally saw a doctor who suggested I try it. I have taken it now for 3 years, and it has saved my life. There were some side effects in the begining but it didn't take long for them to stop. Now I lead a functional and productive life, which I was unable to do with other pain medications.

Prior to methadone I tried other strong pain medications. They helped, but left me groggy and irritable. Also, few insurance companies covered them, and they cost a few hundred dollars a month. Because of that I would try to not take them, only to be incapacited by pain. The methadone cost less then $30 a month.

Julia

 

[CyberLaw]

There has "been a few deaths" due to methadone at a clinic in Ontario.

These have been due to overdoses, lax measures, untrained staff, poor if any labs.

A man had this stuff in his fridge mixed with orange drink, it was not marked, but in a "regular" unmarked container, his son got a drink of juice from the fridge........and drank it....he was 5 years old.

 

[PaulaKay]

My grandma uses methadone to help her pain due to cancer. She's lived with her cancer for around 10 years now and refuses any normal cancer treatments. She's 85.

 

[Dark Knight]

One problem is you can get methadone on the street, so some people get it that way to try and get off heroin, etc. but they don't know the quality and they don't know how much to take. As a result, they often overdose, as it is very easy to do so, as this article states.

 

[southcitymom]

Like many narcotics, methadone - when used under a doctor's supervision -can be an effective drug for chronic pain sufferers. However, like many narcotics, methadone has a street value and many people use it recreationally to get high.

I personally think it's a poor choice of meds to help junkies get off heroin. I know a good many heroin addicts who simply became methadone addicts - with similar accompanying unmanagability despite the change in the substance they were putting in their bodies.

 

[narlacat]

Like many narcotics, methadone - when used under a doctor's supervision -can be an effective drug for chronic pain sufferers. However, like many narcotics, methadone has a street value and many people use it recreationally to get high.

I personally think it's a poor choice of meds to help junkies get off heroin. I know a good many heroin addicts who simply became methadone addicts - with similar accompanying unmanagability despite the change in the substance they were putting in their bodies.

I have too.
The statistics aren't good of people getting off methadone.
It is harder to get off then heroin.

A friend years ago who was on Block A (highest possible dose) could not walk or talk for 6 months trying to get off the done...you never saw anything like it...

 

[narlacat]

There has "been a few deaths" due to methadone at a clinic in Ontario.

These have been due to overdoses, lax measures, untrained staff, poor if any labs.

A man had this stuff in his fridge mixed with orange drink, it was not marked, but in a "regular" unmarked container, his son got a drink of juice from the fridge........and drank it....he was 5 years old.

This happened in Oz just recently, maybe last year.
The father put it in the cough syrup, the little baby girl got into it somehow...I forget the details...but she died and the parents were distraught....how bad would you feel..

 

[southcitymom]

I have too.
The statistics aren't good of people getting off methadone.
It is harder to get off then heroin.

A friend years ago who was on Block A (highest possible dose) could not walk or talk for 6 months trying to get off the done...you never saw anything like it...

Hey narlacat :blowkiss: ! Yeah - it's sad...I know they WANT methadone to help junkies, but I've seen no compelling evidence that it does!