Another benefit of methadone detoxification is that it replaces the withdrawal symptoms of heroin or morphine with the withdrawal symptoms of methadone.

The withdrawal symptoms of methadone are much less severe and easier for patients to handle.

Methadone detoxification began being used in the 1960’s and is now used in the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand and Sweden. A major benefit of methadone detoxification is that it is most often administered orally. This helps addicts break away from using needle injections, which most often lead to getting serious diseases such as HIV.

Methadone does have side effects. These side effects include: drowsiness, lightheadedness, euphoria, weakness, slow or troubled breathing, and dry mouth. Many of these side effects, especially the euphoria are the things that addicts are looking for when using drugs. This has led to some addicts using methadone when they cannot get other drugs. An increase in methadone overdoses during the 1990’s indicated that this was becoming a problem so another drug was approved. This drug is known as buprenorphine. Buprenorphine works well as a treatment because in low doses it helps reduce withdrawal symptoms and cravings, but in high doses cause withdrawal symptoms. This attribute reduces the risk of addicts abusing buprenorphine. There is also another drug, Levomethadyl acetate (LAAM), which is similar to methadone and is used to help addicts become less dependent on drugs.

Studies indicate that methadone detoxification can be very successful, but the key is that patients also need to be a part of other substance abuse treatment programs, such as counseling, mental health evaluations, and support groups. With methadone providing decreased cravings and the other programs addressing psychological dependence, the patient has a higher chance of becoming drug free.