Methadone Clinic Louisville KY
Methadone Treatment
Many of our clients come to Kentucky Recovery once they have stepped back and discovered that the structure of their day is overcomplicated and unpredictable and that the search to get well is all-consuming. Let Kentucky Recovery help you put some boundaries around your day so that you can move forward and accomplish the goals you want to in this life. Kentucky Recovery offers a comprehensive harm reduction approach that is doable and supported, in an atmosphere and support team that sees you as capable and treats you with dignity and respect. We’ll help you get your life back on track, you can take this new path, let us be the guide.
What is Methadone?
The methadone treatment is a harm reduction approach using replacement therapy to overcome an addiction to narcotics or other opioids, e.i., heroin, oxycodone, or fentanyl, to reduce the symptoms triggered by abstinence syndrome and for maintenance therapy in support of recovery. Kentucky Recovery professionals create a customized recovery plan to include medical supervision with the necessary medical, social, and psychosocial support.
Methadone is shown clinically and approved by the CDC to reduce the consumption of narcotics and opioids, e.i., heroin, oxycodone, or fentanyl. It is quickly integrated with most lifestyles and, taken orally, has no effect on the individual’s mood or cognitive functions that are experienced with the original drug of preference.
Patients on methadone replacement therapy show a marked improvement in living conditions and outcomes when supported by Kentucky Recovery’s Louisville methadone clinic and our recovery specialist and support team with years of experience in the recovery field. With the help of our professionals, our methadone clients keep their jobs, are responsible and attentive parents, and can accomplish their life goals. When you partner with Kentucky Recovery, we design a recovery plan that builds in the psychological and social support which can uncover the root of your personal addiction and help you heal your whole self so you can fully recover from addiction.
Medication Assisted Treatment
Suboxone, Methadone, & Vivitrol. MAT is Medication + Therapy.
Why Methadone Maintenance Therapy?
The purpose of MMT (Methadone Maintenance Treatment) is a harm reduction approach to preventing death by overdose at its most crucial intervention. Kentucky Recovery is here to save lives, yours and of those that you love. Its goal of harm reduction reduces illegal drug use and the crime, deaths, diseases, and other negative consequences often compelled by drug addiction. Methadone can also detoxify addicts, but most addicts who detox using methadone or any other method then revert to their drug of choice. So the purpose of methadone maintenance treatment is to reduce or eliminate use among addicts by stabilizing them with methadone for as long as it takes to put their lives back together and avoid falling back into previous patterns of addiction. Kentucky Recovery is a partner and a stabilizer in this very personal wellness process.
Compared to significant modalities of drug-free treatment, therapeutic communities, and addictive drug treatments, methadone is the one that has been most rigorously studied and has produced the best results.
Kentucky Recovery methadone treatment center provides effective methadone treatment that helps in HIV/AIDS prevention, reduces the frequency of injections, and the exchange of needles among drug addicts. The MMT is also an essential point of contact for TDs (total dissolved solids) with practitioners and provides an opportunity to teach drug users techniques to reduce the chances of harm and prevent HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other harm to health, during their initial onset into the recovery process.
How does methadone work?
Methadone is an opioid agonist that has a series of actions similar to those of morphine and other narcotic drugs. Those with substance abuse disorder are physically addicted to their drug of choice and experience withdrawal symptoms if the concentration of that drug in their body falls below a certain level. In maintenance treatment, patients receive enough methadone to avoid withdrawal symptoms caused by a lack of the original drug, but not enough to produce a high or narcotic effect.
If you or any of your loved ones are suffering from drug addiction, get in touch with our Methadone Clinic Treatment Specialist at Kentucky Recovery. We are here for your help and will offer you the best possible solution to your problem.
‘Pharmacotherapies’ is a term that means using medication to help treat conditions such as addiction. Therapies for recovery include methadone, suboxone and vivitrol.
Methadone is accessible through our doctors at Kentucky Recovery who have been trained to prescribe it. The medication itself is delivered through Kentucky Recovery. Recovery Including Mental Health support combination services may be required if you have additional and complex medical, psychiatric or psychological problems. At Kentucky Recovery we partner with our sister company Kentucky Mental Health Care to offer comprehensive support that is easy to do and increases the rate of sustained recovery and improves life goals outcome with the right support for your unique needs.
When a person becomes dependent on heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl other opioids (such as morphine or codeine), they need treatment and support. Medication treatments (pharmacotherapies) for dependence include methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.
Before a person starts a treatment program for recovery, it is important that they understand what is involved. A doctor experienced in drug treatment, who build out a drug therapy plan with you, can explain the process.
An approved prescriber can prescribe a regular dose of methadone or buprenorphine to a person who is heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl-dependent. Methadone is taken as a drink and supplied at our Kentucky Recovery locations daily as prescribed, during times that allow you to make the most productive use out of your day, so you can accomplish your life goals.
Recovery Medications: What to Expect
Your Kentucky Recovery Provider will design your Recovery Plan and may incorporate these medications, some may be introduced during your recovery process to move you ahead in your recovery goals. They will also work with Kentucky Mental Health Care providers if they find that you have co-occurring mental health needs; not everyone does. Still, if you do, your plan will incorporate a comprehensive approach that may include additional medication in combination for improved results.
Methadone is an opioid. Unlike heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl, it does not give the user a euphoric sensation (a ‘high’). However, its effects on the body are similar to heroin in many other ways, including:
- pain relief
- feelings of general wellbeing
- reduced blood pressure
- slower heart rate
- drop in body temperature.
Pharmacotherapy treatments like Methadone are a part of a Harm Reduction protocol because it cost less than heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl, so the person can put their money to better use and go about their day and accomplish their goals without wasting energy on the quest for the next dose and the negative outcomes that can and often do accompany it.
Methadone can cause unpleasant side effects, but adjusting the dose can help, tells us if you feel off because we can help with adjustments to minimize all that you are about to read below. It should not be a deterrent only an awareness piece. In some cases, side effects can be caused by taking more than the recommended dose, or by using other drugs or medications at the same time, such as alcohol or tranquilizers.
A number of people have died after mixing methadone with other drugs. While taking methadone, avoid:
- alcohol
- heroin
- oxycodone
- fentanyl
- sedatives, tranquilizers and sleeping pills
- all prescribed pain relievers containing dextropropoxyphene
- Dilantin (epilepsy medication).
Side effects of methadone treatment can include:
- Withdrawal symptoms, if your dose is too low. These types of symptoms will begin around days 1 to 3 and peak at day 6. They include difficulty sleeping, aggression, irritability, abdominal cramps, tremors, spasms and drug cravings
- Lowered blood pressure, dizziness and shallow breathing, if your dose is too high
- Tooth decay – as with heroin and other opioids, methadone dries up the saliva in your mouth, resulting in tooth decay. This can be minimized with good oral hygiene
- Menstrual changes
- Sweating
- Constipation
- Sexual dysfunction (low sex drive)
- Drowsiness
- Heart palpitations
- Dizziness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Skin rashes and itching.
Methadone does not suit everyone. Some people do better with residential programs or detoxification.
Methadone for Pain Relief: Methadone is not only used to treat heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl dependence. Specialist pain doctors sometimes prescribe methadone to treat certain chronic pain conditions.
Buprenorphine is a partial opiate agonist, which means it stimulates the cell receptors that are normally stimulated by opioid drugs like heroin and methadone, resulting in a much weaker response. Suboxone tablets contain buprenorphine.
Characteristics of Suboxone (buprenorphine) include:
- It is as effective as methadone in managing the symptoms of heroin withdrawal.
- Suboxone use on its own is very unlikely to cause overdose.
- A short course of Suboxone can help a person to withdraw from their methadone maintenance program.
- Only one daily dose (or less) is needed, due to its long-lasting effects.
Long-acting injectable buprenorphine is also available for some patients, with injections given either weekly or monthly depending on individual needs.
Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist, which means it blocks the opiate receptors in the brain, reducing the effects of opioids. It is used to deter heroin, oxycodone or fentanyl use, as it stops individuals from achieving a ‘high’. It has benefits in the later stages of recovery as a preventative for relapse. Characteristics include:
- Before starting naltrexone treatment, a person must not have used opioids in the past 7 to 10 days, or they can experience immediate and acute withdrawal symptoms.
- Naltrexone offers faster detoxification than methadone.
- By itself, naltrexone does not cause physical dependence.
- Naltrexone does not directly stop someone from wanting to use.
- Naltrexone treatment may only suit people who are highly committed to giving up their drug of choice.
- Naltrexone works best as part of a comprehensive treatment program, which includes counseling.
Naloxone and buprenorphine combinations can be used in a Kentucky Recovery Treatment Plan if needed and agreed upon.
Long-acting injectable Naltrexone is also available for some patients, with injections given either weekly or monthly depending on individual needs.
