Methadone Effects : Methadone Blocking Effects

Methadone binds to the opioid receptors in the brain and is used as a maintenance drug because of the way that it blocks the euphoric rush of drugs like heroin. Learn about how methadone is used to ease the process of coming off of heroin with help from a licensed mental health counselor in this free video on methadone and drug addiction.

[leecortez]

This guy doesn't know what he's talking about, methadone withdrawal is 10x worse than heroin withdrawal by far.

[traviss]

I've never wanted to kill myself as much as I did when I went from 170mg to zero of Methadone in 17 days...down 10mg a day. By the time I was down to 20 mg I ended up in a psychiatric hospital on a hold where they detoxed me with Dilaudid as they said the rehab I was at had no business tapering me so quickly. It was the most painful, horrible experience of my life.

[michaelsmith]

Methadone has saved my life! I am currently on 110mg, and it has allowed me to become the person I once was. However I have to disagree with you, Methadone withdrawal is far far far worse than any other opioid street drug by far, and can last way longer than any other withdrawal. Just wanted to throw that out there.

[samosheppard]

Methadone doesn't have a structure similar to morphine or heroin chemically speaking and it doesn't have a "blocking" affect it has less affinity for the Mu receptor (and Kappa and Delta receptors far less significantly) although it's Mu receptor activation is 2-5% higher (intrinsic activity) than Morphine.

However - it doesn't "block" morphine and certainly not heroin (diamorphine) this is a property of Buprenorphine which is because it has such a high receptor affinity that it blunts the ability of other opiate receptor agonists to actually bind to the receptors required for activation but it has a relatively low intrinsic activity therefore behaving more like a receptor Antagonist if one is already an opioid addict to (most) Full Agonist opioids (morphine through heroin through fentanyl and so on).

Methadone also has Receptor Antagonist properties on the NMDA receptors and although this is mild "on paper" certainly at higher doses of the drug it can become apparent and it blocks one or two types of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors also and is a Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor... all of which combined with a ridiculously variable half life from several hours in some to over a hundred in others and endless interactions with other medications and even foods and even Grapefruit juice for example adding up to mean it's actually a FAR worse withdrawal experience and I speak from Personal not just other peoples' experiences and coming off of 5 years approx. of 140mg a day of this stuff felt like it was a BREEZE To come off UNTIL after nearly a FULL WEEK I realized the withdrawal HAD NOT EVEN STARTED YET!

It does NOT have a "blocking" effect either and if one has no tolerance to opioids and combines e.g. Methadone with Morphine or Heroin it WILL have an ADDITIVE EFFECT and won't have a Buprenorphine-like "ceiling effect" and can VERY MUCH KILL YOU!

The fact is that any "blocking" or "blunting" effects from methadone are due to the fact it causes your tolerance to go SKY HIGH through saturating your body and Mu opioid receptors constantly with a lot of activity and that huge level of tolerance means you need to vastly increase the dose to get any real noticeable effect from e.g. heroin after a long time of high dose daily Methadone Maintenance Treatment and that is all it is down to - bearing in mind this effect would happen (albeit at varying rates) with *ANY* opioid drug even Buprenorphine. Any receptor Agonist or Partial Agonist induces TOLERANCE contrary to what some people say.

Mistakes like these are what KILL people and it concerns me a great deal that this person claims Methadone Withdrawal is somehow LESS than the short acting regular opioids with relatively simple pharmacokinetics and pharmacological properties when it causes not just Opioid Receptor but Serotonin Transporter and NMDA receptor withdrawal ALL at once along with it's higher intrinsic activity than morphine AND it's protracted half-life and complicatedly extended time required for excretion from the body tends to add u

How can these people make so many mistakes!!!? These are the supposed "experts" and no wonder people DIE from bad prescribing advice and people totally unqualified to have access to let alone be prescribing this stuff!

[simplelivingwithstephaniec]

I had to go back to my Norco Habbit because methadone is too intense it fucks you up mentally and physically, mostly mentally I feel in my situation. I knew I could handle withdrawing off my Norco than I can do the methadone but I kicked it all by my self. and I'm still struggling. and "they " say 75℅ is all in your head. I feel it's about 15 to 20℅ in your head and the rest in your blockers. good luck to you all out there who are on it and trying to kick it. may God be with you

[samosheppard]

Coming off 140mg Methadone after 5 years following a 6 year battle with crack use and 2 grams of IV heroin a day it took 5-6 slow boring days for it to go from cravings to physical agony and hell. By that point if it was "just heroin" I'd expect to have been in hell all that time but it would be abating somewhat by then. But the withdrawal from methadone sucks and has way more side effcts than heroin etc. Heart rhymthm abnormalities etc.

The "blocking effect" is the condition you up in where you're physically hooked on the stuff and because it saturates your body it just blunts the effects of other opiates - after long term use that is.

Each person's withdrawal will be unique though.

[spitblueblood]

actually methadone withdrawal is longer and more severe... but thats the problem with doctors, you can only learn so much from a textbook.

[EZgoN]

Man talk about blocking agent when I took suboxone it helped but I still felt the methadone. 17 days without methadone and 14 days on suboxone and still not feeling good but I have stamina and still get minor cramps. But for me its a miracle drug in that I'm not sick and getting this out of my system slowly but surely. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy ride. But its getting better everyday even if I'm still feel the methadone effects.

[mgk]

Also you should add that the blocking effect is dose dependent. Low doses of methadone actually potentiate full agonists. For me I didn’t notice any blockade until over 80mg.

[TonyMon]

You will have thyroid problems, adrenal issues all kinds of stuff from a log term methadone addiction which is rarely seen in heroin detoxs. Both seem to similarly effect on seretonin/dopamine production though.

[CoventryCircleParanormal]

The withdrawls on methadone are way worse than heroin... I came off of 70mg last year so slow it took me over 6 months an i withdrawls were so bad.. Even the nurses at the clinic i was going ti, said methadone was worse... An you don't feel back to normal for like a month. But everyones diff all i know is my experience sucked!!

[abspot]

Please help me, after i stop methadone for 36-48 hours, then after i take heroine, will i start feelin high from heroine ?

[lassef]

Sure but the withdrawal from methadone can go for a month or two just have that in mind when you get it for pain. I used it to get off tramadol because I have chronic pain but I needed a break from all the painkillers. I found that if you change to methadone on around 10 ml and 5 at evening and then cut down to 10/2.5 then 5/2.5 then 5, 2.5/2.5 2.5 finish with a week between them. Then you get off it pretty easy 🙂 but again I only used methadone to get of opioids and I know if you take methadone for long time it's gonna be a hell to get of it

[manicmurph]

Methadone withdrawal is way worse than heroin.

[aldorfc]

As I went through mind games as was on methadone script high dose and been stable for 3 years however my mind played games and decided to buy some brown and I got excited like the first time ( honeymoon period) anyways after serveral lines I'm thinking I'm not feeling anything by the time I smoked half a gram I inky feel effect of my methadone and I was gutted and raging at same time as I spent alot of money on brown anyways I'm glad I seen this video as its true you won't feel effect if you smoke it if your on methadone.
Don't waste your money on it.
I hear stories that methadone is worse to withdraw from than brown

[abspot]

Im currently using methadone, how many days should i stop methadone to feel high from heroine ?

[yan]

I been taking Methadone by 12mg tops every 24 hours for 3 years every single day, now i'm taking by 11.5mg once in 24h for almost a year untill i taper off on 11mg and keep tapering off until i quit hopefully!

[reggievanness]

Amen to that! Man you know what you are talking about that's for Dam sure...

[Bonesph]

Methadone withdrawal lasts longer then traditional opioid withdrawal. Its not as intense though but some think it is so they blame doctors for putting them on it.

[alexandraruiz]

Does anyone know how long after quitting methadone can u feel heroin effects???? I'm worried my friend quit treatment to get high again😢