Previously, I have discussed low potassium side effects.
The drug is in line with the morphine and heroin yet with different chemical structure and has more or less the same methadone side effects as the others. The drug again is a low cost medication and reduces chronic pain and has been a boon to patients. The most important advantage of the drug is that it significantly reduces the withdrawal symptoms in the people who consume it.
Unlike morphine which is found abundantly in the opium plant it is synthetically manufactured and has been in use in medicine for decades. Originally developed in Germany in the year 1937 it has profound effects on the human body.
The drug with immense benefits
As a synthetic analgesic it is used as an anti-addictive for patients who are opioid dependent. The medication behaves almost exactly like the morphine or heroin although it has a different chemical structure. It also has the same effects as it acts on the same opioid receptors like these drugs and is a good pain reliever.
The relative cost associated with all other similar drugs has made methadone a very affordable form of pain reliever. The medication is taken only as per the prescription of the doctor and any excess can create very harmful effect on the human body. The drug being synthetic has the potential to remain in action for a very long time.
Doctors do not prescribe the drug until and unless they are quite sure that other analgesic have given little relief to the patient. Even for patients who are suffering from life threatening diseases methadone is given only with great discretion or there may be methadone side effects.
In clinical standards morphine unlike methadone is considered the gold standard for analgesics yet it is methadone which prevails when the pain is for long term. The perceptible shift to medicate with methadone is done when the patient no longer shows visible improvements with the other analgesics.
Advantages of methadone analgesic
The medicine is prescribed to patients who are not already being treated with other narcotics as there can be dangerous side effects. In most cases methadone doesn’t react properly with other doses of different pain relievers. It is therefore given after the other doses have been washed off from the body’s system.
If the patient has forgotten to take methadone for a day or three days at a stretch then the doctor must be immediately contacted or serious consequences might follow. Methadone should not be taken by people with a history of illness or diseases. There can be dangerous methadone side effects for asthmatic patients, patients with frequent bowel obstructions, head injuries in the past or distant past, epilepsy and other seizure disorders that can create irreversible side effects.
Treatment for cases like Addison’s disease, low blood pressure, gall bladder diseases, urination problems, adrenal gland disorders or drug and alcoholic addiction are also avoided as taking methadone can create immense complications. In fact, it is very wrong for methadone to be taken with other narcotics, sedatives, tranquilizers and muscle relaxers as these may have methadone side effects.
Methadone is available in dispersible tablet form and is made to dissolve in water. Patients are advised not to chew or swallow whole the tablet as this can have serious implications. It is better to place the tablet in water to let it dissolve slowly or can similarly be placed in fruit juices such as orange juice or other citrus fruit juices.
However, methadone will not dissolve completely even then and the patient without further doubts can take the mixture immediately.
People who have been taking the medicine as other narcotics and has become addicted to it should go and seek instant medical attention for unlike other drugs or narcotics. This is because the drug is primarily a synthetic one and can have dangerous effect on the person’s overall health.
Methadone Side Effects
There is a full post dedicated to side effects of methadone. There can be moderate to severe side effects due to the wrong or excess consumption of methadone by patients. The drug is a good pain killer and there is tendency for person to get addicted to it. This is mainly due to the fact that when a person stops the medicine as per the instruction of the doctor any subsequent pain that he experiences becomes intolerable for him or her. Under such circumstances, the person takes to self medication and consumes methadone as it relieves pain.
Other than the above a patient may experience difficulty in breathing, suffer from reactions like hives, swelling of face, lips, tongue or throat, hallucination or confusions, chest pain, dizziness and pounding of heart beats. During all such cases the person must be taken to the doctor for an immediate check up.
Lesser effects are also seen with taking of methadone and these may be nervous feelings, restlessness, feeling weak, dryness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation and loss of sex drive and loss of appetite.
Again, methadone should never be consumed with alcohol as it can create serious complications and even death. It is a stand alone medication and reacts negatively with other similar drugs and the person can have methadone side effects.
Later on I will address the issue of clonidine side effects.
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