Campaign on Using Methadone Safely

FDA and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have launched a campaign to increase awareness about the risks associated with using methadone and how to minimize them. Methadone has long been used to treat drug addiction, but it is now also being used to treat moderate to severe pain in patients who don't respond to non-narcotic pain medications. Healthcare professionals and patients need to understand the power and potential dangers of methadone in order to reduce the risk and get the maximum benefit from the drug.

Healthcare providers should make sure patients understand that methadone remains in the body even after the pain relief wears off, so taking an additional dose to relieve pain while the earlier dose is still in the body could lead to an unintentional overdose. Also, methadone interacts with many other drugs and supplements. These interactions could decrease a patient's pain relief, or cause a toxic buildup of methadone in the body. That could lead to dangerous changes in breathing or heart beat that could be fatal.

Here are some of the things patients should do if they take methadone:

•Share your complete medical history with your healthcare provider, especially if you are using methadone for the first time.

•Take methadone exactly as prescribed and be sure to follow all your doctor's directions.

•Never take more methadone than the amount prescribed, at the times prescribed. If you miss a dose or feel it is not working, do not take more. Instead, call your doctor.

•Do not consume alcohol and be careful driving or operating machinery.

•Never give methadone to anyone else, and take steps to keep children from accidently taking it.

•Stop taking methadone and call your doctor or 911 if you have trouble breathing; feel dizzy, lightheaded or faint; have chest pain or a fast or pounding heartbeat; are confused or have hallucinations; or develop hives or a rash, or have swelling in the face, lips, tongue or throat.

FDA Patient Safety News: June 2009

For more information, please see our website:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/psn/transcript.cfm?show=87#7

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Methadone
• FDA
• SAMHSA
• overdose
• pain
• drug addiction

[mobitz57]

it is a dirty med, you never really know how a person is going to metabolize it.

[BOBMAN1980]

I knew abuot a chick who died as a result of od-ing on methadone after trying to get high off it. AWESOME!