Get addiction help now: (858) 838-4343

get help now

Get addiction help now: (858) 838-4343

get help now

Stop Methadone Ignorance

Time to read: 2 min

Six Steps to Zero Deaths

  1. Never take a prescription painkiller unless it is prescribed to you. Everyone responds differently to pain medications. What is safe for one person may not be safe for another.
  2. Do not take pain medicine with alcohol. Never mix the two, it is a dangerous combination that can be deadly. Alcohol increases the toxicity of pain medication.
  3. Do not take more doses than prescribed. Even after the effects of pain medicine seem to have worn off, it is still depressing the respiratory system. Some medications like methadone may relieve pain for a few hours but will have a prolonged respiratory depressant effect. The body must develop a tolerance to the respiratory depressant effects before the dose can be increased.
  4. Use of other sedative or anti–anxiety medications can be dangerous. Combining pain medicines with other sedative drugs, such as valium, can increase the toxicity of the pain medication. Only take other medications, if directed by the prescribing doctor.
  5. Avoid using narcotic medications to facilitate sleep. Narcotic medications can suppress respiration during sleep. Speak to your physician about safe methods to manage pain during sleep.
  6. Lock up prescription painkillers. If consumed by children or other family members, or stolen and sold on the street, prescription pain medicine can kill.

Links

Zero Unintentional Deaths Campaign
http://www.zerodeaths.org/

AT Forum’s
Methadone Drug Interactions

Lifetree Research’s
METHADONE RELATED DEATHS ON THE RISE – SIX STEPS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Return to Stop Methadone Ignorance

Similar Posts

  • Hot Topic Roundtable

    ByAdmin
    Admin 04/19/2023

    National Methadone Conference AMTA 2001 Tuesday, October 9th 2 P.M. Administrative Detox: Necessary Use or Abuse Joe Neuberger, Delaware NAMA James DePasquale, Long Beach Patient Committee This roundtable examined the practice of “administrative detoxification” from programs, and explored the conflicts between what programs often perceive as a necessary evil and patients often perceive as a…

  • |

    Risk Factors for HCV

    ByAdmin
    Admin 03/22/2023

    HCV Info Fact 24 August 2003 The risk factors for Hepatitis C Virus infection are: Intravenous drug use- Current or remote intravenous drug use accounts for 50% of new cases of HVC; 50% to 60% infected with HCV within 3 months of initiation of injection behavior Intranasal cocaine- Risk factor suggested by epidemiologic evidence Tattooing…

  • NAMA Talk-1

    ByAdmin
    Admin 04/22/2021

    NAMA Talk Volumn 2, Number 2 March 15, 2000 Organizational News by Joycelyn Woods This will be a short column since there is a lot of Reading in this issue of NAMA Talk and we are busy, busy, busy with the AMTA Conference. Maureen Neville reports that the Patient Board had a meeting last week…

  • NAMA Policy Statement: Medical Methadone Maintenance”

    ByAdmin
    Admin 01/03/2023

    The National Alliance of Methadone Advocates supports the concept of Medical Maintenance and the prescribing of methadone outside of the methadone clinic setting. Medical Maintenance was initially implemented for patients who had achieved a high level of functionally in society and were hindered by the regulations that were conceived with the dysfunctional patient in mind….

  • Conferences and Events

    ByAdmin
    Admin 02/17/2023

    2009 American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence April 25 – 29, 2009 New York The next AATOD National Conference will be convening on April 25 – 29, 2009 at the Hilton New York in New York, New York . AATOD produces national conferences on an 18-month cycle. These conferences have been convening since…