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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Methadone toxicity? Heart damage? Rotten teeth?

Sentience

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Joined
Oct 15, 2009
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http://www.resource4thepeople.com/defectivedrugs/methadone.html

Methadone
Free Defective Drugs Case Review

Concern continues to grow regarding the prescribing of Methadone in Cardiovascular patients who suffer from chronic pain. Methadone, a synthetic opiate, is used to relieve several types of ongoing pain, especially for discomforts related to ongoing heart problems.

Patients regularly taking Methadone have been most commonly reported to experience:

* Heart Arrhythmia
* Heart Attack
* Severe Valve Damage
* Cardio-toxicity

Those taking Methadone are also at risk for unpredictable allergic reactions, as well as sudden death. Methadone can be found under many brand names such as Diskets, Dolophine, and Methadose. It is similar to Morphine as it is considered a narcotic pain reliever, additionally it can be highly addictive to users.
Additional Methadone side effects that patients have experienced:

* Slowed breathing (even after the drug as worn off)
* Unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if immediately stopped taking
* Cannot be combined with alcohol, can be fatal
* Hallucinations and confusion
* Elevated heart rate
* Lightheadedness or faintness

Methadone also comes with various contraindications, that is those drugs that it cannot be combined with, such as Cardizem, Dilacor, Tiazac, Calan, Covera, Isoptin, and Verelan.

The greatest concern among Methadone users is the risk for unforeseen deadly side effects. Though a history of previous problems with narcotic pain relievers may be a precursor to projecting possible injuries, unfortunately those without a problematic history are still at great risk.

Pharmaceutical companies have a responsibility to the medical professionals and patients they provide their products to that they are safe and reliable for use. Responsibility must been taken where error has been made, this error has unfortunately ended and put in danger several innocent live.

If you or a loved one has suffered the devastating effects of Methadone use please contact our firm today. You and your family are entitled to the financial restitution you deserve. Do not hesitate, statute of limitations poses time constraints on litigation limits. Life is too precious, take the first step toward closure by contacting our firm today. Your burdens are our business.


Also, read the number of people with teeth problems self reported below.
 
Dude, you are getting your information here from a law firm that specializes in suing people for shit like damage they had from methadone. THAT IS NOT AN ACCURATE SOURCE TO GET RELIABLE, OBJECTIVE INFORMATION ON METHADONE FROM!!

Why would you choose to use this as your source of information? You cant trust that. Their entire job and salary is based on pointing out and emphasizing the potential negative effects of methadone. They are gonna make it sound as bad as they possibly can.

Just like you wouldnt want to get your info about it from a drug company whose job is to promote and market the drug and make it sound great, you also woudlnt want your info from someone whose job it is to make the drug sound bad. Come on yo, think about it!

For the record, i have never heard of heart attacks as a side effect of methadone use. Maybe the fact that on all the reputable major medical sites as well as the wikipedia entry, there is absolutely zero references to anything about heart attacks when the side effects are discussed, might give you a hint that this page is exaggerating a little bit?

Also, the people who claim to have problems with rotting teeth from methadone have poor dental hygiene. Methadone DOES NOT CAUSE rotting teeth. You know wat it CAN cause?

decreased saliva production. If you dont take good care of your teeth, dont brush, dont floss, or do none of that shit on the regular, having less saliva can cause bacteria to build up on your teeth more becuz there aint saliva to wash it away like there normally would be.

If you take care of your mouth this aint a problem. You got to keep in mind. A lot of longterm methadone users, are also long term heroin addicts. a lot of them didnt take good care of their dental health for many years and their teeth are already fucked up. Then they go on methadone for 10, 20 years and they got less saliva washing bacteria away and they end up having mouth problems and then they go "Oh, methadone ruined my teeth." No, YOU ruined your teeth. you took shitty care of them for your whole life when you were a heroin addict, and once you got on methadone you continued those bad habits, and since methadone can cause dry mouth in some people, it just made it easier for those bad habits to ruin your teeth faster than they normally would.

seriously yo. I see you askin alot of questions about methadone lately. If you want to actually learn the truth about it, dont try and get your facts from fucking anti-methadone lawsuit lawyers, seriously. you need to do research from unbiased, objective sources--ones that aint either for , or against methadone. that is how you are gonna get the best picture of whether or not you want to stay on it.

If i was you I would stop bein so concerned. The risks of methadone aint no better or worse than any of the other drugs you were takin. It seems like you are very hesitant to decide that you are cool with bein on methadone, and I aint sure why. It seems like you got alot of issues, alot of reservations about it and I aint sure why--is somebody tellin you that methadone is a bad drug or somethin? I understand wantin to be educated about any drugs you are on. that definately makes sense.

so if that is just your idea here i get that. But it seems like you are skeptical of it and the type of questions you are askin seem to lean more towards a non-trusting attitude towards methadone. It aint this bad, dangerous drug like some people try and make it out as. Its just as effective and safe as oxy, morphine, hydro, or WTFever. Other than the fact of how potent it is and the issues related to its high strenth, there really aint much difference between methadone and any of the other pain drugs you might be prescribed, so dont trip about it you really dont need to be worrying this much. you aint gonna have a heart attack lose your teeth or some shit from being on low dose methadone. (or even high dose methadone, but especially low dose like you are.) Dont let these shady-ass lawyers who exist only to get money for people on faulty-drug lawsuits try and convince you that its a bad drug, its a wonderful, incredibly useful drug that has made millions of peoples lives normal again, whether thru treating their pain effectively or their addiction or both. I would highly recomment it to anybody who needs pain relief and aint had success with other drugs. If its working for you then just stick with it, there aint no need to be gettin worried and paranoid about it givin you heart attacks and rottin your teeth, those things just aint how it happens.
 
It's becoming routine here to do cardiac screening before putting people on high doses (>150mg per day) of methadone - specifically for QT interval prolongation which can cause fatal arrhythmias. As the risk seems to be dose related, the current practice here is to screen and monitor for indications of developing cardiac issues, especially in those who have other risk factors for QT prolongation.

There are actually quite a lot of drugs which can cause QT interval prolongation and methadone is just one of them. As with any other drug, the risks inherent in using the drug need to be weighed against the benefits taking into account any pre-existing health issues in an individual patient - and this particular risk is well documented and appears in pretty much every list of side effects for methadone that you come across so it's hard to sustain any argument that there's some kind of conspiracy of silence killing people.
 
Yes, I think its legitimate to question the source here, but I started having chest and kidney pain after I started to use Methadone. It could be the combination of drugs and not everyone will necessarily experience these side effects, but there is no doubt in my mind that Methadone is more toxic than Morphine or Dilaudid or Heroin or Oxycodone.

Im not saying some people dont benefit or that nobody should use it, but its toxicity should at least be a fact in your decision.

When there is a high likelihood of abuse, Methadone might be the DOC, but for somebody who addition is not high risk issue and they are already on other toxic drugs straining their liver and kidneys, the toxicity should at least be a factor.

I think doctors like prescribing it for pain because its cheap, not because its best. Oxycontin get flagged by doctors but its no problem getting HUGE doses of Methadone. Why is that? Not because its safer.

For drug maintenance I am sure that Methadone is a step up from shooting heroin for most people, but for Chronic pain I think drugs like Opana and Dilaudid and oxycodone are safer.
 
^^^

While methadone is certainly cheap, in many places - including here - it's rarely prescribed for pain management (my understanding is that it's preferred over the shorter acting narcotics only for quite specific types of pain).

I certainly don't read a lot of posts here or elsewhere about people becoming dependent on methadone for pain relief, while I read many about them becoming dependent on the other drugs you suggest so it may be more widely prescribed for pain relief in some locations than others. I wonder if there's some external factor which makes methadone commonly prescribed for pain in your area or whether those to whom it's being prescribed are using some kind of subsidised drugs programme.

I do think that if you want to discontinue a particular medication because of its risk profile you should carefully investigate the alternatives - historically, a lot of newer, "safer" drugs turn out to carry the same risks as the drugs they were intended to replace.
 
Lacey pretty much nailed it. This has all been discussed before and you can search around for more information.

If you're concerned about side effects then this is something to discuss with your doctor. I have never heard of methadone inducing cardiovascular or kidney problems, only being dangerous in people who already have health problems.
 
I already have health problems.

Cardio-toxicity seems to be proven. My current Primary Care doctor is an osteopath and he wont prescribe Methadone because of its toxicity, at least not for chronic pain. However, he wont prescribe me anything. I am on my own until I get in with a pain doctor, which could take months IF I get in at all. He said he said that by comparison, Morphine was less toxic and he would feel more comfortable prescribing that....Morphine is a step up from tylenol, takes the edge off, but I am still not functional.

I am debating whether I should continue the Methadone. Morphine is almost useless to me for my pain, but its the only other long acting I have, besides some Fentanyl patches that are left over....maybe 2 weeks worth?


There is no doubt about it though. Methadone makes my heart hurt, or that general area hurt, on the left side. It hurts a few hours after I take it, then I feel it again as the drug is wearing off.

This is totally anecdotal, but despite it being safely used by many, it IS more toxic than morphine and most of its derivatives. That is generally accepted.....it might be a non issue for most people with a drug habit, but it might be an issue if you are already on drugs that are taking their toll on your ability to filter out harmful substances. It might be more of an issue than say, morphine or Dilaudid is.
 
You cannot say that its "purely anecdotal" and then say that its "proven that it IS more toxic" than other meds.

Please provide sources that document methadone having a higher toxicity than any other of these painkillers.

If methadone is so toxic, why is it approved and totally safe for women who are pregnant and breastfeeding to take?

If you have issues with your body and its ability to process toxins, methadone aint the problem, your bodys toxin-filtering ability is.

Saying that "people" (who these people are, IDK, becuz its just a general term that I aint seen no research to back up in any of your posts) who have these issues may have problems with methadone does NOT mean that methadone is highly toxic or dangerous. The measure of its toxicity would be giving it to healthy people whose immune systems, livers, etc are on point.

looking at situations where a drug is used by people whose health is compromised and then claiming that the drug is the reason for problems when issues come up, is a very unscientific way of lookin at it. Lots of shit affects people whose health aint in the best shape, and if you got liver issues or other problems with your bodys ability to regulate and filter out toxins then that is the issue here. The fact that you didnt experience it that much with other drugs dont mean that methadone is more toxic and a subjective anecdotal experience conducted by you on you, sure as hell aint a scientific study. when you can provide one of them then I will be interested in hearing the conclusions they came up with.

Also, you are on a very low dose. Did you read lolies first post? It says right there that any cardio issues are dose dependent and occur pretty much only with people on high doses of 150+mg.

For the record, the feeling of heart/chest pain that you are experiencing is somethin that I have experienced for YEARS.....After taking EVERY opiate that I have ever used regularly. Ive experienced it the day after use with methadone, heroin, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and oxymorphone.

Its been over 4 years that I have felt that sensation, and since when i was younger I had unexplained passing-out episodes , while they tried to find the source of them I had a Holter monitor, EKG's, and other heart related testing done, and no problems found. I have also talked to my doctor about the heaviness/tightness feeling in the chest from laying on the left side and nobody has ever thought it was a problem or worth looking into. I dont know how much that means but Im just puttin it out there as my experience. I dont think that you can say that becuz you feel a heavy or painful feeling in your chest since you been on methadone that it is definitive proven evidence that methadone has a higher toxicity than other opiate painkillers. You need to be giving research and legitimate sources before you make that kind of claims.
 
I guess I am committing the fallacy of appealing to authority. Because my Osteopath gave the opinion that Methadone is more toxic than morphine, I believed him.

My own personal side effects are anecdotal. However, I may have other reason to believe that Methadone is more toxic than morphine.

when I do a search for Methadone toxicity, out of the first 300 hits, there are numerous studies and commentaries discussing 'cardio toxicity; concerns....no meaningful hits for morphine and cardio toxicity.

When I do a search for morphine and toxicity, I find hundreds and hundreds of sources citing the low toxicity of morphine. We already know that morphine is not very toxic though. The question is whether Methadone is as safe as Morphine. I dont believe we have enough evidence to conclude that it is, and enough reason to believe it might not be.

No, this isnt perfect science, but its not unreasonable either.


I also think you are misunderstanding me. Its not my objective to demonize methadone or take it away from the people it helps. This is more of a rhetorical thread so I can gather information relevant to my personal decision.

See, I am scared about my health. My heart hurts and I am sending out feelers to gather information that is relevant to my own knowledge so I can make an informed decision. This wasnt meant as 'propaganda', this was meant so people will tell me their experiences or so I can learn something. I am not claiming I have the answers or that science is 100% definitive and we have proven that my position is the only right one. I am just concerned and trying to gather some more information to make an informed decision for myself and myself alone.

Hope that clears up any misunderstanding.
 
^woohoo! That college is right by my work... no but seriously, not a very rigorous academic program. I don't doubt their conclusions but I wouldn't use them as a source.
 
Methadone DOES cause heart attacks!!!!

Khadijah,
I know I''m answering your post a few years down the line but I felt like you should be more onformed about the dangers of methadone.I was a patient at a methadone clinic for 3 years because I had become addicted to hydrocodone 10s and had been taking them for a few years for back pain.But eventually I had to keep taking more pills to get the same affect of not being in pain..I eventually sat down with my doctor and told himm I wasn't comfortable with the amount of pills I was taking.So he suggested a methadone clinic.I didn't do any research on methadone because I figured my doctor wouldn't have recommended it if it was harmful.Inside of three months Iwas up to a dosage of 245mgs daily.I stayed at that amount for three years and had only seen a doctor at the clinic 4 times since starting there.

On May 22 of this year I was at one of the tribal casinos in my area.I had been playing blackjack and needed to go to the bathroom.I started walking to tge bathroom and thats the last thing I remember. I woke up 21 days later in the heart unit of the ICU.I had NO Idea what had happened to me.But I was told that my heart had stopped because of the methadone,in fact it kept stopping a total of 7 times because the methadone kept stopping it every time i was revived.I was told that I had been walking to the bathroom and I just fell over on top of a man playing slots who by the grace of GOD happened to be an EMT.If not for him being there I would have died that day.I'm one of the lucky ones because methadone has killed many people,maybe as many as its saved.I don't drink nd hadn't that day and I did no other drugs.The toxology reports showed nothing but methadone in my system.I'm now suing the clinic for overdosing and other reasons.But I hope this lets you know that methadone does cause heart attacks and no i'm not a lawyer.
Thanks
Sincerley,
jice
 
I have reply to this one.. I stumbled upon this. Because I was looking up stuff about methadone n ur heart.. So I have been on methadone for 12 years now.. And I was only 140 milgrams for 8 years I'm down to 113.and I have EKGs done at the place I go to because of the problems methadone causes.. My numbers for the prolonged I'd 517.which Is bad for me.. I could die from sudden cardiac death.. It's so true I've been experiencing my heart making weird movements
..hard to explain. And. My chest feeling heavy not sick but heavy totally different. Iam 35 years old...amd had a opiate problem in my past. That is why on methadone. And I also have a friend who has a pace maker in her chest from methadone use over 20 years. So YES it does cause heart issues in higher doeses it's proven. And I'm going threw it now. And seen others and thought it's was bull shit until I'm now going threw it.. And it's not precribed for pain To much in the state I live in its for opiate addicts and heroin addicts. Well heroin is opiates... But that's why people get it here and cancer patients also get it.. It helps them maintaine a healthy weight cause cancer causes people to not eat right n loose lots of weight. So methadone also makes u crave sweets bad... My husband is also on methadone and my brother and a shit load of friends I know... It's a huge epidemic here opiate addicts... I'm sure it's all over but that is one thing people turn to for help is methadone clinics here. So I'm very educated on this one.. And it does help rote ur teeth and ur bones to ache and be much more brittle.. So that is all a fact.. I also have to take classes to b educated on this whole u r in treatment. Methadone casues slot of issues... And its up to u to decide to put ur self threw it..
 
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