To evaluate driving aptitude and traffic-relevant performance at peak and trough medication levels in opioid-dependent patients receiving maintenance therapy with either buprenorphine (mean: 13.4 mg) or methadone (52.7 mg) and a medication-free control group, the Addiction Clinic at Medical University Vienna conducted a prospective, open-label trial where 40 opioid-dependent patients maintained...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS For HIV-positive individuals who use illicit opioids, engagement in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) can contribute to improved HIV treatment outcomes. However, to our knowledge, the role of methadone dosing in adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has not yet been investigated. We sought to examine the relationship between methadone dose and ART adherence among a coh...

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the 2-year outcomes for 351 drug misusers allocated on an intention-to-treat basis to methadone maintenance or methadone reduction treatments. Both groups showed substantial reductions in their use of illicit drugs and in other outcome areas. However, whereas most methadone maintenance patients received maintenance, only about one third of those alloca...

BACKGROUND Methadone maintenance therapy is a treatment of choice for opiate addiction. Understanding opiate dependents' experiences of patients' treatment is a key to continue the treatment and can provide help to revise the standards of methadone centers and improve the quality of treatment. This study aimed to describe the essence and structure of opiate dependents' experiences with methadon...

OBJECTIVES This case report aims to help healthcare providers and methadone clinic patients to recognize one of the less recognized adverse effects of methadone, hyperhidrosis, and to suggest oxybutynin as a possible solution. METHODS A 35-year-old man on methadone maintenance therapy presented with excessive sweating, which began promptly after methadone was introduced. Urine toxicology was ...

Background: Clopidogrel is a prodrug that converts in the liver to an active thiol metabolite, which irreversibly inhibits the platelet P2Y12 adenosine diphosphate receptor. It seems that methadone as CYP2C19 inhibitor affects ticlopidine activity in vivo. This study aimed to test the ability of methadone in changing ticlopidine pharmacokinetics. Methods: We conducted a case–control st...

BACKGROUND Although methadone maintenance is effective in reducing injection drug use, needle sharing, and the overall mortality associated with opiate abuse, many health plans offer little or no access to methadone, and many methadone providers do not comply with treatment guidelines regarding dose, duration of treatment, or provision of ancillary services. Moral and political judgments have h...

PURPOSE Methadone is a prescription drug used to help individuals overcome withdraws from highly addictive illicit substances, such as heroin, but it has detrimental oral health effects. This manuscript reviews the oral health manifestations of methadone maintenance therapy, and considers its implications to oral care. It hopes to raise awareness among health care professionals, regulating bodi...