Methadone - Reactions with Other Drugs or Substances

Reactions with Other Drugs or Substances

Methadone becomes far more dangerous when combined with other drugs or alcohol. All types of tranquilizers, sedatives, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs will increase the likelihood of breathing problems if taken along with methadone. The drug should not be combined with other painkillers, even over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil), unless supervised by a doctor.

In a 2004 report, the National Drug Intelligence Center revealed that in 65 percent of all emergency room visits related to methadone use, another drug was also present. Frequently the second drug was alcohol. When used together, methadone and alcohol magnify each others' effects. Drinking while taking methadone can lead to very poor motor control, vomiting and breathing problems, coma, and asphyxiation.

Illegal users of methadone sometimes combine it with cocaine as well. Cocaine causes a different sort of high in the brain, one that is unaffected by methadone. Users of cocaine and methadone find themselves in the difficult position of being addicted to two different substances at the same time, with a host of side effects unique to each substance.

Methadone should not be combined with medications that increase metabolism time in the liver. These include medicines for tuberculosis, such as Rifampin, and medicines for seizures and epilepsyA disorder involving the misfiring of electrical impulses in the brain, sometimes resulting in seizures and loss of consciousness., including Dilantin. Some antibiotics, and even over-the counter vitamins, can increase the level of methadone retained in the bloodstream. Methadone decreases the power of medicines prescribed for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Methadone can worsen nausea, vomiting, and fatigue in patients with AIDS. Since people can be infected with HIV by sharing needles to inject heroin, some ill addicts might not be able to tolerate a methadone plan of treatment.