Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Apr 12, 2022.
QT interval prolongation and serious arrhythmias (torsades de pointes) have been observed during treatment with methadone. Only approved hospitals and pharmacies can dispense oral methadone for the treatment of narcotic addiction. Methadone can be dispensed in any licensed pharmacy when used as an analgesic. QT interval prolongation and serious arrhythmias (torsades de pointes) have been observed during treatment with methadone. Most cases involve patients being treated with higher doses (greater than 200 mg/day), although cases have been reported in patients receiving doses commonly used for maintenance treatment of opioid addiction .
Available Dosage Forms:
- Solution
Therapeutic Class: Analgesic
Chemical Class: Opioid
Uses for methadone
Methadone injection is used to treat moderate to severe pain when around-the-clock pain relief is needed for a long period of time. Methadone should not be used to treat pain that you only have once in a while or "as needed". Methadone injection is also used together with medical supervision and counseling to treat opioid addiction (eg, heroin or other morphine-like drugs) in patients who cannot take oral medicines.
Methadone is an opioid (narcotic) analgesic (pain medicine). It acts on the nervous system to relieve pain.
Methadone is available only with your doctor's prescription.
Before using methadone
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For methadone, the following should be considered:
Allergies
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to methadone or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Pediatric
Appropriate studies have not been performed on the relationship of age to the effects of methadone injection in the pediatric population. Safety and efficacy..
