Many individuals don't understand this completely when they start a methadone maintenance program, but methadone as a prescription medicine doesn't in fact treat opiate addiction. Methadone, whether used as part of an opiate maintenance program or abused illicitly, creates significant dependence which is way more severe than other opiates such as heroin. For this reason, individuals who would like to get off of methadone will need to undergo methadone detoxification with the aid of rehab specialists. Whoever has attempted to stop methadone use on their own cold turkey can tell you that this is almost impossible, and many relapse in a short time. With expert methadone detoxification, there's hope for individuals who need to get off of the drug completely. Inside an alcohol and drug detox center drug treatment program which handled methadone dependency and addiction treatment experts work tirelessly to ease withdrawal symptoms and ensure methadone detoxification is really a safe course of action. There won't be any real health problems related to methadone detoxification when the person is healthy, however this isn't always true. Illness as a result of substance abuse might make methadone detoxification dangerous, which is one more reason people should undergo methadone detoxification in a specialist setting.