Pinnacle Treatment Centers Wants the Community to Know that a Methadone Doctor Can Help Patients who are Addicted to Painkillers

Pinnacle Treatment Centers want people to be aware that if there is someone among their friends and family who is struggling with opioid use, there is a strong possibility that with the proper treatment they can and will get better. This is most likely to happen when the person is treated by specialists. Pinnacle Treatment Centers have these specialists on staff, and they have several locations across the country.

Unfortunately, opioid drug addiction is a very common thing in the United States. The good news, however, is that many people have been able to get off of this very addictive substance and often that has been done through the use of methadone and the treatment of a methadone doctor. Some people aren’t familiar with what is methadone. Methadone is a drug that was developed in the 1940s that has proven successful in helping people to wean off of heroin and other opioid-based drugs.

Methadone is used in government-sanctioned, federally recognized and regulated treatment facilities. It is known as “medication-assisted treatment” or MAT and it has been fully accepted and approved formally by the federal government since 1997.

One of the most important things to realize about people who are addicted to opioid drugs is that it is not a character flaw or simple weakness. According to a report from a panel at the National Institute of Health from that year, they saw medication-assisted treatment and the use of methadone as being one of the most effective ways to help addicts move into sobriety.

Tanner S., a former client of Pinnacle Treatment Center, said “I am a new man since I’ve been in treatment at Pinnacle. I’ve now been sober and even off of the methadone for nineteen months. The freedom I feel is incredible and I will always be grateful to the doctors and counselors that helped me. And the methadone was a critically important part of the process. People raise an eyebrow about giving drug addicts methadone but I’m saying – it’s been a game-changer for myself and several of my friends.”

These findings led to a gradual increase in the use of MAT and methadone for the treatment of opioid use disorders. Meanwhile, the prescription opioid crisis struck. Rates of prescription opioid addiction in the U.S. skyrocketed. Between 1999 and 2016 alone, overdose deaths related to prescription opioids increased five-fold. But Pinnacle Treatment Centers and others stand ready to help.

The way the process works is that prospective patients first are requested to come in for an initial examination to confirm the need for treatment. Initial interviews and screening exams are performed during this stage.

If and when a patient is accepted into the program, then the patient can receive methadone on-site. It is usually a daily prescription. The doctor may sometimes allow his/her patients to take the medication to their home under certain circumstances. However very often the methadone doctor will ask a prospective patient to participate in counseling sessions as well. This is considered to be the best way to achieve sobriety – not just by taking the medication of the methadone but also continued talking with a therapist, and/or meeting with a group of other patients who are also dealing with addiction.

This is not a new or experimental treatment. It is used around the world and achieves success for a large percentage of the people who try it. Many people on this treatment are able to work or go to school, under certain circumstances.

Headquartered in New Jersey, Pinnacle Treatment Centers is a recognized leader in comprehensive drug and alcohol addiction treatment. They serve many thousands of patients daily in California, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

With more than 110 community-based locations, Pinnacle provides a full continuum of quality care for adult men and women which includes medically-monitored detoxification/withdrawal management, inpatient/residential treatment, partial hospitalization/care, sober living, intensive and general outpatient programming, and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. For more information, visit the company’s website at pinnacletreatment.com or call 800-782-1520.