title: Symptom complaints of patients maintained on methadone, LAAM (methadyl acetate), and naltrexone at different times in their addiction careers.
abstract: In this study, side effect complaints were compared between methadone patients on a stable dose with no heroin use for at least 3 months and matched non-drug-using controls; between methadone patients when using and not using heroin; and between patients in treatment (stable dosage, no heroin use for at least one month) and at follow-up, when not using any opiates and no longer in treatment. This last comparison was done for methadone, LAAM (l-alpha-acetylmethadol, methadyl acetate), and naltrexone patients. Methadone patients had more complaints than did non-drug-using controls; patients in methadone treatment felt worse when using heroin than when not using heroin; methadone, LAAM, and naltrexone patients felt worse while in treatment than when they left treatment and stopped using all opiates; the level of complaints for patients abstinent from opiates at follow-up was not different from that reported by non-drug-using controls. The difficulty of ascribing the symptom complaints to the drugs, in the absence of placebo-treated control groups, is discussed.
mesh_terms: D003248:Constipation / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008692:Methadyl Acetate / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009270:Naloxone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D009270:Naloxone; D009271:Naltrexone; D008692:Methadyl Acetate; D008691:Methadone