Patients usually take it daily for long periods of time for successful treatment.
Because of this, it is not uncommon for patients in those states to drive several hours round trip every day to receive their methadone treatment out of state. Often, recovering heroin addicts, who hold jobs and are responsible parents, suffer from withdrawal if they miss their methadone dose due to common frustrations such as bad weather, family emergencies and traffic congestion. Methadone is almost never dispensed by prescription. Alice Randolph-Diorio of Vermont, who has undergone 26 surgeries related to problems with her pelvis and spine, is one of the exceptions. She is a recovering heroin addict who used to drive three hours to get methadone until a doctor convinced health officials to allow her to have a prescription.