Some patients dislike the idea of having to take a daily medication, instead preferring an abstinence-based approach or treatment that does not involve medications. Other patients prefer to take buprenorphine, which cannot be taken at the same time as methadone.

Because methadone must be administered by a federally certified opioid treatment program, often through daily in-person visits, individuals who do not have the job flexibility or who have other caregiving responsibilities have a much harder time receiving methadone.