Is Suboxone good treatment for opiate addiction?

Drug addiction causes misery.

Many addicts want to escape that misery. But only a few avoid that fate of helplessness on their own. The rest of them, however, need help with going back to a healthy, normal way of living. The most important type of help will be a well-planned treatment. And this treatment can be divided into three separate parts. These parts include medication, counseling, and the support from friends and family members.

Today, we’re going to discuss the medication part of the treatment.

And that brings us to Suboxone—the drug that’s used for treating addiction and that’s recommended by many opioid treatment clinics.

Suboxone is a prescribed drug that’s used for treating opiate addiction. But before diving deep into understanding Suboxone treatment, let’s know what opiates are.

Understanding opiates

Opiates belong to the family of narcotic drug. They’re derived synthetically or naturally from an opium poppy plant’s seed. Opiates function as sedatives, so they’re often used for depressing the activities within a body’s central nervous system. That’s why you’ll find doctors and surgeons using opiates for inducing sleep and reducing the sensation of pain.

But when opiates are used for a long term, people get depended on them. And by using this drug often, people’s tolerance for it increases. That’s when they’d increase the dosage of opiates to experience good effects. And, eventually, the dependence and dosage increase cause addiction. In some cases, the addiction may cause accidental overdose and death.

The list of commonly used opiates is given below.

• Fentanyl
• Heroin
• Vicodin (hydrocodone)
• Morphine
• Oxycodone
• OxyContin
• Methadone
• Codeine

Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of opiates, let’s see how Suboxone can be part of the best opioid addiction treatment program.

Treating opiate addiction through Suboxone

As an oral prescription drug, Suboxone was green-lighted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat opiate addiction. That happened in 2002. And since then, Suboxone is prescribed as either a film or sublingual tablet. This drug has two active drugs.

Buprenorphine: It’s partial antagonist stuff that gives relief from withdrawal symptoms and craving. Buprenorphine blocks the opiate receptors found in the brain.

Naloxone: It’s an opiate antagonist. And it’s used for blocking an opiate drug’s effects. 

The combined use of these two active drugs lets a patient avoid the shortcomings that are found in an individual drug. For instance, buprenorphine has the potential to be addictive. But naloxone quashes buprenorphine’s opiate effects. That means naloxone is a deterrent that affects only when opioids are injected inside a system.

Despite its use in treating addiction, Suboxone is thought of just as a detox aid. Something that’ll only decrease the discomfort faced during withdrawal symptoms. Yes, Suboxone can be used as a detox aid—but that’s just a part of its use.

The effectiveness of a Suboxone treatment

Many opioid treatment centers recommend Suboxone because the drug has shown promising results. When the drug is administered under the care of qualified treatment providers, it’ll reduce the cravings that come with long-term opioid use. When it’s compared with methadone, Suboxone is faster acting and less addictive.

In some cases, Suboxone worked better when it was used for longer periods. A study showed that the opioid-depended youth who used Suboxone for 12 weeks sustained abstinence longer when compared with their counterparts who attended a two-week detox program.

A word of caution

Overall, Suboxone shouldn’t be used by people with severe to moderate liver dysfunction. If that’s done, it’ll lead to worsening of the symptoms. A few common side effects of the medication include nausea, headache, vomiting, constipation, excessive sweating, pain, insomnia, and peripheral edema.

Likewise, there are some dangers if Suboxone isn’t injected properly. That’s why it’s necessary to always have a Suboxone doctor who’ll administer the drug during the maintenance or treatment programs.