Treating addiction has no one-size-fits-all approach. Could Suboxone be the right choice for you or a loved one? At our clinic, experienced healthcare professionals can discuss with you the option of using Suboxone and if it’s right for you. Using our expertise, we’ve put together a list of common misconceptions about Suboxone and some general information about its treatment for opioid addiction. At Outreach Recovery, our number one priority is helping people and one of the best ways to do that is through sharing expert information on topics related to opioid abuse.
So read on to learn more about the effects of Suboxone and how it can help on your journey of recovery.
What is Suboxone?
Suboxone is a combination of two drugs – buprenorphine and naloxone. Used to treat opioid addiction and stop withdrawal methods, its two ingredients play different roles in treatment. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, meaning that it blocks a person’s opiate receptors and lessens their urge and desire to use opiates. Naloxone, on the other hand, helps reverse the effects of opioids. Together, these two drugs can be an effective treatment for people with opioid addictions. However, some myths exist when it comes to Suboxone, and we try to dispel them below.
Myth 1: Methadone is Better than Suboxone
While Methadone is perhaps the more well-known treatment for opioid addiction, it’s a different drug from Suboxone and affects patients differently. Neither is ‘better’ in the sense that both drugs cater to different treatment requirements. The format in which each comes, for example, is different.
Suboxone comes in the form of a film or tablet that is taken orally, Methadone comes in several different formats. These include oral tablets, solutions, and concentrates as well as an injectable solution.
Another difference is that Methadone is dispensed at specific clinics, while Suboxone can be accessed through your doctor. In both cases, patients are monitored closely before being allowed to take treatments at home.
Withdrawal from Methadone lasts less, with approximately 2-3 weeks of withdrawal symptoms while Suboxone withdrawal symptoms last from one to several months.
Myth 2: Suboxone Should be Combined with Other Treatments to Be Effective
In an ideal world, therapy and psychological treatment would go hand in hand with Suboxone treatment. But any step towards getting better is a step in the right direction. If Suboxone is the only treatment available to you, it can still be an effective treatment for kicking an opioid addiction.
Myth 3: It’s Easy to Overdose on Suboxone
Compared to other opiates, it’s harder to overdose on Suboxone because it’s only a partial opiate agonist. In fact, it’s very hard to overdose on only Suboxone because there’s a threshold on how much a patient’s opioid receptors can be activated by it. When overdoses do occur, it’s often because the Suboxone is mixed with other drugs or sedatives that slow breathing.
The Final Word From Us
The road to recovery from opioid dependency requires support and our clinic is ready to offer it. We proudly serve the Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Jersey areas and our services take a holistic and personalized approach to help our patients as much as possible. Get in touch with us to learn more about our clinic and how we can help.