The Advantages And Efficiency Of Suboxone Treatment For Opioid Addiction

What is Suboxone?

Suboxone is a medication that has been approved in 2002 by US Food and Drug Administration, for the treatment of opioid addiction (opioids include heroin and strong painkillers like morphine, oxycodone etc.). The active ingredients are buprenorphine and naloxone.

How does it work?

Considering that buprenorphine is also an opioid, many people do not understand how does it make Suboxone any different than drug abuse.  Suboxone doctors in Ohio should be consulted to lead you through this recovery process.

Well, first of all, substances like morphine or heroin are full opioid agonists, while Suboxone is only a partial opioid. There are no significant concerns about Suboxone’s abuse potential because it has been created to interact with the same brain receptors involved in opioid addiction and trick them, but without generating euphoria, as in the case of methadone, naltrexone or other medication used for the same purpose. This is the reason why patients undergoing a Suboxone treatment are not required to participate in regulated programs.  Erase addiction –

Assisted treatment based on Suboxone also reduces withdrawal symptoms – which are very strong in narcotics addicts; the reported success rate is 20-30% higher than in the case of treatment with methadone. According to most declarations from patients, Suboxone simply makes them feel energized and normal.

Another big advantage is that this medication prevents the effect of full opioids for 24 hours. In other words, if a patient gives in during the Suboxone treatment and uses a full opioid, there will be no euphoria and no pain relief. Not to mention that 24 hours is long enough to allow a patient to regain the motivation to go on with the treatment.

An overdose of Suboxone is potentially dangerous just like any painkillers overdose, but it will still not get the effects of full opioid agonists.

Things to consider before undergoing treatment based on Suboxone

This treatment is always prescribed by a physician, after an overall health check, just to be sure that the patient can take this medicine safely, without experiencing side effects. Suboxone must be prescribed neither to patients allergic to the active substances (buprenorphine and naloxone) nor to those with liver, kidney or lung disease, breathing problems, thyroid problems or with a history brain tumor, seizures or mental illness. The active substances can pass into breast milk generating dangerous addictions in babies, therefore, the treatment should not be taken by pregnant women.

 

Potential side effects

Even will medical precautions, side effects may appear in some cases, being influenced by the dosage forms, the patient`s health, as well as by the interaction with other medications. Potential side effects can range from gastrointestinal, respiratory and endocrine to neurologic, cardiovascular, psychiatric and more. Common symptoms include constipation/ diarrhea, nausea or headaches, and although one must pay attention to them, they are not necessarily dangerous; in most of the cases, they will disappear when the patient`s body gets used with this medication. But if the symptoms get worse, the patient must immediately consult a doctor.

This treatment is prescribed individually; one cannot sell or give away Suboxone to someone else without being subject to legal consequences.