Suboxone Can Assist Recovering Addicts in 4 Different Ways

Suboxone is a drug that is frequently used in drugs to treat opioid use disorder addiction (OUD). Suboxone is good for controlling withdrawal symptoms and lowering cravings and aids in people’s attempts to stop using opioids. To help with continued cravings and to lessen the severe symptoms of opioid withdrawal, suboxone was developed as an alternative to methadone. An individual is probably a candidate for a Suboxone treatment if they have a strong desire to stop using opioids but are experiencing significant cravings. Read ahead and find out how Suboxone Can Assist Recovering Addicts in 4 Different Ways. 

What is Suboxone?

We are introducing an opioid prescription medicine called Suboxone which is used to treat opioid dependence. It can be used both as a maintenance medication to aid in the recovery from opioid use disorder as well as an induction agent to stabilize a person going through withdrawal during the course of medical detoxification. Buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist, and naloxone, an opioid antagonist, are combined in this medication, which is delivered as a dissolvable film put either under the tongue or in the cheek. 

How Does Suboxone Work?

Suboxone is an opioid drug classified as a partial opioid agonist, meaning that it has only somewhat potent opioid effects. This makes it easier for you to stop using your preferred opioid drug because Suboxone lessens withdrawal symptoms and cravings without having the same negative effects as other opioids (such as heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, etc.). High binding affinity may also prevent other opioids from engaging your opioid receptors and binding to them, which can prevent the usage of other opioids.

It’s vital to comprehend how opioids’ addictive effects on the brain in order to comprehend how Suboxone functions. Opioids interrupt pain signals and have euphoric and soothing effects by attaching to certain receptors on brain nerve cells.

The brain’s pleasure regions are activated by opioids. The brain then remodels itself to accept more of the medication for sustained pleasure. Both dependence and addiction are brought on by this.

Suboxone is a medicine that effectively treats opioid addiction, but it is frequently used as a component of a complete treatment strategy that also includes behavioral therapies, mutual-help groups, and, if necessary, care for any co-occurring mental health disorders (like depression or anxiety).

Benefits of Suboxone Use in Medications for Addiction Treatment

Suboxone was created to be simple for recovering individuals to take. It comes in two different forms that dissolve in your mouth: a tablet and a sublingual film. In essence, each of these approaches yields the same outcomes. However, some patients believe tablets to be more discrete, and they are occasionally less expensive than the film. On the other hand, some patients prefer the movie because it allows them to gradually reduce their dosage when their recovery objectives call for completely weaning off the medicine. Never carry out this procedure without your doctor’s approval.

The WHO maintains a list of essential medications, and Suboxone is one of them. It is a vital resource for helping patients with opioid use disorders manage moderate to severe opioid withdrawal and cravings. Suboxone has other advantages for treating addiction, such as: 

• Improved overdose protection.
• Reduced danger of abuse.
• Long-lasting effects might make alternate-day dosage possible

Signs And Symptoms Of Substance Use Disorder

Substance abuse needs your prompt attention. Here are some common signs and symptoms of substance abuse disorder:

• Regularly consuming more of a substance than is intended or using it for a longer period of time than is intended 
• expressing a desire to reduce their substance use without actually doing so 
• long periods of time spent trying to get the substance or recover from using it 
• craving the substance or expressing a strong desire to use it 
• failing to fulfill obligations such as those relating to work, family, or education giving up
• ingesting the chemical in locations or circumstances that could result in physical harm
• consuming a substance on a regular basis despite social, emotional, or personal problems developing or getting worse
• using a substance despite being aware of any potential physical or psychological harm it may have brought on 
• gaining a higher tolerance for the substance 
• suffering withdrawal symptoms such as shaking, sweating, and nausea when quitting the substance

4 Ways Suboxone Helps Recovering Addicts

Suboxone may help a recovering addict in the following ways:

• Helps To Battle Addiction

Suboxone has two active ingredients: buprenorphine and naloxone, each of which has a unique mechanism of action. Suboxone significantly reduces withdrawal symptoms. An opioid partial agonist is a buprenorphine. As a result, it inhibits the opiate receptors in your brain, which lessens withdrawal symptoms while also reducing cravings. This substance keeps the opioid receptors in your brain from becoming overactive by delivering just enough opioids to prevent severe discomfort but not enough to make you feel euphoric.

The second component, naloxone, is an opioid antagonist that blocks the brain’s opioid receptors to stop you from experiencing the drug’s effects. Combining the two components is intended to provide your body with what it requires to lessen the symptoms of physical withdrawal while controlling your cravings by blocking your receptors.

• Helps In Moving Ahead

Suboxone is typically used to help patients get through the first, most vulnerable stages of rehabilitation. This FDA-approved drug enables a more gradual transition, giving you more breathing room to take the required actions to beat your substance use disorder. Each patient is unique. Because of this, a Suboxone treatment time frame cannot be established. But rest assured that we’re working hard to help you quit using all drugs and start living a sober and clean life as soon as possible. Suboxone trains your mind to cope with cravings and helps you to understand the triggers. Therefore, Suboxone helps an addict to manage the cravings and move ahead in life, leaving all addictions behind. 

• Suboxone Detox Helps To Remove Toxins

Opiate withdrawal symptoms have been successfully treated with suboxone detox treatment. It can reduce pain and stop cravings so that patients can concentrate on other parts of their treatment. Suboxone is the first drug for opiate addiction that has been authorized for a prescription from a doctor’s office. Some patients might be able to use their own homes to administer the medication. Patients can continue their regular daily activities while undergoing suboxone treatment to help them detox from opiates. Suboxone detox and counseling can help keep individuals in treatment programs. Suboxone detox manages withdrawal symptoms and cravings that interfere with their attempts at recovery and take their attention away from addiction counseling. Programs for those using Suboxone to detoxify must include both education and counseling. It aids patients in developing the abilities necessary to deal with circumstances that could otherwise cause a relapse.

• Helps To Block the Opioid Effect

Suboxone is a member of the class of drugs known as “opioid antagonists” that are used in medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Opioid antagonists are the antithesis of “opioid agonists” like heroin, morphine, and oxycodone. An opioid agonist alters your sense of pain and releases endorphins that simulate pleasure when it activates a pain-blocking receptor in your brain. The “opioid effect” is the name given to this. When you include an opioid antagonist like Suboxone in your rehabilitation, the drug will counteract the effects of an opioid by keeping those pain receptors from being activated. This lessens withdrawal symptoms and helps you control urges.

Is Suboxone Addictive?

Suboxone is listed as a category III restricted substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Drugs under Schedule III have a moderate to low risk of leading to physical or mental dependence.

Accordingly, there is a low to the moderate danger that Suboxone will alter a person’s brain chemistry and make them crave more of the drug. A person may also have withdrawal symptoms if they abruptly stop taking Suboxone, as is the case with all opioids. However, these dangers can be greatly reduced by using this drug under the guidance of a medical practitioner.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) advises anyone who wishes to use Suboxone to do so under the guidance of a medical professional who specializes in treating Suboxone use disorder. A specialist physician or psychiatrist with a buprenorphine waiver certification can be this healthcare provider.

Is Suboxone Treatment Covered By Insurance?

Most Inpatient and Outpatient rehabs accept all private and state-funded insurance and provide coverage for Suboxone treatment. 

Bottom Line…

Many different drugs can be used for medication-assisted treatment (MAT), but Suboxone may be the one you’ve heard of the most. Buprenorphine and naloxone, the two medications that make Suboxone, combine chemically to lessen the intensity of withdrawal symptoms and lessen a patient’s long-term dependence on opioids.

Since the early 2000s, addiction treatment experts have chosen to recommend Suboxone over methadone, the MAT that before it. Suboxone was created specifically to combat opioid addiction, and as a result, it was built to carry a far reduced risk of dependence than methadone. Suboxone’s negative effects are also typically milder and more frequent physical rather than mental.