Suboxone®
Medication for Opioid Addiction
If you are addicted, medication allows you to regain a normal state of mind, free of drug-induced highs and lows. It frees you from thinking all the time about the drug. It can reduce problems of withdrawal and craving. These changes can give you the chance you need to focus on the lifestyle changes that lead back to healthy living. Taking medication for opioid addiction is like taking medication to control heart disease or diabetes. It is NOT the same as substituting one addictive drug for another. Used properly, the medication does NOT create a new addiction. It helps you manage your addiction so that the benefits of recovery can be maintained. Buprenorphine is a medication used to treat opioid addiction.
Buprenorphine is one of three medications commonly used to treat opioid addiction. The other two are methadone and naltrexone. Cost varies for the different medications. You may need to take this into account when considering your treatment options. The person who takes buprenorphine feels normal, not high. However, the brain thinks it is receiving the problem opioid, so withdrawal symptoms stay away. Buprenorphine also reduces cravings. If cravings continue to be a problem, your doctor will adjust your medication or help you find other ways to reduce them.
From "The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction"
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
www.samhsa.gov
Buprenorphine
You take buprenorphine as a pill or film strip that dissolves under the tongue. You do NOT chew or swallow it. There are two forms. Suboxone® contains buprenorphine plus another medication called naloxone. The naloxone is added to prevent abuse—it brings on withdrawal in people who abuse buprenorphine by injecting it. Subutex® contains only buprenorphine. This form is prescribed if you should not take naloxone for any reason, such as if you are allergic to it or are pregnant. The pill or strip is taken once or twice a day. Over time, the dose interval may stay at once a day or change to every other day.
The main advantages of buprenorphine are:
• You are unlikely to overdose on buprenorphine if you take it properly.
• Buprenorphine is long acting. This means that after an initial period, your doctor may have you take the pill or film strip every other day rather than once a day.
• Doctors can prescribe buprenorphine so that you can take doses at home. Important: Not all doctors have approval to prescribe this medication, and not all doctors provide counseling for addiction. Buprenorphine may be prescribed if it is the right choice for you. Before you are given the first dose of any medication for opioid addiction, your doctor will ask you questions about your addiction, health, and other problems. You will get a drug test—usually a check of urine. You also will need a physical exam and tests for diseases that are common to people who have been abusing drugs. Your liver will be checked to make sure the medication can be safely taken. If buprenorphine is safe and appropriate for you, your doctor may recommend it.
From "The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction"
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
www.samhsa.gov
Consult Your Provider
You and your doctor or substance abuse treatment provider decide together on a treatment plan. The plan describes the medication routine, the counseling and other services that will be provided, and the rules that must be followed. These rules will be explained to you and you will get them in writing. Buprenorphine must be used carefully. Your doctor will prescribe a low dose to start taking after withdrawal symptoms begin. Dose levels may be adjusted up as needed. Always take doses exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Buprenorphine can make you feel drowsy at first. You should not drive or perform other high-risk tasks until you know how this medication affects you. If drowsiness continues to be a problem, your doctor may adjust dose levels. You may take buprenorphine for days, months, or years—as long as it is needed to prevent relapse. However, you should be checked often by a doctor if you have liver disease.
If you are stable in recovery and want to stop taking buprenorphine, you must do it slowly, over time. This is called tapering. Tapering works best with the help of your doctor or substance abuse treatment provider, after progress has been made in treatment.
From "The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction"
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
www.samhsa.gov
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