Every year, millions of Americans are prescribed painkillers. And every year, about 2 million of them become addicted.
Painkiller addiction is more than an issue of willpower. These medications chemically rewire the brain and make users physically dependent on them. Drug addiction is a real medical condition and needs to be treated as such.
When seeking treatment, people often ask, "How does Suboxone work?" This medication is an effective method for opioid addiction recovery. You can find out more about how it works with the information below.
What Is Suboxone?
Suboxone is a brand of the opioid buprenorphine. That's right, it's an opioid like many other painkillers are. However, this opioid was specifically created to introduce a less addictive painkiller to the pharmaceutical market.
This medication can be used to provide pain relief or to wean painkiller addicts off of more easily abused opioids. This particular brand combines buprenorphine with naloxone to prevent intravenous use and abuse.
How Does Suboxone Work?
This drug interacts with the opioid receptors in the human body to control and minimize how the body experiences pain. Opioid addicts have had so much stimulation to their opioid receptors that the receptors change, and the body becomes dependent on the drugs to maintain a state of normalcy.
Opioid addicts do not have the privilege of quitting cold turkey. In fact, doing so can be dangerous.
Suboxone allows opioid addicts to safely and slowly withdraw from opioid use. It is an opioid alternative that is more difficult to abuse than other opioid medications.
What Are the Side Effects?
Of course, as an opioid, Suboxone may come with a few undesirable side effects. These include respiratory depression, headache, stomachache, sleeping problems, vomiting, sweating, and constipation.
The side effects of Suboxone are generally mild, but the danger lies in its interactions with other medications. These can cause serious, life-threatening reactions. Additionally, some patients experience more severe side effects than others.
Professionals like the Inspire Malibu Suboxone doctors can help patients manage these side effects and safely treat their addiction.
How to Use Suboxone
In the United States, Suboxone is classified as a Schedule III controlled substance, which means patients need a doctor's prescription to legally use it. It is also a powerful drug, and should not be used without the supervision of a medical professional.
With doctor approval, Suboxone can be used sublingually, as a skin patch, intravenously, or as an implant. A health care professional will direct a patient's individualized treatment plan to determine the dosage and length of treatment. Different patients have different needs.
More on Addiction Treatment
How does Suboxone work? It works by helping opioid addicts readjust their opioid receptors.
It's a long term treatment method that will hopefully, one day, free an addict from physical dependence on opioids. The mental health aspect of addiction, however, requires a different type of treatment.
For more information on addiction and beyond, make sure to check out our page.
