Family members of patients who have been prescribed Suboxone or buprenorphine for
treatment of addiction often have questions about this treatment.
What is an opioid?
Opioids are addictive narcotics in the same family as opium and heroin. This
includes many prescription pain medications, such as Codeine, Vicodin,
Demerol, Dilaudid, Morphine, Oxycontin, and Percodan. Methadone,
buprenorphine and Suboxone are also opioids.
Why are opioids used to treat addiction?
Many family members wonder why doctors use buprenorphine to treat opiate
addiction, since it is in the same family as heroin. Some of them ask,”Isn’t this
substituting one addiction for another?” But the medications used to treat
addiction to heroin – methadone and buprenorphine – are not “just substitution.”
Many medical studies since 1965 show that maintenance treatment helps keep
patients healthier, keeps them from getting into legal troubles, and prevents them
from getting AIDS.
What is the right dose of buprenorphine , Suboxone?
Family members of patients who have been addicted to heroin or prescription
opioids have watched as their loved ones use a drug that makes them high, or
loaded, or have watched the painful withdrawal that occurs when the drug is not
available. Sometimes the family has not seen the ‘normal’ person for years. They
may have seen the patient misuse doctors’ prescriptions for narcotics to get high.
They are rightly concerned that the patient might misuse or take too much of the
Suboxone prescribed by the doctor. They may watch the patient and notice
that the patient seems drowsy, or stimulated, or restless, and think that the
buprenorphine will be just as bad as heroin.
Every opioid can have stimulating or sedating effects, especially in the first
weeks of treatment. The ‘right’ dose of buprenorphine is the one that allows the
patient to feel and act normally. It can sometimes take a few weeks to find the
right dose. During the first few weeks, the dose may be too high, or too low,
which can lead to withdrawal, daytime sleepiness, or trouble sleeping at night.
The patient may ask that family members help keep track of the timing of these
symptoms, and write them down. Then the doctor can use all these clues to
adjust the amount and time of day for buprenorphine doses.
Once the right dose is found, it is important to take it on time in a regular way, sothe patient’s body and brain can work well.
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3 comments:
I have found that 16mg is the amount that blocks out opiates for me on my Suboxone Treatment
Interesting Facts: In Heroin Addiction History poppy seeds have been unearthed at Neanderthal sites.
How many hours are required before you can switch from Opiods to Suboxone? I am currently taking 10 to 12 10mg Percocet a day and injection 2 to 3 Dilaudid a day and want to switch back to Suboxone. I have taken Suboxone in the past and wish to switch back to it from the Opioids.
These days many drug addicts are turning towards suboxone treatment for getting their addiction cured. This is the reason why there is a craze for suboxone doctors. Many who have taken medicine as their career are planning to become suboxone specialists. Read More
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