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With over 70% of United States deaths in 2018 involving opioids, opioid addiction is an epidemic.
If you are struggling with opioid dependence, you are not alone. Understanding your options is crucial to getting on the road to addiction recovery. Medications play a key role in helping you recover from addiction, and Subutex is one of the most important medications to understand.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by information about medical recovery, this guide is for you. We’ll break down everything there is to know about Subutex treatment, and give you what you need to figure out if it’s right for you.
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Subutex is a medication that helps treat opioid dependence. Opioids include medical drugs like morphine and codeine, as well as illegal drugs such as fentanyl and heroin. If you are struggling with dependence on any of these drugs, Subutex may help you overcome them.
The active ingredient in Subutex is a drug called buprenorphine. Buprenorphine keeps your brain from craving an opioid high. At the same time, it prevents you from getting high even if you take an opioid.
There are other medications that use buprenorphine, including Suboxone. They all have a part to play in recovering from addiction. Read on to figure out if and when Subutex is the right treatment for you to use.
When you take an opioid drug, like morphine or heroin, that drug attaches to receptors in your brain. Once attached to your receptors, the drug tells your brain to release neurotransmitters that make you feel good, and you experience a high.
Your brain quickly gets used to this new high level of good feeling. When you don’t take the opioid, there is nothing to tell your brain to release its feel-good neurotransmitters, and your brain starts to crave the high. This is when you experience withdrawal.
Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist. That means it attaches to some of the same receptors that an opioid drug does, but instead of telling them to make your brain feel good, they tell it to stay neutral.
That is why medications like Subutex for opiate addiction can help your recovery. They prevent your brain from craving the drug so that the symptoms of withdrawal go away. They give you a break from the cravings so that you can start the recovery process.
Subutex can take away the physical craving for a high. But there is more to addiction than just the physical dependence on a drug. There is also the psychological dependence, of being able to escape from difficult life circumstances into the next high.
Buprenorphine can give you a reprieve from the physical cravings, but it can’t fill the hole in your life that the addiction used to. That’s why medication is only part of the recovery process. For Subutex to be most effective, it needs to be used in the context of a comprehensive treatment plan, including counseling, social support, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
There are many medications used to treat opioid addiction. They all have different properties, so they are used in different ways.
Read on to find out what makes Subutex unique and when it can be used in addiction recovery.
Methadone is a well-known drug to treat opioid addiction. Methadone has a high overdose risk and it can be abused, which means it has to be dispensed very carefully to patients. It is usually dispensed in the context of a methadone day program.
Methadone programs often fill up quickly. As well, many people seeking addiction recovery do not have the option to spend all day in a program. This means that methadone is not a very accessible treatment option.
Subutex is much more accessible. Because buprenorphine is less dangerous for overdose and abuse, doctors can prescribe Subutex right from their offices. (Read more below about outpatient Subutex treatment.)
Subutex and Suboxone are both buprenorphine-based medications, so they both decrease addiction cravings.
However, Suboxone has an additional ingredient: naloxone. When opioids bind to the neural receptors, naloxone will push them off of those receptors to put an abrupt end to the high. That is why naloxone is found in emergency Narcan kits — it can save the life of someone who has overdosed by bringing them out of their high.
Naloxone is not always a good option for someone who is just beginning the journey of addiction recovery. That’s why Subutex is recommended for induction (starting treatment), and Suboxone is recommended for the later stages of recovery.
Subutex is usually prescribed as a sublingual pill, which you place under your tongue and wait for it to dissolve (5-10 minutes). If you swallow the pill right away, you will not get its effects.
It is important not to take Subutex if you have taken an opioid recently within the last 6 to 12 hours. This can cause a sudden onset of withdrawal symptoms.
Addictions recovery is an intensive process. For some, inpatient treatment — living in a treatment facility with round-the-clock support — is the best option to recover from addiction.
Because Subutex has a low potential for overdose and abuse, it can be prescribed by a doctor’s office. It is usually prescribed in daily doses, which means you will come to the office daily to take the medication.
Subutex (buprenorphine alone) is used for the induction stage of treatment, which usually lasts for the first few days. After that, you may switch to Suboxone, which also contains buprenorphine, to continue your medical detoxification.
Overall, the total length of time that buprenorphine treatment takes varies from person to person. Remember, medication is only one part of addiction recovery. Subutex suppresses the physical symptoms of withdrawal, but your overall recovery process will determine when you are ready to stop taking the medication.
When you are ready, the next step is to decrease the buprenorphine over a period of time. Gradually decreasing the medication means that your withdrawal symptoms stay manageable throughout your treatment.
Medication therapy can be an important part of your recovery from opioid addiction. If you’re looking for a Subutex treatment program, check out our list of treatment centers to find the right one for you. Contact MAT Treatment to find out more about your treatment options and connect with the help you need.
Don’t go through the process of recovery alone. There are people who can help you with the struggle you’re facing. Get in touch with one today.
