Opiate addiction and abuse has seen an alarming rise in the recent times. This addiction leads a person towards a dark and dangerous life of destruction that is only filed with the craving of the next fix. This is why getting rid of this addiction is extremely important as it has the potential of not just destroying a life but taking it too. Earlier, methadone was a popular choice of treating opiate addiction; however doctors specializing in addiction treatment think that methadone being an opioid in nature also has the risk of being addictive. This is why Suboxone became a popular choice of treating drug addiction. Being a medication that contained both buprenorphine and naloxone it was a safe choice that helped user to kick their addiction without the risk of getting into another addiction.
What to Expect during Suboxone Rehab
Suboxone is now the most commonly used opioid medication that is approved by FDA to treat opiate dependence. Buprenorphine that is a partial opiate agonist in nature is the main ingredient in Suboxone. Naloxone is the secondary ingredient in Suboxone and is an opioid antagonist. Naloxone helps in preventing a patient using Suboxone getting addicted to buprenorphine so that he can be treated of his previous addiction instead of developing another one. Under Suboxone rehab a patient is weaned off his addictive drug like oxycontin, heroin, oxycodone or other related drugs, by giving him Suboxone that prevents the withdrawal symptoms from racking the patient’s body. Simultaneously, addiction treatment with Suboxone also helps the patient to kick off his habit by decreasing the cravings for the drug.
Buprenorphine – Partial Opioid Agonist
A partial opioid such as buprenorphine is a drug that is weaker than full opioids like morphine, heroin or oxycodone and therefore it produces less effect on the brain then a full opioid that attaches itself to the receptor in the brain. That is why when a addictive patient take buprenorphine they usually report feeling just ‘normal’ or more ‘energized’ instead of feeling high, which is the case with most full opioid.
During the suboxone rehab treatment, when a person takes buprenorphine, it tricks the brain into thinking that it has taken in a full opioid like heroin and oxycodone and therefore the body and brain are stopped from going into withdrawal which is the most important problem that is related to opioid addiction.
When a person takes buprenorphine it gets sticks to the brain receptors for 24 hours that means it blocks the full opioids from getting in for a period of 24 hours. This is why even when a person takes a full opioid he does not get high, therefore giving him time to consider getting into a useless habit once again.
Naloxone- Opioid Antagonist
Naloxone is another ingredient in the suboxone rehab treatment whose main function is to stop the abuse of Suboxone by the patient. This drug is an opioid antagonist in nature which means it stops the brain from feeling high from buprenorphine and therefore blocks the reaction the partial opioid may have. This decreases the risk of a patient getting addicted to Suboxone to nil.