Doctors have routinely prescribed suboxone for pain management or to reduce the effects of heroin withdrawal, but as its addictive properties became known, suboxone treatment was needed. Experienced staff at Brooklyn suboxone treatment centers develop an individualized suboxone treatment plan for you. Whether you need methadone or suboxone treatment, your addiction recovery is the same, but there is no same day suboxone treatment. Whatever day you start is the beginning of a committed journey to recovery.
Once called a blockbuster drug, suboxone has proven to be just one more opiate treatment drug that turned out to be itself addictive. Like methadone, well-meaning doctors prescribed suboxone for pain treatment, while opioid addiction treatment doctors used it to cut patient cravings to more powerful drugs. Use of suboxone peaked in 2013, before its addictive properties were brought to light.
Suboxone is a drug combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. The reason for the combination, and the promise of the drug, is that buprenorphine is a much less powerful drug than other opiates, so it delivers a milder high while blocking the brain triggers for other opioid drugs. But it’s still an opiate, also called a partial opioid agonist.
Meanwhile, naloxone is the opposite, blocking the brain receptors for any high effect. Naloxone is considered an opioid antagonist because it causes a sobering effect. The two drugs together provide a gentle means to allow opioid-addicted people to recover from their addictions.
Why Suboxone Became Addictive
The medical world expected suboxone to be the best drug for weaning opiate abusers off those drugs, as part of detoxifying from opiates. But suboxone is administered as a sub-lingual filmstrip, delivering its effect gradually, through the digestive system. Recovering addicts, looking for a faster-acting treatment, dissolved the filmstrip and injected the drug, which essentially delivered a double dose of opioids, as the opioid antagonist becomes an agonist when used this way.
As a result, this new way of administering suboxone has led to its share of addictions and overdose deaths. Suboxone treatment centers like Pain Physicians NY in Brooklyn were established to serve the new wave of addicts. Methadone or suboxone treatment is a similar process, and both are made more comfortable with medical supervision.
Side Effects of Suboxone for Pain Treatment
If you’re taking suboxone for pain or for your addiction, you may notice symptoms such as:
- Queasiness or overpowering dizziness
- Inability to concentrate
- Constipation
- Low blood pressure
- Insomnia
- Fever-like symptoms
- Irritability, anxiety or mood swings
- Headaches and muscle aches
- Trouble breathing
Dangerous symptoms — those that may signal an overdose — include:
- Slowed or erratic breathing
- Incoherent speech
- Feeling clumsy or uncoordinated
- Not being able to see clearly
- Fainting or passing out
- Inability to wake up
Similarities in Methadone or Suboxone Treatment
Suboxone and methadone treatment are similar. Both go easier with a medically supervised detox phase in which the drug is purged from your system. Withdrawal symptoms during this phase can be excruciating, however, which is why you’re best served by completing it at one of the Brooklyn suboxone treatment centers.
Staying clean requires drug addiction therapy that includes counseling, support and continued treatment. You need a suboxone treatment plan so you understand the level of commitment required to successfully fight your addiction.
Rely on Brooklyn Suboxone Treatment Centers
Suboxone treatment centers like Pain Physician NY are facilities that provide methadone or suboxone treatment on an outpatient basis. Withdrawal from your addiction is handled over time so that it’s less painful. You come in to the center to check in and receive counseling, as part of your suboxone treatment plan.
The goal of all suboxone treatment centers is not only to get you off all opioid drugs, but also to keep you off them so that you can become a functional member of society again. When you can hold a job, take care of your personal relationships and not crave the highs, you’ll have found your path to recovery.
Stabilization and Recovery in Your Suboxone Treatment Plan
Once you’re passed your withdrawal symptoms, you enter the stabilization phase. During stabilization, your desire for opioids is lessened, but you’re always in danger of a relapse. The potential for relapse is high after methadone or suboxone treatment, especially in the first weeks and months.
To be in addiction recovery requires a drug therapy program that consists of individual therapy, group therapy and/or 12-step programs. Your individual road to recovery may vary. You or your loved ones may have a shorter or longer road than others. Whether you receive methadone or suboxone treatment, the length of your treatment depends on your level of addiction and how quickly you embrace the therapeutic suggestions and your new way of life.