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Taking Out Those Opioids with Suboxone Therapy
By C.King, M.Ed. | October 9, 2008
Among the many kinds of drug dependence that are difficult to treat, opoid dependence is among the most difficult to cure. Opioid includes a wide array of drugs like heroin, methadone, morphine, hydrtocodone and oxycodone. All of these have very addictive effects given the sensations derived from taking these things in. The most common are relaxed breathing and euphoric feeling. On of the most effective yet, altogether dangerous ways of treating opioid addiction is through suboxone therapy. This kind of treatment is medicine based and is supplementary to other mechanisms in a staying in treatment. Suboxone therapy utilizes active ingredients like bupronorphine and naloxone to curb addiction.
The first thing to consider in suboxone and its main ingredients, bupronorphine and naloxone is that all of these are actually opioid-like drugs. Yet, they function in such a way that the receptors that open addiction have to be blocked by these opioid-like substances in order to stop the full effects of the drugs.
The analogy is basically simple. There are things called full opioid agonist that are the addictive opioid themselves. They allow the full effect of the drugs in the person’s body and in doing so they promote addiction that, later on, becomes a form of dependence. Yet, there are also partial opioid agonist and opioid antagonists that block the full effect of the drugs in differing levels. Bupronorphine, a partial opioid agonist, reduces the effect of the drugs while naloxone, an opioid antagonist, blocks the effect of the drugs completely.
The aforementioned analogy helps the patient in thee curative ways. First, the treatment helps in suppressing drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Suboxone does this by attaching itself to the opioid receptors of the brain. Second, the treatment prevents other opioids from taking effect given that the suboxone is already fixed upon the receptors. Finally, the buprenorphine component of the treatment establishes a ceiling in the slowing of the patient’s breathing. As a result, an overdose that causes slow breathing is dramatically reduced.
In sum, the therapy works by curbing the effects of the full opioids first. In doing so, the patient is able to move on without his/ her dependence on the drug. Yet, one will have to take into consideration that suboxone is still an opioid like substance that may become the substitute of the former drug itself. This is the reason why this therapy has to be supervised by medical experts. Furthermore, it follows a rigid process that includes supplementary treatments.
Suboxone therapy is the full treatment process undergone by a patient with opioid dependence. There are four general steps here: induction, stabilization, maintenance and medical withdrawal. In the first step, induction, the early and minimal doses of suboxone are given for the patients to take. This step spans around a few days until the attending physician is able to determine a daily dose target which falls within 12-24 mg. This is where stabilization of the treatment occurs. From stabilization to the maintenance phase, the doctor must provide for supplementary counseling treatments. Finally, suboxone therapy ends with a withdrawal phase that is characterized by a careful and gradual reduction of suboxone intake.
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Topics: Addiction and Drug Dependency |
2 Responses to “Taking Out Those Opioids with Suboxone Therapy”
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October 9th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.
May 31st, 2009 at 5:16 am
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