{"id":1617,"date":"2021-09-29T15:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T19:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/?page_id=1617"},"modified":"2022-05-04T22:38:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T02:38:25","slug":"suboxone","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.therecoveryvillage.com\/treatment-program\/addiction-medications\/suboxone\/","title":{"rendered":"Suboxone Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Suboxone is an important medication to treat opioid use disorders and opioid addiction. Learn about the benefits, potential risks and the typical course of Suboxone therapy.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the introduction of Suboxone to the American market, Suboxone therapy has become a primary treatment for opioid use disorders in the United States. Suboxone addiction therapy is now in use in treatment centers worldwide. However, understanding Suboxone therapy is less straightforward than other therapies. Both providers and patients must take time to understand how Suboxone works to determine if Suboxone therapy is the correct treatment choice for an opioid use disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Suboxone?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Understanding what Suboxone is<\/a>, how Suboxone works and what Suboxone is used for can be tricky at first. Suboxone is the trade name for a combination drug that contains the opioid buprenorphine and the opioid blocker naloxone in a 4:1 ratio. It is commercially produced as a tablet that is designed to be taken under the tongue and absorbed into the bloodstream, since buprenorphine is not available to the body when swallowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buprenorphine acts on the body\u2019s primary opioid receptor, the mu-opioid receptor, in a limited way that caps the drug\u2019s effects. Despite these limits on its maximum effects, however, Suboxone has been consistently shown to work very well in treating opioid use disorders.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suboxone has approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat opioid use disorders. Opiates are called \u201copioids\u201d if they were created in a laboratory, and opioid addiction is the severe form of an opioid use disorder. Thus, what Suboxone is used for, at least primarily in the U.S., is the treatment of opioid addiction. Though not FDA-approved for this purpose, Suboxone is also used increasingly for chronic pain management.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background and History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The history of Suboxone<\/a> dates back to the late 1960s, as the British pharmaceutical company now known as Reckitt Benckiser tried to synthesize an opioid that could keep the positive effects of morphine while reducing its negative effects. The compound that would eventually become buprenorphine showed success in treating laboratory animals that showed physical dependence on opioids.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 1978, buprenorphine was approved as an injectable pain-relieving medication in the United Kingdom. Five years later, the sublingual version that would come to be known as Suboxone (after naloxone was added) became commercially available. Over the next 15 years, the use of buprenorphine became commonplace in the treatment of pain in humans and for post-operative veterinary care. In the 1990s, buprenorphine was studied in the U.S. for treating opioid dependence after European studies and clinical experience appeared promising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of Suboxone has had a substantial effect on American policies for opioid addiction treatment. In 2000, Reckitt Benckiser helped the United States Congress draft special legislation called the Drug Addiction Treatment Act (known as DATA 2000). This allows buprenorphine to be prescribed by providers in a physician\u2019s office for the treatment of an opioid use disorder if that physician has undergone specialized training. Methadone, by contrast, can only be prescribed for opioid use disorder if it is done within a federally licensed opioid use disorder treatment facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use in Treating Addiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By the 1980s, clinical trials were underway in Europe to test the use of Suboxone for opiate withdrawal. These early trials employed short-term Suboxone use for opiate withdrawal symptoms and found that the drug helped reduce or eliminate opioid cravings and virtually all opioid withdrawal symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, care for those with opioid use disorders can be directed toward the short-term use of Suboxone for opiate withdrawal symptoms. Long-term use can help regulate the body\u2019s dependence on opioids and reduce or eliminate harmful addictive behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting a Suboxone Treatment Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The effectiveness of Suboxone is greatly dependent upon timing, so it is important to know when to start Suboxone. Unlike other medications used to treat an opioid use disorder, a person who is physically dependent on opioids has to be in withdrawal to begin Suboxone. If a person with an opioid use disorder is not at least in mild withdrawal when taking it, Suboxone will deactivate any other opioids present within the body and cause a severe withdrawal. Staff in a Suboxone program will check to ensure that withdrawal has begun before administering the medication. Suboxone usually relieves withdrawal symptoms within an hour.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Topics:<\/strong>
Suboxone addiction treatment near me<\/a>
Same day suboxone treatment<\/a>
Suboxone withdrawal treatment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side Effects of Suboxone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What are the side effects of Suboxone? Since Suboxone is an opioid, it can have side effects<\/a> common to the opioid class:<\/p>\n\n\n\n