Suboxone is a powerful opioid created to help drug users of opiates like heroin break their habits. Like many prescription medicines, it has also become a drug that is abused by many. Some become dependent on the medicine after first taking it to help withdraw from other dangerous drugs, while other people become Suboxone addicts out of a desire to get high.
Those addicted to Suboxone face a hard battle to break their addictions. The body and mind come to rely on the opioid to cover up a variety of emotional and physical problems. Many people in today’s world are overwhelmed by troubles, and drug taking seems like an easy answer.
Once the addiction sets in, however, Suboxone users will find themselves with another monkey on their backs. Like other opioids (In today’s lexicon, opioid and opiate are used interchangeably although the terms were once used to designate synthetic opium versus the naturally occurring substance.), Suboxone attaches to receptors in the brain which help the person feel euphoric.
Suboxone differs from heroin in that it will remain attached to receptors for as long as 24 hours. This gives an addict taking the medicine for another addiction extra time away from the original addictive drug. A heroin user switching over to Suboxone will not experience heroin withdrawal during the day that Suboxone remains in the brain.
Under medical guidance, another dose of Suboxone gets taken on time to prevent the patient from experiencing any heroin withdrawal symptoms. Some people attempt to leave addictions to opioids behind on their own. Solo attempts might be successful, but chances improve when the addict seeks out appropriate guidance.
Dropping heroin cold turkey or Suboxone for that matter can bring on devastating withdrawal symptoms. These can range from shakiness and anxiety to insomnia, coma and death. Withdrawal needs to be managed by medical professionals and trained staff members.
Inpatient treatment often takes three months. At treatment centers and clinics, addicts live alongside others in the same situation. In group counselling sessions they get a chance to talk with people who truly understand their suffering.
Detox is a necessary part of inpatient treatment. Doctors monitor individuals closely to make sure that they are helped beyond withdrawal into drug free status. This may be done by substituting another drug for the one to which the patient has become addicted.
Heroin is a substance created in the late 1800s which is derived from opium. It is a very powerful pain reliever that physicians in some countries prefer to give their patients instead of morphine which some feel has even worse side effects. As the entire world has come to learn, heroin is dramatically addictive.
Suboxone has been around only a few years. Its manufacturer combined two medications into one formula in order to treat pain and reduce risks of addiction by injection. Suboxone contains both naloxone and buprenorphine.
The naloxone alone blocks any drug from attaching to brain receptors. Buprenorphine works by attaching to brain receptors that trigger euphoria. When Suboxone gets injected into the body, the naloxone cancels out effects of the buprenorphine.
A drug abuser expecting a good substitute for heroin from the injected Suboxone will be unpleasantly surprised by no euphoria and a sudden onset of withdrawal symptoms from the heroin. Not understanding this has led to Suboxone overdose. This can be as dangerous as overdose from any of the opioids.
Suboxone is meant to be taken orally, either by tablet or in a film that dissolves in the mouth. Taken properly, the medicine stays attached to receptors for up to 24 hours. This gives a big breather to people taking Suboxone to wean themselves off heroin.
The euphoria induced by Suboxone comes to the user more slowly than that brought on by heroin. In a recent U.S. survey, a large percentge of illicit drug users interviewed said that they would pay less for Suboxone purchased on the street because it does not produce the same kind of high as heroin or morphine. Its lower cost ironically adds to the number of people who abuse the drug.
Current reports list the street price of illegal Suboxone at $25 a tablet. Smugglers manage to ship it into prisons for friends and family members. Some of the smugglers may believe that they are helping their loved ones who may struggle with addiction to heroin which they cannot get their hands on.
Obtaining drugs for illicit use is of course illegal. Good Samaritans and people with not such good intentions can all find themselves in court and jailed for giving Suboxone to those without prescriptions. Working the system to obtain extra prescriptions is also illegal and can lead to jail time.
Although Suboxone was created to help people, it has become a problem itself. Help is available through physicians and at treatment centers. Suboxone addiction is hard to shake, but help is available to those who seek it out.
