Is Suboxone Treatment the Right Choice for Me?

It doesn’t take very long at all before a casual opiate abuse habit turns into a full-blown addiction problem. Opiates, such as heroin, oxycodone and Demerol carry a high potential for abuse due to their effects on the brain’s chemical system.

With long-term opiate abuse, these effects reconfigure the brain to the point where a person continues to experience withdrawal effects and severe cravings long after he or she stops using the drug.

Suboxone treatment exists as one of a handful of opiate addiction treatment medications formulated to restore normal brain functioning. Understanding how Suboxone treatment works can help you determine whether this treatment approach is right for you.

Suboxone Treatment

Suboxone first received federal approval as an opiate addiction treatment in 2002. Unlike the methadone treatment model, Suboxone can be administered as an office-based treatment which takes away much of the stigma associated with having to make daily visits to a clinic facility.

According to the U. S. National Library of Medicine, Suboxone interacts with the same brain cell receptor sites as addictive opiates, which helps to support damaged cell functions and restore normal neurotransmitter production rates throughout the brain.

Suboxone treatment also includes a behavioral component that works to help you replace the addiction mindset with healthy tools for building a drug-free lifestyle.

Not sure if your insurance will help cover your treatment costs? Call our helpline at 888-646-0865 (Who Answers?) for more information.

Questions to Ask

Is opiate addiction taking over my life?

An opiate addiction not only disrupts brain and body functioning, but also alters your thinking, emotions and daily behaviors. Over time, getting and using drugs takes on increasing importance in your daily life while other areas of your life start to suffer.

According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, the behavioral component of Suboxone treatment helps you develop the types of habits and coping behaviors needed to sustain a drug-free existence.

Is Suboxone Treatment Right for Me? – Benefit & Risk Considerations

Have past attempts at traditional drug treatment failed?

Traditional drug treatment programs do a good job at helping recovering addicts develop healthy daily living skills, but don’t actually address the brain chemical imbalances left behind by chronic opiate abuse.

In effect, the brain remains in an opiate-dependent state making it all but impossible to follow through on treatment directives. Suboxone treatment effects enable a person to feel “normal” again, so he or she can fully engage in the recovery process.

Am I motivated to follow through on treatment directives?

As an office-based treatment, you can take home a limited supply of Suboxone on a regular basis. Under these conditions, someone who’s not motivated to get well can easily regress into old drug-using behaviors.

Your living environment also has an impact on motivation levels, so someone living in a chaotic or drug-using home environment will likely have difficulty following through on treatment directives.

Considerations

The damaging effects of opiate addiction on the brain account for why it’s so difficult for recovering addicts to maintain continued abstinence. Suboxone treatment provides the types of physical and psychological supports needed to develop a drug-free lifestyle and maintain abstinence for the long-term.

If you or someone you know are considering Suboxone treatment and have more questions, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 888-646-0865 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addiction specialists.