If you are ready to stop using heroin and beat your addiction, what method should you pick? Harm reduction is a very popular method that’s been used a lot in recent times, but is it the best one for you?
One of the most common questions about medication-assisted treatment is about the differences between methadone and suboxone. They’re both important medications in the harm reduction method of drug treatment, but there are many misconceptions about both drugs.
Suboxone has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating opiate addiction since early in 2000. The drug contains buprenorphine, which is a partial opiate agonist that alleviates withdrawal symptoms. Naloxone is another ingredient in suboxone and it is used to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose. The medication prevents other opiates from attaching to opiate receptors in the brain ad because it doesn’t allow the drugs to attach or bind to these locations, it doesn’t provide the euphoria or high feeling from occurring.
Getting into a Suboxone Clinic
The process of obtaining suboxone for medication-assisted drug treatment is not as inconvenient as methadone. Methadone is given out at clinics, but suboxone is prescribed to someone in the privacy of a doctor’s office. Instead of getting a month’s prescription and returning for a refill, methadone maintenance typically requires a trip to a clinic every day to pick up a fresh dose. In some cases, with enough clean time, it’s possible to take home more than a daily dose of methadone.