Suboxone Treatment for Opiate Addiction. Does it cause addiction

A clinical experience perspective:

A lot of my patients ask me if they will become “addicted” to Suboxone( Buprenorphine).

I have treated many patients for pain killer, Heroin, Hydrocodone, Morphine etc, and in my  clinical experience I have not yet seen a patient who got “addicted to Suboxone in my practice.  By addiction I mean increasing your dose continuously from what your doctor prescribed; like what happens with pain killers. This does not happen with Suboxone. In fact most patient manage to gradually taper their dose down.

Patients also ask can they get off Suboxone within a short period of time. The answer is: It depends on the length and extent of the abuse. It takes the brain a very long time to normalize after being sober. The brain chemistry changes after abusing opiate for a long time. Opiate addicts can take 50 to 60 pills per day, yet they keep their wakefullness. If a non addict take this high dose they might sink into a coma.

How can an addict stay awake while taking high levels of opiate pills?  The brain creates more and more and more opiate receptors. These receptors will be sitting in your brain like hungry babies. You either satisfy them by an increasing dose of opiate or give them Suboxone. This means if these patients would stop Suboxone early in treatment, they will have an overwhelming craving and would definitely realpse.

You can very very very slowly wean off Suboxone under medical supervision. It might take years to do it if have been addicted for a long time or using a lot of opiate or if have been IV drug user. Some of my patients chose not to get off Suboxone because it continues to help them have their life back. Some other patient liked the “antidepressant and anti anxiety effects” of Suboxone and chose to remain on it.

 

 

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