New Orleans Suboxone Doctor

Suboxone is a prescription drug often used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) in people addicted to drugs. It helps people stop using opioids by relieving the symptoms of withdrawal and cutting down on cravings. If you or someone you know suffers from opioid addiction and wants to find a solution, you may be interested in discovering how Suboxone and our pain management clinic can aid in recovery. 

Continue reading to understand more about Suboxone medication, how it works, the advantages of using Suboxone for treating addiction, possible side effects of using Suboxone, and how our Suboxone doctor in NOLA can help with your treatment.

Suboxone also known as buprenorphine/naloxone is an opioid used to treat substance abuse, acute pain, or even chronic pain.  Suboxone usually relieves pain within an hour with lasting effects up to an entire day.  Suboxone is an opioid drug to treat people who are addicted to opioids. It can help stabilize someone going through withdrawal during medical detoxification and can also be used as a treatment to help anyone with opioid addiction get better. 

It contains two drugs, naloxone (an opioid antagonist) and buprenorphine (a partial opioid agonist). It has an added dissolvable film underneath the tongue or directly into the cheek.  In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a generic sublingual formulation of buprenorphine with naloxone.

Buprenorphine is what’s called a “partial opioid agonist.” It works like an opioid, but its effects aren’t as strong. This makes it simpler for you to stop using your prescribed opioid drug since buprenorphine lessens withdrawal symptoms and cravings without having the same negative effects as other opioids (such as fentanyl, oxycodone, heroin, hydrocodone, etc.).

Due to its high binding affinity, it may also prevent other opioids from attaching to and triggering your opioid receptors, preventing their abuse.

 As a partial agonist, buprenorphine’s opioid effects have a maximum dose, even as the dosage is increased. Because there is a limit to the amount your opioid receptors can be active, the risk of abuse and overdose is lower compared to other opioids. It is less likely that an opioid overdose will cause dangerously slow breathing, called respiratory depression.

Naloxone is an antagonist of opioid receptors mixed with buprenorphine in Suboxone and related generic formulations. Even though naloxone is being used by itself to reverse the side effects of an opioid overdose, it is included in this combination to stop people from misusing buprenorphine on purpose. If it is dissolved and injected or inhaled through the nose, it will cause opioid-dependent people to go through withdrawal very quickly.

 Suboxone is effective at treating opioid addiction, but it is usually used as part of a more variety of medications that also includes behavioral interventions, mutual-help groups, and, if necessary, treatment for any co-occurring mental health problems (like depression or anxiety).

Buprenorphine is one of the World Health Organization’s lists of essential drugs. It is an important tool for helping patients with opioid use disorder deal with mild to severe withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Some other advantages of using Suboxone to treat addiction are: 

• Made it safer to overdose
• Less chance of misuse
• Long-lasting effects may allow for dosing every other day

Suboxone is accompanied by harmful effects, similar to the case with other medications, even though taken as recommended. Respiratory depression is a rare cause of death with Suboxone. Still, it could happen more often when Suboxone is used with other drugs that slow breathing, like tranquilizers,  benzodiazepines, sedatives, or alcohol.

Some of the more common side effects of Suboxone are:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Headache
• Insomnia
• Sweating
• Swollen arms and legs
• If you take the orally dissolvable film, your mouth or tongue may feel numb, burn, or turn red

Among the less common but more serious side effects are:

• When you stand up, your blood pressure drops
• Breathing problems caused by sleep.
• It can hamper liver function
• Adrenal changes
• Reactions to allergies (allergic to any of the ingredients)

Suboxone is a treatment for opioid use disorder, the corresponding results for opioid addiction. Medication is gradually becoming the conventional treatment for the management of OUD. If you join rehabilitation for opioid addiction, you may receive drugs for addiction recovery as part of your program approach. For treating addiction, medications like Suboxone are just one component of a treatment plan that also includes counseling and behavioral therapy.

Suboxone is safe when taken as prescribed for the treatment of OUD. Suboxone recently changed some of the details in the dosage and management section of the drug’s packaging. It includes suggesting that healthcare providers also prescribe naloxone because people with opioid use disorder may relapse, which places them at risk for an opioid overdose.  Also, the full dose of Suboxone for people addicted to short-acting opioids was reduced by half to no more than 8 mg/2 mg on the first day of intense opioid withdrawal.

It has a low possibility of overdosing when used as prescribed due to the limit of the opioid effect stated above.

Using Suboxone inappropriately, like injecting it or taking more of it than prescribed, using it while consuming alcohol or sedatives, or have taken it too soon after using other opioids, can make you more likely to have bad side effects.

If you take Suboxone too early and use other opioids, you might experience undesirable opioid withdrawal symptoms like sweating, shaking, stomach problems, and anxiety. Other possible but usually rare side effects include overdose, slowed breathing, or drug overdose. 

Because buprenorphine is an opioid, taking it for a long time can make you physically dependent on it. But dependence isn’t the same as addictive behavior. If you develop a habit, even from taking a prescription drug, you could have withdrawal symptoms if you stop using it all of a sudden.Don’t stop using Suboxone without your doctor’s approval. During treatment, your use of Suboxone will be monitored closely by people who work in health care. When it’s time for you to stop taking Suboxone, your doctor will help you taper off it. This means that you will slowly lower your dose.

Suboxone’s buprenorphine component does have an inherent risk of abuse, just like any opioid. However, because it is just a partial opioid agonist, it cannot provide the similarly intense euphoric effects of other, more widely misused opioid medications like heroin and oxycodone. Naloxone is added in the combination formulation to reduce misuse potential since opioid receptor blockage and withdrawal may occur if inappropriate use routes are used to achieve a euphoric high.

Also, it’s important to know that using Suboxone to treat opioid use disorder is not just swapping one addiction for another. Instead, Suboxone helps people stop using opioids as much and as badly as they used to, so they can live a normal, healthier life again.

Our clinic is open 7 days a week.  This means you don’t have to pause your life when you need treatment because our options will fit around your schedule.