Anaheim Suboxone Doctor

A Comprehensive Guide on Suboxone Treatment for Substance Abuse

Are you searching for a Suboxone DR in Anaheim? Are you looking for a Suboxone clinic in Anaheim for you or a loved one? The heroin and opioid crisis has taken more lives of people in the United States than the incredibly destructive Vietnam War. Substance abuse and addiction, especially for opioids, have arrived at epidemic proportions and have a devastating impact on several communities in Orange County CA.

 

 

Unfortunately, heroin and opiate derivatives can be significantly addictive, making them both incredibly dangerous and challenging drugs to quit. We might think it’s easy, but the majority of addicts can just not walk out of opioid addictions in a snap. It takes more than just prescribed drugs, and these people are required to change their behavior, thinking, and environment. To find a Suboxone doctor in Orange County CA click on the helpline number provided.

 

Luckily, drugs like Suboxone prescribed to these drug addicts have proved to help abstain from using heroin and opiates. Suboxone treatment for substance abuse can help individuals stay sober while reducing withdrawal side effects and curbing their cravings that might lead to relapse. Keep reading to find out how.

Suboxone Treatment in Anaheim for Substance Abuse

 

While treating opioid addiction, doctors also have an option to use medication-aided treatments. These medicines can be quite helpful for addicts who wish to withdraw from the use of certain drugs. When it comes to treating opioid addiction, some of the most common medications include naltrexone, methadone, and buprenorphine (Suboxone). To find an Anaheim addiction treatment center, or to learn more about how drug rehabilitation centers work, contact our addiction helpline.

 

Reportedly, there has been a poor success rate for calling it quits on drugs. Less than 25% of people are actually able to abstain from such life-threatening drugs for one whole year. This is where medication-aided treatments such as Suboxone can play a significant role in patient’s lives and help curb their cravings to prevent them from using such drugs again.

 

According to many studies, Suboxone proves to be quite effective in mitigating the misuse of opioids. It is also beneficial for keeping patients with addiction and dependence on opioids in treatment for 24 weeks. However, the effectiveness and performance of Suboxone are partially determined based on the duration of treatment.

What Is Suboxone and How Does it Work?

 

In 2002, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) authorized using exclusive opioid buprenorphine, such as Suboxone, to treat opioid addiction in patients in the United States of America. Buprenorphine is actually a Schedule III medicine. Thus, it poses a lesser risk of dependence and abuse than Schedule II drugs such as morphine, methadone, and oxycodone.

 

Suboxone is a brand-name drug prescribed for treating opioid addiction and dependence. It comprises a combination of two medications (opioid agonists and antagonists) in each dose. The most essential constituent in Suboxone is buprenorphine, which categorizes as a partial opioid agonist. The second ingredient is naloxone, which is an opioid antagonist/opioid blocker.

Buprenorphine’s role

 

Buprenorphine contains a few of the same effects as do the opioid drugs. However, it prevents patients from experiencing the same intensity and many other effects of opioids. Due to these special effects, buprenorphine is classified as a partial opioid agonist.

 

In reality, it is that part of Suboxone that aids in treating opioid addiction and dependence by alleviating cravings and symptoms of withdrawal. Buprenorphine has lesser chances of instigating a high instead of full opioids as it is a partial opioid agonist.

Naloxone’s role

 

Naloxone is categorized as an opioid antagonist, which means it obstructs from experiencing the opioid’s effects. The only purpose why naloxone is added in Suboxone is it helps to prevent individuals from Suboxone abuse. An opioid antagonist or an opioid blocker such as naloxone is a medication-aided treatment best suited for opioid addicts and dependents. To learn more about a drug detox rehab in Anaheim click the highlighted link.

The Role of Suboxone in Treating Opioid Addiction

 

Our brains are instilled with naturally occurring opioid receptors. So, when an individual takes an opiate derivative or heroin or abuses it, our brain will automatically activate these receptors. This activation will trigger a euphoric high and result in a pain-relieving effect.

 

One can quickly become addicted and dependent on the ecstatic sensations and feelings from taking opioid drugs. Moreover, the human body can rapidly develop an unbelievable level of tolerance to opioid drugs, making addicts want more and more to feel that euphoric effect.

 

This tolerance formation can practically make people psychologically and physically addicted and dependent on the drug. The opioids can have incredibly distressing and painful withdrawal symptoms. Addicts of opioids are likely to encounter uncontrollable cravings and desires to take the drug.

 

Moreover, an opioid relapse can be highly harmful and dangerous because it can lead individuals to overdose and ultimately die. There are four different ways in which a potent medication such as Suboxone can interact with an addict’s body’s opiate receptors.

 

1. A drug like Suboxone will bind to opioid receptors in your brain. As a result, this will alleviate and curb your cravings to take the drug and withdrawal symptoms while detoxifying.
2. Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist, which means it might trigger the opioid receptors in your brain, but its urge remains minimal. Still, your brain might often fall for the trick into being satisfied with this minimal opioid activated induced by Suboxone. Individuals will not feel any kind of dependence or physical withdrawal symptoms linked to their opioid addiction.
3. Suboxone also abides by your brain’s opioid receptors. Hence, if you do have an opioid relapse and take the drug, Suboxone will automatically obstruct the high induced by the opioid. Suboxone will bind to it and block the opioid receptors for many days after taking the medication.
4. Suboxone prevents people from overdosing themselves to death. Being a partial agonist, it has a top limit for how much it gets in the way of a person’s breathing.

 

Suboxone Medication-Assisted Treatment

 

Medication-aided treatment for opioid-dependent patients incorporates drugs like buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone) to accompany counseling sessions, education, and other supportive measures centered on withdrawing drugs and behavioral aspects of opioid addiction. Locate a Suboxone doctor near you by contacting our helpline and setting a same day appointment.

 

Suboxone enables one to recover to their normal state. It also makes them free of withdrawal symptoms, drug cravings, and the highs and lows of drug addiction.

 

These medical treatments for addicts and dependents are almost the same as being prescribed a medicine to treat any other chronic illness, such as diabetes, blood pressure, or asthma. Taking medication for your opioid dependence is clearly not equivalent to shifting from one addictive drug to another.

How to take Suboxone As a Form of Medication-Assisted Treatment?

 

Since Suboxone is a long-acting medication and its effects last for one whole day, one should only take it once a day, preferably in the morning. This tends to maximize the success of your recovery for the next 24 hours or more. Anaheim has many Suboxone doctors who can prescribe the drug, if you live in Los Angeles county, then find a Los Angeles Suboxone Doctor by clicking the link.

 

An Anaheim Suboxone Doctor can prescribe Suboxone, and is available in the form of an oral film, which you will need to place under your tongue (sublingual) or in the middle of your cheek and gums (buccal). This oral film will slowly dissolve into your mouth.

 

Oral filmstrips are more preferred by doctors because they have less potential for substance abuse by opioid addicts. Oral films cannot be crushed. The serial numbers on the packs of filmstrips prevent drug trafficking. Lastly, the strip easily and rapidly dissolves.

What Are The Different Phases Of Suboxone Treatment?

 

There are two phases of treating dependence of opioids in patients, namely induction and maintenance, and Suboxone is used in both. Suboxone is typically used in the induction phase to alleviate withdrawal symptoms in patients when they decrease or discontinue using opioids.

 

It is only used for induction by patients who depend highly on short-acting opioids, such as codeine, heroin, oxycodone, and morphine. One should only use Suboxone when these opioid effects start wearing off and the withdrawal symptoms have started kicking in.

 

In the maintenance phase, Suboxone is used as a constant dosage for a certain period. The purpose is to keep cravings and withdrawal symptoms in check and balance as patients go through their drug addiction or addiction treatment programs.

How Does Buprenorphine (Suboxone) Benefit Opioid Addicted Patients?

 

Buprenorphine poses a plethora of advantages over the other alternative substance abuse medications like naltrexone and methadone.

 

• As part of a medication-aided treatment, it tends to suppress your withdrawal symptoms and side effects and controls your cravings for taking opioids.
• It does not trigger euphoria in individuals who are dependent on opioids. Instead, it obstructs opioid’s effects for at least 24 hours, and sometimes even more.
• As measured by full-year abstinence and withholding treatment in some studies, success rates have been reported to be good, at approximately 40-60%.

 

In addition to its advantages, the buprenorphine (Suboxone) treatment does not require patients to be part of a strictly-governed federal program, like in a methadone clinic. Since buprenorphine does not induce euphoria in opioid addicts, the chances of patients abusing it are considerably lower than its substitutes.

FAQs about Anaheim Suboxone Treatment

 

1.      What is a Partial Opioid Agonist?

 

A partial opioid agonist is an opioid that generates a lesser effect of an opioid than a full-fledged opioid when it connects to a human brain’s opioid receptors. Hydrocodone, oxycodone, heroin, methadone, and morphine are all classified as problem opioids or full opioid agonists. On the contrary, buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist and poses an opioid effect but significantly lesser intensity.

 

2.      Why is an Opioid Antagonist or Opioid Blocker like Naloxone Added to Suboxone?

 

An opioid antagonist like naloxone prevents Suboxone from being misused or abused. It also fits remarkably well into the human brain’s opioid receptors. As long as the patient takes Suboxone correctly by letting it dissolve under the tongue, naloxone does not absorb into an individual’s bloodstream to any significant extent.

 

But, if you crush a Suboxone tablet and inject it into your body or snort it in through the nose, the naloxone component will instantly travel to the brain and knock the opioids already resting out of the receptors. This can result in immediate and hazardous withdrawal symptoms. The only reason naloxone has been included in Suboxone is to discourage patients from injecting or snorting it.

 

3.      How Will I Feel After Taking Suboxone?

 

When an individual takes Suboxone, a partial opioid, they might feel somewhat of a pleasant sensation. However, most people state that they feel nothing out of the ordinary or more refreshed and energized while on their medication-aided treatments.

 

Also, if you have been experiencing some kind of pain or discomfort, you might experience partial pain relief after taking buprenorphine (Suboxone).

 

4.      How Long Does The Effect Of Suboxone Last After Taking It?

 

Suboxone stays in the body’s system for 28-42 hours after taking it sublingually (under the tongue) in the form of tablets or films. Buprenorphine will fool the human brain into thinking that a full opioid like heroin, opiate, or oxycodone has been taken. Simultaneously, Suboxone will perform its work in suppressing the withdrawal effects and reducing cravings for the problematic opioids.

 

Buprenorphine is a long-acting type of medication treatment, such that they get stuck in the opiate receptors of the brain for a full day at least. While it is stuck there, the full opioids will be unable to make their way in. So, this will give opioid addicts at least an absolution of 24-hours or more every time they take one dose of Suboxone.

 

5.      What’s The Difference between Suboxone and Methadone?

 

Both buprenorphine and methadone are long-acting opioids that reduce the risk of overdose, curb cravings, and provide relief from withdrawal symptoms. However, there is a plus side to using buprenorphine to treat substance abuse and addiction, a concept called the ceiling effect.

 

This indicates that taking more medication, i.e., Suboxone, than your physician has prescribed will still not result in a full opioid effect. Even if addicts take additional Suboxone to experience the full opioid effect, they will not get high.

 

This is why buprenorphine has a distinct and significant advantage over methadone. Patients get high on the latter primarily because methadone is a full opioid agonist. The ceiling effect is even helpful if one overdoses on buprenorphine. Even then, it has a lesser suppression of breathing than what results from taking full opioids.

 

Buprenorphine treatment is usually mixed with naloxone, and together this combination results in Suboxone. Naloxone/Buprenorphine (Suboxone) is generally prescribed by trained and licensed medical providers in any treatment setting. However, methadone is firmly and stringently government-regulated and is only provided via  licensed outpatient treatment programs.

 

6.      How Helpful Is Suboxone Alone In Treating Opioid Addiction And Dependence?

 

Since its approval, Suboxone is being used as a popular treatment and vital component of countless opioid use disorder treatment programs. Even though Suboxone helps addicts overcome the most challenging facets of initial recovery, know that Suboxone is not really a quick fix for treating opioid addiction.

 

To increase its effectiveness, it is always a good idea to accompany Suboxone with an all-inclusive addiction treatment program. Hence, withdrawal symptoms and detox are the initial steps. Patients will start taking Suboxone during the initial treatment phase before moving to an in-patient addiction treatment program.

 

Long-term drug rehab programs allow for recovery from opioids can better be sustained through behavioral and counseling therapy. In the end, both aspects of the treatment will provide emotional support, expert guidance, and the necessary coping skills to abstain from opioids. Your doctor will prescribe you to use Suboxone during many different stages of the treatment because it:

 

• Provides relief to patients suffering from acute or chronic pain.
• Reduces anxiety and stress levels.
• Encourages feelings of relaxation and well-being.

7.      When Can I Stop Taking Suboxone?

 

If an individual carries on taking Suboxone after leaving the treatment, they need to attend all the follow-up sessions with their prescribing doctor. This will ensure they continue taking the drugs as prescribed, reaping the Suboxone treatment benefits, and staying sober. The ultimate goal is to gradually taper patients off of the medication when they are willing and able and ready to live a life away from drugs.

 

8.      Will I Experience Withdrawal Symptoms When I Want To Come Off Of Suboxone?

 

Suboxone comprises part naloxone and part buprenorphine, making it a partial opioid agonist and opioid antagonist. When patients start taking Suboxone daily, they might become physically dependent on it to feel healthy and normal. This physical dependence might lead to Suboxone withdrawal symptoms if they stop using it abruptly. Some of these symptoms include:

 

• Anxiety
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Sweating
• Drug cravings
• Diarrhea
• Muscle aches

 

So if you wish to stop using Suboxone, you should consult with your doctor to slowly taper off your dosage to prevent these withdrawal symptoms. To speak with a Suboxone Doctor in Anaheim California about getting on or off Suboxone, call now.