Myths About Suboxone..
Information about our Suboxone Treatment
Myths about Suboxone
1.
You aren’t really in recovery if you’re on Suboxone. As addiction has become universally accepted as a disease, the abstinence-based models that have dominated the concept of recovery have given way to a more modern concept of recovery. The disease-based concept of recovery encompasses the use of medications to help regulate the brain chemistry much like depression or anxiety. Suboxone is viewed as a medication for a chronic condition, such as a person with diabetes needing to take insulin. To say that you aren’t really in recovery if you are on Suboxone is stigmatizing to people who take Suboxone and it’s not the medical reality of effective addiction treatment.
2.
People frequently abuse Suboxone. Suboxone, like any opiate can be abused, although the risk is low. Because Suboxone is only a partial agonist of the main opiate receptor, it causes less euphoria than other opiates such as heroine and oxycodone. In many cases people may “abuse” Suboxone by purchasing it illegally to help themselves manage opioid withdrawal or get themselves off of heroin.
3.
It is as easy to overdose on Suboxone as it is to overdose on other opioids. It is extremely difficult to overdose on Suboxone because it is only a partial agonist. It therefore has a “ceiling” effect. This means there is a limit to how much the opioid receptors are able to be activated by Suboxone. In fact, using Suboxone greatly diminishes your risk of overdosing on another opioid should a person decide to use while taking Suboxone.
Suboxone isn’t treatment for addiction if you aren’t getting therapy along with it. In a perfect world addiction treatment would include Suboxone and therapy. That doesn’t mean that one component in the absence of the other doesn’t constitute valid treatment. About 10% of people with addiction are getting treatment, so while combination treatment is an admirable goal, it is unrealistic to expect that everyone with addiction will receive all the aspects of treatment that they need.
4.
Suboxone should only be taken for a short period of time. Experts have different theories on how long Suboxone treatment should last, but there is no evidence to support the claim that Suboxone should be taken for a short period of time as opposed to long term maintenance.
5.
One of the main obstacles to getting lifesaving treatment for addiction is the stigma people face. Fortunately, our society’s perception is slowly starting to transform away from an outdated view of addiction as a moral failing, toward a more realistic, humane view of addiction as a complex disease that needs to be addressed with compassion, as well as modern medical care. Eliminating myths and misinformation about addiction and replacing them with up to date, evidence-based treatments is a critical step in the evolution of addiction treatment.