Suboxone Quick Facts

• Suboxone is a relatively newly FDA approved medication for the treatment of opiate addiction. It is also a long duration medication and 1 or 2 pills per day will provide a full day’s relief from opiate withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings.

• Suboxone is a pill with 2 active ingredients, buprenorphine (which is an opiate) and naloxone (which is added to prevent abuse). The naloxone has no effects unless the medication is abused (injected) at which point it can induce a state of full opiate withdrawal symptoms

• Because Suboxone is less easily abused, it can be prescribed in a doctor’s office in month long take home doses.

• Suboxone is more expensive than methadone, but still much less expensive than an addiction to short acting opiates like OxyContin or heroin

• Suboxone has a dosage ceiling. After a certain dosage, taking additional quantities of this medication produces no further effects. Because of this dosage ceiling, Suboxone is not strong enough to provide full withdrawal symptoms relief to people with very high opiate tolerances (these people will need to use methadone instead)

• The withdrawal symptoms of Suboxone are much less intense than methadone’s withdrawal symptoms.

Advantages of Treatment with Suboxone or Methadone

Once appropriately medicated on Suboxone or methadone you will:

• Experience no drug cravings or withdrawal symptoms
• No longer need to use short acting opiate multiple times daily
• No longer need to come up with significant amounts of money each day to fund an opiate addiction (Methadone treatment is very affordable)
• Reduce your exposure to risky behaviors, such as injection drug use, risky sexual practices, crime etc.
• No longer need fear arrest (the use of these substances, when prescribed, is totally legal)
• No longer experience daily cycling between intoxication and withdrawal – you can get your life back together and take care of family, school or employment responsibilities