Why Suboxone Remains Among the Most Effective Treatments for Opioid Use Disorders

The numbers surrounding opioid use in the United States are nothing short of alarming. Not only did opioids claim more than 80,000 lives in 2021 alone, at least three million Americans have an ongoing opioid use disorder, and this number may be on the low side.

The news isn’t all grim when it comes to opioid use disorders, as there is a solution that’s helping scores of people break free from drugs and reclaim their lives — Suboxone®.

At Sidhu Psychiatry, board-certified nurse practitioner Kanwaljit (Kavi) Sidhu understands the devastating impact that an issue like an opioid use disorder can have, and we’re here to help. One of the most effective weapons in our arsenal is Suboxone, which helps people surmount the considerable hurdles that stand between them and a life free and clear of opioids.

Two sides to an opioid use disorder

Before we get into how Suboxone works, it’s important to understand what we’re up against with opioid use disorders. With any substance use disorder, there are two sides to the problem:

1. Dependence

Your body becomes dependent upon your drug of choice and goes into withdrawal if you take it away.

2. Addiction

This describes the altered chemistry in your brain that favors using. It’s addiction that creates the cravings and the inability to control them.

These are simple explanations to a complex problem, but our point is that both sides of the opioid use disorder equation need to be addressed for the best chances of success.

Suboxone covers the bases

The reason why Subboxone is so successful in helping people to break free from opioid use disorders is because it contains two active ingredients that address both the addiction and dependence sides of the equation.

First, Suboxone contains buprenorphine that binds to opioid receptors in your brain to reduce withdrawal symptoms. This is important because withdrawal from opioids is tough, and the physical symptoms can make life fairly miserable, often driving people back to using just to get relief. With Suboxone, these side effects are greatly eased.

Not only does Suboxone help with withdrawal, it can also quiet the cravings, which can be strong in early recovery.

The second active ingredient in Suboxone — naltrexone — acts as an antagonist that prevents you from feeling the effects of the buprenorphine. In other words, you can’t get high using Suboxone, which makes it a safe and effective way to overcome an opioid use disorder.

As you can see, Suboxone checks all the boxes when it comes to successfully treating an opioid use disorder.

Bridging the gap with Suboxone

If you’re serious about gaining the upper hand on your opioid use disorder, we recommend that you take Suboxone right from the start. Suboxone works quickly — within hours — to manage withdrawal symptoms and control cravings. 

When it comes to how long you should take Suboxone, everyone is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this. Whether you take Suboxone for a few months or a year or more, the goal is to provide you with the tools you need to get to the other side of your opioid use disorder.

If you’d like to learn more about Suboxone and whether it might play a role in helping  you to reclaim your life, we invite you to contact our office in Palm Harbor, Florida, to set up a consultation.