Suboxone

Suboxone is used for the purpose of treating opiate addiction. Unlike methadone, which is used both to treat opiate addiction and simultaneously as a painkiller, suboxone’s main purpose is treating addiction. Suboxone is combined of buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is an opioid medication that helps with withdrawal symptoms. Naloxone is a special kind of drug that actually blocks the euphoric effect of opiate drugs. Some patients can end up on a suboxone treatment program for up to several years.

Though suboxone is supposed to be a less stigmatized and softer version of methadone, it’s not all different when looking at the success rate of it versus the rate of its wreaking havoc on a patient who already so obviously is prone to addiction. In other words since this “miracle drug” came into the picture (after getting approved in 2002) its effectiveness to cushion the blow of opiate addiction withdrawal didn’t seem to hold and eventually a lot of patients have started to get addicted to this medicine. So it seems like overcoming opiate addiction with this medicine eventually lead patients into becoming physically dependent on a substance years later anyway, that substance being suboxone itself.

Due to the fact that suboxone is a habit-forming drug it isn’t supposed to be given to or shared with anyone who isn’t prescribed. Any habit-forming drug can very easily lead to abuse and addiction. And now, because its sold on the black market as well, abuse of suboxone has unfortunately become a pretty common and easy thing to accomplish.

Signs of Suboxone Abuse

While abuse of suboxone is getting increasingly common, the fact that this can be very dangerous needs to be underscored. For starters, the drug has a 37 hour half-life, which can lead to overdose really easily. Unfortunately a lot of people abusing suboxone are doing so while also taking benzodiazepines. (Benzodiazepine is a central nervous system depressant used to treat anxiety.) Sometimes alcohol is brought into the mix. These suboxone cocktails are potentially lethal because they can suppress respiration to threateningly low levels. Another way people sometimes abuse this drug is by snorting or injecting it (which basically counteracts naloxone as a blocking agent) and which has been reported to cause a potent high especially if somebody hadn’t used opiates recently. However snorting or injecting it like this can also be fatal. Some signs of abusing suboxone are:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Insomnia
  • Fever
  • Depression
  • Muscle pain, aches and cramps
  • Sweating
  • Drowsiness
  • Watery eyes
  • Diarrhea
  • Slurred speech
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Small pupils
  • Bad memory
  • Apathetic mood

Some side effects from suboxone are: extreme weakness, drowsiness, shallow breathing, confusion, blurred vision, slurred speech, nausea, upper stomach pain, loss of appetite, itching, jaundice, feeling light-headed, feeling faint, tongue pain, swelling of arms or legs, insomnia, increased sweating, headaches, constipation and vomiting.

While the unfortunate situation of somebody getting hooked on suboxone seems like a doozy, given that the patient is trying to get cured for an opiate addiction as it stands, it’s not much of a rarity anymore and has gotten pretty clear that suboxone just might be far from an effective solution. Although looking at it from strictly a statistical point of view it might seem like suboxone is a great solution, because relapse rate of opiate addiction with suboxone drops to 50% from that of 85% without suboxone. However, what about the aspect of suboxone addiction itself? That makes this particular statistic kind of invalid in the face of the addictive response tons of people seem to have to the drug.

Suboxone Addiction

Suboxone addiction is a heavy thing that gets by unnoticed easier than your garden variety street drug would, basically because it’s a medicine. Looking out for the signs of abuse is important, because addiction to it can be dangerous and last long. One of the reasons why kicking a suboxone habit is difficult has to do with the fact that the withdrawal symptoms, especially depression, are awful. These withdrawal symptoms are:

  • Fever
  • Cold sweat
  • Chills
  • Diarrhea
  • Shaking or shivering
  • Runny nose
  • Watery eyes
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • No energy
  • Muscle aches, pains and cramps
  • Persistent fatigue
  • Digestive problems
  • Sensitivity to temperature
  • Anxiety
  • Feeling pessimistic and sad
  • Depression

Suboxone is a powerful drug, gauged to be about 25 to 40 times stronger than morphine. When people get off suboxone, many of them need to taper off, because these withdrawal symptoms can be pretty intense. The degree of withdrawal severity definitely has a lot to do with the depth of addiction the person found themselves in and their physical condition when eventually deciding to quit. Some people aren’t in good condition when quitting, which is part of the reason why they decide to put suboxone down to begin with. If someone is on suboxone for a long period of time, there are a few things which might stand out with the person. These long-term effects look like:

  • Abnormal response to stress
  • Loss of libido
  • Not being able to accept and manage one’s emotions
  • Hair loss
  • Tooth loss

It makes sense that a big part of the reason why suboxone is addictive has to do with the fact that it’s just a bit too intense for a maintenance drug. I mean, as mentioned earlier, it’s stronger than morphine (a highly addictive opiate in its own right). It’s obvious that suboxone makes a great detox drug, but what about beyond the detox stage? Beyond detox, it just doesn’t cut it as a viable solution. Instead, given enough time, the patient gets inevitably addicted to it, pinned to this medication by physical dependance. This medication is actually estimated to block 80 percent of a person’s feelings. That means while this drug might aid during the detox process when dealing with immediate opiate withdrawals, suboxone actually stands in the way of an addict facing their own feelings and reality in relation to their addiction and life. In other words, suboxone isn’t doing the addict any favors when trying to deal with their emotions, instead basically blocking the emotions that the person should naturally be dealing with as a necessary part of recovery. This is why a lot of doctors rave about the drug’s effectiveness in terms of its use strictly in the short term, and warn against its continued intake for the long run. An addict isn’t going to recover normally if they’re emotionally numbed by suboxone. Instead, they’re going to get hooked on it and then, by the time they recognize their own suboxone addiction, it’s going to be that much harder to live a one hundred percent drug-free lifestyle. In order to get the most out of addiction recovery, and achieve a truly stable state of mind, you have to be totally sober and experience the emotions you’re supposed to be feeling at the time you should be experiencing them. Apparently suboxone only prolongs the inevitable.

In conclusion, a notorious opiate addiction is difficult enough to overcome on its own. Add to that a myriad of suboxone prescriptions following in its path, and you don’t have an effective solution but instead another addiction. The road to sobriety from opiates shouldn’t include yet another powerfully addictive drug.

By Joyce