Completing Suboxone Treatment without Suboxone Withdrawal
Many people start treatment on Suboxone, Subutex, or Zubsolv as a means to an end to the grasp of opioid addiction. But what about completing a Suboxone treatment program? This is often a question people do not initially ask or even think about when entering an opioid addiction treatment program. The idea behind treatment should be to assist a person in getting to a point where they are free of all substances. And completing a program without any concerns of Suboxone withdrawal during the process of tapering off the medication, which requires appropriate decreases in Suboxone dosage.
Some people may have attempted to get free of their medication in the past but had bad outcomes. There are many reasons why a person may have had bad outcomes. First, often people will attempt to taper off medication on their own, which often is at too fast of a rate, causing them severe discomfort, cravings, and Suboxone withdrawal symptoms. Second, some facilities may incorrectly advise tapering either at wrong Suboxone dosage decreases or timing in a person’s life. There are many factors both physiological and psychological that need to be accounted for in a successful taper off Suboxone, Subutex, or Zubsolv.
Here at Recover Clarity our main goal is to not only assist those suffering from Opioid Use Disorder, but also to help those individuals live a life free of medication in general. This includes successfully getting off the grasps of the medication of Suboxone, Subutex, or Zubsolv. If you or a loved one is in need of treatment for opioid addiction or would like to work with a clinic that is here to assist you in a successful completion of treatment and being free of medication, click here to Contact Us or simply call or text us at 888-543-2230.
Is Suboxone Addictive?
Like many medications, especially those that are controlled substances, Buprenorphine is addictive. Buprenorphine is the main active ingredient in Suboxone, Subutex, and Zubsolv and is a partial opioid agonist. There are differences between these three medications that contain Buprenorphine, click to learn more about Subutex vs Suboxone and Zubsolv vs Suboxone.
Because Buprenorphine is an addictive medication many people then worry that they will just become addicted to Suboxone if they start taking it. As this is partly true, a quality clinic should work with a patient on tapering off the medication in a safe and controlled manner, such as what we do here at Recover Clarity. Depending on the dosage and where a person is at in life, transition from Buprenorphine treatment to a life free of medications can be as quick as a few months.
The addictive property of Buprenorphine is where many people develop concerns about the medication. It is commonly seen that people then have the belief that they are still in active addiction and just addicted to another substance when attending something like a Suboxone Clinic. It is understood where someone would view the medication this way, however, this is not the truth. As yes, the medication has addictive properties, if working a treatment program correctly, this is not at all like active addiction. The medication allows a person a safe way to manage their cravings and withdrawal symptoms while rebuilding their life and healing. It is after these are completed that the person then can work towards completing the medication and getting back to a life free from all substances. And with the assistance of quality online Suboxone doctors and therapeutic interventions, this is treatment provides many levels of support for a person.
A better way to view the medication would be like using crutches. If you break a leg you will start on two crutches while you heal, relate this to the starting dose of Buprenorphine (Suboxone, Subutex, or Zubsolv). A person will remain on this dose as their life heals from what has happened in active addiction. During this time the person will work on rebuilding relationships, improving their employment and/or education, getting in a better living situation, rebuilding their financial life, and overall improving their quality of life. While working on these and through therapeutic interventions and understanding their triggers, cravings, and relapse prevention. As these areas of life then you go down to one crutch, then a cane, then a brace, and so on. This would be the titration or tapering off the medication. With the last step to be completely free of the medication and living a life free of any substances. If you are ready to be assisted with regaining control of your life and being free of the grasp of any substance, please contact us at Recover Clarity by completing the Contact Us form or by simply calling or texting us at 888-543-2230.
Suboxone Dosage
The dose of a medication all depends on many factors. Suboxone dosage is commonly searched on the internet, but the dosage more specifically relates to the amount of Buprenorphine in the medication. Medicine is not a “one size fits all” model but should be a “one size fits one” model. When looking at the dosing of Suboxone (or any Buprenorphine medication) many factors should be considered. Many opioid addiction treatment facilities are too quick to prescribe high doses to patients. This is seen as many Suboxone clinics are only in the treatment for gaining revenue and desire to keep patients on high doses of the medication to keep them at the clinic. A quality opioid addiction treatment facility should start patients on the lowest possible dose, and almost never about 16mg.
Suboxone dosage or dosage of Buprenorphine is highly important when looking at tapering off the medication. A taper should be done in a slow and gradual manner, but this all depends on the person. Ideally decreases of 2mg at a time is ideal and gives the person time between decreases to stabilize on the adjusted dose. Due to this lower amount of Suboxone dosage decrease is why Suboxone strips are preferred over Suboxone pills / tablets or Subutex (Zubsolv also has some great lower dosage tablets). Drastic decreases such as 8mg will cause a person to experience cravings and withdrawal symptoms as well as set the person up for failure. Every person is different and decreases can at times be higher amounts, such as 4mg and even at quicker successions.
