About buprenorphine.
What is buprenorphine?
Buprenorphine is an opioid partial agonist. This means that, although buprenorphine is an opioid, and thus can produce typical opioid agonist effects and side effects such as euphoria and respiratory depression, its maximal effects are less than those of full agonists like heroin and methadone. At low doses buprenorphine produces sufficient agonist effect to enable opioid-addicted individuals to discontinue the misuse of opioids without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. The agonist effects of buprenorphine increase linearly with increasing doses of the drug until at moderate doses they reach a plateau and no longer continue to increase with further increases in dose—the “ceiling effect.” Thus, buprenorphine carries a lower risk of abuse, addiction, and side effects compared to full opioid agonists. In fact, in high doses and under certain circumstances, buprenorphine can actually block the effects of full opioid agonists and can precipitate withdrawal symptoms if administered to an opioid-addicted individual while a full agonist is in the bloodstream.
Substance use disorders
Buprenorphine (Suboxone) is a proven medication for treatment of opiate addiction and can replace methadone and older treatment options with major decrease in cravings and return to a healthier lifestyle.
The beneficial effects of Opioid addiction therapy will be most noticeable in individuals who have been objectively diagnosed with opioid addiction, are willing to follow safety precautions for treatment, can be expected to comply with the treatment, have no contraindications to buprenorphine therapy, and who agree to buprenorphine treatment after a review of treatment options.
Substance use is a debilitating condition that affects the individual in many ways. It is frequently a form of self medication to combat a variety of medical and psychiatric conditions including physical and mental pain. Mental pain usually stems from depression and anxiety disorder spectra. The substance frequently becomes a major concern and takes efforts away from dealing with the primary cause to combat the substance use itself.
Effective treatment of drug addiction requires comprehensive attention to all of an individual’s medical and psychosocial co-morbidities. Pharmacological therapy alone rarely achieves long-term success.