
Addiction to opioids and heroin is nothing new, but some of the ways we treat it are. In the past, methadone was the standard medication used to help people abusing opiates stay sober, but this came with significant downsides. Methadone still produces a powerful high, and users began to abuse it in the same way that they abused opiates in the past. Methadone also carries a higher risk of overdose, and therapeutic outcomes were hampered by the fact that people who need methadone can only get it in specific types of clinics — and are typically only able to take the drug under clinical supervision.
Still, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has been shown to improve outcomes for some people in recovery from opioid addiction, and after some period of time, an option appeared that carried a moderately lower risk and could be prescribed from a doctor’s office: Suboxone. For the last decade, Suboxone has largely replaced methadone as the standard for this type of MAT, providing a safer, more convenient way to get relief during detox and beyond.
It may seem like a miracle drug for some people, but others aren’t so sure. In this piece, we’ll be discussing some concerns that users have about Suboxone and importantly, talking about the consequences of long-term Suboxone use.
What Is Suboxone?
Suboxone is the combination of two chemicals: buprenorphine and naloxone. The ingredient that makes Suboxone so widely used in treatment is buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist. This means that it bonds to some of the same receptors in the brain as more addictive opioids. Importantly, however, the receptors that are most strongly linked to the intense euphoria one gets when using prescription opioids, heroin or morphine are left alone by buprenorphine. This means that the high users get from Suboxone is much less intense the high they’d get from other, similar substances.
The other half of the combination in Suboxone is naloxone, an opioid antagonist. What this means is that Suboxone cannot be taken through injection — which would, in theory, produce the strongest effects of the drug — without feeling intense withdrawal symptoms. Naloxone prevents misuse of Suboxone.
What Is Suboxone Used For?
In the recovery community, Suboxone is highly controversial. Many people say that sobriety cannot be achieved without complete abstinence from drugs, but it’s hard to argue against some of the uses that Suboxone has for people in recovery from opioids. It has short-term and long-term applications:
- In the short term, Suboxone can help during detox as a way to replace the input of stronger opioids and decrease the negative symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
- In its long-term use, Suboxone can replace other opioids completely. Some users stay on Suboxone for many years because of its potential to help prevent relapse. But the latter seems to be the source of a lot of concern.
Why Are People Concerned About “A Life on Suboxone”?
The long-term effects of taking Suboxone are not established in any consensus. After all, it’s still relatively new in the complete history of addiction treatment. Many in the treatment community believe that Suboxone is safe for long-term use, but there’s a central conflict with this line of thinking that sparks fear in people considering Suboxone treatment. What happens if you can’t get off Suboxone?