How Suboxone Can Help Treat Your Opioid Addiction

Struggling with opioid addiction isn’t something anyone should do alone. Successfully treating opioid addiction requires intervention, supervision, and guidance from medical and behavioral health professionals. 

Dr. Lori Scott, physician at Lori Scott Family Care in Kinston, North Carolina, has helped many patients overcome opioid addiction using medically assisted therapy (MAT). Helping people return to safe, healthy lives brings Dr. Scott endless joy, and she’s proud to offer MAT with Suboxone at her family clinic. 

If you’re wondering about Suboxone for yourself or for a loved one struggling with opioid addiction, you’ve come to the right place. This article will help you understand what Suboxone is and how it works to accelerate addiction recovery. Of course, if you have more questions, you can always ask Dr. Scott. 

What is Suboxone? 

Suboxone is a combination medication that contains two separate medications, buprenorphine and naloxone.  

• Buprenorphine is an opioid analgesic, which relieves pain. Buprenorphine alone is often prescribed for severe pain, such as that which comes with recovering from a major surgery. It’s also prescribed as a replacement to manage heroin and methadone addiction, because it is a partial opioid agonist. 
• Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that reverses the effects of opioids. It’s the go-to treatment for opioid overdose, as it works quickly and reliably. 

How does Suboxone work? 

The combination of medications in Suboxone make it ideal for medically assisted therapy for opioid addiction. When you take Suboxone, the buprenorphine blocks the receptors in your brain that drugs usually target. Because these receptors are busy with buprenorphine, you won’t feel cravings for opiates as frequently or intensely. Eventually, the goal is that you don’t feel cravings at all. 

At the same time buprenorphine is doing its job blocking receptors, naloxone is hard at work reversing the effects of opiates in your body. Together, buprenorphine and naloxone work to reduce your dependence on opioids while avoiding withdrawal symptoms.

Can Suboxone really treat opioid addiction?

Yes! Suboxone is the preferred MAT for opioid addiction and addiction specialists are working hard to make this treatment more accessible. There is no shortage of research proving that Suboxone effectively treats opioid addictions and helps people return to a life of normalcy and safety. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with opioid addiction, it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible. To start treatment for opioid addiction, schedule an appointment with Dr. Scott by calling our Kinston, North Carolina, office at 252-238-7079. You can also book online today.