Opioid addiction is a growing pandemic that’s not going away anytime soon. You may have been prescribed pain medication for a surgical procedure or injury, and now find you need it to get through the day. But opioid addiction is very dangerous, and could cost you your life. Getting treatment is the key to overcoming this disease.
At Lori Scott Family Care, our team is ready to take the steps to help you beat your addiction. Dr. Lori Scott is our addiction specialist, who can help you decide if suboxone is an appropriate treatment for your opioid addiction.
Opioids are a classification of medications that are used to treat pain; either from an injury or after surgery. These medications have to be prescribed by a practicing medical doctor, because they can be addictive if taken for a long period of time.
So how do these drugs work? Opioids target your nervous system, and work by producing feelings of euphoria. They also work in your nervous system to lessen your pain, which is why they’re so sought after. Some common types of opioid medications are:
If these medications are taken as prescribed, there usually aren’t significant side effects. However, if you continue to take opioid medications, your body eventually builds a tolerance to the drug. This means that you’ll need more and more of the medication to get the same effects on your body. However, that’s known as dependence, not addiction.
Opioid addiction occurs when you want and need to continue taking the medication even after it’s no longer medically needed for your condition. With this disease, you have strong compulsive urges to take opioids for the euphoric feeling, even though you don’t physically need the medication.
When you’re addicted to opioids, you’ll do just about anything to get the drug in your system. Addiction like this usually leads to problems at home and in your social life. In many cases, it also affects your job and livelihood.
When you have an addiction to opioids, kicking the habit isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright miserable. Withdrawal symptoms are no walk in the park, so getting the proper treatment is the key to finally overcoming your addiction.
Dr. Scott offers suboxone if you’ve been dealing with opioid addiction and are ready to get better. Suboxone is actually a combination of two different medications: buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a type of opioid agonist, meaning it produces similar effects of opioid medications. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist, which means it works against those effects.
So how is suboxone helpful when it comes to beating addiction? If you try to quit your opioid addiction cold turkey, you could end up going through withdrawal, which produces a lot of symptoms, including:
These symptoms may last from a few days to a few weeks, which is unpleasant to think about. Suboxone helps you to decrease the amount of opioids you need gradually, which helps lessen your chances of withdrawal symptoms.
Suboxone is a way for Dr. Scott to help you slowly wean yourself off of opioids for good. It works because suboxone gives you some of the same feelings that opioids do, but with the added safety of naloxone, which works against the dangerous aspects of opioids.
It’s important to know that while on suboxone, you shouldn’t take any other medications that produce similar effects to opioids. This includes sleep aids, pain medications, and sedatives. This could lead to an overdose, which could be fatal.
Not everyone is a candidate for suboxone therapy, so it’s important to meet with Dr. Scott to see if this drug is what can help you finally get over addiction for good.
If you or someone you love is dealing with opioid addiction, call our office at 252-238-7079 to make an appointment with Dr. Scott. You can also book a consultation online today.
