Suboxone a Revolutanary Alternative To Opiate Addiction
Suboxone is taking a completely new approach in treatment of opiate addiction. My experiences with suboxone make me wonder if we are at the verge of an entirely new approach to opiate addiction, and in turn to other addictions as well.
The traditional approach to drug addiction treats all substances as essentially the same. Yes, the addict does develop a ‘love relationship’ with his/her substance, but the substance’s sister, brother, aunt, or uncle can easily step in and take the place of the drug of choice in a process called ‘cross addiction’. This is one reason why traditional treatment demands sobriety from ALL substances, but there is a more complicated reason as well. The addict, over time, becomes hyper-aware of his/her mood, comfort level, and anxiety. The addict constantly ‘checks in’ somatically, asking ‘am I going up? Or ‘am I (oh no!) coming down? Every bead of sweat may portend the pain of withdrawal. Every ache is a new excuse to use. The addict takes comfort in the ‘4-hour schedule’ of use; an internal clock becomes all-important, and eventually the only thing that really matters. Sobriety and recovery demand that the addict learn to take life on life’s terms, and give up the obsession with symptoms and medications. Sobriety will ‘extinguish’ the learned obsession with symptoms over time—sometimes a great deal of time. As the obsession fades, the addict takes steps away from relapse. But if the addict uses a new substance that changes perception, even a substance like diphenhydramine that is not addictive, the old attention to feelings and symptoms returns. Many addicts are aware of an ‘addict’ frame of mind and a ‘sober’ frame of mind; a drug that causes the addict to look inward and focus again on symptoms can trigger the addict mindset to re-appear. And once the addict is back, it can be very difficult to return to the mindset of sobriety. Suboxone often refered to as buprenorphine can help to block the “addict’s mindset.” Suboxone is a revolutionary alternative to traditional opiate addiction treatment and consistes of two drugs; buprenorphine and naloxone.
