Quote:
Originally Posted by sa meredith
a drug named Suboxone can be prescribed. It can be filled at any pharmacy, and the patient never has to visit a clinic or treatment center. The drug needs to be taken in proper dosage, and the patient's progress (or addict's progress, whichever word you're comfortable with) closely followed by the doctor (in my case, weekly visits).
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Glad you brought that up. There are three FDA approved medicinal options for treating the withdrawal symptoms of opiate addiction. Methadone, Suboxone and LAAM (Long Acting Methadone). Just some food for thought. There are roughly fifteen Doctor's in the Lakes Region who prescribe Suboxone for treatment of opiate addiction. Suboxone is a Schedule II controlled narcotic. It is a combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone. Buprenorphine is a very long acting narcotic and Naloxone acts as an opiod blocker. Suboxone is available by prescription and is used as a sublingual tablet taken 1-3 times daily depending on instructions.
Suboxone is fairly expensive. Tablets can cost 8-10 dollars each. Doctors visits can be very expensive for those who are not insured. Methadone is much cheaper as is LAAM. Point being there are already clinics and Doctors in the Lakes Region who are treating addicts on a regular basis with Suboxone. Would you believe one of them is right in the Weirs? The Alpenrose Plaza is home to Weirs Beach Health Center, where the Doctor specializes in Suboxone treatment. The clinics are already here, but Methadone seemed to be the last to move in.
Although Suboxone has less sedating effects than Methadone and is considered to be less addicting, there are users who say much different. I am a member of a forum where prescription medications are discussed, and I hear many people saying the opposite is true. I also work in a pharmacy part-time as I am studying to be a pharmacist, and I hear patients describe ugly symptoms and side effects all the time. Suboxone has a "ceiling effect" meaning after the drug reaches it's peak it will do nothing even if the person takes more and more, making overdose less likely. Suboxone blocks other opiod medications therefore a person taking Suboxone will not feel the effects of let's say, Oxycontin. Suboxone sits on the opiod receptors and won't let anybody else in. However, Suboxone is also narcotic, and is in the same schedule as Methadone and LAAM. Suboxone eases the symptoms of withdrawal, but does not completely wipe them out. So those in the beggining stages of Suboxone treatment are still experiencing withdrawal symptoms, being treated with a new drug, and driving around the Lakes Region as well. Right in the heart of Weirs Beach...
Just some food for thought....