Opiate Addiction: Fear Of ‘Drug Sickness’ Withdrawals Keeps Addicts Using

Opiate addiction and the need for opiate treatment is definitely on the rise. But these days it is not in the traditional form of heroin, but rather in the form of prescription pill medication. Prescription pain killers are a segment of drug use that is rising astronomically.

It is now not uncommon in alcohol and drug rehab’s to have groups with 50% of the people either abusing or addicted to opiates. And within this group of people one of the most common fears verbalized instead of ‘drug sickness. This is not the unpleasant effects of with drawl are described by the users. Withdrawal from opiates while as dangerous in a medical sense, as withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines, can be very unpleasant and prolonged.

So the concept of getting high and stay high becomes cemented in the mine of an opiate user not from the desired to feel the effects of the high, but to avoid negative effects of the withdrawal. This is an extremely powerful motivator for continued use.

There is a high rate of opiate users needing treatment for the end of the program because the fear of the withdrawals becomes so great that they feel they must use. Getting through an opiate withdrawal can be described in the sense of getting over the hump. There is great discomfort and then there is a breakthrough moment. Unfortunately, many people eat before they have the breakthrough.

Fortunately, there is some government approved medication that can help with the unpleasant effects of opiate withdrawal; Buprenorphine (Subutex) and buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone). That is the good news. The bad news is that there are many misconceptions about its use, and effectiveness. In order to be effective they must be taken in a precise way. Unfortunately, people with addiction have difficulty taking medications exactly as prescribed.

Buprenorphine (Subutex) and buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone) are used to treat opioid dependence (addiction to opioid drugs, including heroin and narcotic painkillers). Buprenorphine is in a class of medications called opioid partial agonist-antagonists, and naloxone is in a class of medications called opioid antagonists. Buprenorphine alone and the combination of buprenorphine and naloxone prevent withdrawal symptoms when someone stops taking opioid drugs by producing similar effects to these drugs.

They are usually taken once a day. To help you remember to take buprenorphine or buprenorphine and naloxone, take it around the same time every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take buprenorphine or buprenorphine and naloxone exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

You will start your treatment with buprenorphine, which you will take in the doctor’s office. Your doctor will start you on a low dose of buprenorphine and will increase your dose for several days before switching you to buprenorphine and naloxone. Your doctor may increase or decrease your buprenorphine and naloxone dose until the medication works properly.

Do not stop taking buprenorphine and naloxone without talking to your doctor. Stopping buprenorphine and naloxone too quickly can cause withdrawal symptoms. Your doctor will tell you when and how to stop taking buprenorphine and naloxone.

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