When it comes to opioid addiction, one of the biggest hurdles is navigating the withdrawal period, which sends people back to using to avoid the incredibly miserable side effects that come with trying to get clean. And this is where Suboxone® comes in, combined with our detox program to pave the way forward with the least amount of bumps. This treatment allows you or your loved one the opportunity to gain the upper hand on the substance use problem once and for all.
Tres Vistas Recovery, a premier addiction rehabilitation treatment center owned and operated by Daniel Headrick, MD., offers hope in an otherwise dismal world of drug addiction. Through our innovative IV detox program, coupled with powerful tools like Suboxone, we’re helping patients at our welcoming treatment center in San Juan Capistrano, CA, lead healthy, happy lives free from the prison that comes with opioid use disorders.
If you or a loved one is struggling with opioid use, here’s a brief look at how Suboxone helps beat the addiction.
Opioids and your brain
To better understand how Suboxone works, it’s useful to quickly review what we’re up against when it comes to opioid use. The reason why these drugs are so addictive is the effect they have on your brain. Opioids attach themselves to certain receptors on the nerve cells in your brain, which not only disrupts pain signals, but also provides a euphoric and calming effect.
In effect, opioids trigger the pleasure centers in your brain, and your brain rewires itself to receive more of the drug for the continued effect, creating both a dependence and an addiction.
With this new wiring, any attempt to deny your body the drug can lead to some fairly awful withdrawal symptoms, such as:
- Anxiety and agitation
- Fatigue and excessive yawning
- Runny nose and watery eyes
- Hot and cold sweats
- Aching and painful muscles
- Gastrointestinal upset, including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
Unfortunately, these symptoms may not be short-lived and can last anywhere from a week to a month, which is what drives many people to relapse.
Fighting back
In order to make the detox road far less arduous, we offer Suboxone, which considerably eases the symptoms of withdrawal. To accomplish this, Suboxone contains two ingredients — buprenorphine and naloxone — and each works in different ways.
To start, the buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, which blocks the opiate receptors in your brain to reduce your cravings while easing the effects of withdrawal. In effect, this ingredient delivers enough of the opioid to prevent extreme discomfort, but not enough to get you high, keeping the receptors in your brain quiet.
The second ingredient, naloxone, is an opioid antagonist, which shuts down the opioid receptors in your brain, preventing you from feeling the effects of the drug.
The combination of the two ingredients is designed to deliver what your body needs to ease the physical withdrawal while keeping your cravings in check by overriding your receptors.
Moving forward
We typically recommend Suboxone to help you get through the early stages of recovery, which is when you’re most vulnerable, physically, and mentally. This FDA-approved medication provides an easier, gentler way forward, giving you enough space to take the necessary steps to overcome your substance use disorder.
Each person is different, so we can’t put a timeline on the Suboxone treatment, but our goal is to get you off all drugs so you can lead a clean and sober life.
If you’d like to learn more about how Suboxone has been so successful in helping people overcome opioid addiction, please give us a call at 844-900-0444. Or you can email us here to set up an appointment.
