The Advantages of Using Suboxone for Heroin Addiction Treatment
As heroin and opiate addiction sweep through our nation at epidemic proportions, it spreads to more and more people. Fortunately, there are medications that act as a cure for heroin addiction of sorts. Although drug addiction is often considered a chronic and relapsing disease, there are things that treat heroin addiction and are as close to a cure as we currently have. Suboxone is one of these treatments.
According to Indivior, the manufacturer of Suboxone, it is for the treatment of addiction to short acting opioids like heroin. It contains both buprenorphine and naloxone in a combination, which ends your symptoms of withdrawal and is difficult to overdose on. There are many benefits to taking Suboxone.
You Might Feel Better
Feeling better is key to recovery. Suboxone ends your addiction and the health effects associated with it. It also can treat chronic pain. You can remain on Suboxone for as long as you need to without fear of serious long term effects.
It will End Your Dependence on Heroin
Right now, you are dependent on heroin to feel somewhat normal. When you stop taking it, you go into what is considered one of the worst types of withdrawal. Although Suboxone is not technically a cure for heroin addiction, it is an excellent treatment. Because of its formula, it is difficult to become dependent on it.
Your Relationships will Improve
Your relationships suffer while you are abusing heroin. When you seek heroin addiction treatment, you will be able to correct your relationships. Suboxone does not have the same effects as heroin, is legal, and obtainable with a prescription. There won’t be a need to lie to your family and friends. It also stops the mood swings and violent behavior some heroin addicts exhibit.
You Could Just Get your Life Back
Suboxone for heroin addiction can give you your life back. It will allow you to function normally and break the cycle of addiction and relapse.
Frequently Asked Questions About Heroin Addiction Treatment
When you are locked into an addiction, it is a horrible feeling, particularly when you realize that the drug is rapidly destroying your life. Fortunately, there is help available for heroin addiction. If you are considering treatment for heroin addiction, you may have some questions.
Is there a Cure for Heroin Addiction?
Since heroin is a chronic and relapsing disease, there is no cure for heroin addiction, only treatment. This treatment can end your dependence on heroin but there is always a chance of relapse. In addition, there is no such thing as causal use of heroin. If you continue to use it addiction is inevitable. So you cannot go back to using if you were treated for heroin addiction.
What is Heroin Addiction Treatment?
Heroin addiction treatment is the process of ending your addiction. Although this treatment is not a cure for heroin dependence, it is extremely helpful. The most popular form of treatment for heroin addiction is medication assisted treatment. This combines medications and counseling to correct both the cause and the consequences of your addiction.
What Medications do They Use?
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the most popular medications used in treating heroin addiction are:
- Methadone
- Buprenorphine
- Suboxone
- Naltrexone
Each of these medications is a bit different but they all help treat your heroin addiction.
Do Treatment Centers Work on Heroin Addiction?
Yes, treatment centers do work for heroin addiction. A good treatment facility with a variety of treatment programs is one of the best ways to end heroin use and abuse. A combination or Inpatient and outpatient treatment using medication assisted treatment have the highest rate of success.
How do I Choose a Treatment?
You choose a treatment by doing some research on the different forms of treatment and then speak with an addiction specialist. Addiction specialists are able to guide you through your options and help you choose the right treatment for you.
The Rat Park Cure for Heroin Addiction
Although it sounds strange, the rat park treatment for heroin addiction is gaining ground in the treatment community. It is not normally called the Rat Park treatment but it is the concept of finding and treating the cause of the addiction rather than just treating the dependence on heroin.
What was the Rat Park?
The Rat Park Experiment was a scientific study published in several scientific journals. It all started when soldiers coming back from Vietnam addicted to heroin and other substances, stopped using them when they returned to their natural environment.
When this phenomenon was noticed, scientists began to look drug addiction differently. Rats (a species biologically close to humans with a short generation time) were kept in isolation as scientists searched for causes and a cure for heroin addiction. Rats, like humans, are social creatures.
Scientists created an experiment that tested whether rats living in more natural and less frightening conditions would still prefer heroin to regular water. According to Bruce K. Alexander’s, titled “Effects of Early and Later Colony Housing on Oral Ingestion of Morphine in Rats,” rats living in a colony with others of their species use less of a heroin / morphine based solution than those living in isolation.
The conclusion:
Most happy rats do not use heroin.
How can the Rat Park Help with Heroin Addiction Treatment?
This fact is fine but how does that help with a cure for heroin addiction in people. The idea that people who are unhappy or have a chronic condition who are exposed to heroin, become addicted to it. Like with the rats, isolation and loneliness perpetuate the addiction cycle.
What this means for addiction treatment is simple, happy people do not normally fall into heroin addiction. More simply, if you treat heroin addiction as a symptom of something greater and treat the cause of the addiction, the treatment outcome is much more successful.