Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is the newest evidence-based treatment for recovery from opioid addiction. I utilize buprenorphine extensively in my medical practice treating opioid addiction. As with methadone, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is an outpatient treatment, but with several important and valuable differences from medication-assisted treatment with methadone:
• Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is approved for office-based treatment, meaning that patients receive treatment at a physician’s office as they would for any illness. Methadone can only be dispensed at an Opioid Treatment Program for recovery from opioid addiction.
• Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine reduces the stigma attached to opioid addiction …show more content…
Medication-assisted treatment with methadone achieves this by dispensing methadone daily and observing that the patient swallows the medication. However, because patients receive a prescription for buprenorphine, there is little control what happens to the medication after the patient fills the prescription.
To minimize the potential for abuse, the abuse-deterrent medication naloxone was added to the buprenorphine to produce the first commercial product, Suboxone®. Buprenorphine plus naloxone is called the combination formulation.
Naloxone is inert unless the product is abused. If injected or snorted, naloxone will cause withdrawal symptoms. However, a sister product (referred to as the mono formulation) contains only buprenorphine without the abuse-deterrent naloxone. It can produce an intense “high,” accidental overdose, or addiction when abused. The combination formulation is by far the safest and most frequently prescribed formulation.
Benzodiazepines, alcohol, and similar types of drugs should be avoided because they can slow breathing, increase sedation, or result in an
• Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine is approved for office-based treatment, meaning that patients receive treatment at a physician’s office as they would for any illness. Methadone can only be dispensed at an Opioid Treatment Program for recovery from opioid addiction.
• Medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine reduces the stigma attached to opioid addiction …show more content…
Medication-assisted treatment with methadone achieves this by dispensing methadone daily and observing that the patient swallows the medication. However, because patients receive a prescription for buprenorphine, there is little control what happens to the medication after the patient fills the prescription.
To minimize the potential for abuse, the abuse-deterrent medication naloxone was added to the buprenorphine to produce the first commercial product, Suboxone®. Buprenorphine plus naloxone is called the combination formulation.
Naloxone is inert unless the product is abused. If injected or snorted, naloxone will cause withdrawal symptoms. However, a sister product (referred to as the mono formulation) contains only buprenorphine without the abuse-deterrent naloxone. It can produce an intense “high,” accidental overdose, or addiction when abused. The combination formulation is by far the safest and most frequently prescribed formulation.
Benzodiazepines, alcohol, and similar types of drugs should be avoided because they can slow breathing, increase sedation, or result in an