Suboxone Maintenance vs Suboxone Detox – RELIEVE Medical Opioid Detox

Why Choose an Outpatient Medical Detox (Detox that uses Suboxone) over a Suboxone Clinic (Suboxone Maintenance)?

MEDICAL DETOX USING SUBOXONE

Our Medical Detox uses Suboxone as a detox medication. We substitute your opioid medication for Suboxone and taper you off over 7 days. At the end of the 7 day treatment, you will be off all narcotics.

We also provide resources for aftercare options during treatment to ensure a lasting recovery.

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Stats on Long-Term Suboxone:

Patients have potential to misuse suboxone when in long term treatment. Source

Suboxone has greater effects of withdrawal and increased dependence.

Source

"Seventy-five percent had successful outcomes by remaining in Suboxone treatment (43%), tapering successfully (21%), transferring to methadone maintenance (7%), or inpatient treatment (4%)." Source

"We found in long-term SUBX patients a significantly flat affect (p<0.01), and they had less self-awareness of being happy, sad, and anxious compared to both the GP and AA groups."

"There has been a shift in mental health services from an emphasis on treatment focused on reducing symptoms based on health and disease, to a more holistic approach which takes into consideration quality of life [4]. Historically, the primary outcome goals for substance abuse treatment are harm reduction and cost effectiveness; with secondary outcomes including quality of life, and reduction of psychological symptoms [5]. Quality of life is characterized by feelings of wellbeing, control and autonomy, a positive self-perception, a sense of belonging, participation in enjoyable and meaningful activity, and a positive view of the future [4]. There is evidence that happy individuals are less likely to engage in harmful and unhealthy behaviors, including abuse of drugs and alcohol [5]. In addition, treatment approaches addressing depressive symptoms are likely to enhance substance-abuse treatment outcomes [6]." Source

"A total of 220 participants were included in the study. The age range of participants was 18–67 years with most being African American males. Eighty-three (38%) remained in the study for at least 1 month, with 37 of the 83 (45%) remaining in treatment for >3 months. Ten of the 37 (27%) never relapsed after their longest period of abstinence from heroin. During the first year after initiating treatment with Suboxone, hospitalization and emergency room visit rates for all 220 participants decreased by 45 and 23%, respectively, as compared to the year prior to starting treatment. The number of legal charges for drug possession decreased from 70 to 62. Anecdotally, the quality of life seemed to improve in those who were treated with Suboxone for longer periods of time and received regular counseling." Source

SUBOXONE CLINIC/ SUBOXONE MAINTENANCE

A Suboxone Clinic does not detox you from your opioids. Generally you must detox yourself and then they put you back on Suboxone. Suboxone maintenance is long-term, meaning you will continually be on Suboxone for a long time. The model of Suboxone Maintenance is similar to that of a Methadone Clinic.

Suboxone is a mix of buprenorphine and naloxone.

Buprenorphine treatment happens in three phases:

The Induction Phase is the medically monitored startup of buprenorphine treatment performed in a qualified physician’s office or certified OTP using approved buprenorphine products. The medication is administered when a person with an opioid dependency has abstained from using opioids for 12 to 24 hours and is in the early stages of opioid withdrawal. It is important to note that buprenorphine can bring on acute withdrawal for patients who are not in the early stages of withdrawal and who have other opioids in their bloodstream.
The Stabilization Phase begins after a patient has discontinued or greatly reduced their misuse of the problem drug, no longer has cravings, and experiences few, if any, side effects. The buprenorphine dose may need to be adjusted during this phase. Because of the long-acting agent of buprenorphine, once patients have been stabilized, they can sometimes switch to alternate-day dosing instead of dosing every day.
The Maintenance Phase occurs when a patient is doing well on a steady dose of buprenorphine. The length of time of the maintenance phase is tailored to each patient and could be indefinite. People can engage in further treatment—with or without MAT—to prevent a possible relapse.

Detoxing from Suboxone

Suboxone is addictive and you can easily build a dependence on it. Suboxone generally has worse withdrawal symptoms than most opioids and usually requires a second, longer inpatient detox to end treatment.

Benefits

Suboxone Maintenance can be beneficial for certain people as a MAT (Medically Assisted Treatment) after detox. It can help with cravings and as an antabuse.