Opiate Cure

Suboxone is a drug first marketed in the United States in 2004; with over 18years experience, it has been shown to be very safe and extremely effective in helping patients overcome their addiction to opiate (or narcotic) type drugs. It is considered among the top treatments of choice for opiate use disorder.

A very good question and one that has been asked not only by addicted people, but also with much skepticism by many people who are employed by the “Addiction Treatment Industry.” and traditional 12 step-based NA or AA groups who hold a near monopoly on addiction treatment in the United States, and now, sadly, elsewhere.  The same question is also asked by un-informed physicians, who neither understand the disease of addiction properly, and/or dislike addicts in general (in many cases for good reason, as addicts frequently try to feign painful illnesses in order to “hustle” the physician into writing a prescription for opiate medications.)  Many of these patients see multiple physicians and utilize multiple pharmacies (“doctor shopping”), at great expense of time and money, and at high legal risk.

The answer to the question lies in the unique pharmacology of Suboxone® (generically known as buprenorphine).  The truth is, Suboxone® is not really a new drug.  It is itself a type of opioid drug that had been used extensively in Europe, and less so in the U.S. (in injectable form as an analgesic (anti-pain) medication.  Its paradoxical usefulness in helping opiate addicted patients overcome their addiction was also recognized years ago,
But the F.D.A., much influenced by groups in the addiction treatment industry, delayed its approval for treating opiate addiction until the early 2000’s.  Until President Clinton signed into law the Drug Abuse and Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000), it was illegal to treat or maintain an addiction by the prescription of any controlled substances, with one exception – a tightly regulated, difficult to access system of maintenance by government regulated methadone clinics.  The latter was problematic, because of the relatively low number of methadone clinics, their location in bad inner-city neighborhoods, and the burdensome requirement of daily, or almost daily visits to obtain the medication.  Aside from this problem, methadone itself is a problematic drug, which, unlike buprenorphine, did simply substitute addiction to heroin (or other opioid drugs), to another toxic, and in many cases, potentially life-threatening drug.  In all fairness, methadone is not without its advantages, the main one being the cost (it is dirt cheap).

Because Suboxone® (buprenorphine) has a unique pharmacologic profile; it has virtually no intoxicating effect. At the same time, it partially stimulates the mu (pronounced “myou) receptors, in the brain, and elsewhere in the body. It is these mu receptors that the opiate addict seeks to stimulate, normally with full mu agonist drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, Vicodin®, Lorcet®, Oxycontin®, Dilaudid®, and similar drugs.  As such, Suboxone® (buprenorphine) mimics the effect of naturally produced endorphins in the body, a polypeptide associated with natural highs, such as the “runner high,” the daredevil’s high,” the high associated with orgasm, etc.  Both buprenorphine and naturally produced endorphins give one a feeling of well being that is artificially achieved by opiate abusers using full mu agonists.  While it is true the feeling of well being achieved by using buprenorphine is also technically “artificial”, it can be likened to replacing natural insulin with “artificial” insulin in a diabetic.  While the diabetic can work on reducing or even eliminating his disease using natural methods such as weight loss and diet, the opiate addict similarly may need to work on his addiction using additional psycho-behavioral therapy.  However, I have seen many opiate dependent patients (even most) spontaneously go into remission with buprenorphine alone without psycho-behavioral therapy.

©Sandor J. Woren, D.O. All Rights Reserved

If you or a loved one is struggling with an opioid addiction give our Glendale office a call at (818) 613-5357 to learn more about Suboxone.