Suboxone Intervention

How often do these words often come from
family members who reach out to our sister company, Sober Solutions,
that helps family members to find treatment for those who are willing to
go?

Opiates and Suboxone Intervention

Essentially, Suboxone is a synthetic Opiate.
The standard definition of an Opiate is “a medication or illegal drug
that is either derived from the opium poppy or that mimics the effect of
an Opiate (a synthetic Opiate). Opiate drugs are narcotic sedatives
that depress activity of the central nervous system, reduce pain, and
induce sleep. Side effects may include oversedation, nausea, and
constipation. Long- term use of Opiates can produce addiction, and
overuse can cause overdose and potentially death.”. During later stages
of Opiate addiction, the narcotic effects can actually stimulate the
addict, giving him energy and the ability to “face the day”. Over time
prolonged Opiate abuse eventually becomes physically addictive and the
body itself needs more and more of the drug or else develops severely
uncomfortable symptoms. Standard withdrawal symptoms include
sleeplessness, anxiety, restlessness, flu-like symptoms, nausea, muscle
aches and pains and severe discomfort.

The most commonly abused Opiates include
Heroin, Methadone, Suboxone, Oxycontin (Oxycodone HCL), Vicodin
(Hydrocodone), Morphine, Codeine, Fentanyl, and Opium. Abused for
centuries, opium, laudenum and morphine addiction reached its height in
the United States in the early 1900′s. As a response to the addiction
problem, the Bayer Corporation created Heroin to help addicts withdraw
off of Opiates. Later, during World War II, Methadone was created to
combat morphine addiction. In the late 20th century, Suboxone was
created to help addicts to withdraw off of Methadone and Heroin. It is
important to understand that each of these substances are classed as
Opiates and are addictive and mood altering. Many people make the
mistake of substituting Suboxone for Heroin and end up addicted to the
Suboxone.

The most common cycle of addiction
involving Suboxone is a user who begins using Opiates intermittently,
then over time becomes physically addicted and begins using daily.
Afterward, there is a 60% likelihood of becoming an IV drug user within 3
years. Eventually, as an attempt to stop using the Opiates, the user
switches to Suboxone and becomes addicted to it. Most end up quitting
the Suboxone and end up switching back to their primary drug of choice.
It is important to understand that statistically, less than 1% of Opiate
addicts quit using without the aid of some form of intervention or
treatment.

Is a Suboxone Intervention Necessary if They Don’t Get High?

Depends on who you ask.  Most Heroin
addicts will say no.  Others will say yes.  A good analogy would be to
ask an active alcoholic who drinks a bottle of whiskey every day if beer
gets you drunk.  They would probably laugh and say no.  Suboxone is a
what is called a “partial agonist”.  An “agonist” is something that
stimulates a receptor within the body in a way that mimics a natural
existing chemical within the body.  A full agonist such as Heroin
greatly stimulates the receptors.  In other words, you get really high. 
A partial agonist such as Suboxone technically does get you high,
however, it is at a level much lower than other full agonists.  Also,
most people who use it have such a tolerance towards their primary drug
of choice that they can’t feel Suboxone’s effects comparatively
speaking.   However, take a layman who doesn’t abuse any drugs or
alcohol and give them a Suboxone tablet and ask them if they are getting
high.  Their answer would be a resounding (or mumbled) “yes”.  In
addition, the reason that most people in Narcotics Anonymous do not
consider someone clean sober who is taking Suboxone or Methadone is that
they, the recovering drug users themselves, consider it a mood-altering
drug.  Suboxone is not viewed in the same category as aspirin, insulin,
or vitamins.  For some, Suboxone keeps them from using Heroin today. 
For many others, it is considered another addictive replacement drug and
yet another excuse to avoid living life sober.

Withdrawal after the Suboxone Intervention 

Although originally created to combat
opiate addiction, it is interesting to note that Suboxone has similar
effects and addictive qualities as do most other opiates. The withdrawal
from Suboxone is similar to standard Opiates.

In a nutshell, if you use Suboxone to
quit using one drug, you very well may find yourself addicted to another
addictive substance which is almost as difficult to withdraw from. A
terrible situation for anyone to be in.

Suboxone Intervention and Harm Reduction

Suboxone, along with Methadone, Subutex,
and Antabuse is one of the variety of drugs that fall into the category
of “harm reduction”. The clinical definition of harm reduction is “any
program or policy designed to reduce drug-related harm or impact without
requiring the cessation of drug use, targeting the individual, the
family, community or society”. A few things are important to understand
about harm reduction.

The first is that it is a “solution”
that does not involve stopping using drugs. A progressive concept
designed to replace one drug with a “more manageable” drug, harm
reduction isn’t actually considered recovery from active addiction. It
is not about empowering someone to face life without the use of drugs,
it is about giving someone a replacement drug(s) that may be more
manageable. An attractive alternative for some addicts because they can
continue to use a mood altering substance without having to abstain from
all drugs…and of course a doctor prescribes it. The reality of Suboxone
is that studies show that 70% of Suboxone users are also polysubstance
abusers. In other words, they may have quit their primary “problem”
Opiate such as Heroin or Oxycontin, but they are now using Suboxone in
addition to marijuana, alcohol, cocaine or most often benzodiazepines.

The second thing that is important to
understand is that the prime area of harm reduction that it is designed
to help is not the individual. From a recovery standpoint, if a person
continues to use mood-altering drugs such as Suboxone as a way of
handling life situations instead of confronting them sober, he will
actually become less able to do so sober. In other words, he will become
worse. So, although a Suboxone user is no longer “shooting up his
Heroin”, stealing and sharing infected needles, from a recovery
standpoint he is actually becoming worse in his addictions. So who is
the prime target for harm reduction? Society. To give a Heroin addict
who is prostituting herself, stealing and spreading disease an
alternative such a doctor prescribed Suboxone decreases the impact on
society. The hard cold reality of harm reduction is “yes she will become
worse in her addiction from a recovery standpoint, but who cares, as
long as she is not stealing from me and you (society)”. It is important
that family members of addicts already using or considering Suboxone
understand this point. Shortcuts always have their price.

Also Visit: Hydromorphone addiction!

The third thing that is important to
understand is that many agencies that are permitted to prescribe
Suboxone receive some form of financial reimbursement (either directly
from the addict or from government funding sources). It is not uncommon
for a Suboxone addict to have begun with a relatively low dosage of
30mg/day, with the intentions of “tapering down over time”. Over time
the agency raises or even maintains his initial dosage. Any time the
addict suggests weaning himself off of the Suboxone, they conveniently
advise against this, sometimes even increasing his dosage once more. The
unfortunate reality is that, just like a street drug dealer, these
agencies have a financially vested interest in keeping an addict on
continual doses of Suboxone and their actions often show this.

The initial plan for Suboxone was for a
14 day taper down in order for the client to safely detox off their
Opiate dependence. Currently, the average length of use for Suboxone
users is in excess of a year and climbing. Which of course, now creates a
dependence on a new drug, Suboxone.

Suboxone Intervention for Suboxone Addiction

Very rarely do we encounter someone who
has chosen Suboxone to be their primary drug of choice. In most cases
when families decide to do an intervention on someone for Suboxone, it
is in the case where someone had a pre-existing Opiate addiction and has
switched over to Suboxone. Although some initial progress was made, it
now appears that they are abusing other substances and still exhibiting
some of the behaviors that existed when on the primary Opiates.

For example, although he has been on
Suboxone for months, he is disinclined to look for work, still smokes
pot or uses benzo’s, doesn’t handle his responsibilities, and is
generally stagnating in life. Perhaps he even promised to be completely
off of the Suboxone by now, but continually comes up with “legitimate”
reasons why he cannot stop taking the Suboxone. In some cases, he
threatens that if he stops taking Suboxone, he “may relapse on the
Heroin again and you don’t want that”.

Suboxone Intervention Help

Generally speaking, Suboxone
interventions are relatively simple to perform with an experienced
intervention specialist. Getting an addict to understand that it isn’t
the substance involved that is the problem but rather one of the
behaviors is usually one of the primary tasks of an interventionist. It
isn’t that he is “no longer using Heroin” that we need to focus on, but
what he is doing in life right now that matters. Unfortunately, with a
true addict who continually uses ANY mood altering substance to handle
life, his life will generally stagnate until he learns to confront life
without the use of drugs.

However, understand that essentially each intervention is unique and after proper analysis and guidance your suboxone intervention
specialist will help you to determine when and what is the best
approach. Without proper education and guidance families of Suboxone
users may find themselves without the proper foundation to ensure
long-term recovery of their loved one.

There are several other pages that may be of some assistance in helping you to understand your loved one’s Suboxone addiction.

• Opiate Intervention
• Heroin Intervention
• Benzodiazipene Intervention