When you’re struggling with opioid addiction and dependence, finding treatment can feel overwhelming, but there are options available, including medication-assisted treatment or MAT.
Medication-assisted treatment is based on a combination of medicines approved by the FDA and behavioral therapies and counseling to treat addiction. One medication used in MAT is Suboxone.
Palm City Wellness is a provider of Suboxone treatment in Palm City, Florida, which can help you begin your recovery and free yourself from the grips of opioid addiction.
How Medication-Assisted Treatment Works
A Suboxone treatment program is just one approach to MAT. In general, MAT is an evidence-based approach to treating addiction and dependence, including opioid use disorder as well as alcohol use disorder. The combination of medicine with behavioral therapies is a way to comprehensively address addiction. MAT is considered an effective tool to promote long-term recovery.
There are several medications with FDA approval for use in MAT, and Suboxone is one of the most often prescribed.
MAT works in the following ways:
- Reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Medicines work to bind to the same opioid receptors in your brain as opioids, but not as strongly. That helps to reduce cravings and symptoms of withdrawal, but you don’t experience the same dangerous side effects or euphoria as you would with heroin or prescription painkillers.
- Normalizing brain chemistry. With chronic opioid use, your brain chemistry changes, and that’s what can lead to addiction and dependence. MAT normalizes brain function with a controlled medicine dose so you can function normally without the extreme highs and lows of opioid use.
- Blocking other opioid effects. Some medications used in MAT, like naloxone and naltrexone, block the effects of other opioids, so they’re a relapse deterrent.
The overall objective of MAT is to take a comprehensive approach addressing the physiological and psychological parts of addiction through craving reduction, the prevention of withdrawal symptoms, and by promoting long-term sobriety.
The Benefits of Medication-Assisted Treatment
If you participate in a Suboxone treatment program or another type of MAT to deal with opioid dependence, proven benefits include not only reduced cravings and withdrawal symptoms but also:
- Better treatment retention. The longer you stay in treatment, the greater the likelihood of positive recovery outcomes.
- MAT can potentially reduce the risk of overdose by lowering the desire to use opioids and blocking the effects.
- The approach is linked with a decrease in risky behaviors, including injecting drugs, which reduces the risk of contracting infectious diseases.
- Improved physical and mental health can stem from MAT by stabilizing brain chemistry and making you less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors linked with opioid misuse.
- Since MAT reduces the disruptive effects of opioid addiction and dependence, it can improve your social functioning and quality of life. MAT helps you maintain stable housing, employment and relationships.
What Is Suboxone?
If you’re seeking Suboxone treatment in Palm City, there are a few things to know about how this medication works.
Suboxone is a prescription medicine for opioid use disorder that’s a combination of two active ingredients—buprenorphine and naloxone.
Buprenorphine binds to the same receptor sites as other opioids but with weaker effects, so it’s categorized as a partial opioid agonist. Buprenorphine reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid dependence without sedation or the intense euphoria linked to full opioid agonists like heroin or prescription pain medicines.
The other ingredient, naloxone, is an opioid antagonist. It blocks opioid effects because it binds to opioid receptors but doesn’t activate them.
Suboxone is used sublingually, meaning you place it under the tongue, and as long as it’s used properly, the naloxone doesn’t have any effect. If you were to try to misuse the medication by crushing it and injecting it, however, the naloxone becomes active, which can lead to sudden withdrawal symptoms.
What Are the Benefits of a Suboxone Treatment Program?
The benefits of receiving Suboxone treatment in Palm City or elsewhere, along with reduced cravings and withdrawal symptoms, include:
- Relapse prevention: Since Suboxone blocks other opioids, it reduces their euphoric effects, and that, in turn, lowers the risk of relapse because the rewarding effects of the drugs are eliminated or reduced.
- Safety: Compared to full opioid agonists, Suboxone has a reduced risk of respiratory depression as well as overdose. It’s a safer recovery option, especially early on when the risk of relapse is highest.
- Long-term maintenance: Suboxone can be a long-term maintenance medication to find stability. Suboxone can also be prescribed in an outpatient setting, so it’s flexible and convenient.
- Better quality of life: Reducing the negative or disruptive effects of opioid dependence allows you to regain control of your life. You can focus on meeting goals and adhering to your treatment plan.
- Access to counseling and supportive services: When you participate in Suboxone treatment in Palm City, it’s part of a larger, integrated treatment plan. A holistic approach includes counseling, behavioral therapy and supportive services. Through this integrated treatment approach, the behavioral, social and psychological aspects of addiction are treated.
Connecting with Suboxone Treatment in Palm City
If you’re searching for a Suboxone treatment program, consider Palm City Wellness. We are a treatment facility offering MAT for opioid use disorder. We are an evidence-based treatment center offering a safe, therapeutic environment to help you heal in all ways. We provide multiple levels of care: medical detox, inpatient treatment and outpatient programs.
Along with the availability of medication-assisted treatment, we offer behavioral therapy, individual counseling and group therapy. Our treatment plans also include family and holistic therapies and aftercare planning.
Reach out to our team to learn more about Suboxone treatment in Palm City, whether for yourself or a loved one.