Finding Relief for Your Opioid Addiction with Suboxone®

Opioid use is both prevalent and dangerous. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reports that more than 10 million Americans misuse an opioid each year, whether that’s a prescription drug or a street one. More staggeringly, the HHS also says that two out of three drug overdose deaths come from an opioid.

If you’re currently taking or using an opioid, sobering statistics like these probably have you wanting to get off it. But the withdrawal period often comes with side effects most people understandably want to avoid.

Fortunately, with Suboxone®, Mikael Sarij, MD, and our team can help you smooth the path to a life without opioid use. At our Integrated Spine & Pain Care offices in Deer Park and Farmingdale, New York, we integrate this groundbreaking medication into your opioid detox program to help you get off opioids with fewer withdrawal symptoms and lessened overall cravings.

Let’s take a look at what Suboxone can do for you.

Why it’s so hard to give up opioids

To better understand how Suboxone works, it’s useful to quickly review what we’re up against here.

Opioids are addictive because they attach themselves to certain receptors on the nerve cells in your brain. This disrupts pain signals, so they’re often prescribed for pain relief. It also provides a euphoric and calming effect.

Long story short, opioids stimulate the pleasure centers in your brain. The issue, though, is that your brain needs more of the drug for the same effect, creating both dependence and an addiction.

If you try to give up opioids, your brain goes into withdrawals, causing symptoms like:

• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Gastrointestinal issues (e.g., nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea)
• Hot and cold sweats
• Muscle aches and pains
• Runny nose and watery eyes
• COVID related anosmia
• Tinnitus (ringing in ears)

These unwelcome symptoms can last up to a month. In the search for relief from their withdrawal symptoms, many people relapse. But there’s a better way forward.

How Suboxone can change the game

To ease your withdrawal symptoms, our Integrated Spine & Pain Care team offers Suboxone. This medication contains two ingredients — buprenorphine and naloxone — and each works differently.

Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist which blocks the opiate receptors in your brain. This reduces your cravings while easing the effects of withdrawal. The buprenorphine delivers just enough of the opioid to prevent extreme discomfort but not enough to get you high, keeping the receptors in your brain quiet.

The second ingredient, naloxone, is an opioid antagonist. That means it shuts down the opioid receptors in your brain, preventing you from feeling the effects of the drug.

Combining the two ingredients is designed to deliver what your body needs to ease your withdrawal process while keeping your cravings in check.

Moving forward

Our team usually recommends Suboxone to help you get through the early stages of opioid recovery, when you’re most vulnerable to relapse. This FDA-approved medication provides an easier, gentler way forward, giving you enough space to take the necessary steps to overcome your opioid addiction.

Here at Integrated Spine & Pain Care, we use a three-step process to help you get off opioids:

• Stage 1: Once you’ve been off opioids for 12-24 hours, we can prescribe Suboxone

• Stage 2: We fine-tune your treatment until you no longer crave opioids

• Stage 3: We slowly phase you off the medication as we make a long-term plan for you

Each stage matters, and we’re here to walk through them with you to help you get to a place where opioids no longer have a hold on your life.

If you’re ready to get started or you want to learn more about Suboxone, call the office nearest you or book an appointment online today.