Suboxone is a drug that is designed to help people with opiate addiction. It consists of two medications, buprenorphine, and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a synthetic opiate. Naloxone is an opiate blocker.

 

Buprenorphine

One of the interesting suboxone facts is that even though it is designed to treat opiate addiction, buprenorphine is itself an opiate. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist.

Most opiates are a full opioid agonist, meaning they act fully on the opiate receptor. These opiates mimic the action of natural endorphins in the body, creating pain relief and a sense of calm and well-being.

Since Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, it makes you feel normal without making you feel high.

 

How Naloxone Works

Naloxone, also known as Narcan, blocks the activity of opiates. It is often used on its own in cases of an opiate overdose in the form of Narcan. It essentially prevents you from getting high on buprenorphine or any other opiate that you take. Opiates act on your brain’s natural reward system.

When you get high, it feels good. This causes your brain to remember this and further encourage the activity because it’s enjoyable. Your brain doesn’t distinguish between healthy things that feel good and things that are bad for you that feel good. It operates based on chemical signals.

Naloxone blocks these feel-good effects as well as the effects on the central nervous system, like slowed respiration. It prevents the opiate from binding to the opiate receptors, making the opiate ineffective.

 

Suboxone Facts

Suboxone is a schedule 3 drug, meaning that it has some risk of abuse or dependence. One reason for this is its ceiling effect. Once a certain level is reached, taking more suboxone has no effect. You cannot take more to experience a stronger high feeling as you can with many opiates.

 

Suboxone Facts of Effectiveness

Suboxone has a 60% success rate at one year vs 25% for those quitting opiates cold turkey without Suboxone and medication-assisted treatment in NH. This means that 60% of addicts treated with Suboxone were not illegally using drugs after one year, compared to just 25% of people who stopped opiates without withdrawal medication.

Physical withdrawals can be very difficult to get through. Suboxone eliminates physical withdrawals. Opiate cravings are another factor that makes addicts likely to relapse. Suboxone’s role as a partial opiate agonist helps keep opiate cravings at bay without getting you high.

Lastly, in the event of relapse, the naloxone in Suboxone will prevent you from getting high if you do relapse and use another opiate. This may allow your brain to unlearn to view opiates as rewarding because they no longer give you a pleasurable feeling when you take them.

 

Granite Recovery Centers

If you or someone you love is suffering from opiate addiction, contact us today at (855) 712-7784. We offer different treatment levels including detox, residential, and intensive outpatient programs in New Hampshire. Let us help you end the struggle of opiate addiction. Granite Recovery Centers provides medical detoxification for people who do not need immediate medical intervention, are not a danger to themselves, and are capable of self-evacuation in the event of an emergency.