Sometimes, a person who takes narcotic pain medications for a long time can become addicted to it, which means that the person may need to see a doctor who can prescribe addiction medicine in Texas. Addiction medications come in pill, liquid or film forms. The pill version has two trade names, Suboxone and Subutex, and they are used to treat oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), morphine (MS Contin) and other opiate-based prescription painkiller addictions and withdrawal symptoms. Only recently did a generic version of Suboxone became available, as well as Suboxone in a dissolving film. Methadone comes in liquid and pill form and is used to treat heroin addiction and withdrawal; however, it is also used to treat opiate-based prescription painkiller addictions in pregnant women, because Suboxone and Subutex are known to cause birth defects in unborn babies.
What are Suboxone, Subutex and Methadone?
Suboxone has buprenorphine and naloxone in it, which are the active ingredients, while Subutex only uses buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a man-made opiate and is what treats the withdrawal symptoms. The naloxone in Suboxone is also known as NarCam. Naloxone blocks and sometimes reverses the effects of opiates, which is why it is used to treat heroin and other opiate-based overdoses in hospitals. If a patient takes a Suboxone pill and attempts to take another opiate-based medication within 36 hours, that person will not feel any of the opiate's effects. Suboxone is the most commonly used addiction medicine in Texas, because it deters patients from wanting to take any other opiates.
Subutex does not contain naloxone, so it is only used in rare cases. If a patient takes Subutex and then takes another opiate, the patient feels the effects of the opiate and is likely to overdose, which is why only detoxification centers will use Subutex. Sometimes, doctors will prescribe Subutex to patients who have suffered an allergic reaction to the naloxone. While allergies to naloxone are rare, they do happen. When they do, the patients often experience anaphylactic shock.
Methadone is the third type of addiction medicine in Texas. It is typically given in a liquid form, although a pill is sometimes used. Methadone was originally developed in 1937 as a way to treat chronic and severe pain not controlled by other narcotics. While it is still used by some as a last resort pain relief medication, doctors oftentimes prescribe it to treat heroin addiction patients. Methadone does not contain any ingredients that block the effects of other opiates. As a result, many Methadone patients overdose because they continue injecting heroin or taking opiate pills.
Taking the Addiction Medications
When taking Suboxone or Subutex, the patient will typically start with three pills a day, taken at the same time each day. After about a year, the doctor may suggest lowering the dose every few months by a half a pill until the patient appears ready to stop and detox completely. The patient places the pill under the tongue until it dissolves. If the patient swallows it whole or crushes it for injection, the medication will induce severe withdrawal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, headache and muscle aches, which can become so severe they require hospitalization. Rarely, coma and death can also occur. The active ingredients do not work to stop pain or withdrawal if the medicine is not dissolved in the mouth and adsorbed by the mucous membranes.
When taking methadone, the patients visit a clinic each day. To take the Methadone, the patient simply swallows about an ounce of liquid, depending on the dosage prescribed. Methadone maintenance typically lasts a lifetime, unless the patient states explicitly that he or she is ready to detox completely.
Suboxone, Subutex and Methadone are prescribed as part of a complete opiate addiction treatment program with counseling and regular visits to the doctor for treatment concerns and sometimes blood and urine testing to prove that the patient is not taking other opiates. Typically, a Suboxone or Methadone addiction medicine program in Texas will continue for at least a year, but if the patient feels he or she is ready, the doctor will start to decrease the dosages sooner. Patients using these addiction medications correctly have a 90 percent success rate, as compared to the patient facing and feeling withdrawal symptoms, which is usually what leads to a relapse.
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