What You Should Know About Buprenorphine Maintenance

Buprenorphine maintenance is one of the options we provide our patients who are trying to get off opiates. Buprenorphine is basically an opioid medication used to treat opiate addiction in the privacy of our offices and can be dispensed to take at home by prescription. For many patients of drug addiction rehabilitation treatment programs, one of the principal problems they face when trying to kick the addiction are the withdrawals and dependence they have on the drug. What the scientific community has collectively found, and outpatient treatment centers like ours successfully use, is Buprenorphine, as this has a significant effect in increasing the chances of the patient being able to get off the opioid addiction altogether. Based on the clear benefits Buprenorphine offers to the patient and the increased likelihood that they will be able to live a normal and addiction-free life, we use Buprenorphine with outpatients to make sure their Buprenorphine maintenance is well controlled.

Detox is Easier

For many drug-addicted individuals, they cannot face the loss of the drug either in terms of the physical repercussions, the emotional ties they have to the effects of the drug, or the simple psychological factors of having to live a normal life without the drug in their system. This means they have to get used to the idea of having less euphoria, less physical dependence and be willing to be subjected to physical withdrawal symptoms. Sadly, this is an extremely frightening prospect for many patients who do want to get rid of drug addiction but do not have the physical, mental, or emotional stamina to go through the detox process. This is when Buprenorphine can be of the most use. In cases like this, we want to have a Buprenorphine maintenance schedule so the patient can be completely drug-free by the end of the treatment. They can achieve this with the help of Buprenorphine and not having to go through as severe withdrawals as they would if they did it "cold turkey."

It has been found that Buprenorphine maintenance is particularly effective for people who are addicted to drugs like. At low doses, Buprenorphine produces an agonist effect that allows the drug-affected individual to discontinue the misuse of the opioids and at the same time, not experience the heavy withdrawal symptoms otherwise associated with drugs like heroin. When on a properly administered Buprenorphine maintenance program, the patient will experience less euphoria and physical dependence than they would have on a regular opiate drug, lower potential for misuse, a ceiling on the opiate effect, and relatively mild withdrawal symptoms. In addition to this, Buprenorphine will be able to suppress the symptoms of an opiate withdrawal, reduce the natural craving for the effects of an illicit opioid, automatically reduce the use of illicit or illegal opioids, and help the patients remain in the outpatient treatment so they can be free and clear of their opioid addiction.

Call for Help

If you need to detox or know someone who does, we can help through our drug treatment programs.