Discontinuing/Quitting Suboxone
Quitting Suboxone is understudied in the medical literature. The drug has been more or less grouped in with other MAT methods, often involving years of continued drug use. This is not always necessary and is often not the most desired outcome of addiction treatment.
Using effective techniques, Suboxone can be used as a bridge medication for quitting other opiate drugs, but the person should not have to be left with ongoing use of a substitute opiate drug to get sober and stay clean.
The following information covers various options for quitting opiates, including Suboxone, Subutex, or Methadone, removing the need for long time use as the means to reach your sobriety goals.
For clients who are IV heroin users, or those involved in heavy opioid medication abuse, Suboxone has the advantage of helping a person transition from harmful abuse patterns to a more sustainable way of life.
IMPORTANT: For an abuser, relapse brings the very real possibility of death by overdose. This is, at least in part, because tolerance to opiates will decrease with abstinence. What Suboxone can do is reduce the likelihood of relapse and thereby lower the risk of overdose and accidental death. However, there is more to understand about using Suboxone.
Persons who are craving opiates may have a biological reason for doing so. A person may be plagued by a person’s addictive biochemistry that can actually be corrected. Natural endorphin levels can be restored through protocols designed to do this repair naturally, as well as implementing lifestyle changes that support recovery, including a corrected diet. The goal is to accomplish this correction with a minimum of pain or discomfort. Holistic methods have come a long way in providing treatment that can effectively reduce pain and discomfort, both physical and emotional, during recovery. If these holistic methods can be adopted as new lifestyle choices, there is a stronger chance of permanent success.
It may prove difficult to adopt many new changes all at once, and if this is the case, Suboxone can provide a viable pathway in the meantime. This may be a pragmatic choice to avoid relapse. Sooner or later there may come a time when stopping Suboxone seems a very desirable next step, and this is also a great choice.
Since Suboxone is a long-acting opioid, it can present challenges when withdrawing from the drug; after long-term Suboxone use withdrawals can be severe, sometimes described as tormenting, and can last for weeks, especially when the person is not able to access support or inpatient treatment.
However, Alternative to Meds Center specializes in holistic, medically monitored withdrawal from Suboxone, using gentle and gradual taper methods, supported by many comfort-based therapies to make the process maximally tolerable and as comfortable and uncomplicated as possible. Endorphin repair is a great advantage for this process and makes coming off Suboxone a sustainable and very reachable goal, especially when the strategies have been well and carefully planned, as discussed here. Please review our services overview pages for a detailed description of the inpatient protocols available for Suboxone withdrawal.
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