Suboxone Treatment for Heroin Addiction

People coming off chronic heroin addictions face difficult challenges in terms of the ongoing hold heroin has on the mind and body. Oftentimes, traditional drug treatment approaches can’t address the degree of dysfunction left behind by chronic heroin abuse.

The long-term effects of heroin addiction can take any number of forms, though the effects had to the brain tend to follow a certain pattern. As one of the newer opiate addiction medication-based treatments, Suboxone treatment for heroin addiction offers a range of benefits, many of which other medication-based treatments can’t provide.

Suboxone treatment takes a comprehensive approach to treating heroin addiction, combining medication therapy with psychosocial treatment interventions. In effect, Suboxone treatment provides the types of supports needed to enable recovering addicts to maintain continued abstinence on an ongoing basis.

Long-Term Effects of Heroin Addiction

Psychotherapy is often used in Suboxone treatment for heroin addiction.

Heroin’s chemical make-up shares certain similarities with a few of the brain’s own neurotransmitter chemicals. Subsequently, heroin’s presence in the brain can trigger neurotransmitter-producing cells to secrete excess amounts of these chemicals.

With chronic heroin abuse, these effects alter the brain’s entire chemical makeup, which in turn changes the way the brain works, both physically and psychologically. By the time a person enters treatment, the brain has been reconfigured to function with heroin. This degree of change accounts for why withdrawal effects and drug cravings can persist for months or even years into the recovery process.

Call our helpline at 800-487-1890 (Who Answers?) to see if your insurance will help pay your rehab costs.

Suboxone Treatment Effects

According to the U. S. Food & Drug Administration, Suboxone’s primary ingredient, buprenorphine belongs to the opiate drug class, which accounts for its therapeutic effects as a heroin addiction treatment. Unlike addictive opiates, Suboxone treatment acts as a medication therapy and doesn’t carry a high potential for abuse or addiction.

Suboxone interacts with the same brain cell processes as heroin and thereby provides relief from the persistent withdrawal and drug cravings effects experienced in recovery. Suboxone also contains a second ingredient know as naloxone. Naloxone’s purpose works to trigger severe withdrawal effects in the event of relapse.

Methadone Maintenance Treatment for Heroin Addiction

Psychosocial Treatment Interventions

While Suboxone’s treatment effects work well at relieving uncomfortable physical symptoms, the mind’s psychological dependence on heroin remains unchanged. To address this, Suboxone treatment for heroin addiction also includes a range of psychosocial treatment interventions, all of which help a person develop a drug-free mindset and build the type of lifestyle that doesn’t need heroin to cope, according to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.

Psychosocial treatment interventions typically take the form of:

• Drug education
• Group therapy
• Psychotherapy
• Support groups

Considerations

Suboxone’s two active ingredients address the biggest obstacles encountered in heroin addiction recovery in terms of the physical aftereffects of chronic heroin abuse. Likewise, the psychosocial treatment interventions provided in Suboxone treatment equips those in recovery with the mental tools needed to overcome compulsive drug-using behaviors in their daily life.

If you or someone you know are considering Suboxone treatment for heroin addiction and need help finding a program that meets your needs, please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-487-1890 (Who Answers?) to speak with one of our addictions specialists.