Suboxone Treatment

Addiction is all-consuming and could take everything from you if you don’t get help. Phillip Mendoza MD, LLC has offices in Brighton, Colorado, and Anchorage, Alaska, providing Suboxone® treatment for opioid use disorder. Suboxone reduces withdrawal effects as you come off prescription opioid medications or heroin. Call Dr. Mendoza’s Brighton or Anchorage office to discover how you or a loved one can overcome addiction with  Suboxone, or schedule a consultation online today.

What is Suboxone treatment?

Suboxone treatment helps you overcome opioid use disorder. You put a dissolvable film against your cheek or a pill under your tongue that releases the drug’s active ingredients into your body.

Suboxone makes opioid withdrawal less painful and distressing by reducing its side effects. Withdrawal is the primary barrier to successful recovery because it causes the following problems:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Uncontrollable shaking
• Diarrhea
• Severe abdominal pain
• Headaches and migraines
• Excessive sweating
• Nightmares
• Body-wide aches
• Disorientation and dizziness

Cravings for the substance you depend on (heroin or prescription painkillers like oxycodone) can be so overwhelming it’s impossible to resist them without help.

Suboxone is most effective as a part of a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program that includes addiction counseling and/or behavioral therapy. 

What happens when I take Suboxone?

Suboxone contains buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is an opioid-receptor partial agonist. That means it binds to your brain’s opioid receptors, which give you the high you experience when misusing opioids.

When you take Suboxone as directed by Dr. Mendoza, you don’t experience those same highs. However, the drug mimics other opioid drug actions, reducing the severity of withdrawal side effects.  

Naloxone treats opioid overdoses, reversing problems like slowed breathing, extreme sleepiness, and loss of consciousness. 

Suboxone treatment involves three phases:

Induction

Induction is the first phase, beginning 12-24 hours after your last opioid fix. The first few days are when withdrawal is worst, while your body adjusts. Suboxone treatment ensures you have a better chance of reaching the next phase.

Stabilization

Stabilization begins when your withdrawal symptoms ease. You receive reduced Suboxone doses to help you manage cravings, and Dr. Mendoza meets with you regularly to check and, if necessary, adjust your medication.

Maintenance

The maintenance phase starts when you can manage your cravings and get back to leading an addiction-free life.

How long will I have to stay on Suboxone treatment?

There’s no set cut-off date for Suboxone treatment — everyone is different, so while some can stop using Suboxone after a few months, others stay on it for years. Some people remain on a maintenance dose indefinitely.

Opioid misuse harms your mind, body, finances, family, career, and relationships, but tackling it is challenging. Recovery is far more achievable with Dr. Mendoza’s support and Suboxone treatment.

Call Phillip Mendoza MD, LLC if you’re ready to quit opioids or book a Suboxone treatment evaluation online today.