Opiate Addiction : Suboxone Treatment

Opiate addiction is unfortunately all too common. Like other addictions, it should be considered a disease. And like many other diseases, it can often be deadly.

Trying to explain to someone who has never experienced withdrawals from opiates is very difficult. Most people will say - "Imagine having the worst flu you have ever had, every day". That's close, but unless you are feeling it, it's hard to imagine let alone sympathize.

Unfortunately in the United States, drug addiction has been demonized and makes people uncomfortable. Even with the amount of press, famous people entering rehab, family members struggling with addiction - it's still not a topic that most people like to address.

Addictions have almost become trendy and unfortunately, glamorized, but it's still something that happens to someone else. It almost seems silly to even have to point out that another major issue is that if the substance is legal it is somehow less addictive, or more acceptable.

Opiate addiction has been a problem for 100's of years. Combine the the fact that escapism is hardwired into the brain (of humans and animals) with the fact that the only way to stop serious pain is to mess with the chemical receptors of the brain, and it's hard to imagine why there aren't more addicts than there are.

There is solid evidence that addictive qualities are genetic. You are now able to test to see if you possess those qualities. When someone says they have an "addictive personality", there might be more truth there than you think.

Addiction treatment in many ways isn't about breaking an addiction, it's about replacing it. Those who find the answer in 12 step meetings usually find themselves addicted to the meetings themselves. The other issue that some people have, like myself, is that the foundation of the 12 steps is putting yourself in the hands of God. If that works, then fantastic, but what does that mean for people who don't believe in a higher power? Not great news.

The other common method for handling addiction, particularly to opiates, is with replacement therapy. Drugs. The two most common are methadone and Buprenorphine HCl, otherwise known as Suboxone and Subutex.

This article isn't about the chemical makeup of those drugs, you can use Google for that. But there is something that you need to know about those drugs, they are addictive, extremely addictive. A quick search in Google will pull up millions of pages that praise the effect of these drugs, and millions that talk about the horror stories associated with them.

If you are currently struggling with an addiction to opiates then you know the drill. It's a daily battle to just feel normal. Buprenorphine and Methadone are a replacement therapy. Replacement therapy is exactly what it sounds like, you are replacing one chemical with another. Before you decide to embark on the road to recovery through replacement therapy it is crucial that you do your research.
Before making a decision on what direction you want to go, you need to talk to the people who are going through it.

Do not get your information from pharmaceutical company websites, do not get your information from addiction counselors, you need to speak to people who have been there and even better yet are there right now. The information you get might surprise you.

I write this from experience. I have been down most of the different roads and I have decided which one works the best for me. I would recommend a couple websites where you can watch videos and read comments from people who are going through the same thing you are going through right now. A good place to start is www.drsuboxone.com or www.suboxonemilwaukee. com . Both of those sites are populated by real people will real messages.

Listen to what they have to say and weigh the pros and cons, unfortunately if you found this article because you are trying to figure out how to escape the grips of opiate addiction, you are about to go through a difficult journey. You can do it, it will be hard, but you can do it.

Also, keep in mind those websites are there as a service to you and they cost money to run. Check out some of the advertisements that are featured on the website, it doesn't cost you a dime to look at them but it will make a couple pennies for the site owner and help to keep the sites alive.