Is Suboxone a Non Narcotic and Is It Good to Take to Get Off Methadone?

Published January 19, 2013

Question by b628: Is suboxone a non narcotic and is it good to take to get off methadone?
Okay I don’t know too much about this stuff but I’m trying to help my dad get off methadone. He has stopped for only two days and he really needs some help. We’re from jacksonville florida. Any places we can call for him to take something to get off of it? Please help!

Best answer:

Answer by Mathieu
Suboxone is a drug that combines buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is indeed an opioid narcotic used to help people stop using other opioids.

Suboxone can be used to withdraw a person off methadone although methadone is most commonly used in the same way as Suboxone, to help get a person off other opioid narcotics like Heroin, morphine, oxycodone, or hydromorphone.

It is also important to understand exactly how Suboxone or methadone works, they prevent opioid withdrawal syndrome because they are opioids and they bind to opioid receptors. However when used correctly they don’t produce a “high” and because Suboxone and methadone have a longer period of action they don’t need to be taken as often.

Was your father taking methadone for pain, for opioid dependence, was he using it recreationally? Opioids, when used for more than a few weeks, should NOT be abruptly discontinued and should be slowly reduced to prevent withdrawal (or only cause mild symptoms). What you can do really depends on the circumstances- a first and often best option is to take him to the emergency department at your local hospital and they can give him some medication to stop his withdrawal and can help figure out the best way to treat his problems. Some people need to take methadone, or something similar, for life, it may be an option for him to be detoxed in hospital or at a detox facility, he may benefit from drug rehab, or something else like using Suboxone may be the best option. The nice thing about going to hospital is that you can get help figuring out what to do and they can stop his withdrawal.

When it comes to methadone or Suboxone withdrawal lasts a long time, much longer than with opioids like Heroin or morphine and it is only at day 3-4 that the withdrawal peaks. So without some medical intervention he will get worse before he gets better. Also if we was addicted (which is not the same as physical dependence) to opioids it is common for people to relapse on them because they are unable to tolerate the withdraw.

Lastly other medications (non-opioid narcotics) can be used in some cases to help withdrawal. Commonly multiple drugs are used to provide symptomatic relief- clonidine, benzodiazepines (diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam), baclofen, carbamazepine, gabapentin, and pregabalin are drugs that have been used in opioid withdrawal especially clonidine and benzodiazepines.

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