What Is This Orange Pill With 54 375

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Suboxone, more specifically Buprenorphine hcl/Naloxone hcl was never intended for chronic use or maintenance purposes. I am on the board of directors of a substance abuse treatment organization in upstate New York. We have several facilities at all stages of the continuum of care. Here is New York state, as in many states throughout the country, there is a consistent, persistent rise in clients requiring treatment for Suboxone dependency and Suboxone addiction. When used in its intended manner, which is for supervised medical detoxification only Suboxone presents very little risk of inducing drug seeking behavior, and only a mild risk of tolerance and dependency. It is to be used only in progressed opiate dependency and intended to be started 24-48 hours after the last agonist dose, and a structured tapper of Suboxone over a 5 to 10 day period. When taken for an extended period of time, much like methadone, Suboxone has the same likelihood of physiological dependency as opiates such as Oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, or morphine. The physical withdrawal from buprenorphine is far more severe do to the efficiency of the binding action of the substance and its ability increase action potential in multiple areas of the brain. Physical withdrawal can easily last 30 days. Opiate addicts who "successfully" complete treatment of at least 90 days and do not use a drug replacement therapy (suboxone) relapse in the first year 3 out of 5 times, return to treatment in the first year 5 out of 10 times. 8.5 out of 10 relapse in the first 5 years. 8 out of 10 will return to treatment at some point in their lives.

Although Suboxone has slightly better outcomes in the first 6 months following treatment, all extensive research shows no improvement in outcomes at the one year mark and beyond. Clients who are still using drug replacement therapy upon their discharge and as part of their aftercare are actually more likely to require treatment after the 1 year mark. Many report multiple single occasion relapses in that first year and suboxone only seems to prolong the cycle and enables clients to use and postpone the inevitable return to treatment. OASAS shows the number of clients in treatment with a diagnosis of substance abuse disorder and list suboxone as their primary substance of abuse has tripled every year over the past 4 years and now is greater than clients who cite coke/crack as primary substance of abuse. The industry crack down on frivolously prescribing suboxone docs has already begun. Their lack of understanding of the substance and the nature of addiction has lead to a disservice to addicts who have been given suboxone for longer use than it was intended. This is a negative side of harm reduction, clients may overcome their dependency to opiates but acquire a dependency to suboxone, a more socially acceptable substance. We haven't reduced the harm to clients, we've reduced the harm to ourselves, we feel safer and better about people being dependent on suboxone. And if the trend keeps up, the same misguided professionals who pushed suboxone will need to find another drug to get people off the drug they gave people to get off of drugs

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1

Everything you stated was well said! The notion of having to keep taking another drug in order to get off the last one (constantly repeating the cycle) is just pure insanity. I feel that if a drug manufacturer's profit margin were to ever take a back seat to looking out for the well-being of the patient, then their medical researchers / scientific personnel would follow suit and begin taking a closer look at what truly matters (in so far as even having the decency to care about how these drugs they produce may be significantly affecting people's lives/mental health/behaviors/etc). Hopefully in time, a better understanding of these meds and the nature of addiction will become more of a priority in the minds of those who are in a position to call the shots, so to speak.

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2

Your post really hit home for me, that's exactly how I feel. I'm still being prescribed pain meds. Told me Dr I want off them and she wants to put me on a other med like suboxone and I already know the same thing will happen all over again. Rather then give me a ween down plan over the course of a few weeks since I've been on them for years now. My husband is so upset and worried because he knows in truly trying and knows what can happen once put on this med. We too are in NYS and I called the help center there they said they have no th programs for methadone and suboxone. Isn't there another way.? I don't want to let me family down and I certainly don't want to drop one to replace with another and from everything I read it seems that is what's going to happen :-(

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3

I have been on suboxone on and off for about 6 yrs... I fear I will never fully live without this substance. It has stabilized me and my life is much better than it ever was while on opiates. I’ve actually held a job longer than a year and I’m in college classes online. I’m a real mom to my children now and my life is so much better. But my dependence on suboxone is intense! Listen to this person! Avoid them like the plague and kick the subs after 10 days. It’s not worth the pain staying on them.

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Re: Jesse (# 3) Expand Referenced Message

I too have been on suboxone for the last 6 years. And while my life is so much better than when I was on opiates I’m scared of getting cut off because I’m so dependent on them now. Before soboxone I couldn’t hold a job, felt “out of it” all the time, had a few serious car accidents and slept my life away. Now I’m working, have my own place and I have several healthy hobbies that I love. My life is so much more than before but at the same time I’m still addicted. The program said 2 years....2 years! Now I have to worry about being so sick for a month. An entire month or more?! My god! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about getting back on methadone for a few months and coming off of that instead. I can handle that I’ve done it several times. I’ve been in withdrawal off of soboxone as well and it’s truly awful. It’s so much worse. And what makes me mad is the pharmaceutical companies intended this to happen. They want you to be horribly sick without their medicine. So much greed at the expense of us addicts. It’s evil and cruel. I’ve yet to find a success story about someone on soboxone successfully completing a program!

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