Can Suboxone Treatment for Pain Work?
A common question asked by opioid addiction patients is, “can suboxone treatment for pain be an option?” Before we can answer that, it is helpful to understand what pain is.
Pain is one of the most frequent reasons as to why we seek medical attention. In fact, chronic pain is a major public health concern. It is reported that approximately 31% of the American population suffers from chronic pain. Several categories of medications have been formulated to control pain, opioids bring one of them. Opioids have been in use for centuries and have proven to be effective in the management of pain and the general improvement of the quality of life. However, widespread use of opioids has led to increased incidences of abuse and addiction.
A recent report showed that approximately 5 million Americans use opioids for non-medical purposes. It is for this reason that some medical practitioners have resorted to the prescription of mildly addictive opioids such as Suboxone. In this article, we will explore how effective Suboxone treatment for pain management can be a solution.
How Does Suboxone Treat Chronic Pain?
Suboxone is a semi-synthetic opioid that contains buprenorphine and naloxone and is often prescribed for patients suffering from opioid dependence and addiction. It is a partial opioid receptor agonist with high affinity for the μ-opioid receptor and competes with other opioids for binding to similar receptors. This is responsible for its analgesic effects. Once it binds, it emulates the pharmacological properties of opioids but to a much lesser extent hence it exhibits no withdrawal symptoms. The drug also has a slow dissociation rate from opioid receptors hence producing a prolonged duration of action. However, to effectively manage pain, one must include other non-medical based treatments which include psychological and emotional components.
Why Reduce Dependency on Narcotic Pain Medication?
While managing chronic pain using opioids, one is likely to develop opioid dependence as the drugs are likely to become less effective over time. Numerous opioid receptors are likely to be created and most are unlikely to be filled without the production of adverse effects. Basically, they will no longer be able to control the pain in the required dosage leading to abuse. To reduce the formation of these receptors, their dosage will first have to be reduced. This has a danger of causing withdrawal symptoms hence the use of opioids like Suboxone.
To help identify those who use opioids for pain management versus those who use them for recreational purposes, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) advices health practitioners to use the following criteria. Find out how many of these indicators describe your current situation with opioid use:
o Do you use pain medication compulsively?
o Do you feel like you need to use pain medication even when not in pain?
o Have you sought out any additional sources of pain medication other than your regular prescriber?
o Have you done any illegal activities to obtain pain medication?
o Do you take the stipulated dosage, or do you sometimes take more?
o Have you considered trying other alternative therapies before you can increase your pain medication dosage?
o Do you find that sometimes you run out of your medication earlier than had been anticipated?
If your answer is yes to more than one of these questions, then you’ll probably need to get some education on the management of pain using Suboxone. Many people often lack knowledge on pain management using opioids and this usually aggravates their susceptibility to dependence.
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