What is the difference between methadone and suboxone for drug addiction?

Answer 1

That all depends on the individual. some people get a rx for suboxone and use it for detox . and than some people are in a lot of pain and than end upp back to square one because they are on methadone for pain get physically dependant and suboxone does help with pain but does not help for chronic pain but if your r gives you suboxone and he knows that you where abusing the meds he may start you on three times a day for suboxone and you could be on it for a year. Peolpe who abused by needles are mostlikey looking for a high and should stay on methadone to prevent spreading diseases and because it helps to block other opiates from being injected by cluping up and not allow you to inject it.

Answer 2

Definitely Suboxone. It is virtually impossible to overdose on Suboxone, but people overdose and die from methadone all the time. 32 milligrams (four 8-mg pills) is all the Suboxone you can take; if you try to take any more, it won't kill you, but you won't feel anything either.

Furthermore, the withdrawal symptoms from methadone are much, much worse, and last much, much longer, than the withdrawal symptoms from Suboxone.

However, Suboxone is for mild to moderate opiate addiction, so if you have a severe opiate addiction -- like, if you're shooting heroin 10 times a day -- you might have to take methadone, because Suboxone might not be strong enough to curb your withdrawal symptoms.

Answer 3

This could be a matter of personal preference, but Methadone is generally considered much more effective than Suboxone when treating an addiction to Heroin.

Suboxone contains an opiate antagonist called naltrexone, this is the drug that they give to people who have overdosed on an opiate when they are taken to the hospital, it can cause intense agony to the person who has overdosed. An "opiate blocker" - meaning if you lapse and take Heroin whilst being treated with Suboxone you will go into a state of severe withdrawal (precipitated withdrawal). This can be looked at in two ways:- (1) Knowing that if you take Heroin you will be very ill can prevent the individual from using it through fear... or... (2) Whilst in recovery the chance of a "one-time only" lapse is very high as the rehabilitation process can be drawn out and complicated - if you enter a stage of severe withdrawal whilst in this vulnerable state you are much more likely to relapse completely.

In addition to this, from first-hand experience, Suboxone is almost completely ineffective at staving off withdrawal symptoms in my opinion. But it has been proven in over 75 out of 100 patients that took a clinical trial that it takes away cravings, so it may be the drug for your addiction.

Methadone is the preferred choice when treating an addiction to Heroin as there is more scope for error, and it is remarkably effective at covering the withdrawal symptoms. If you relapse the dose can be increased to match your tolerance and precipitated withdrawals are not an issue. Methadone is an extremely powerful drug, so use of any other drugs whilst on a Methadone prescription is very dangerous - overdoses and deaths are common in these instances, especially when mixed with Benzo's or Alcohol. But despite its risks, both drug addicts and professionals in the field of substance abuse alike agree that Methadone is the most effective drug for treating Heroin addiction in my opinion but if one should get addicted to methadone it's withdrawal symptoms last for months instead of 7 to 14 days like heroin so one has to take that into account when deciding with their doctor what is best for them.

On the other hand if you have an addiction to a less potent opiate - Codeine for example - Suboxone would be more appropriate for the reasons outlined above (less risk involved and the withdrawal symptoms for Codeine are not so severe). Although it must be noted - if you were addicted to prescription Codeine the chances of you then being prescribed Suboxone as a substitute are remote. Your Doctor would probably just gradually taper you off the Codeine.

Answer 4

100%, if taken correctly. This is from personal experience. I was on opiotes for 6 years and the first day I took 2mg. of Soboxone, I have never looked back. You should try and ween off the Soboxone within a month or two, if you don't want to be addicted to some other drug.

Answer 5

There is a plethora of differences in those 2 drugs. The fundamental difference is that Suboxone (buprenorphine) is a partial-agonist, while Methadone is a full agonist. What this means is that increasing doses of Suboxone won't increase the effects. It has what is called a ceiling effect meaning at a certain amount usually about 12 mg, the effects won't increase no matter how much more of the drug is taken. Because of this, Suboxone is extremely difficult to overdose on while Methadone is very, very dangerous.

Answer 6

Yes, suboxone is a better alternative than methadone for treating opiate dependency.