In the first year of its legal use for treatment of drug addiction from a doctor’s office setting, American doctors who were certified to do so wrote more than 80,000 prescriptions for buprenorphine (Subutex or Suboxone). What is the biggest draw for those who are addicted to opiates like prescription medication or heroin? Why choose buprenorphine over the more common and better known methadone? In a word, privacy.

Methadone is more highly restricted by the federal government than buprenorphine, requiring all who take it to come into their prescribing clinic or drug treatment facility every day to get their dose. Within 24 hours, the effects of methadone begin to wear off and skipping a day is not an option.

Buprenorphine, more commonly known by its brand names Subutex and Suboxone, is a pill that can be taken home once prescribed by a physician. This allows those who are executives, have jobs or have commitments like taking their kids to school every morning the flexibility to take their medication quickly and on their own time schedule rather than basing each and every day on getting to the clinic during dosing hours, waiting in line for their dose and dealing with the often intense side effects when the medication kicks in. Traveling out of state also becomes an issue and one that can’t be dealt with gracefully, requiring visits to out of state clinics, an embarrassment when visiting relatives or spending time with clients.

Says Dr. Herrmann, a buprenorphine-prescribing physician in New York, “How can you possibly work or go to school when the primary focus of your day is going to a methadone program? With buprenorphine, I’ve had patients literally break down and cry because they can travel to another state and see their family for the first time in years.”

The personal and social stigma of standing in line for your dose and being talked down to or treated badly because of it can be debilitating and a trigger for relapse. With Subutex and Suboxone, you don’t have to worry about any of that. No one need know that you have a drug addiction or that you are undergoing treatment for physical dependence on a drug. You can make your own schedule, leave town on a whim and take care of yourself without anyone being the wiser.

Treatment should be freeing, not stifling. The benefit of privacy makes Subutex and Suboxone a great choice for those who have a life and would rather not be a slave to a drug addiction that has caused enough problems already.

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"Buprenorphine: The Lure of Privacy" posted in Addiction Recovery, Drug Withdrawal, Methadone, Outpatient treatment, Painkillers, Prescription Drug Addiction, Suboxone, Suboxone Treatment, Subutex.
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