With so many addiction treatment options available, it can be hard to choose the one that’s right for you. Even after investing months or even years into a particular treatment method, unexpected complications can still develop along the way.

As one of the newer opiate addiction treatment medications, buprenorphine attempts to improve upon the standard methadone maintenance treatment approach. Like methadone, buprenorphine is a synthetically-made opiate medication, specifically formulated to treat opiate addiction.

Taking an opiate-based drug on an ongoing basis always carries certain risks, namely abuse and addiction. Likewise, buprenorphine addiction can develop when this drug is used for recreational purposes. For most people, buprenorphine addiction treatment becomes necessary once compulsive drug-using behaviors start to take over a person’s everyday life.

If you need help finding treatment for buprenorphine addiction, call our toll-free helpline at 800-934-1582(Who Answers?) to explore available treatment options.

Buprenorphine’s Effects

According to the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, buprenorphine and methadone both belong to the opiate drug class; however, buprenorphine differs in effect in the following ways:

• Buprenorphine has a ceiling effect, meaning after a certain dosage level the drug’s effects reach a plateau in terms of potency level
• Buprenorphine acts as a partial agonist, so it only partially stimulates neurotransmitter-producing sites in the brain
• It doesn’t produce a “high” effect no matter how high the dosage level
• Buprenorphine can be administered on an out-of-office basis by authorized physicians

Signs of Buprenorphine Addiction

Considering how buprenorphine produces a somewhat muffled effect, buprenorphine addiction practices typically include other types of addictive drugs, such as heroin and OxyContin. While a person can’t get high on buprenorphine, it does help relieve the types of harsh withdrawal effects that stronger opiates cause.

According to the Journal of Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, over time, buprenorphine addiction causes brain abnormalities that can produce long-term effects, effects that persist long after drug use ends. Signs of buprenorphine addiction typically take the form of:

• Obsessing over getting and using the drug
• Inability to focus or concentrate
• Problems sleeping
• Memory lapses
• Mood swings
• Depression
• Drug cravings
• Problems on the job
• Relationship conflicts
• Money problems
• Doctor shopping

Buprenorphine Addiction Treatment Components

Buprenorphine addiction treatment entails helping a person stop using the drug and then equips him or her with the coping skills needed to live life on drug-free basis. At the start, detoxification treatment helps a person get through the uncomfortable withdrawal period and provides needed emotional supports.

From there, buprenorphine addiction treatment uses a range of behavior-based interventions to help recovering addicts identify the underlying emotional issues that led them to seek escape through drugs and develop the behaviors needed to live a drug-free lifestyle.

Considerations

In spite of buprenorphine’s intended use as an opiate addiction treatment, it still carries a risk for addiction when abused. Like any other type of opiate addiction, some form of buprenorphine addiction treatment should be sought out or else the addiction will only grow more severe with time.

Please feel free to call our toll-free helpline at 800-934-1582(Who Answers?) to ask about available treatment options.