What are Suboxone Uses, Side Effects, & Addiction?

IQVIATM National Prescription Audit Plus indicates that 9.1 million buprenorphine prescriptions were dispensed in the U.S. in 2012; and, have steadily increased over the ensuing years. In 2017, during the height of the opioid crisis, 14.6 million buprenorphine prescriptions were dispensed but 14.4 and 15.9 million prescriptions were actually sold to patients/individuals in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Chemistry and Pharmaco

Taking Suboxone too soon after using other opioids can elicit uncomfortable opioid withdrawal symptoms like sweating, shaking, digestive upset, and anxiety. Other potential yet usually rare side effects can occur, such as overdose and

What are Suboxone's side effects?

Suboxone, like all drugs, has the potential for negative side effects. Fortunately, Suboxone side effects are rare and usually minor. Nausea, headaches, dizziness, exhaustion, insomnia, excessive perspiration, and stomach cramps are all common Suboxone side effects.

As with any new medicine, patients should avoid driving or engaging in other potentially dangerous activities until they have a better understanding of how their bodies will react. Suboxone, when taken as directed, has no effect on one's ability to do things.

Suboxone is used to treat opioid use disorder, which is the clinical diagnosis for opioid addiction. Medications are increasingly becoming the standard of care for managing drug addiction. Many opioid addicts who enter rehab for opioid addiction, may receive suboxone as an integral part of their treatment strategy. Medications like Suboxone are one part of MAT, which also incorporates counseling and behavioral therapy to treat substance use disorders.

Buprenorphine is intended for the treatment of pain (Buprenex®) and opioid addiction (Suboxone® and Subutex®). In 2001, 2005, and 2006, the Narcotic Addict Treatment Act was amended to allow qualified physicians, under certification of the DHHS, to prescribe schedule III-V narcotic drugs (FDA approved for the indication of narcotic treatment) for narcotic addiction, up to 30 patients per physician at any time, outside the context of clinic-based narcotic treatment programs

This limit was increased to 100 patients per physician, who meet the specified criteria, under the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act (P.L. 69-469, ONDCPRA), which became effective on December 29, 2006. Suboxone® and Subutex® are the only treatment drugs that meet the requirement of this exemption. Currently, there are nearly 15,700 physicians who have been approved by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the DEA for office-based narcotic buprenorphine treatment. Of those physicians, approximately 13,150 were approved to treat up to 30 patients per provider and about 2,500 were approved to treat up to 100 patients. More than 3,000 physicians have submitted their intention to treat up to 100 patients per provider.