Early recovery from a substance use disorder is an incredibly tricky time as your brain and body revolt against your efforts to break free. To ease this journey, we offer several different types of medications that can help bridge the gap toward a life free from substance use.
Our team at Northshore Health has had great success using medication-assisted treatment programs for clients who are trying to get clean and sober. Here, we explore some of the medications we offer that can help you through the early days of recovery so you can reclaim your life.
One of the reasons behind the dismal numbers surrounding overdose deaths due to opioids, which claimed nearly 70,000 lives in the United States in 2020, is that opioids are incredibly difficult to break free from.
Not only is opioid withdrawal unpleasant physically, your brain continues to demand the drug and these cravings can be very powerful.
With Suboxone, we can relieve many of the early withdrawal symptoms and control the cravings using a two-pronged approach that includes an opioid agonist (buprenorphine) and an opioid antagonist (naloxone).
In layman’s terms, Suboxone delivers a very mild form of opioid that doesn’t get you high, but it does satisfy the brain and body. The naloxone works to counteract any opioid by blocking the receptors in your brain.
For detoxing and early recovery from an opioid use disorder, we also offer Sublocade injections, which release buprenorphine into your system to relieve withdrawal symptoms and curb cravings. Unlike daily medications, Sublocade injections are given once every month.
This is a long-term approach to help you weather early recovery in which we insert pellets under your skin that slowly release naltrexone over six months. This drug is an opioid antagonist and blocks the receptors in your brain, which prevents you from getting high or drunk.
In addition to preventing you from feeling the effects of opioids or alcohol, naltrexone can also help reduce the cravings that can be very strong in early recovery.
Vivitrol is a medication that contains naltrexone, and we deliver it through monthly injections. Like the pellets we describe above, Vivitrol prevents you from getting high or drunk and also works to curb cravings.
As you can see, when it comes to opioid and alcohol use disorders, there are several options that can help you weather the early days of recovery and prevent relapse.
If you’d like to explore these options further and figure out whether you’re a good candidate for one of these medication-assisted treatments, please contact our office in Bothell, Washington, to set up a consultation.
