One of the most difficult aspects of stopping opioids is the withdrawal symptoms that you can feel if you’ve been using regularly. Being in withdrawal (or “dopesick”) is awful, it can feel like the worst case of the flu you’ve ever had. Muscle aches, chills, runny nose, vomiting, and diarrhea are some of the most common symptoms, but this description really does not do justice to how terrible opioid withdrawal can feel.
A medication called buprenorphine can help reduce those symptoms and make it easier for people to end or reduce their dependence on opioids.
What is buprenorphine?
Buprenorphine is a medication that doctors use to help treat people who have problems with opioid use. Specifically, buprenorphine is approved by the FDA for the treatment of opioid use disorder, a diagnosis that describes regular use of opioids that makes aspects of your life more difficult and impacts your physical and mental health. Medicines containing buprenorphine have different names like Suboxone, Subutex, Sublocade, and Brixadi, but the active ingredient (the molecule that produces the effects) in all these medications is buprenorphine.
Buprenorphine can reduce the severity of these withdrawal symptoms because it is itself an opioid. But unlike morphine, oxycodone, or fentanyl, buprenorphine is what’s called a partial agonist of the mu-opioid receptors (one of five kinds of opioid receptors scientists have discovered). Partial agonists have some of the beneficial effects of full agonist opioids (like morphine, oxycodone, or fentanyl) with fewer negative effects. Because of its partial agonism, buprenorphine controls symptoms of opioid withdrawal and pain but is much less likely to cause an overdose.
What are the different kinds of buprenorphine products?
Buprenorphine for opioid use disorder comes in a few different kinds of medicines, or formulations. One of the most common of these are the sublingual formulations, which are medicines that you place under your tongue and are absorbed into your body through the blood vessels there. Medicines like Suboxone and Subutex are both sublingual formulations of buprenorphine and are available as both traditional tablets as well as dissolving films (similar to Listerine strips). If you have questions on the differences between the sublingual formulations, talk with your healthcare provider or a pharmacist, or call the Addiction Care Today office.
Buprenorphine Hotline
Prescribers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can help you to start or continue buprenorphine (Suboxone) for opioid use disorder over the phone.
Phone: 401-606-5456
What about injectable buprenorphine?
In addition to the oral forms of buprenorphine, providers can now prescribe and give injectable formulations of buprenorphine which are designed to last for up to a month. These medicines are referred to as long-acting injectables (LAIs). With these medications, you do not have to remember to take medicine every day or worry about losing your supply. Two types of injectable buprenorphine are currently available, Sublocade and Brixadi. Both of these medications work by placing buprenorphine under your skin to be slowly absorbed over time. Brixadi comes in both a weekly injection and a monthly injection. Sublocade is a monthly injection. There are several factors to consider when deciding which injection is right for you—work with your healthcare provider to discuss your options.
Most people’s insurance will pay for LAIs, although some plans require prior authorization, a process where the insurance company reviews medical information to make sure the medication is appropriate.
How can the Addiction Care Today clinic help?
If you’re in Rhode Island or Massachusetts and dealing with opioid use disorder, the Addiction Care Today clinic can help. Our clinical staff are experts at helping people start or resume buprenorphine. We call this process initiating buprenorphine treatment and it’s one area where professional guidance can be really important, especially if you haven’t used buprenorphine before. Regardless if it’s your first time initiating buprenorphine treatment or your fiftieth, our prescribers are available to help make a plan.
Visit us in-person at our office at 2 Dudley Street in Providence—no appointment necessary—during our office hours (8:30 A.M. to 4 P.M., Monday through Friday). Outside of these hours, we can be reached at the Buprenorphine Hotline (401-606-5456), which is a 24/7 service connecting you with a buprenorphine prescriber. Every person and situation is different, so meeting with our clinical staff allows them to make personalized recommendations suited to your unique needs.
Learn more about the Addiction Care Today clinic on our website or call 401-606-8100.
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