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Is Suboxone Just Trading One Drug for Another?

Living with a drug addiction can make you feel trapped. There are many who want to get clean from their addiction but have a hard time doing it because they want to keep their addiction hidden from the world. Suboxone is one of the proven treatment methods for opioid addiction. There are many times when suboxone is scrutinized and written off as trading one drug for another. This can make them fearful to let anyone know that they have an addiction that they need help to overcome.

If you are battling an addiction to drugs, it’s possible to discreetly get the help that you need. Trying to overcome the addiction cold turkey can be dangerous and difficult to do on your own. When you are ready to get help for your addiction, use the following guide to learn how to discreetly get the help that you need in a safe and welcoming environment.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Many people feel like they were weak, or something was wrong with them for them to become addicted to drugs. This isn’t the case, though. Some people become addicted to drugs accidentally. They may have been in an accident or gone through a surgery that required them to have to take pain medications. Over time, the body builds up a tolerance to any medication. This often requires people to take more of it or to take it more frequently, while can lead to an addiction.

Don’t be ashamed if you have become addicted to a medication accidentally. The best thing you can do is talk to your doctor openly and honestly about what you are going through. He or she can help you by referring you to a rehabilitation center where you can get professional help to battle your addiction.

Talk to Your Insurance Company

Once you have a referral from your doctor, you can contact your insurance company to find out what coverage is available to you. Most people don’t know that their health insurance often includes recovery care. There are restrictions as to which centers you can go to, what steps need to be taken in order to get approval for the care and stipulations about how much you will have to pay for the care out of pocket though. The agent can help you determine exactly what your cost will be for the care so that you can plan accordingly.

Improve Your Chances of Long Term Success

When you go to a professional rehabilitation center, there are medications that can be given to you to minimize your cravings for the drugs and help to minimize your withdrawal symptoms, as well. Suboxone is a commonly prescribed drug used to help overcome an addiction to opioids. Some people assume that suboxone is just trading one drug for another drug, but that isn’t the case.
Suboxone is designed to be taken over an extended period of time. It helps to minimize the risks of relapse because it blocks your draw to the opioids that you have been craving.

Treatment Can be Anonymous

Many people are fearful to get help for their addiction because they are fearful that having other people find out will ruin their life. They think that people will assume that they are untrustworthy, weak and lazy. It’s important to know that you can go to treatment without anyone knowing about it. If you have a job where you have acquired a lot of leave time or are in between jobs, you can go to the rehabilitation center without anyone knowing about it.

If you have a job that you don’t want to lose but need to take time away from in order to do the treatment you need, you are protected by the FMLA. The Family and Medical Leave Act ensures that your employer cannot fire you for getting help with your addiction. You do have to let them know that you are going in for treatment, though, but they cannot hold it against you.

There Are Many Facets to Rehabilitation Treatment

Some people are naive when it comes to drug rehabilitation treatment. They assume that they can go into the center, take some medication and come out within a week or two and create an amazing life for themselves quickly and easily. That isn’t the case. Nearly 40% of all addicts who try to get clean end up relapsing because they don’t take the time to treat their addiction from every angle.

Not only do you need to beat the physical addiction you have to the drugs, but you also need to overcome your mental addiction. Whether you realize it or not, you are addicted to the way that the drugs make you feel. Going to counseling while you are in the treatment center and when you get out helps you to battle the mental addiction that you have. You need to be willing to face the truth about your addiction and find productive ways to handle temptations and hardships when they arise.

Ongoing Treatment Improves the Chances of Success

Your battle really starts when you get out of the treatment center. Triggers and temptations will surround you constantly. It’s best to ensure that you don’t go around the things that make you want to use drugs or remind you of how it felt to use the drugs or there is a good chance that you could end up relapsing. Most centers recommend that you go for regular, outpatient treatment to ensure that you stay committed to your sobriety. There are group meetings that you can go to on a regular basis. You’ll hear stories from other recovering addicts and be able to get the encouragement you need to stay on the right path. The meetings are secure, and all information shared within the meetings isn’t shared with anyone after the meeting is over. This ensures that you feel free to talk about any and everything that you need to talk about to stay clean.

You don’t need to wait for intervention or for everyone around you to figure out that you have an addiction to get help. You can take control of your life at any moment and get things back on track so that you can have the most productive life possible right away.

 

Sources
[1] Family and Medical Leave Act – Wage and Hour Division (WHD). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/

[2] Information about Medication-Assisted Treatment. (2019, February 14). Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugsafety/informationbydrugclass/ucm600092.htm

[3] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Treatment and Recovery. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery