If you’re addicted to heroin, and readily admit you have a problem, then you’re probably discovered there’s more than one way to recover from addiction. Enrolling in a residential recovery program is a one to get clean, as is an outpatient treatment program. If you continue to be clean you are most likely attending 12 step programs for group support. Going recovery alone is very difficult.
If you are in need of a medically assisted recovery, then you’ll need to find the right course of treatment for you. A Suboxone detox might just be right for you, but you might have heard a few tales, so let’s focus on debunking a couple of myths!
Myth #1: A Suboxone detox recovery is simply substituting one addiction for another.
Addiction is a chronic condition, and a person taking Suboxone as part of a professionally supervised medically assisted recovery program is no more an “addict” than a diabetic who controls his condition with regular doses of insulin. Some can overcome addition with therapy and/or 12 Step programs, while others find success through a Suboxone detox program. Your addiction is controlled by medically sound, supervised treatments.
Myth #2: Suboxone is more dangerous than heroin.
Just like any other medications that are prescribed by physicians, a Suboxone detox can be dangerous when used improperly. But simply stating that Suboxone is as dangerous as heroin is to ignore both the specific properties of each substance and the manner in which both drugs are usually taken.
As far as the safety of Suboxone is concerned, consider the following information from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP):
- Suboxone is a legal medication produced by licensed and approved pharmaceutical companies using quality control standards.
- Under a physician’s supervision, administered orally on a daily basis with strict program conditions and guidelines, Suboxone does not impair cognitive functions.
- Suboxone has no adverse effects on mental capability, intelligence or employability.
- Suboxone is not sedating or intoxicating, nor does it interfere with ordinary activities such as driving a car or operating machinery. Patients are able to feel pain and experience emotional reactions.
- Most importantly, Suboxone relieves the craving associated with opiate addiction.
Suboxone has been rigorously evaluated, and produces effects that are nowhere near as debilitating or dangerous as the effects of heroin. Also, Soboxone is taken orally in a safe environment, while heroin is often injected in environments and circumstances that are far from sanitary.
Taking Suboxone as part of a medically supervised addiction treatment program is much safer than abusing heroin.
BIO
Recovery Rob is a 47-year-old man who has more than eighteen years of sobriety, whose drugs of choice at one time were alcohol and drugs, and he has worked in and around the field of addiction for more than 20 years. Recovery Rob is a professional writer who has published two novels and is currently working on his third. He has been writing and working as Pat Moore Foundation’s premiere blogger and content writer, which helps keeps Pat Moore Foundation’s addiction and recovery blog top-rated.