Medication-Assisted Treatment
When you have a strong addiction to a drug, you need to attend detox and addiction treatment. If you experience severe withdrawal symptoms while in detox or addiction treatment, you’re also going to have to receive medication-assisted treatment. Medication-assisted therapy helps people manage their withdrawal symptoms.
While in medication-addiction treatment (MAT), you will take prescription medications to help you through recovery. Types of medications that are often used for medication-assisted treatment include methadone, naltrexone, naloxone, buprenorphine, Suboxone, and Subutex. The Subutex prescription is the brand name version of buprenorphine. Suboxone is part Naloxone and part buprenorphine.
To fully understand MAT therapy, you must understand the key components of it and how they all can contribute to a person’s addiction recovery.
What is Medication-Assisted Treatment?
Medication-assisted treatment is an addiction treatment in which you use prescription medications to help you work through your withdrawal symptoms. While taking medication in addiction treatment may seem counterproductive, it isn’t. This is because the prescription medications provided to patients during medication-assisted treatment are administered and monitored through the proper channels by doctors and medical professionals. When administered properly, these prescription medications will help stabilize patients.
Medications are not the only thing administered during medication-assisted treatment. To help treat every aspect of the patient, MAT therapy also uses different forms of counseling and behavioral therapy. That way once the patient leaves medication-assisted treatment, he or she will have all the tools to maintain sobriety.
Just like there are several prescription medications that doctors prescribe to patients while in medication-assisted treatment, there are also many substances that cause addiction that requires medication-assisted treatment to get over.
Addiction to These Substances Require Medication-Assisted Treatment
Not all substances are created equal. Therefore, some substances are more addictive than others. When a substance is highly addictive, the chance of becoming addicted to that substance after use increases greatly. The chance of you experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you minimize or discontinue the use of such a substance also increases.
Therefore, if you have an addiction to certain highly addictive substances, you must attend medication-assisted treatment. Addiction to the following substances require medication-assisted treatment:
Prescriptions Used in Medication-Assisted Treatment for Alcohol Addiction
Acamprosate
Acamprosate is a medication that specifically works to prevent people from drinking. While Acamprosate is great at preventing drinking, it does not prevent withdrawal symptoms from occurring after a person drinks alcohol.
To feel the effects of Acamprosate, you must not drink or abuse substances at all. It usually takes 5 to 6 days for the full effects of Acamprosate to kick in. Acamprosate comes in the form of a tablet. You should take Acamprosate 3 times a day.
Disulfiram
The Disulfiram medication that’s used during medication-assisted treatment for alcohol use disorder is great for people that have already finished detox. Disulfiram comes in the form of a tablet. You’re supposed to take this tablet once a day. Do not take Disulfiram if you’ve recently been drinking alcohol at all. Taking Disulfiram while under the influence of even the smallest amount of alcohol can cause you to experience severe side effects.
Naltrexone
When it comes to using Naltrexone for medication-assisted treatment for alcohol use disorder, this medication blocks the euphoric effects of alcohol use while also blocking feelings of intoxication. That way, you can go through your addiction treatment program with a clear mind.
Opioids
Opioids are very addictive. Thus, it’s no surprise that anyone with an addiction to them would need medication-assisted treatment to get clean and sober again. The medicines that medication-assisted treatment programs for opioid addiction use include buprenorphine, Methadone, Naltrexone, and Naloxone. You can also use Suboxone and a Subutex prescription to treat opioid addiction during medication-assisted treatment.
Prescriptions Used in Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction
Buprenorphine
Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist. Buprenorphine connects with receptors in the brain to minimize pain. When used as a prescription drug for those in medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, buprenorphine provides small doses of opioids to patients to gradually wean themselves off of the drug.
Methadone
Methadone is a great prescription medication to use when treating opioid addiction symptoms. Methadone is a full agonist. This means that Methadone combines with receptors in the brain and nervous system. By combining with these brain receptors, Methadone reduces opioid withdrawal symptoms while simultaneously blocking the euphoric effects of opiates.
When you take Methadone during medication-assisted treatment, you will not even feel the withdrawal symptoms of your opioid addiction due to the strength of Methadone.
Also, because of the strength of Methadone, you only need to take it once a day via a liquid solution while in MAT therapy. You can later slowly build upon the dosage amount of Methadone that you take if you need to. It’s important to build on the dosage of Methadone slowly because, otherwise, the strength of this prescription medication can cause you to develop an addiction.
Vivitrol (Naltrexone)
This prescription medication that’s used during medication-assisted treatment is a brand name version of Naltrexone. Naltrexone is an FDA-approved prescription medication to help those suffering from opioid addiction and alcohol addiction to manage their withdrawal symptoms. If you are taking Naltrexone to manage your withdrawal symptoms from alcohol, take it in the pill form.
If you’re taking Naltrexone to manage your withdrawal symptoms from opioids, take it in the extended-release injectable form. You can use the injectable form of Naltrexone for withdrawal symptoms from both alcohol and opioids.
Vivitrol is the brand name of the injectable version of Naltrexone. It can block the pain that comes with the withdrawal symptoms from no longer using alcohol and opioids. This medication can also help prevent you from relapsing by blocking your need to use substances.
Naloxone
Naloxone is a pure opioid agonist. Like the other medication-assisted treatment prescription drugs, Naloxone blocks and reverses the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. In fact, it can block and reverse the symptoms of any narcotic. The main difference between Naloxone and other medication-assisted prescription drugs is that you only use Naloxone during emergency overdoses.
Naloxone comes in the form of an injectable or nasal spray. Do not drink alcohol while using this medication as it will increase the side effects of this prescription drug.
Suboxone
Suboxone is a brand name prescription that combines buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist and naloxone is a pure opioid antagonist.
Partial opioid agonists like buprenorphine deliver small doses of opioids to those addicted to opioids to wean them off of the substance. Buprenorphine also combines with receptors in the brain that reduces the feelings of pain.
Pure opioid antagonists like Naloxone, on the other hand, shut down opioid receptors. Naloxone by itself can trigger withdrawal symptoms in those that still use opioids. Therefore, taking Naloxone by itself when chronically addicted to full opioid agonists can cause you to have symptoms as severe as seizures and respiratory failure.
Due to the dangers of using Naloxone by itself, Suboxone combines Naloxone with the tampering ways of buprenorphine to make using Suboxone safe for all former opioid addicts to use.
Subutex Prescription
Subutex prescription is an FDA approved brand name version of buprenorphine. Subutex comes in the form of a tablet that dissolves on your tongue. Like with Suboxone, Subutex was created to suppress opioid withdrawal symptoms in people receiving medication-assisted treatment.
A Subutex program of medication-assisted treatment does not just include giving out Subutex medication to help people overcome their withdrawal symptoms. Like all medication-assisted treatment programs, a Subutex program also includes counseling and behavioral therapy.
Heroin and Benzodiazepines
Alcohol and opioids are the primary substances that medication-assisted treatment programs cater to. But addiction to heroin and benzodiazepines also requires medication-assisted treatment.
Withdrawal Symptoms That MAT Therapy Helps Treat
One of the most common substances that causes withdrawal symptoms that lead to needing medication-addiction treatment are opioids. When it comes to the following opioid use withdrawal symptoms, medication-assisted treatment helps alleviate any pain or discomfort that they bring on.
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Swelling
- Chills
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Cramps
- Insomnia
- Headaches
- Vomiting
- Joint pain
How Long Is Medication-Assisted Treatment?
Doctors and medical professionals at the rehab center that you’re attending will work with you to create a customized medication-assisted treatment program. Because these programs are customized, they can continue for as long as the patient needs.
Thus, whether you are in a buprenorphine program for medication-assisted treatment, a Methadone program for medication-assisted treatment, a Subutex program for medication-assisted treatment, or some other MAT program, you will get all the time you need to become sober.
Create Recovery Center Has All That You Need
At Create Recovery Center, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality addiction treatment services to all major substances. This includes alcohol, opioid, heroin, and prescription drug addiction.
To ensure that our addiction treatment programs treat all the needs of our patients, we also provide our patients with a variety of mental health treatment and therapy services. We even have our own medication-assisted treatment program. To learn more about Create Recovery Center, and the services that we offer, contact us today.
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