Is Suboxone a Narcotic?
Find out the answer to, is Suboxone a narcotic.
It's common for many people recovering from addiction to opiate drugs to wonder 'is Suboxone a narcotic?' During a comprehensive rehab treatment program, a person recovering from opiate addiction may be prescribed with Suboxone to help alleviate the severity of withdrawal symptoms, but also to help manage cravings.
What Is Suboxone?
Suboxone is the trade name for a medication formulated from buprenorphine and naloxone that is used to treat addiction to opiate drugs. Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic derivative of the baine, a molecule found in the opium poppy. Naloxone is a medication used to block the effects of opioid drugs and is commonly used to treat overdose. While the drug is a narcotic, Suboxone is not used as a pain medication.
What is Suboxone Used For?
In a medical setting, Suboxone is used to treat people recovering from addiction to opiate drugs, including heroin and prescription opiate painkiller medications. The objective of using Suboxone is to make the withdrawal process easier to manage and to reduce cravings for the drug of addiction.
Asking a recovering person what is Suboxone used for will prompt the response that it can be helpful for avoiding withdrawal symptoms associated with detoxing from heroin and other opiate drugs.
Is Suboxone a Narcotic?
A recovering heroin addict may also begin to wonder 'is Suboxone a narcotic?' During the medically-assisted detox process, some recovering addicts may search for any means to get 'high' and start wondering whether Suboxone will help them feel the rush of euphoria they crave.
The answer to 'is Suboxone a narcotic?' is yes. Bueprenorphine is an opioid drug that has the potential to induce feelings of mild euphoria.
Despite knowing what is Suboxone used for in a medical setting, many recovering opiate addicts may use the medication in an effort to stave off withdrawal symptoms. Some may also attempt to alter the medication in an effort to get high.
If the medication is taken precisely as directed by a doctor, the naloxone component of the drug remains dormant. However, if Suboxone is altered so the user can try to inject it or snort it, the naloxone component is activated and blocks the opioid receptors, which can induce withdrawal symptoms to emerge.
Suboxone Side Effects
As with most prescription medications, Suboxone does some potential side effects. Some common Suboxone side effects can include:
- Allergic reactions, such as hives, swelling of the face or tongue, or difficulty breathing
- Blurred vision
- Slurred speech
- Dizziness and loss of coordination
- Confusion and disorientation
- Drowsiness
- Nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite
- Constipation
- Insomnia and sleep problems
- Increased heart rate
- Addiction
If any Suboxone side effects are noticed, seek emergency medical attention immediately.
It's also important to recognize that taking Suboxone in any way other than prescribed by a doctor would cause potentially dangerous effects. Crushing the tablet and trying to snort it or dissolve it so it can be injected into a vein can result in overdose and death.
Likewise, taking Suboxone with alcohol or other sedative drugs, such as Xanax or Valium could induce dangerous side effects that include respiratory failure (stopped breathing), coma, and death.
It is also possible to become addicted to Suboxone. Stopping use suddenly could cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms that can be more protracted than those caused by detoxing form heroin. In order to stop taking Suboxone safely, a recovering person should carefully taper down the dose under medical supervision.
So, is Suboxone a narcotic and will there be Suboxone side effects? The answer is yes to both questions. However, when Suboxone is used exactly as prescribed by a medical doctor, it can be an incredibly useful medication for treating opiate addiction.