Opiate use and addiction have reached epidemic levels in the United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has estimated that every month approximately 4.3 million people in the United States use prescription pain killer for non-medical reasons. SAMHSA also estimates that nearly 1.9 million people around the country can be classified as having a prescription painkiller use disorder. The number is only increasing. In some areas, where it is harder to get prescription pain killers, people are turning to street drugs like heroin. If you think this describes you, you may want a way to stop taking opiates. Suboxone or subutex are often used to help people recover from their addiction to opiates.You may wonder, “how much does suboxone treatment cost?” This will depend on your insurance (if you have it) and where you live.
- Check out suboxone treatment centers. Suboxone is a combination of burpenorphine and naloxone. This is used to replace the opiate you were taking by mimicking the effects without getting people addicted to the replacement drug. It can be administered in an official treatment center or by a family medicine doctor who has beeb authorized to prescribe it. If you are considering this kind of treatment, you can call a center to ask, “how much does suboxone treatment cost?” or you can call your insurance provider or primary care physician.
- You can try to taper off of the drug. This can be really hard for a lot of people to do successfully. When you taper off of a drug, you begin using less and less of that drug until you are not using it all all. If you asked your family practice doctor, “how much does suboxone treatment cost?” and decided it is too much, you can talk to them about tapering off of your drug of choice. This process will go better if you find a support group to keep you accountable. It is much too easy to take more than you want to. When you taper, the good thing is that it can help prevent any withdrawal problems you might encounter when you try other ways to quit.
- Deal with withdrawal with over the counter medications. When your body is addicted to anything from drugs and alcohol to smoking cigarettes, when you stop giving it the substance, it does not always react well. Symptoms of opiate withdrawal can include fevers, chills, digestive problems, general aches and pains and a host of other problems. Imodium and Pepto Bismol can help with your stomach distress. Tylenol, Advil and Aleve can help with the aches and pains.
- Get some counseling. There is a psychological aspect to any addiction. Many people find counseling and other therapy useful in overcoming addiction. This can help you work though whatever the reasons were that you started taking the opiates to begin with. For people who have never been through the counseling process, it can be really eye opening. Some people also benefit from journaling to augment the counseling experience.
- Go to support group meetings. A lot of people poo poo giong to these meetings but millions of people have found help through them. If you have not tried them, you should. At least go to a few and see what they are all about and see if you can benefit from going .
- Change up your days. There are a lot of behavior associated with additions. You may have to change more of your life than you realize when you start the process. When you get rid of a habit, it is best if you can replace the bad habit with at least one good habit. That will help you be more successful.
- Go into inpatient treatment. If you have tried to stop taking opiates, you may benefit from a residential treatment program. No one likes the idea of going into one but they can make a difference in your life if you have tried before and failed. If you go to you doctor to ask, “how much does suboxone treatment cost?” you might also want to inquire about treatment centers in your area.
With some effort, you can recover from opiate addiction.