Successful opioid addiction treatment is possible with professional guidance, support, and medications. At LCT Medical in Irvington and Old Bridge, New Jersey, Chidi Anukwuem, MD, and Miriam Joseph, NP, conduct medication-assisted opioid addiction treatment using Suboxone®. If you’re struggling with withdrawal symptoms, call LCT Medical for professional help or book an appointment online today.

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What is opioid addiction?

Opioid addiction is a neurological and chemical dependency on opioid drugs or medications. Some opioids are prescription drugs used to treat severe pain. Others are illicit drugs, which many people begin to use after taking prescription opioids for a while.

Some of the most common and well-known opioids are:

  • Oxycodone
  • Fentanyl
  • Hydrocodone
  • Codeine
  • Morphine
  • Heroin

If you have an opioid addiction, you feel the compulsive need to take drugs like these even if you no longer need them for clinical reasons or never did.

Over time, you can build a tolerance to opioids that causes you to need more of them to get the same effect. This increases your risk of an overdose.

How does opioid addiction treatment work?

Kicking an opioid addiction isn’t easy, especially because of the severe withdrawal symptoms that happen when you stop taking drugs. LCT Medical offers medication-assisted treatment with Suboxone, a medication that combines buprenorphine and naloxone.

Suboxone is an opioid partial agonist, which means it still activates the opioid receptors in your brain but to a much lesser extent than opioids.

As long as you use it under the close supervision of your physician, it’s safe and can help counteract many withdrawal symptoms, like fever, nausea, seizures, and sweating.

Suboxone also helps counteract the effects of other opioids, like pain relief or euphoric feelings. Combined with psychological counseling, treatments for opioid addiction like Suboxone are highly effective.

How long will I be in opioid addiction treatment?

Each individual who goes through opioid addiction treatment is different, so it’s hard to predict how long you’ll be in treatment for opioid addiction until you come to LCT Medical for a personalized consultation. You’ll take Suboxone for some time before your physician decides it’s time to taper off of it.

Normally, it takes six months to one year of taking Suboxone to complete treatment. Your providers at LCT Medical monitor you regularly and conduct blood tests to check your liver function throughout the process.

Using the results of these tests, they can see if the treatment works well for you and decide if they must change your dosage at any point.

Treating an opioid addiction on your own can be next to impossible, but the physicians at LCT Medical will support you through your opioid addiction treatment. To schedule a consultation, call LCT Medical or book an appointment online today.