How Medication Assisted Treatment Can Help You
When you’re coming off opioids there are two ways to do it. If you have insurance and resources you can get a medically supervised detox. The other option, and sometimes safer option is through medication assisted treatment. MAT therapy is a slower weaning off process where other medications are introduced in replacement of the opioid.
Which Medications are used for Medicated Assisted Treatment?
Serenity provides the three most successful medications for MAT therapy.
- Suboxone
- Vivitrol
- Methadone
What is Suboxone?
Suboxone is a name for Buprenorphine / naloxone. It’s a medication that works in the brain to treat opioid addiction. Opioids include heroin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and fentanyl. It works like an opioid, but the effects are weaker. It helps people with opioid use disorder slowly and safely withdrawal.
What is Methadone?
Methadone is part of the opioid family. It’s been used for over 50 years to help those addicted to opiates recover. It provides similar effects to opiates, but with milder withdrawal symptoms. It can also block the effects of opioids and reduce drug cravings.
What is Vivitrol?
Vivitrol helps prevent relapse to opioid dependence after opioid detox. Vivitrol acts to block the effects of opioids. When total abstinence is your goal Vivitrol is a powerful tool.
Medication Assisted Therapy VS. Medical Detox
One of the biggest fears about addiction treatment is the fear of experiencing withdrawal symptoms. That’s a fair concern. Depending on the length and level of substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms can be painful and cause medical complications. The other challenge is dealing with cravings after detox. A medical detox happens in the early intervention phase, whereas MAT can be provided at any stage. The main difference is a medical detox clears the brain and body of any substances in a matter of days. MAT is longer process and much more gradual.
Why is Medication Assisted Treatment Successful?
Medical detox has one job and does it well. It rids your body of substances. However, that doesn’t mean your fully recovered, it just means you body is clean. MAT programs use FDA-approved medications, along with counseling and behavioral therapies. They provide a “whole person” approach for treatment of substance use disorders. These programs are designed gradually relieve withdrawal symptoms and cravings. The goal is to keep your body and brain chemistry balanced, so you can successfully accomplish recovery work.
