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What Are The Side Effects Of Prolonged Intake Of Suboxone?
Question: Is there any information on the long term effects of suboxone use? I'm weighing the pros and cons of its use as a maintenance drug to prevent my son's relapse and my only real concern is that it's a relatively new treatment and we don't know if there are any long term effects.
Brief Answer:
depends on dose and duration
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for writing to us.
Suboxone is an opioid and used in treatment of deaddiction from opioids.
Pros:
- Better to take suboxone under doctor's guidance rather than taking other opioids on own.
- It prevents relapse of opioid addiction.
- It is relatively safer opioid.
Cons:
- Long term use say for years causes severe dependence and sudden stopping of the drug precipitates withdrawals.
- Abdominal pain, constipation, decreased pain tolerance; increased incidence of depression, anxiety, difficulty in social situations; headache and insomnia are usual long term side effects. But these are not always there. And dose and duration matter much for them.
Overall I recommend use of suboxone under medical supervision to prevent relapse.
Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
depends on dose and duration
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for writing to us.
Suboxone is an opioid and used in treatment of deaddiction from opioids.
Pros:
- Better to take suboxone under doctor's guidance rather than taking other opioids on own.
- It prevents relapse of opioid addiction.
- It is relatively safer opioid.
Cons:
- Long term use say for years causes severe dependence and sudden stopping of the drug precipitates withdrawals.
- Abdominal pain, constipation, decreased pain tolerance; increased incidence of depression, anxiety, difficulty in social situations; headache and insomnia are usual long term side effects. But these are not always there. And dose and duration matter much for them.
Overall I recommend use of suboxone under medical supervision to prevent relapse.
Hope I have answered your query, I will be happy to help further.
Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Dose is just 8mg daily. Is that a relatively small dose?
Brief Answer:
no it is not small dose,it is half of maximum
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Sorry for delayed response. 8 mg is not small dose. But it is also not big dose. It is routine dose. Maximum recommended dose is 16 mg. Gradually it can be tapered and patient remains stable on minimum possible dose.
Feel free to discuss further.
no it is not small dose,it is half of maximum
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Sorry for delayed response. 8 mg is not small dose. But it is also not big dose. It is routine dose. Maximum recommended dose is 16 mg. Gradually it can be tapered and patient remains stable on minimum possible dose.
Feel free to discuss further.
Note: In case of any other concern or query related to prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, or the recovery of persons with the any type of addiction or substance use, follow up with our Addiction Medicine Specialist. Click here to book a consultation now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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