Millions of people across the world are addicted to opioids. If you have ever struggled with an addiction to any kind of opioid, then you might have heard of Suboxone.
Suboxone is an approved and legal prescription drug. It is often prescribed by doctors to help people to overcome their addiction issues. There are two main ways you can take Suboxone, including in tablets or film strips.
Suboxone contains two chemicals called buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a powerful chemical that works by blocking the opioid receptors in the brain. Due to this, it acts like a very low dose of morphine. However, it has much weaker effects than morphine.
Naloxone is another powerful chemical within Suboxone which works by reducing the ‘feel good’ factor that comes with opioids.
By working together, these two drugs work hard to block the positive side effects of opioids whilst also blocking the severity of any withdrawal symptoms from your detox. As a result, you won’t crave the addictive substance as much as you used to.
Suboxone is used throughout the medical industry and particularly within drug rehab centres across the UK.
How Does Suboxone Work?
In order to understand the pros and cons of Suboxone, then it is important to understand how Suboxone works. In order to understand this, you need to understand how opioids work.
When you abuse opioids, all of a you no longer feel as sensitive to pain as you once did. Your ability to feel pain is reduced and your body releases endorphins such as dopamine which makes you feel ‘high.’
It doesn’t take long for opioids to take effect, as individuals can usually start to feel its effect within just 30 minutes of first consuming the drug. There are three main types of opioids: agonists, partial agonists and antagonists.
Agonists give users the full opioid effect, which includes drugs such as opium and heroin and morphine. Partial agonists include drugs such as buprenorphine. Whilst it will not entirely block the effect on the brain, it will reduce the effect it has on the brain.
Antagonists attach themselves to the opioid centres but they do not activate them. They do not release any endorphins or result in any ‘high.’
Suboxone does a great job of attaching itself to the same receptors that opioids attach themselves to. By attaching itself to the receptors in this way, it blocks the opioids from taking effect. By doing so, you won’t feel cravings [1].
How Long Will Suboxone Stay in My Body?
As previously mentioned above, Suboxone is a type of opioid. Like any other drug, it will stay in your body for a prolonged period of time, and will remain detectable in the body long after you have finished experiencing the effects of the drug.
As previously mentioned above, Suboxone is usually prescribed to people who are already addicted to drugs or individuals who have been previously exposed to drugs.
Unfortunately, this means that individuals who require Suboxone have an increased tolerance to the drug, meaning that they might require more of the drug in order to benefit from its effects.
When it comes to how long suboxone stays in your system, it does depend on a number of factors.
However, studies have shown that suboxone tends to stay in an individual’s body for a longer period of time, compared to a number of other drugs and medications.
Suboxone stays in your body longer due to one particular chemical within Suboxone, called buprenorphine.
Buprenorphine stays in your body longer because it has a long half-life [2]. This half-life means that Suboxone can end up staying in an individual’s body for over a day, with some studies showing that it can stay in the body for over a week [2].
Unfortunately, when Suboxone reaches the liver, the body releases things called metabolites. This means that the drug stays in the body for longer than it should.
Factors Influencing How Long Suboxone Stays in Your System
As previously explained, Suboxone stays in the body for a significantly long time.
Whilst there are numerous studies that suggest that Suboxone stays in the body for up to a week, there are a few different factors that will influence how long Suboxone stays in your body.
Some of these factors include the following:
- Your body fat
- How much you weigh
- Your age
- How fast your metabolism is
- How much Suboxone you consumed
- How long you have been addicted to drugs
- How high your tolerance is
- How healthy your liver is
- Whether you are male or female
How Long Will Suboxone be Detected in Urine?
If you are currently taking Suboxone to help you to recover from a substance use disorder, then you might be worried about how long Suboxone stays in your body.
You might be worried about testing positive for drugs if you have consumed Suboxone, even if you haven’t taken any other form of the drug.
It is important to understand that Suboxone will show in your urine longer than it will stay in your blood.
This is because when the liver absorbs and metabolises the buprenorphine in the Suboxone, metabolites called norbuprenorphine are formed. Unfortunately, norbuprenorphine stays in an individual’s urine for a lot longer than it stays in an individual’s blood.
In fact, norbuprenorphine stays in an individual’s urine for up to 150 hours. This means that if you take Suboxone, then you might still test positive for the drug for up to two weeks after initially taking it.
How Long Will Suboxone be Detected in Saliva?
If you are worried about how long Suboxone stays in your saliva for, then you will be happy to hear that Suboxone stays in your saliva for less time than it stays in your blood and urine.
If you take Suboxone, then you should expect to test positive for Suboxone through a saliva test for up to five days after initially taking the drug.
How Long Will Suboxone be Detected in Hair?
Like with many drugs, Suboxone stays in your hair for the longest period of time. However, this does very much depend on how much of the drug you initially took.
Unfortunately, Suboxone stays in your hair for up to three months after initially taking the substance.
In order to test positive for Suboxone, you have to take a very specific test in order to test positive. In order to rid the body of Suboxone, it first has to metabolise. In order to do this, the body must metabolise the chemical buprenorphine through waste using urine and faeces.
If you or someone you know is worried about testing positive for Suboxone, then it is time to get help. If you would like help for an opioid addiction, then speak to someone at OK Rehab for help and advice.
Psychological Treatments for Opioid Addiction
If you are struggling with an addiction to opioids or any other type of drug, then there are a number of other treatment options available to you. For example, there is now a long list of psychological treatments available to those who need it.
Whilst different types of therapy can seem intimidating, it is important to give each form of therapy a good go, so that you can see what works for you and what does not.
At OK Rehab, we have created a list of different and popular treatment options that will be offered to you in most rehab centres across the UK.
1. Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing is a very popular form of therapy used in most rehab centres across the UK. In fact, motivational interviewing is used a lot on those addicted to opioids.
This is because motivation plays a huge role when it comes to an addiction to opioids.
You will only be able to recover from an addiction to opioids if you are motivated enough to change your life. If the motivation is not there, then you are much more likely to relapse than if you were motivated to recover.
This is why motivational interviewing is seen as an important step in recovery for an opioid addiction. During your motivational interviewing sessions, you will be prompted to think about your motivations behind recovering, and will help to guide you through the different stages of recovery and change when recovering from a highly addictive drug.
2. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioural therapy (known as CBT) is a really popular type of talking therapy that helps people to get to grips with the underlying causes and triggers of your behaviour.
The idea behind Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is that you have the ability to change the way that you think, feel and ultimately how you behave.
It is mostly used to cure mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, which are often the underlying causes and triggers of substance use addiction.
3. Family Therapy
Family therapy is also another highly popular type of therapy used to treat those suffering from substance use disorders such as an opioid addiction.
During family therapy, you will sit in a group setting with your family and loved ones, alongside a trained professional.
You will work through your issues and try to gain a better understanding on how you can all work together to overcome any trauma you may have experienced and triggers you might be experiencing.
4. Couples Counselling
If you are in a relationship, then you might want to consider couples therapy. This is because a lot of trauma and triggers come from issues within romantic relationships.
This is also particularly useful if you are both suffering from a substance use disorder.
5. Neurotherapy
Neurotherapy is a popular type of therapy used in more and more rehab centres as time goes on.
Neurotherapy tries to train an individual’s brain into creating and maintaining better brain wave patterns.
This will be done through things like positive reinforcement.
6. Twelve-Step Facilitation Therapy
Twelve-step facilitation therapy aims to help individuals who need extra support and help become more open to the idea of self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
By taking part in twelve-step facilitation therapy, you will be linked with a local self-help group and eased into twelve-step methods of recovery.
7. Contingency Management
Contingency management aims to help people to change the way that they behave through techniques such as positive reinforcement.
For example, testing negative for drugs after a urine sample will result in some form of reward.
If you are suffering from an addiction to opioids and are worried about how long Suboxone stays in your body, then you should speak to someone at the OK Rehab team for help and support.
Treatment for an Addiction to Suboxone
Unfortunately, it is possible to become addicted to Suboxone. Whilst it has helped thousands of people overcome addictions to opioids, it can also be abused.
If you snort, inject or consume Suboxone with other dangerous substances then it can very easily cause you great harm. In some cases, abusing Suboxone can be fatal.
Whilst Suboxone is only used as a temporary fix between withdrawing from drugs and recovery, some people do tend to hoard and then binge on their Suboxone so that they can abuse it.
If you or someone you know is addicted to Suboxone, then it is incredibly important to get help as soon as possible. In order to recover from substance use as Suboxone, then you will most likely need to undergo a detox from the drug.
In addition to this, you will also benefit from attending self-help groups with other people who suffer from similar addictions. Rehab centres also accept those who are addicted to substances such as Suboxone.
Speak to someone at OK Rehab
If you or someone you know is suffering from an addiction to opioids or are worried about how long Suboxone will stay in your body, then speak to someone at OK Rehab.
OK Rehab prides itself on specialising in drug and alcohol addiction and recovery. OK Rehab is specialist in getting people the help that they need, and is able to recommend different rehab centres and treatment options, taking into consideration where you are based in the UK.
OK Rehab has working relationships with over a hundred rehab centres in the UK. Because of this, they will able to recommend a number of local rehab centres to you.
They will also be able to recommend a range of different treatment options depending on your circumstances, including outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, a home detox or cognitive behavioural therapy.
If you or someone you know is struggling from an addiction issue, then it’s time to speak to OK Rehab. Call the team today on 0800 326 5559 or by visiting us online at www.okrehab.org for more information.
