To those individuals who are unfortunate enough to experience it, opiate withdrawal is arguably one of the most painful and miserable experiences one can endure. Opiate withdrawal symptoms occur when an individual consumes opiates for a consistently long period of time (allowing their bodies to build up a tolerance) and then discontinues use for at least 6 to 12 hours. Popular opiates that many people become addicted to include Heroin, Oxycontin, Morphine, and Methadone.
Depending on how badly addicted the person is and the concentration of opiates they regularly consume, the withdrawals can range from mild to unbearable and can even be lethal in some cases. The symptoms are commonly characterized as muscle aches, sweating, bone chills, sensitive and achy skin, restless leg syndrome (RLS), restless back syndrome, back and joint pain, depression, sneezing, vomiting, and diarrhea among others. One can only truly experience the level of pain and misery brought on by opiate withdrawal by experiencing it for themselves.
Many solutions have been introduced to opiate addicts over the years in an attempt to help them get clean. The hardest part for most addicts about getting clean is not the mental cravings as many people would assume. It's their body's physical dependence on the drug. It's the challenge of being able to get past the intense pain caused by the withdrawals for a long enough time to allow their body to return to normal (the body gets so used to the opium that it forgets how to produce the necessary dopamine to make the body feel good on its own). One popular opioid dependence treatment is Methadone. The problem with methadone, however, is that it's a full opioid agonist (just like heroin, morphine, and oxycontin) and it causes the individual to feel high just as they would on their drug of choice. Because of this, people just end up getting addicted to Methadone and when they try to quit, they have the same problem--they go into serious opiate withdrawal.
Fortunately, a new solution has been developed which has proven to be far more effective than Methadone or any number of the "home remedies" that are well known to opiate addicts. The solution is Suboxone. My brother struggled with heroin addiction for over four years and nothing ever worked for him. He had the desire to quit but he just couldn't get through the physical withdrawals. He tried everything including Methadone, the Thomas method, and other home remedies. I hated watching him suffer so much. His addiction eventually began to ruin his social, work, and family life, so I started to seek help for him. I finally came across Suboxone and set up an appointment for him.
Long story short, he ended up seeing the doctor and going through the Suboxone treatment successfully and he has not used opiates since. He finally has his life back and is happier than I've seen him in a long time. I'm sharing this information because I don't think anyone should have to go through what my brother went through and what I went through watching him suffer. So if you or anyone you care about is suffering from opioid dependence, I strongly urge you to get as much Suboxone Information as possible because it just might be able to save your life or the person's you care about) as it did my brother's.
Some General Suboxone Information:
Suboxone contains buprenorphine and naloxone. The buprenorphine is the main active ingredient which works to take away the opiate withdrawal symptoms, allowing the individual to feel normal while transitioning off of the opiates they were addicted to. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist rather than a full opioid agonist like Methadone which is why it's so effective at treating opiate addiction (the individual doesn't get "high", they just feel normal without the cravings or withdrawals). The naloxone works as an opioid antagonist and reduces the impact of the buprenorphine. This further ensures that the individual won't experience an "opiate high" which prevents the risk of becoming dependent on Suboxone after short or long-term use, unlike the full high that Methadone delivers (which is why it has proven to be an ineffective treatment option for opiate addiction).
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