Is Taking Suboxone Just Replacing One Drug For Another?

0:00Is taking Suboxone just replacing one drug with another?

0:06I'm going to tell you.

0:07I'm Dr. Rodrigues from Healing Sky.

0:10I'm also the medical director of the Dardis Center for Healing.

0:13And today we're going to talk about is taking Suboxone just replacing one drug for another?

0:20This is a common thought in the old school where they did not understand medication assisted

0:28therapy.

0:29They certainly did not understand Suboxone and they thought just taking a medication

0:34to suppress cravings was somehow cheating or cutting corners or just replacing one drug

0:40for another.

0:42This could not be further from the truth.

0:44This is not true and I'll explain why.

0:48Drugs get people high.

0:50You know, they cause problems, they make problems worse, people die.

0:55Medications that are used to suppress cravings, they save lives.

0:59They stabilize people.

1:01They reduce cravings.

1:02They even the playing field so the person who wants to stop using drugs does not have

1:07to be worn down by the burden of heavy cravings or in this case opioid cravings.

1:15Medications like Suboxone which is based off of buprenorphine are extremely effective at

1:21suppressing cravings in a safe manner.

1:26They have a dramatically lower risk of overdose compared to a regular opioid and they're much

1:31safer to use for the short term or even the long term, a much, much lower risk of overdose.

1:37You have to really try to overdose on buprenorphine.

1:41They tend to stabilize.

1:42They tend to allow people to rebuild their lives.

1:45They tend to normalize behavior and they are a key reason why there have been so many lives

1:52saved in the last few years since the advent of medication assisted therapy.

2:00Along those lines, Methadone also is helpful in medication assisted therapy although it

2:06does not have the same safety profile as buprenorphine.

2:11Buprenorphine in any of its forms, Suboxone or any of the lung acting injectables is safer

2:17to use, suppresses cravings exceptionally well and has less side effects than Methadone.

2:25Both are still very useful and they save a lot of lives and both are recommended if you

2:29have an opioid dependence problem.

2:33If you would like to learn more about opioid dependence or other mental health conditions,

2:38please like, follow and subscribe to my content here on Healing Sky.

2:42If you need help with an opioid problem, you can find a provider here on Healing Sky

2:46or if you want help from me, you can find me at delraycenter.com.

2:51Also please look for my podcast launching in the fall of 2026.

2:55Thank you.