The Opioid Epidemic’s Toll On Pregnant Women and Babies

The risk for overdose from opioid painkillers and heroin among women, including pregnant women, has skyrocketed, which means a growing number of babies are born dependent on opioids. 

Chronic Pain and Opiate Addiction Treatment

Thousands of people in the United States are living with a condition called chronic pain. Unfortunately, the majority of the treatments for chronic pain involve highly addictive opiates.

Most of the users who suffer from chronic pain also eventually suffer from opiate dependence. Opiate dependence comes with a variety of dangerous long term effect. There are, however, opiate addiction treatments that not only treat the chronic pain but they also treat the opiate dependence.

Methadone Maintenance Treatment

Methadone maintenance treatment uses methadone to treat the chronic pain without the euphoric effects of most common prescription opiates. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, methadone is a safe, effective way to treat chronic pain but must be given to you by a physician daily.

Modern media unfortunately stigmatize this method of treatment. In order to receive methadone, patients must go to a clinic daily which is inconvenient for some.

Buprenorphine or Suboxone Maintenance Treatment

Burprenorphine and Suboxone are two drugs similar to methadone. They are extremely useful for those who are in chronic pain and are addicted to opiates because they are only partial opiate agonists.

Suboxone contains an inhibitor called naloxone, which stops the user from becoming high. It also has a ceiling effect that gives the opiates a ceiling effect. This ceiling effect only allows a person to feel a certain level of euphoria.

According to the National Institute of Justice, buprenorphine and Suboxone effectively reduce the risks of opiate dependence. In multiple studies, these two medications reduced opiate cravings and provided chronic pain relief to their users.

Both methadone maintenance and buprenorphine and Suboxone maintenance provide an alternative to using opiates to treat chronic long term pain as well as opiate addiction. Both of these treatments are found at opiate addiction treatment centers across the country.

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