The evidence shows that Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) is the best treatment for opioid addiction. But is it the best treatment in Michigan for your teen?
At Workit Health, we’re experts on addiction. Especially opioid addiction. Opioids can be anything from heroin, to prescription pain pills. Many of our staff are in recovery ourselves. Not only have we been there, but we’re backed by experts, who offer us guidance on the cutting-edge treatment and technology.
That’s why we offer buprenorphine (more commonly known by its brand name, Suboxone) treatment for those struggling with opioid addiction in Michigan. Together with counseling, buprenorphine is now the gold-standard of care for opioid addiction.
Recently in the New York Times, the head of the American Society of Addiction Medicine was quoted as saying:
The science is clear: Treatment with approved medications (methadone, buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone) must be a central component of treatment.
Inpatient detoxification not followed by medication typically leads to near-immediate return to opioid use, and longer inpatient stays carry a higher risk of death upon discharge unless patients receive continuing medication.
When your family is affected, you want to make the right decision. If your teen is struggling with opioid addiction, it’s tempting to want to send them away, and place them under 24/7 supervision.
But keep in mind, the studies show that buprenorphine treatment cuts death rates from opioid addiction in half, and many inpatient treatment facilities (especially in Michigan) still push old-fashioned, abstinence-only agendas.
At Workit Health, our Suboxone program focuses on building teens up from the inside, without requiring them to leave home or quit school. They can begin treatment with one or two visits at our Ann Arbor office, and continue treatment online. We offer engaging online lessons that education and empower those struggling with addiction to meet recovery goals they set for themselves. Those in our program join weekly online groups, and some attend a Workit Together self-care meeting at our Ann Arbor office.If you live in rural Michigan, options for treatment (especially evidence-based treatment) can be scarce. We address this issue by offering telehealth treatment after the first one or two visits for most of our members, including teens. This means even if you travel from a rural area for the first appointments, your loved one can then see their care team online via videoconference, and receive a prescription at a local pharmacy.
Here are some questions to ask when finding the right Suboxone doctor for your teen:
•Is counseling included in your program, or will you recommend they seek counseling elsewhere? Is counseling included in the program’s cost?
Some programs charge for each aspect of the program separately, or don’t offer counseling in-house.
•What is your drug testing system?
At Workit Health, we do our drug testing in-house, only sending out unusual results for lab testing. This saves our clients a bundle in insurance charges.
•Are your counselors available to talk when my teen will need them?
In the Workit Health program, members have 24/7 messaging access with their counselor, to reach out to when craving strikes. It’s important to know support is there.
And if you’re unsure about choosing Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) for your teen, some striking statistics:
- When a study compared a short-term taper of Suboxone vs long-term use in teens, the long-term use group had better retention rates and less opioid use.
- In another study, when given buprenorphine instead of common withdrawal medication clonidine, a significantly greater number of teens on buprenorphine stayed in treatment (72% vs 39%), and a significantly higher percentage of the group on buprenorphine’s drug tests were opiate negative (64% vs 32%).
- An evaluation of many studies done between 1995 and 2012 (called a meta-analysis) shows that, undoubtedly, Suboxone works. Suboxone treatment is associated with better retention in treatment and significantly reducing illicit opioid use.
- The most staggering research statistic we have, that makes us at Workit Health wonder why all treatment centers aren’t offering Suboxone treatment: buprenorphine treatment can cut death rates from opioid addiction in half.
As much of the medical community working on the opioid crisis always voices: If there was any other treatment that offered such staggering success rates, would we ever hesitate to offer it to anyone? Especially our loved ones?
