Opiate Withdrawal: Methadone Symptoms & Side Effects

Question: Suboxone help with opiate withdrawal and alcohol?

(Posted by: on 2011-11-15 16:07:38)

Alright. i've had a problem with painkillers and alcohol. finally admitting it that i have a opiate problem. Drink every night and gained weight and ever since my shoulder injury from a few years ago i've been hooked to opiates. My wife is prescribed oxycodone and i've been using and know i have an issue. any chance i have to get some i get it regardless. my best friend went into a suboxone treatment and was very successfull. we both started about the same time on using on opiates a few years back. i'm now admitting i have an issue. now will suboxone also help with alcohol use also? any advice is awesome...

Posted by: Jae S on 2011-11-15, 19:13:40

No, Suboxone is for the treatment of opiate addiction only. Suboxone is itself an opiate, but it does not get you high. It feeds a person's physical dependence on opiates, so they can quit getting high without suffering painful withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol and opiates are two very different drugs, and the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are completely different from the symptoms of opiate withdrawal. Suboxone will not do anything to alleviate the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Furthermore, alcohol withdrawal is much more dangerous than opiate withdrawal. It is possible to die from opiate withdrawal, but death is very rare. Death from alcohol withdrawal is much more common. YOU SHOULD NEVER ATTEMPT TO DETOX YOURSELF FROM ALCOHOL AT HOME. No severe alcoholic -- meaning, no one whose hands start to shake if they go 5 hours without a drink -- should ever attempt to quit drinking without proper medical supervision.