Sublocade, a revolutionary monthly treatment of OPD, aids in preventing opioid as well as its relapse in patients who are clinically addicted and dependent on opioids. Sublocade cost is pretty low and thus is preferred by many.
A general introduction
Sublocade treatment is a revolutionary treatment that is used for opioid use disorder. This is a monthly injection. It can aid in preventing opioid relapse as well for patients who are clinically addicted and are dependent on opioids. Being the first treatment of its kind to be approved by the FDA, it has displayed extremely promising reports for being a maintenance therapy for opioid dependence.
What is this treatment and medicine
It is an injection generally administered once in a month of buprenorphine which has been successfully used for treating opioid use disorder of late. Sublocade got its FDA approval on November 30, 2017 for use by patientsof opioid use disorder. These people are already under the treatment with a form of buprenorphine like Suboxone, Subutex or Zubsolv which is absorbed with the help of the tissue in the mouth. A minimum treatment of seven days should be completed and tapered their dosages to manage their symptoms. Sublocade price is very affordable causing it to be in demand by the most.
How Sublocadehelps Opioid Addiction
Buprenorphine is the chief ingredient that Sublocade is composed of. Being a partial opioid receptor agonist, Buprenorphine binds to the same receptors as opioids and activates them to give a euphoric or other worldly effect which is very similar to opioid drugs. Buprenorphine lasts much longer than many other illicit opioid drugs. However it does not give as extreme euphoric sensation and has much less grave side effects.
Itassists to relieve the withdrawal symptoms of opioid dependence.It also aids to stop completely or avert cravings withoutmaking the user high. Unlike many medications which contain buprenorphine that are used to heal opioid addiction and orally administered by sublocade treatment doctor, it does not contain naloxone. An opioid receptor inhibitor, Naloxone was added to buprenorphine in order to increase the safety of the medication and aid in the prevention of abuse.
A study in comparison: Sublocade vs. Vivitrol
Both used as maintenance therapies for opioid use which is largely called OPD disorders, Sublocade and Vivitrol, vary in their mechanism of action.
Vivitrol: it is an injectable form of naloxone. It is an opioid receptor inhibitor. Vivitrol functions by stopping opioids from binding to the receptors that blocks any high or sense of euphoria. Thus, a person consuming Vivitrol would not be getting the high that they normally would if they were using opioids. This makes opioid use extremely undesirable. It also helps individuals with opioid dependence to avoid relapse when they stopusing opioids.
Sublocade: It is an injectable form of buprenorphine. It also acts by binding to opioid receptors. However it stimulates the receptors and doesn’t inhibitthem. Sublocade would also block the additional effect of opioids. Butit has been reported of having slight euphoric effect itself. This medicine also reduces the withdrawal symptoms as well asworks to prevent cravings for opioids. It is an effective maintenance therapy used in multiple sublocade treatment centers.
Contraindications and Risksinvolved in this treatment
Although sublocade cost is pretty low and thus it is preferred by many, few things shall be kept in mind before this treatment.
- People who have hypersensitivity or are allergic to buprenorphine should not be administered with sublocade.
- It shall be kept in mind that It should also not be used in combination with other types of drugs.
- It is always a best idea to first speak to a physician before using it in combination with any other drug.
- It must be kept in mind that Sublocade should never be used as anintravenous injection. Although a liquid, when it is injected, becomes solid when it enters the body. If this drug enters the blood, it runs a high risk of causing major clotting issues. It cans evenprove fatal.
- It should never be administered into the muscle as well. It is meant for onlysubcutaneous usage.
- Similar to other buprenorphine-containing medicine, Sublocade, runs a high risk of causing ineffective as well as slow breathing or sometimes slowing of neurological functions which can be life-threatening. Sublocade should be immediately discontinued if a patient has symptoms of either of these two conditions.