The Rose Uses Suboxone and Vivitrol to Assist Detox and Early Recovery
More Information about Our Treatment Center
Here are links to more information:The goal of The Rose is to provide an extremely comfortable, exclusive, and highly supervised treatment environment for women to successfully get their first 30 to 90 days sober and begin to learn how to "live life sober." Studies have shown that women who maintain sobriety for the "30 day" and "90 day" milestones will have a much higher likelihood of maintaining long-term sobriety. Since The Rose is so dedicated to giving women their best chance at successful early sobriety, it follows that our staff has been educated in the use of medications that make detoxification more comfortable and that reduce cravings in early sobriety. Examples of these medicines include:
- Suboxone (buprenorphine in injectable form for detox)
- Subutex (oral buprenorphine taken daily in early sobriety)
- Vivitrol (naltrexone taken orally daily primarily to reduce cravings in alcoholics)
- ReVia and Depade (oral naltrexone)
Our incredible location combined with medications like Suboxone and Vivitrol have proven to generate very high treatment success rates.
Our staff is almost exclusively made up of women who are in recovery themselves and have been since long before the appearance of medications like Suboxone and Vivitrol. Also, The Rose has been successfully treating women for many years without the benefit of these new drugs. For many reasons, our staff did not take the adoption of these "groundbreaking" new medications lightly and very carefully studied the scientific studies and applications for these medications. We have now been exposed to enough scientific research (as well as our own personal experiences treating women with these drugs) to have mastered the appropriate use of these medications. The Rose treatment staff will prescribe the use of Suboxone or Vivitrol when it is appropriate and only if it will be complemented by a thorough program of recovery.
To get a better feel for how our staff feels drugs like Suboxone and Vivitrol should be prescribed, there are two interesting blog entries (on our parent facility's website) written by highly respected addiction counselor John Orlando:
The key element in the utilization of these medications is that the woman in recovery should use them only as tool to enhance a thorough treatment program like the one that will be designed for her at The Rose.
More Information about Suboxone and Subutex (Buprenorphine)
Suboxone and Subutex are the brand names for a medication called buprenorphine which has proven successful in helping opiate-dependent individuals recover from addiction and maintain sobriety.
Buprenorphine is an "opioid antagonist." What this means for the person who takes Suboxone or Subutex is that their brain will be less able to process the opiate-based drug. This phenomenon makes the cravings and withdrawal process less painful for the user during the detoxification process and will also reduce cravings throughout early sobriety.
Examples of drugs that are "opiate based" include:
- heroin
- methadone
- Oxycontin (oxycodone)
- Vicodin (hydrocodone)
- Soma
- Percocet
- Dilaudid
- Morphine
Buprenorphine can be injected (Suboxone) during the initial detoxification process, and then can be taken orally (Subutex) in a daily tablet throughout early sobriety. As you may have read in the above link to Johnny Orlando's Suboxone Success Blog Entry , using Subutex in early recovery can be very effective in managing cravings. Of course, the key to success is for the person who is taking Subutex to also participate in a program of recovery and get the most they possibly can from their treatment activities.
More Information about Vivitrol (Naltrexone)
Vivitrol is a medication that contains the drug naltrexone which is an opioid antagonist like buprenorphine. ReVia and Depade are other brand names for naltrexone. The most common use for Vivitrol is to reduce cravings for recovering alcoholics. Studies of men and women who take Vivitrol (in addition to practicing a program of recovery) have shown that study participants have a lower occurrence of relapse (and the relapses are less severe).
Vivitrol is taken in tablet form and is swallowed orally once a day. Our staff of addiction therapists and doctors strongly feels that the medication can be effective if the client participates in a program of recovery. Vivitrol is an effective complement to a treatment plan that addresses the individual's mind, body, and spirit, but Vivitrol does not replace a treatment program.
For more information about whether Vivitrol is appropriate for you (or your loved one), please call us at 888.471.0435 or fill out our form requesting a confidential assessment.