Although many people dependant on or addicted to OxyContin and other prescription painkillers, and even heroin, would like to get off them, sometimes withdrawal is just too hard to face. They've tried it, and have experienced such agonizing pain and discomfort that they're driven back to the drug. And they're very reluctant to go through that again. In some cases, getting off one of these drugs can also be medically dangerous. Fortunately, we now have medical drug detox available to both ease the pain of withdrawal and ensure that it's safe.

One of the medications used in medical drug detox centers is Suboxone®. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 and is administered in tablet form by doctors who have been approved by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a department in the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Suboxone contains buprenorphine and naxalone. The buprenorphine activates the same receptors activated by heroin, morphine and oxycodone, the active ingredient in OxyContin but to a lesser degree. Naxalone by itself blocks the effects of the opiates but if the Suboxone is taken as directed, placed under the tongue and allowed to dissolve, it will not affect the action of the buprenorphine.

Unlike heroin, OxyContin and other opiate prescription painkillers, the euphoric effects of buprenorphine are limited – they don't go beyond a certain point no matter how much is used.

Some people have tried to use Suboxone to get high thinking that they'll get the same effect from the buprenorphine as from heroin or opate prescription painkillers. The usually crush the pills and inject them. But used in this way, the naxalone gets into the bloodstream so quickly that it brings on intensely painful withdrawal.

When using Suboxone to help with withdrawal, you have to wait until the withdrawal symptoms become stronger and the opiates are mostly out of your system. If you still have the opiates in your bloodstream, the naxalone can cause acute and painful withdrawal – which can also be medically dangerous.

The Suboxone dose is then properly tapered until you no longer need it. In an inpatient medical detox facility this is usually completed in a matter of days.

Using Suboxone in an inpatient medical drug detox program can make withdrawal symptoms much milder and more comfortable. If you would like to find out more about drug detox with Suboxone, contact a counselor at a medical drug detox center.