What’s the Difference Between Methadone and Suboxone?
Methadone and Suboxone are medications that treat opioid addiction. Opioids are a type of drug that includes painkillers, heroin, and fentanyl. These drugs can reduce pain, especially from injuries or surgery. They can also cause feelings of being high.
Treatment for opioid addiction may occur in a recovery center or with a professional’s help. People in recovery often use methadone and Suboxone during treatment. These drugs can help ease withdrawal symptoms and block the high that makes opioids addictive.
What is Methadone?
Methadone is a prescription medication that helps reduce the pain of opioid withdrawal. It acts on the same brain parts as other opioids without causing the high. German scientists created methadone during World War II during a shortage of morphine (another powerful opioid painkiller). Doctors in the U.S. began using methadone as a painkiller in 1947. At first, a doctor needs to be present while a person starts methadone treatment. Later in treatment, people may be allowed to take methadone alone. The drug is taken for at least 12 months.
What is Suboxone?
Used like methadone, Suboxone is a brand of medication that eases the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. It’s made of two different drugs, naloxone, and buprenorphine. Suboxone acts less powerfully on the same parts of the brain as methadone. Doctors began prescribing Suboxone in the U.S. in 2002. Suboxone can come in the form of a pill or strip of film that melts under your tongue or an implant under the skin of the arm that lasts for six months.
What Are the Risks of Methadone vs. Suboxone?
Methadone is more addictive than Suboxone. Withdrawal symptoms from methadone can increase dependence on the medication. Some people stay on methadone for life to stay away from opioids. Suboxone’s chemistry makes it less addictive. It doesn’t cause as intense a high as methadone, either. Suboxone overdose is also less common than methadone overdose. Unlike methadone, its effects taper off after a certain dosage amount (called the ceiling effect). The ceiling effect helps to prevent someone from taking too much Suboxone.
Hart, O. (n.d.). Methadone vs. Suboxone: What’s the difference? WebMD. Retrieved May 6, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/difference-between-methadone-and-suboxone
