There are two main kinds of heroin treatment in North Dakota. One of them uses methadone and has been popular since over three decades. The other form of treatment uses buprenorphine. Though buprenorphine has been used for opioid addiction treatment in North Dakota since the eighties, its popularity has increased only after 2002 when the FDA approved two stronger formulations that use buprenorphine, viz. Subutex and Suboxone. In most centers that provide heroin rehab treatment in North Dakota, buprenorphine has become the drug of choice, clearly overshadowing the popularity of methadone. The following are some reasons why this medication has become so widely accepted.
1. Buprenorphine and methadone are both opioids, like heroin itself. When they are introduced into the human body, they act on the same regions of the body that heroin acts. That is the reason they can allay the cravings that the body has for heroin. However, methadone acts much more intensely than buprenorphine acts. Due to that, there is a possibility that the person develops an addiction for methadone.
2. It is quite difficult to phase out the methadone usage in a patient. Methadone can cause a withdrawal if stopped abruptly. Buprenorphine does not carry this risk.
3. Methadone is contraindicated with several other prescription drugs that the person might be using. This requires a very careful analysis of the patient. Buprenorphine is not contraindicated for most prescription drugs.
4. The main reason is that methadone is not recommended for outpatient treatment for heroin addiction in North Dakota. Since buprenorphine can be provided outpatient, it is definitely a strong reason for its popularity.
If you are planning a buprenorphine treatment for someone in your family, you can get in touch with a counselor on the buprenorphine treatment program in North Dakota that you can find on the Internet quite easily. One website that you can use is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.