Medication assisted treatment, or MAT, means using FDA-approved medications in conjunction with counselling or treatment to recovery from addiction. The most common and controversial form of MAT is opioid replacement therapy, in which patients typically take methadone or buprenorphine to control drug cravings and prevent relapse. While opioid replacement therapy is controversial, it is not controversial among opioid addiction experts. There is significant evidence that opioid replacement therapy prolongs recovery and significantly reduces the risk of fatal overdose. The controversy tends to come from outside the treatment community, and from certain corners of that community, such as 12-step purists, who believe MAT is fundamentally incompatible with sobriety. Some politicians have argued that MAT is just replacing one addiction with another. People who are sympathetic to this line of thinking don’t like the idea of tax money paying for methadone or buprenorphine for clinics and they especially don’t like the idea of paying for medication for prisoners, even though it has been shown to reduce recidivism and fatal overdose. Some of the resistance comes from people who have actually been on MAT. Patients on MAT often feel conflicted about it. Some say they hate it but they would be dead without it. As with all medications, methadone and buprenorphine have different effects on different people. Some people feel spaced out or have other side effects. The people who have quit taking medication or have tried to quit taking it have often complained that quitting their medication was harder than quitting heroin. One important thing to realize about addiction is that it’s a chronic condition. Opioids are powerful drugs and once you’ve developed an addiction, your brain adapts to optimize drug seeking. These are actual structural changes that happen relatively quickly because of the huge release of dopamine an opioid high can trigger. Frustrating though it may be, treating addiction often requires ongoing treatment just like other chronic conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. It’s not yet clear whether the brain can completely recovery from opioid addiction. If you want to eventually be free of all drugs, including methadone and buprenorphine, it’s worth considering why. It’s true there are some advantages to not taking medications. Some people experience side effects they would rather do without. In the long-term, there may be toxicity issues. If these are your main concerns, it may be worth discussing tapering down when you feel like your recovery is stable and you’re in a good place. However, if you just feel like you need to quit all medications in order to consider yourself sober, you may be too influenced by other people’s ideas of sobriety. As long as you are living how you want to live, it shouldn’t matter if you take medication. Millions of people take medication for thousands of reasons. Addiction is just one more condition that medication can help control.
If you or someone you love is struggling with opioid addiction or mental illness, we can help. Recovery Ways is a premier drug and alcohol addiction treatment facility located in Salt Lake City, Utah. We have the resources to effectively treat a dual diagnosis. Our mission is to provide the most cost-effective, accessible substance abuse treatment to as many people as possible. Request information online or call us today at 1-888-986-7848.
