Medication assisted treatment, or MAT, means using FDA-approved medications as part of a treatment plan that includes counseling and therapy. Currently, MAT is primarily used to treat alcohol addiction or opioid addiction. There aren’t yet any medications for treating addiction to stimulants or benzodiazepines, although medications such as antidepressants may be used to treat co-occurring conditions, making recovery more manageable. There are several different approaches to MAT. One is to use medications to simply block the pleasurable effects of a substance. Naltrexone, often administered as a monthly injection of Vivitrol, is an opioid antagonist that bonds to opioid receptors in the brain more strongly than opioid drugs do. However, naltrexone doesn’t cause euphoria or any of the other effects of opioid drugs. As a result, people who try to use opioids while they have naltrexone in their system won’t feel any effects. Naltrexone also blocks the pleasurable effects of drinking alcohol, making it a common medication for people with alcohol use disorders. People with alcohol use disorders may also disulfiram, or Antabuse. Whereas naltrexone merely blocks the pleasurable effects of alcohol, disulfiram actually interferes with the metabolism of alcohol, allowing toxic acetaldehyde to build up in your body, making you feel sick. Drinking while on disulfiram can cause nausea and vomiting, headaches, chest pain, severe anxiety, and general misery. Drug replacement therapy is a third approach, and a subset of MAT. Drug replacement therapy includes medications like methadone and buprenorphine, often prescribed under the brand name Suboxone. Both methadone and buprenorphine are chemically similar to opioids, but they produce a very weak high. The strategy is to use these less potent drugs to blunt the intense cravings that are often the biggest obstacle to recovering from opioid addiction. Methadone is the older of the two drugs. It has been used for more than 50 years to treat opioid addiction. It’s cheap and well understood, but it does have some risk of overdose. Buprenorphine is a newer and safer drug, meaning it has less risk of fatal overdose. Buprenorphine also blocks the effects of other opioids, so if a patient does slip up and use again, the opioids won’t have much effect. Typically, someone on drug replacement therapy, also called opioid maintenance therapy, will take medication indefinitely, although they always have the option of tapering off if they feel ready. All these forms of MAT have proven to be effective to some degree in increasing recovery times and improving outcomes. For opioid addiction, opioid maintenance therapy along with counseling are considered the gold standard of treatment.
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.
