FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ISN'T SUBOXONE JUST SUBSTITUTING ONE DRUG FOR ANOTHER?
No, it is not. Countless lives have been lost due to overdoses on opioids and injection drug use leads to additional potentially life-threatening complications such as infections of the heart (endocarditis), bones (osteomyelitis), liver (hepatitis C), and skin (cellulitis and abscesses). Suboxone offers patients with opioid use disorders stability to take back their lives. Suboxone has what is called a "ceiling effect," meaning once the maximum effective dose is reached, taking more will not offer any more benefit. Although every patient is unique and there are very few certainties in medicine, suboxone is a safe medication and the risk of overdose is low.
DO I HAVE TO GO TO GROUPS/ MEETINGS?
Yes. While suboxone may alleviate your cravings, the medication will not rebuild your life. You must build a support network, dig deep to identify triggers, and work on relapse prevention tools. Addiction is not simply about willpower. In fact, it is often the most strong-minded individuals that fall victim to substance use disorders. Recovery requires reaching out to others for help and letting others in.
WILL MY INSURANCE COVER MY VISIT?
Currently, I do not accept insurance as I would like to spend all my time with my patients instead of fighting with your insurance over coverage. However, I can provide you with a copy of your bill to send to your insurance.
WHY DO I HAVE TO GIVE A CHEEK SAMPLE?
Instead of subjecting you to a supervised urine collection, providing a cheek swab allows me to ensure the urine sample came from you. That way, you can provide the sample from the comfort of your own home. Each urine sample is sent not only for the urine drug screen, which tells me what substances are in your urine, but also for confirmation, which tells me the amount of substance in your urine. Unfortunately, the screen can sometimes provide false or misleading results, such as a positive result for opiates if you eat poppy seeds. The confirmatory test can not only differentiate between poppy seeds and heroin, but it also provides me with the amount of each substance in your urine. Knowing the amount of buprenorphine in your urine allows me to determine how well you are absorbing the suboxone. It is, therefore, important that you do the urine test around the same time after your last dose of suboxone every time. For example, if you usually take your suboxone at 8 am every morning and do the urine test at 7 am (23 hours after your last dose), it is best to always do the urine test 23 hours after your last dose.