More on Buprenorphine vs. Methadone Comparisons (or lack of same):
I believe no study has ever compared POST-treatment abstinence results for buprenorphine versus methadone maintenance or detoxification. In other words, when reference is made to patients finding it "easier to withdraw" from one or the other, the implication that abstinence is easier to attain AND MAINTAIN after buprenorphine is, I believe, unsupported by any evidence. No study casts doubt on the conclusion that chronic, relapsing opiate dependence is a treatable but as yet incurable disease. Right?
posted by RGNewman, MD @ 9:55 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
On the contrary there is evidence that relapse rates after buprenorphine therapy are exactly the same as those after withdrawing from methadone. I doubt there is a reliable way to measure the severity of withdrawal from one or the other but my patients report not being particularly bothered by abrupt cessation of burpenorphine ie when they've been incarcerated.
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