Everything You Need to Know About Medications Like Suboxone, Vivitrol and Methadone for Treating Opioid Addiction, With Lauren Hoffman, Ph.D.

ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Who's confused about using medication to treat opioid addiction? If your hand is in the air this is your episode! I was fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Lauren Hoffman who works with Recovery Research Institute, a leading nonprofit research institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, dedicated to the advancement of addiction treatment and recovery.

For parents who have an adolescent or young adult child struggling with opioid use, medication could be a viable option but there's confusion around it and information can be hard to find. In a deep-dive conversation, Dr. Hoffman and I covered a lot of ground including things like:

• how she became the person in charge of her mom's opioid use disorder at the age of 13 and how that shaped her life's mission
• a breakdown of available medications and the differences between them
• various formats of medications like pills, injections and implants
• age recommendations for using medications like Suboxone, methadone and Vivitrol
• when someone can start taking a medication like Suboxone or Vivitrol and when they shouldn't
• what the difference is between an agonist and antagonist medication and why it's important
• where and how to find a doctor to help with determining if medication is the right option 
• how long people need to take these medications
• why it's critical to ask any treatment program you're evaluating about their policy and philosophy around medication for opioid addiction
• what telescoping is and why it's important to understand it
• her controversial belief about when to consider starting medication
• her advice for parents who are worried about the potential cognitive impact from opioid medications in young people
• and lots more...

After listening to this episode you'll have a good grounding in the medication options, and an understanding of how they work to help people stay in recovery. You'll also have facts that can help break through the stigma of using medication to treat opioid use disorder.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Recovery Research Institute website
• Lauren Hoffman, Ph.D. email
• Pharmacotherapy article - treating opioid use disorder with medication - includes a table of medications and information about each
• SAMHSA Buprenorphine treatment locator tool
• SAMHSA: MAT Medications, Counseling, and Related Conditions

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