How Should Take Suboxone?

Use Suboxone exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides. Never use Suboxone in larger amounts, or for longer than prescribed. Tell your doctor if you feel an increased urge to use more of this medicine.

Before taking a Suboxone sublingual film, drink water to moisten your mouth. This helps the film dissolve more easily. Place one film on the inside of your right or left cheek. If your doctor tells you to take 2 films at a time, place the other film on the inside of the opposite cheek. Keep the films in place until they have completely dissolved. If your doctor tells you to take the third film, place it on the inside of your right or left cheek after the first 2 films have dissolved.

While the film is dissolving, do not chew or swallow the film because the medicine will not work as well.

Suboxone sublingual tablets should be placed under the tongue until they dissolve.

Never share Suboxone with another person, especially someone with a history of drug abuse or addiction. MISUSE CAN CAUSE ADDICTION, OVERDOSE, OR DEATH. Keep the medicine in a place where others cannot get to it. Selling or giving away Suboxone is against the law.

If you switch between medicines containing buprenorphine, you may not use the same dose for each one. Follow all directions carefully.

Do not stop using Suboxone suddenly, or you could have unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Ask your doctor how to safely stop using this medicine.

You will need frequent blood tests to check your liver function.

All your medical care providers should know that you are being treated for opioid addiction and that you take Suboxone. Make sure your family members know how to provide this information in case they need to speak for you during an emergency.

Never crush or break a Suboxone sublingual tablet to inhale the powder or mix it into a liquid to inject the drug into your vein. This practise has resulted in death.

Store Suboxone at room temperature, away from moisture and heat. Store the films in the foil pouch. Discard an empty pouch in a place children and pets cannot get to.

Keep track of your medicine. You should be aware if anyone is using it improperly or without a prescription.

Do not keep leftover opioid medication. Just one dose can cause death in someone using this medicine accidentally or improperly. Ask your pharmacist where to locate a drug take-back disposal program. If there is no take-back program, remove any unused films from the foil pack and flush the films down the toilet. Throw the empty foil pack into the trash.

Before a doctor recommends Suboxone treatment for an opiate addict, he or she will order a series of blood tests as well as ask individual questions related to specific drug use. The doctor requires the recovering addict to be honest about the extent of his drug use in order to prescribe the best treatment. Urine screening tests can be administered so that the doctor can get an accurate idea of what medications are in the patient's body.