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Article: The dog ate my buprenorphine!(EDITORIAL)
- Article from:
- Clinical Psychiatry News
- Article date:
- April 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 International Medical News Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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During the nearly 6 years I have been treating opiate dependence with buprenorphine, I have heard a variety of explanations for requests for additional orders: It got wet. It was stolen. I lost it. It fell in the toilet. The police confiscated it.
A patient who has been taking buprenorphine regularly for an extended period can expect at least mild to moderate opiate withdrawal syndrome to follow abrupt cessation. In contrast, cessation of most drugs I prescribe for psychiatric conditions produces relief from side effects, occasional mild abstinence symptoms, and sometimes recurrence or worsening of the target psychiatric condition.
One would think that ...