For more information about MAT, contact Jude Iheoma, Ph.D, at 609-292-3326.

MAT Simple Facts

• Medications are useful at different states of treatment
• Medications treat withdrawal symptoms like depression, anxiety and sleeplessness
• Medications stay in a person’s system to ward off drug cravings and also have a calming effect on the body which helps patients focus on counseling
• They also interfere with relapse triggers that help clients sustain recovery
• It has been long noted that opiate addicted patients who come for treatment often find it difficult to remain engaged in treatment, detoxification and primary counseling, because the withdrawal is very uncomfortable and the craving or compulsion to use, is too great to overcome without pharmacotherapy
• Studies and randomized clinical trials have shown that buprenorphine as well as methadone is an efficacious and safe medication for opioid addiction treatment
• A study published by the  Center for Substance Abuse Treatment reported that 60% of people taking buprenorphine were abstinent from all drugs after 30 days of treatment, while 59% were abstinent from all drugs after 6 months in treatment
  
  Buprenorphine, in the form of Suboxone and Subutex, was approved by the FDA in October 2002 for the treatment of opiate dependence, medical maintenance and medically supervised detoxification 
• Methadone maintenance is effective in reducing illicit opiate drug use, in reducing crime, in enhancing social productivity, and in reducing the spread of viral diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis
• With an effective clinical dose and no other illicit drug use, methadone (a colorless, odorless liquid taken orally) is:
  • Not mood altering
  • Has no change in reaction time
  • Has no physical impairments
  • Slow acting
  • Like any other medication for other chronic illnesses like hypertension and diabetes