Dr. Coleman & Dr. B Talk Naltrexone vs Suboxone: Part 5

May 24, 2022

In part 5 of Dr. Banimahd and Dr. Peter Coleman’s interview, they discuss how you can detox off opioids with naltrexone as medication-assisted treatment (MAT) versus using Suboxone.

Have you missed part 4? You can catch up on the difference in treating addiction with Suboxone versus naltrexone here.

Explore the recap of Dr. Peter Coleman’s YouTube video, “Dr. B interviews Dr. Coleman about the Coleman Method for Opioid Detox and Naltrexone MAT” here.

Patient Selection, Exclusion, and Inclusion Criteria for the Coleman Institute Detox Programs

Dr. Banimahd

I want to discuss the whole patient selection criteria, exclusion criteria, and inclusion criteria. You’ve spoken to it quite a bit. I have found in my practice that because the patient is stable enough to reach out, get everything resources together in terms of the loved ones, and follow directions, they’re already at a place where they’re ready for treatment.

What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Peter Coleman

Yeah. Many other doctors will say, “How can you work with drug addicts and heroin addicts?”

Because they’re used to seeing these people in the emergency room or passed out on the street with an overdose, and they never listen to what you say. They never do what you tell them to do. And I say, “Well, we’re getting people at the point; they’re ready to change. We’re getting people who have already found us on a website. They’ve already called us. They’ve already mentally figured I’m sick of my life. And I want to change.” They don’t understand what’s involved and how difficult it will be, but they’re eager and willing to try something different.

More like this: How the Hell does I Stay Sober Now?!

Family Support to Detox from Opioids

Dr. Peter Coleman Their family is involved because it suffers just as much, if not more, than sometimes the patient does. So it’s horrible as you’ve seen where the families they’re going to bed every night, wondering if their kid will be alive tomorrow because they’re shooting up fentanyl now, and it’s horrible. More like this: Loving Someone to Death: Supporting Recovery Without Enabling

Ready for a Change – to Detox Completely from Opioids

Dr. Peter Coleman So they come to us; they’re ready to change. And then they’re incredibly grateful because we get it over with really quickly. I mean, in four days, they’re done. They’re finished. And yeah, they don’t feel great. They still have a little insomnia and stuff to work through, but there’s an end in sight. And so people like that. And then, as you said, we get so many patients who are so grateful and so happy two months later, six months after that, they’ve got a new life and that they’re not going out and using heroin every day. It is very gratifying. So it’s a pleasure working with these people, mainly when you accept it as a disease. If it’s a genetic illness that nobody wanted to have in the first place, they just fell into it because of bad genes. Almost everybody tried using some drugs when they were teenagers, but most people didn’t like it that much. But people with the disease of addiction did want it; their brain got activated by that process, by that dopamine surge. And then they kept going and ended up with all these problems. So they’re so grateful when you treat them with respect and recognize that it’s not their fault and that they’re on the same team as you are trying to get out of this hole. Dr. Banimahd I agree. Dr. Peter Coleman Yeah.

Conclusion

Stay tuned for Part 6 of Dr. Peter Coleman and Dr. Banimahd’s interview on the Coleman Network for Addiction Medicine on Facebook and Twitter. Looking for the rest of the webinar series? Check out parts 1-4 below: