The FDA has approved a new medication for helping with opioid withdrawal symptoms. Lucemyra can also help adults stop using opioids, however, the medication also comes with side effects.
About Lucemyra
Lucemyra helps those with opioid addiction by suppressing the neurochemical surge, which produces the painful symptoms of withdrawal. These symptoms can be aches, pains, muscle spasms, stomach cramps, muscular tension, heart pounding, insomnia, running eyes and feeling sick. Lucemrya is an oral tablet taken in three 0.18 mg tablets four times daily at five to six-hour intervals while experiencing peak withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms manifest around five to seven days following the last use of opioids. The total treatment is up to 14 days and should be discontinued gradually over two to four days.
FDA Approval
The FDA reviewed clinical trials sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that showed Lucemyra reduced the severity of withdrawal symptoms compared to the placebo. The trial used a randomized and double-blind open-label study. Compared to the placebo, participants treated with Lucemyra experienced less severe withdrawal symptoms. Also, these patients were more likely to complete the seven-day opioid discontinuation treatment.
Lucemrya will be available in the United States in August 2018.
Lucemyra Side Effects & Safety Information
However, the trial also showed a variety of side effects from the medication. These include low blood pressure or symptoms such as lightheadedness, slow heart rate, dizziness, sleepiness, feeling faint at rest or when standing up, and dry mouth.
An important note is that Lucemyra will not stop opioid cravings. It isn’t methadone and won’t produce opioid effects. While Lucemyra may lessen the severity of symptoms, it may not completely prevent them.
Overcoming Opiate Addiction
There is no official standard for a “full recovery” from drug addiction. Treatment can be lengthy, and it is intimately personal. It’s important to find a treatment program that offers a customized approach to recovery. Fortunately, medications exist to treat opioid dependency.
Treatment does not end once an individual finishes a particular rehab program. Ongoing aftercare, such as attendance at 12-Step meetings and continued therapy, is needed to safeguard against relapse. While relapse is common with all addictions, there are studies that indicate the specific potential for relapse after treatment for opiate abuse.
In a study outlined in the Irish Medical Journal, a group of opioid-dependent individuals completed inpatient addiction treatment. Within one week of leaving treatment, 59% relapsed. This means costly treatments over and over again.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says the average price is over $1,000 a month.
Recover Your Addiction Treatment Costs
Drug manufacturers lied to us about the addictive nature of opioids, and medical professionals prescribe them. Prescribing these drugs in high doses and for prolonged periods of time can lead to addiction and other devastating injuries. These include, among other adverse side effects, dependence, the craving to seek more drugs, use of other legal painkillers, use of other illegal drugs, and worst of all, overdose and death.
Doctors should only prescribe powerful opioid pain-killers such as fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, or methadone (drugs with common names such as Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin) for short-term, intense pain, not to treat chronic pain conditions.
America’s opioid epidemic has affected, injured, or killed tens of thousands of Americans. It’s a national tragedy. All of these injuries could have been prevented. Drug manufacturers of opioid pain-killers have advertised their products as being less addictive than they actually are. Drug manufacturers have sometimes alleged that these drugs are safe to treat chronic pain. This marketing has lured scores of medication users and even doctors, into a false sense of security in using and prescribing such drugs.
If you or a loved one became addicted to an opioid, overdosed, or used an opioid during pregnancy and the baby has a birth defect, contact us today. We have decades of experience going against pharmaceutical companies and drug manufacturers that produce unsafe products.