Journal-News.com

HAMILTON — It started with a prescription for Vicodin.

The 29-year-old began taking them for pain after knee surgery and then "one thing led to another."

"Eventually Vicodin wasn't enough and I began taking whatever I could get my hands on," said the Oxford mother, who has been addicted to opiates for the last five years.

After losing several jobs and her home, she sought help two years ago at a local methadone clinic. But methadone didn't work. It only fed her desire to get high, she said.

She got back on track last year when she began taking Suboxone, which has been available nationwide since 2000 to curb cravings for heroin and other opiates, such as Oxycontin and Vicodin.

It will be available Thursday at Sojourner Recovery Services' Medication Assisted Treatment Clinic when it opens the first Suboxone clinic in Butler County.

Like methadone, Suboxone is used to reduce cravings for opioids. But unlike methadone, it is less potent and patients can get a 30 day supply at a doctor's office instead of getting daily doses at a rehab clinic.

Some addiction specialists have dubbed it a "miracle" drug because it can prevent intense withdrawals and has helped many remain sober.

Sojourner Recovery Services President Amy J. Erhardt said the drug was successful in helping a test group of about 50 patients.

"We had much better success with people being able to stay in treatment because they had less painful cravings and detox symptoms,'' Erhardt said.

Charles Schuster, former director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and director of the substance abuse research division at Wayne State University, studies the effectiveness of Suboxone and surveys doctors trained to prescribe the drug.

Schuster said Suboxone doesn't work for everyone and is only an alternative to methadone, not a substitute.

"For some patients it's absolutely life saving. They feel normal. They feel good,'' Schuster said. "But some people need methadone because they need more than the Suboxone can give.''

Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4542 or tlatta@coxohio.com.