Brixadi®: How It Can Help in Treating an Opioid Use Disorder

Did you know that you can get help for an opioid dependency or addiction without checking into a hospital or clinic? And outpatient treatment is just as effective, thanks to innovative medications like Brixadi®.

Brixadi is an extended-release injectable medicine that supports outpatient detox by stopping cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

At Clarity Medical Group, addiction specialist Sirisat Khalsa, MD, has helped many people detox and recover from an opioid use disorder with customized care and supportive treatments like Brixadi. In this blog, find out what you need to know about Brixadi and how it works.

Brixadi basics

The active ingredient in Brixadi, buprenorphine, has a decades-long history of effectively treating opioid use disorder. Here’s how it can help you overcome an opioid dependency.

Buprenorphine is an opioid, but it’s much weaker than other opioids and it doesn’t produce a euphoric effect. Because it’s an opioid, buprenorphine attaches to the same brain receptors, blocking other drugs and preventing them from having an impact.

In people with an existing opioid addiction, buprenorphine has a normalizing influence. You don’t feel a high, and your cravings and withdrawal symptoms decrease. Buprenorphine also has a ceiling effect, so its impact doesn’t increase with higher doses. As a result, it has a low risk of causing dependency.

Brixadi gives people who are addicted to opioids a chance to break free of opioid dependency or addiction — without entering an inpatient program.

Brixadi benefits

Brixadi is an injectable form of buprenorphine that’s FDA-approved for outpatient treatment. While we inject Brixadi under your skin in the office, it has the advantage of being an extended-release medicine you receive once a week or month. 

The medication is a liquid injection, but once it’s under your skin, it transforms into a gel. The gel slowly releases buprenorphine at a steady rate for a week or a month.

About opioid use disorders

The term “opioid use disorder” covers the full spectrum of drug use, from when you first start to the time you reach a full-blown addiction. Brixadi treats moderate to severe opioid use disorder. 

Using opioids always puts you at risk for dependency and poses a danger to your health. However, “moderate to severe” refers to the extent of the drug's effect, meaning the stage of your use.

In the early stages, your brain adjusts to the drug. As you keep taking opioids, the brain becomes dependent and needs the drug to function.

Once the brain depends on opioids, you must keep increasing the dose to get the same euphoria or pain relief. Intense cravings develop if you don’t meet the brain’s needs. Then, withdrawal symptoms begin if you lower the dose or try to stop.

These progressive changes are described in a list of 11 symptoms healthcare professionals use to diagnose opioid use disorder. The 11 diagnostic criteria also include the effect drug use has on your life, such as not meeting responsibilities at work or home.

Whether you have mild, moderate, or severe opioid use disorder depends on the number of criteria you meet.

If you have two to three of the early symptoms, you have mild opioid use disorder. Four or five symptoms are moderate, and six or more means you have severe opioid use disorder.

Starting Brixadi

Before prescribing Brixadi, Dr. Khalsa reviews your medical and drug history to be sure it’s safe for you. Most people can take Brixadi as long as they’re not allergic to buprenorphine or other ingredients in the medicine.

We only inject Brixadi if you’re already being treated with buprenorphine or after giving you at least one dose of buprenorphine in the form of a dissolvable film or tablet. Giving you oral buprenorphine ensures that you can safely take the medicine without an adverse reaction — an essential step before giving you an injection.

Outpatient treatment for opioid dependency

With Brixadi, you can safely detox and recover from opioid dependency while living at home and keeping up with work and social activities.

Call Clarity Medical Group in Sherman Oaks, California, or request an appointment online if you’re ready to take that step or have questions about outpatient treatment.