Another difference is that Methadone takes about 2-3 weeks to get to your adequate dose. With Suboxone, you are usually on your right dose in about a 1 week. Another major difference is how you start the two medications. With Suboxone you MUST be in withdrawal in order to take your first dose. This is in order to avoid precipitated withdrawal. This requirement is not needed with methadone. However, with methadone we need to ensure that you are not receiving methadone from another physician and we must check with the College of Physician and Surgeons. The approval to start methadone is usual within 24 hours.
Choosing Methadone or Suboxone
Many people are not sure whether they should start suboxone or methadone therapy. There are few important differences that I would like to point out. If you have to pay for the medications, then you should know that methadone is cheaper. Methadone cost about $6 per day whereas Suboxone is about $10-12 per day. However, ODSB covers methadone completely and most private insurance plans will cover suboxone.
With Suboxone you MUST be in withdrawal in order to take your first dose.
