PRIVATE • DISCREET • OFFICE-BASED CARE
LONG-ACTING BUPRENORPHINE TREATMENT
The Shot: Brixadi or Sublocade?
FREEDOM — From the Daily Routine
Monthly treatment personally guided by Dr. Watson.
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Effective, affordable treatment shouldn’t have to put your life on hold
Brixadi vs Sublocade is one of the most common comparisons patients make when looking for freedom from daily buprenorphine treatment. Both are long-acting options for opioid use disorder, but the dosing, injection experience, and flexibility are different.
Why Choose the Shot?
Brixadi and Sublocade are long-acting buprenorphine injections — often simply called “the shot.”
For many patients, the biggest benefit isn’t the injection. It’s what they no longer have to think about every day.
Daily buprenorphine can be very effective treatment. But it still requires you to take medication every day — at home, at work, while traveling, and everywhere life takes you.
Long-acting buprenorphine changes that routine.
Brixadi and Sublocade provide buprenorphine over an extended period without requiring a daily dose. For many patients, that can mean greater privacy, easier travel, fewer daily reminders of treatment, and less time spent thinking about medication.
THE MEDICATION STAYS. THE DAILY ROUTINE DOESN’T.
365
DAILY
DOSES
From 365 Daily Doses to 12 Monthly Treatments
For someone taking buprenorphine every day, treatment can become part of the daily routine — 365 days a year.
Long-acting buprenorphine injections, including Brixadi and Sublocade, can change that.
With a monthly buprenorphine injection, the medication remains in your system while the daily decision disappears. Instead of thinking about medication every morning, treatment may require as few as 12 scheduled monthly treatments a year.
For many patients, that means less planning, more privacy, easier travel, and less mental space devoted to treatment.
For many patients, that means less planning, more privacy, easier travel, and less mental space devoted to treatment.
12
MONTHLY TREATMENTS
Brixadi vs Sublocade?
Patients sometimes call these treatments the “Suboxone shot.” More accurately, Brixadi and Sublocade are long-acting buprenorphine injections used to treat opioid use disorder
Both provide long-acting buprenorphine. The difference often comes down to which treatment experience fits you better.
HOW I HELP PATIENTS CHOOSE
In my experience, both Brixadi and Sublocade are very effective long-acting buprenorphine options. For many patients, the decision isn’t about which medication is “better.” It comes down to which treatment experience they prefer.
Some patients want discretion — a smaller injection and a depot they barely notice. Others actually like being able to feel the depot. It reassures them that their medication is still there and working in the background.
Sometimes I make the question even simpler: big needle or little needle? If everything else feels equal, that answer can matter too.
— Dr. Watson
WHO IS THE SHOT FOR?
THE SHOT MAY FIT YOUR LIFE IF YOU…
✓ Want freedom from the daily treatment routine
✓ Are doing well on buprenorphine but are tired of taking it every day
✓ Have a busy work schedule or difficulty getting time off
✓ Are a parent or caregiver whose day is already full
✓ Travel frequently or don’t want to carry medication with you
✓ Sometimes forget or have difficulty remembering a daily dose
✓ Want more privacy and discretion around your treatment
✓ Can’t put your life on hold for inpatient treatment
✓ Want treatment to take up less mental space in your everyday life
You can be doing well in treatment and still want more freedom from treatment.
You don’t have to be struggling on daily buprenorphine to want something different.
Long-acting buprenorphine may be a good option for people who are doing well on Suboxone or another form of buprenorphine but want treatment to take up less of their daily life.
Some patients want more privacy. Some travel frequently or have demanding work schedules. Others simply don’t want to carry medication, remember a dose every morning, or think about treatment every day.
Brixadi and Sublocade offer different ways to accomplish the same basic goal: effective buprenorphine treatment without the daily routine.
You don’t need to decide between Brixadi and Sublocade before you come in. We can figure that out together.
PRIVACY
No medication to carry, store, explain, or take in front of other people.
FLEXIBILITY
Work, travel, mornings, and everyday life no longer have to revolve around a daily dose.
LESS MENTAL REAL ESTATE
Treatment can move into the background instead of being something you have to think about every day.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK BEFORE GETTING THE SHOT
Considering Brixadi or Sublocade usually brings up a few practical questions. Here are some of the ones I hear most often.
Both Brixadi and Sublocade contain buprenorphine, but how you start depends on the medication and your current treatment.
Many patients transition to a long-acting injection after they are already stable on Suboxone or another form of buprenorphine. Brixadi also provides additional flexibility for certain patients starting treatment.
You don’t need to figure this out before contacting us. Dr. Watson can review what you’re currently taking and determine the safest and most comfortable way to transition.
For patients who are already stable on buprenorphine, transitioning to a long-acting injection is generally intended to continue that buprenorphine treatment — not suddenly take it away.
The important issue is how and when the transition is made. Your current medication, dose, recent opioid use, and the injection being used can all matter.
Dr. Watson reviews the transition with each patient individually rather than using the same approach for everyone.
Not necessarily.
Some patients transition comfortably without supplemental oral buprenorphine. Others may need additional medication temporarily depending on their previous dose, symptoms, timing, and which long-acting injection they receive.
Needing supplemental medication does not automatically mean the injection isn’t working. The goal is to keep you comfortable and stable while your treatment transitions from daily dosing to long-acting coverage.
Dr. Watson individualizes this rather than assuming every patient needs the same thing.
There can be soreness after either injection, but the injection experience is different.
Brixadi uses a smaller injection volume and smaller needle, and the depot is often less noticeable. Sublocade uses a larger needle and forms a more noticeable depot under the skin.
That lump is not necessarily a problem — it is the medication depot gradually releasing buprenorphine over time. Some patients prefer barely noticing it. Others actually find a noticeable depot reassuring.
Most patients receive long-acting buprenorphine on a scheduled basis, but individual experiences vary.
Some people notice very little change throughout the dosing interval. Others may notice symptoms or become concerned as their next injection approaches.
If that happens, it doesn’t mean you simply have to tolerate it. Dr. Watson can evaluate your symptoms, timing, dose, and treatment plan and determine whether an adjustment makes sense.
Yes, treatment does not have to be a one-way decision.
Patients’ needs and preferences can change. In appropriate circumstances, treatment can be adjusted between long-acting options or back to oral buprenorphine.
The timing matters because long-acting buprenorphine can remain in the body well beyond the scheduled injection interval. Dr. Watson considers your previous injections, symptoms, goals, and medication history when planning a change.
Yes, treatment does not have to be a one-way decision.
Patients’ needs and preferences can change. In appropriate circumstances, treatment can be adjusted between long-acting options or back to oral buprenorphine.
The timing matters because long-acting buprenorphine can remain in the body well beyond the scheduled injection interval. Dr. Watson considers your previous injections, symptoms, goals, and medication history when planning a change.
No. Long-acting buprenorphine does not mean committing to injections forever.
How long someone remains on treatment is an individual decision based on stability, recovery, relapse risk, goals, and what is happening in that person’s life.
Long-acting buprenorphine also leaves the body gradually, which has created interest in using it as part of a planned transition away from buprenorphine.
That deserves a deeper discussion of its own — especially because stopping treatment and treating opioid addiction are not the same thing.
MEDICINE vs. THE MYTHS
“Does getting off daily medication mean you’re off treatment?”
Brixadi or Sublocade — Which Is Right for Me?
Both Brixadi treatment and Sublocade are long-acting forms of buprenorphine used to treat opioid use disorder, but they are not identical.
Brixadi offers both weekly and monthly dosing and several injection-site options. Sublocade is given monthly and has a different formulation, dosing approach, and injection experience.
There isn’t one injection that’s best for everyone.
Dr. Watson works with each patient individually to decide whether Brixadi, Sublocade, or oral buprenorphine makes the most sense for their treatment and lifestyle.
The goal is to find the treatment that gives you stability — and allows treatment to take up less space in your life.
You don’t have to decide between Brixadi, Sublocade, or daily buprenorphine before you contact us.
Dr. Watson will review where you are in treatment, what is working, what you would like to change, and whether a long-acting option makes sense for you.
The goal isn’t simply fewer doses. It’s effective treatment that takes up less of your life.
Direct Physician Care • Pennsylvania
Trademark Notice: SUBLOCADE® and BRIXADI® are registered trademarks of their respective owners. SUBOXONE® is a registered trademark of its respective owner. Use of these names on this website is for identification and educational purposes only and does not imply affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement.
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