Heroin Addiction - Help for Addicts

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Lofexidine Handbook

All the information on this page is from the leaflet called 'Treatment Choices: Lofexidine' and is available from drug services in the UK. It is produced by HIT.

THE lofexidine HANDBOOK

lofexidine / BRITLOFEX
Heroin also makes it hard for the body to make a hormone called noradrenaline. These pictures show how Britlofex can help get noradrenaline production back to normal when you stop taking opiates.

Not an opiate
Lofexidine is prescribed in the UK under the trade name Britlofex. Unlike the other drugs described in this series, lofexidene does not work on the opiate receptors and so does not have any heroin-like effects. Britlofex can reduce the pain of detox because it can help prevent you from producing too much noradrenaline, which is the cause of many physical withdrawal symptoms.

Noradrenaline
Noradrenaline is a 'chemical messenger' produced in a part of the brain called the Locus Coeruleus. By stimulating receptors in the body, noradrenaline helps control things like the speed food moves through the gut and the production of tears and saliva.

Opiates such as heroin and methadone reduce the amount of noradrenaline produced. This means that the Locus Coeruleus has to work really hard to produce any at all. Low noradrenaline levels, caused by opiates, are responsible for the constipation and dry mouth that affects many people who use opiates.

If you suddenly stop taking opiates, it takes a while for the Locus Coeruleus to realise that it doesn't have to carry on working so hard, and until it does (which usually takes about 10 to 14 days), you can produce masses of noradrenaline. This causes symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea and streaming nose.

Lofexidine can help reduce these symptoms of withdrawal by continuing to reduce the amount of noradrenaline produced. During the detox, as the lofexidine dose is reduced, the Locus Coeruleus can adjust more gradually, and get noradrenaline production back to normal levels. As a result, you will suffer fewer withdrawal symptoms.

Side effects
Britlofex can lower blood pressure (because noradrenaline helps control blood pressure), and leave you feeling faint, especially when you stand up or get out of the bath. If you get these symptoms, tell your doctor.

Britlofex can also cause a nasty metallic taste in the mouth but you can reduce this by cleaning your teeth, using mouthwashes and chewing gum.

Non-addictive
Because Britlofex does not act directly on the opiate receptors, it doesn't give any heroin-like effects at all. This, and the fact you can't develop a tolerance to it, mean that it is non-addictive and very safe.

The way it works means that once it is lodged in all the noradrenaline-producing cells, taking more won't improve the effect - even if you are still getting some symptoms of withdrawal.

Because it isn't working on the opiate receptors, Britlofex doesn't really help with anxiety or sleeplessness - both of which can be really hard to deal with.

Detox
How much relief it gives from withdrawal symptoms varies from person to person. However, it will make your withdrawal less severe than you would have suffered without it.

If you are sure that you are ready and able to go for a rapid detox, especially if you want or need to be free from opiates during that process, lofexidene is probably the best option.

More information
Detoxing from opiates is not easy, nor is staying off them once the detox is over. You can get a more thorough guide to detox called 'The Detox Handbook' free from most drug services or online by clicking the link.

Source:  www.hit.org.uk  (HIT)