A Full and Complete Definition of Buprenorphine
There are rumors about buprenorphine, detailed medical definitions and a ton of research to sift through. Here’s the full and complete definition broken down in simple to digest, bullet points:
* By prescription only
* Can be prescribed only by doctors who have been certified to prescribe it
* For opiate addicts only
* No need to enroll in a maintenance program or residential treatment to take it
* Less addictive than methadone
* Lower risk of overdose than opiate prescriptions and methadone
* Effects last for three days
* Partial agonist as opposed to full agonist like most opiate painkillers
* Prevents withdrawal symptoms when detoxing off of other opiates
* Sold as Subutex or Suboxone
* The Suboxone formula combines buprenorphine with naloxone, an opiate blocker, which helps prevent misuse
* The Subutex formula is pure buprenorphine
* Buprenex was the first form of buprenorphine developed—it was an injection version, no longer in use and is not FDA-approved for substance abuse treatment
* Opiate addiction treatment usually starts with Subutex and switches over to Suboxone for the duration
* There are side effects of buprenorphine in some people but they are no worse than the side effects of any other opiate drug and nothing compared to withdrawal symptoms from opiates
Most doctors are not certified to dispense buprenorphine—or prescribe it—and most have no interest in picking up the accreditation. To get a prescription and detox off of an opiate painkiller addiction, you need someone like Meditox to take care of it for you.
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November 27th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
“There are side effects of buprenorphine in some people but they are no worse than the side effects of any other opiate drug and nothing compared to withdrawal symptoms from opiates”
This statement is false. The side effects are *horrific* in many, many patients and the withdrawal symptoms are far, far *worse* that heroin, etc. The makers of Suboxone will be sharing jail cells with the makers of OxyContin when the truth comes out.
December 29th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
There are websites, like NAABT dot org, with doctor matching services that can help you find a local doctor to treat your opiate dependence with suboxone. There are even some doctors who will take insurance or charge on a sliding scale.
Do your research.
Also, I completely agree with the comment above. Suboxone has some unique side effects, especially at higher doses, and when I stopped taking it for a few days I got just as dopesick as I ever did from other opiates.
January 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
At higher doses, the lines between levels of intensity blur. Cold turkey detox off of 120 mg of methadone and 80 mg of methadone is going to be terrible no matter who you are. Cold turkey detox off of ANY opioid-based drug is terrible and that is the point of Suboxone. Quit taking Suboxone cold turkey and the withdrawal symptoms will be fierce at high doses. Come down slowly on Suboxone and withdraw under the guidance of a physician who can adjust your prescription as necessary and the experience is quite different.
The chemistry is clear: partial agonist opiates block withdrawal symptoms but are not as physically addictive as full agonist opiates.
January 10th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I keep hearing that buprenorphine is not as addictive, but I haven’t seen any research to back it up.
January 13th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I’ll keep an eye out for studies that address that specifically and post them. Right now, the focus on bupe research is on its effectiveness as a treatment for drug addiction.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
There is a kick off of buprenorphine and if you take really high doses with no decreased taper you will have very severe side effects. Kind of a cross between a methadone kick and a dope kick. If you take it right it works really well and the kick is mild (if that even - you build a tolerance to it too). I’ve been taking it for 4 years (nobody’d heard of it then, trust me) both for withdrawal experiences (oops, my bad) and to address chronic pain (this was when the docs were still saying it was non-addictive, etc). It’s a VERY controlled substance for a reason. The buprenex form (IM/IV) works the best and quickest, at smaller doses, than does the subutex form (sub-lingual)and both of those are more efficaceous than suboxone (in my opinion and 2 other close friends’ experience).
January 25th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m always interested to hear people’s differing views.
As for Buprenex, though, I don’t think that’s really an option anymore. From what I’ve read, all of the research done on the efficacy of Suboxone does not apply to Buprenex. I’ll definitely check that out, though.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:41 am
The only difference between Buprenex/Subutex & Suboxone, other than delivery method, is that Suboxone also has Naloxone in it. Naloxone is the drug that pulls people instantly out of overdoses. It’s used here prophylatically to prevent junkies from using opiates on top of buprenorphine (common, active ingredient in all 3 meds mentioned above). Naloxone sits upon the same brain receptors that opiates do, if u take suboxone while opiates are still in ur system u get violently dope sick. If ur clean and taking suboxone as maintenance and use opiates on top of the suboxone, u have to use a lot more dope and it won’t work as well. Dope won’t work/feel right for the 2-3 days it takes to get the subox out of ur system.
January 26th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Right, yes. I’m familiar with the definitions. It’s interesting that you use the word “prophylactically,” though. It brings to mind a number of really interesting metaphorical images. It’s also interesting that you report feeling dope at all when used on top of Suboxone, especially when it’s purported to be a “blocking” drug. Anymore clarification on that? Like how much or what the ultimate effect is, the thought process behind it?