Though the mechanics and advantages of buprenorphine are becoming more well-known in the United States, there’s still a little bit of confusion about the difference between its two versions, Suboxone and Subutex.

Both Suboxone and Subutex drugs are forms of buprenorphine, the latest and most convenient drug developed to treat addiction to opiates without having to enroll in a residential drug addiction treatment facility or show up to a maintenance clinic every day to get your dose. And there are drugs like that, drugs designed to treat drug addiction and prevent relapse that are so highly restricted that you must come in each and every day in order to have someone hand you your dose and watch you take it in front of them.

But not so with buprenorphine, whether you take it in its Subutex form or its Suboxone form. Both you can take in the privacy of your own home just like you would any other prescription and both can be prescribed to treat addiction to painkiller prescriptions from a doctor certified to dispense the drug. The primary difference between the two drugs is this: naloxone.

Naloxone is an opiate blocker, a drug that instantly binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and nervous system, kicking out any opiates that may have residence there and preventing opiates from binding for a certain amount of time after it is taken. Paramedics use this drug on patients that are overdosed on heroin or other opiates and it sends them into immediate withdrawal and instant sobriety. Think Pulp Fiction without the outrageously sized needle and the idiotic piercing of the breast plate to inject into the heart. That part is total fiction. The effect of waking up immediately, however, that is not.

Combine Subutex, pure buprenorphine, with naloxone and you get Suboxone. It may seem counterintuitive to combine an opiate blocker that prevents withdrawal symptoms and a drug that kicks opiates off of receptors and causes withdrawal symptoms into the same pill. The naloxone part of the mix, though, does not kick into action unless you try and abuse the drug by dissolving it in water and injecting it like heroin. Try it and you’ll end up not only as un-high as you’ve ever been but any other opiate in your system will be rendered ineffective immediately. The cramping, sweating, diarrhea, bone and muscle pain and drive-you-crazy restless will immediately follow. Take Suboxone like you’re supposed to by placing the tablet underneath your tongue and letting it dissolve and you’ll avoid those nasty withdrawal symptoms and continue on your way toward a life without any prescription painkillers at all, including buprenorphine.

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"The Difference Between Suboxone and Subutex" posted in Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Detox, Drug Withdrawal, Prescription Drug Addiction, Suboxone, Suboxone Treatment, Subutex.
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