What It’s Like on Buprenorphine
Is it better or worse than methadone? What about OxyContin or Vicodin or Percocet? As a substance abuse counselor, I’ve asked a number of my clients to compare the effects of these different drugs to get a better sense of what they were going through. Some described pure buprenorphine (or bupe) as “grimy feeling.” No high or rush, so there’s no desire to overdo it or take more than you’re prescribed.
Methadone, on the other hand, gives a little rush when it first hits, which disappears pretty quickly, leaving you dog-tired and dragging until the next day when you start to feeling the stabbing, cramping pains of withdrawal or “dope sickness.” Pills stop offering any sort of euphoria after your body is adjusted to the dose you’re on, doing nothing more than taking care of the withdrawal symptoms for you until a few hours later when you’re due for another dose.
The Suboxone version of buprenorphine has an added ingredient: naltrexone. You won’t feel the effects of this unless you try to break up the pill and shoot it or try to subsidize your bupe dose by taking other opiates. The naltrexone will block your opiate receptors, keeping you from feeling any of the drugs, which shoves the body into heavy withdrawal but ONLY if you misuse the drug. Otherwise, there is little difference in what you will feel like on either the Subutex or Suboxone treatments.
The bottom line is that nothing feels as good as being free and clear of addiction. Your mind is more clear, you’re not as tired. You can focus and make decisions and get through the day without a nap. The quickest and most efficient way to get from Point A (addiction) to Point B (a drug-free life) is a medical detox with Subutex or Suboxone.
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November 28th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I am trying desperatley to figure all this out. If Methadone is so addictive was is it so freely handed out? Conversely, why isn’t this supposed wonder detox Suboxone, not given?
December 4th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Methadone IS pretty freely handed out for two reasons. One, it’s been around for a long time and people are comfortable with it and, two, it’s a great alternative to using needles. Many cities have methadone programs already in place and it’s a relatively quick process to help someone who is addicted to street drugs get in a methadone program within a few days.
Suboxone, on the other hand, is relatively new. There are few clinics outside of Meditox who specialize in it and getting the word out has been an unfortunately slow process. You don’t have to go to a clinic everyday like you do with methadone, so doctors are under a lot more restrictions about who and how many patients they can treat with the drug.
Time should take care of both of these problems. As more people get to know the drug, the effects and how it works, more and more people who just can’t get to a methadone clinic everyday will find that Suboxone is a great option and, in many cases, a better one.