Buprenorphine maintenance
Common Questions and Answers about Buprenorphine maintenance
suboxone
Mr. Fly1234:
First, I'd like to congratulate you on tapering down your Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) maintenance dose. From other patients' experiences, decreasing the dose and discontinuing buprenorphine are not easy tasks for many.
Under federal law, DATA 2000 or Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000, only qualified physicians can prescribe and treat opioid addiction with controlled narcotics medications, such as buprenorphine products (Suboxone, Subutex or generic alternatives).
Further education of acute care clinicians about buprenorphine pharmacology and careful selection of patients for buprenorphine maintenance therapy are needed to avoid delays of pain control in trauma patients."
I am still looking!
How can I get rid of buprenorphine? I've been on it for the last twelve years. I've tried tapering, but whether I take 16 or 2 mgs, the withdrawal is just as bad... Thank you for your answers.
i am waiting to go on a buprenorphine maintenance prescription which will be next month.i have some buprenorphine tablets but when i take them i go straight into cold turkey.i have taken the buprenorphine tablets for a few years before but my prescription got stopped so i opted for the above tablets for the time being whilst im on the waiting list to go back on the buprenorphine.
Grinstead, LMFT, ACRPS, CADC-II
There is now an effective medication for both opiate addiction treatment and/or maintenance pain management that is FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved.
The medication is buprenorphine, which is an opiate agonist/antagonist and a very effective pain medication for appropriate patients. It has been used in pain management for many years--mostly in its injectable form.
This tricks the receptor into believing the original opiate is still there, however it does not produce the euphoria inducing impulses that full agonists produce. This is why Buprenorphine maintenance doses are significantly higher, in the 4-16mg range.
Most people believe that precipitated withdrawals are coming from the naloxone in the Suboxone combo.
They must go through a short course to become a Certified Buprenorphine Provider. Upon completing they are issued a seperate DEA # that allows them to prescribe sub. This number is only used in the writing of buprenorphine scripts. Upon completion, for their first year I believe they can only have a load of 30 patients that they can prescribe to. After that year is up, they can prescribe up to 100 patients. This is why Suboxone clinics/docs have such long waiting lists.
but is addictive if he is on it too long, has he made the decision to do short term detox or long term maintenance? these are things he should be thinking about before he gets to his appointment. he will not experience any high, he should feel quite normal after his initial first dose and should feel comfortable, no cravings and no withdrawals are the 2 main factors in taking suboxone, he should have none of either.
Eagle is correct, Cathy-- buprenorphine, Suboxone, and Subutex are all essentially identical. Buprenorphine has been around for 30 years; it used to be sold under the brand 'temgesic' in liquid form before being made as Suboxone, which is easier to dose. Buprenorphine is used for pain, mostly in Europe-- a skin patch in the UK called 'buTrans' releases 5-20 micrograms of bupe per hour through the skin.
Six years ago, in 2003, Suboxone became available in the US.
Suboxone is a combination of the drugs Buprenorphine and Naloxone. The Naloxone prevents this drug from being used intravenously b/c it causes withdrawal.
The Buprenorphine is the main drug. It is a partial opiate that has similar effects to other opiates, but does not produce the high that Oxycodone or Vicodin are capable of. It has a ceiling effect meaning that 32 mgs is as high as you can go. Any pills after that will do nothing.
Suboxone also blocks the effects of other opiates.
Subutex is the brand name of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a thebaine derivative with powerful analgesia approximately 20-40x more potent than morphine. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist and antagonist of the opioid receptors in the central nervous system which means that when its molecule binds to a receptor, it will transduce only a partial response in contrast to a full agonist such as morphine.
Suboxone is buprenorphine with naloxone which basicly prevents people from shooting it up. The blocking part of sub is just that the buprenorphine has a stronger bind to the opiate receptors and blocks most doses of opiates. It is also only a partial agonist, compared to methadone, oxy's, hyrdro's, all being full agonist opiates. Both methadone and sub are used as replacement therapy tools in order to stay away from other opiates.
I've been on buprenorphine for a few years. Recently, I went off the reservation, so to speak, for a little too long with morphine. I originally switched from Methadone to bupe, and I was sick for three days making the transition.
My question is: How much time will I need to transition back from morphine to buprenorphine? I imagine it won't be as long as from Methadone. Can I do it with Suboxone, or will I need Subutex?
In the meantime, as long as you are here, would you like to tell us a little about yourself and why you have chosen a maintenance drug to help with withdrawal. Maybe we can help you and support you through this.
Buprenorphine (Subutex) and methadone are both potent, long-acting narcotics. Suboxone is buprenorphine with naloxone; the naloxone being added to prevent injection abuse. These drugs don't deliver the same euphoria as typical drugs of abuse, and because they are long-acting the patient doesn't go through the usual ups and downs of constantly fighting withdrawal. It's just a tool to stabilize the brain chemistry long enough for the patient to get her life stable as well.
Yes, everyone has a plan to taper off opiates-- but staying off generally requires either a good recovery program or a maintenance agent like buprenorphine-- currently sold as Suboxone but soon to include a number of other medications.
I have been told by the manufacturer that this is a common complaint from long term methadone maintenance patients. I suggest you return to methadone. Follow your own bodies advice and ignore the rest. Only you know how your body functions and reacts to medication. Just because this works for many doesnt mean it works for everyone.
Subutex is the brand name of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a thebaine derivative with powerful analgesia approximately 20-40x more potent than morphine. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist and antagonist of the opioid receptors in the central nervous system which means when its molecule binds to a receptor , it will transduce only a partial response in contrast to a full agonist such as morphine.
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