if dawn ever sets on me and forces me to go for maintenance at some point in life, what determines what they give you? ive never taken bup but methadone didn't really feel as great as morphine or oxy but it did the trick to keep wd at bay to say the least
When they have done studies of current and former addicts, they have found that morphine made them feel the best, especially when it was delivered in the form of smack . . . the strength and long duration of effect notwithstanding, they preferred codeine to methadone as well because codeine delivered morphine too, as does nicomorphine -- morphine is apparently a unique ne plus ultra euphoriant drug. Hydromorphone, also as delivered by hydrocodone, thebacon, and acetylmorphone feels slightly different but is also practically at the same level as a euphoriant. I think that dihydromorphine is even better than morphine, which is why dihydrocodeine and nicocodeine are so great. The morphine-hydromorphone-dihydromorphine comparison in my experience is subjective to a great degree too . . . then there is oxy:
Oxycodone feels like hydro and C-Jam basically, making it unique, and it seems there are two ways oxymorphone can hit people --as a super Oxycodone, or a stronger hydromorphone.
These studies also show that methadone and codeine completely fix morphine withdrawal, whereas pethidine is noticeably partially lacking.
The oral route of administration may be part of it too -- when one drinks it or swallows tablets, there is a delay -- methadone injectable is available, and I was given methadone through an IV in hospital once, and I asked them to mix my hydroxyzine in with it, and it felt wonderful -- it sort of reminded one of Diconal but it wasn't exactly the same thing. The long duration of action cuts down on the bang of smack because the bang is the increase of narcotic action over a short period, and if methadone is already giving one a 40 per cent narcotic effect, the smack just increases it, not starts something new. Methadone also has NMDA, nociceptive, and σ receptor effects making it an excellent painkiller.
Something similar to this, but structurally different is levorphanol a long-lasting morphinan synthetic about 9-15 times stronger than morphine, the parent compound of the active metabolite of DXM. . . since they know DXM slows down tolerance growth, they could probably use a combination of racemorphan and racemethorphan, as a methadone alternative for people with chronic pain and/or severe depression along with their addiction as they are looking at both DXM and levorphanol as antidepressants too.
Suboxone actually does block receptors -- it is a κ and δ opioid antagonist and partial μ agonist which kicks out anything else hence the precipitated withdrawal. So the two are implementations of very different philosophies about detox/maintenance.