• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Buprenorphine (Subutex): Withdrawal escape

N

NullAndVoid

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
56
Question to any experienced Buprenorphine users. If you are going through Buprenorphine withdrawal and you wanted to stop going through withdrawal, how soon after taking Buprenorphine again would the symptoms of withdrawal stop?
 
If I understand your question correctly, you are in Buprenorphine withdrawal currently and plan to use Buprenorphine again while in this phase? The truth is that you must know your body better than anyone on the forum. Could be 12 hours - 24 hours, it really varies from person to person. Bupe is a lot like Methadone in that some people are "held" straight for a couple of days, while some people get sick in the same 24hr period of receiving their dose...

How many days have you been without Buprenorphine? What was your regular dose/tolerance? How much are you planning to use?
 
I am on Buprenorphine but am not in withdrawal and am on a reliable maintenance program of almost a year. I have not gone through any Buprenorphine withdrawal, last withdrawal was in preparation to start on Buprenorphine.

My question is to understand whether Buprenorphine withdrawal has any inertia to it, in that the withdrawal keeps going for a bit even after you take it again. Heroin withdrawal can be ended quickly by taking more but I've had some withdrawals where taking the drug again does not end it quickly.

My reason for this is that I am planning to go through Buprenorphine withdrawal for as long as I can but when I want out I want to know that it can be ended quickly. I expect to be on Buprenorphine for a while to come but want to go through some brief detoxes, though if it takes three days to get into withdrawal and then three more days to get out of withdrawal then perhaps I will not bother. I'm not interested in whether this is a good idea or not but just how quickly I can escape the withdrawal.
 
Sublingual onset is 30-60 minutes after administration so you'll end up your withdrawals fast if you want.
 
I'm on Bupe maintenance, for a year and a half now. I imagine buprenorphine withdrawal would be very similar to methadone withdrawal which I have cold turkey'd a methadone withdrawal 2 years ago. I cold stopped at 130mg liquid a day at a methadone clinic I was going to. For financial and other reasons I was forced to cold detox 130mg Methadone. It took 3/4 days before withdrawal set in, a month of acute sick withdrawal, another month of post acute withdrawal symptoms. After the 3rd week I went into a detox where I was given subutex for a week, I felt great while in detox but had no idea 48 hours after I left detox and the last subutex dosage I went back into withdrawal. I imagine buprenorphine and methadone to be a similar withdrawal in regards to the length of withdrawal time, possibly buprenorphine withdrawal symptoms may be less intense than methadone, but I don't think by much.
 
MrRoot said:
Sublingual onset is 30-60 minutes after administration so you'll end up your withdrawals fast if you want.
Click to expand...

Hopefully it ends withdrawal symptoms as quickly as its onset.

RaizdByWolvz said:
I'm on Bupe maintenance, for a year and a half now. I imagine buprenorphine withdrawal would be very similar to methadone withdrawal which I have cold turkey'd a methadone withdrawal 2 years ago. I cold stopped at 130mg liquid a day at a methadone clinic I was going to. For financial and other reasons I was forced to cold detox 130mg Methadone. It took 3/4 days before withdrawal set in, a month of acute sick withdrawal, another month of post acute withdrawal symptoms. After the 3rd week I went into a detox where I was given subutex for a week, I felt great while in detox but had no idea 48 hours after I left detox and the last subutex dosage I went back into withdrawal. I imagine buprenorphine and methadone to be a similar withdrawal in regards to the length of withdrawal time, possibly buprenorphine withdrawal symptoms may be less intense than methadone, but I don't think by much.
Click to expand...

Do you remember how quickly Bupe ended the methadone withdrawal?
 
Ahhh NullAndVoid, I absolutely understand your original question on your first post of this thread now! About 15 minutes after you put that buprenorphine under your tongue you will begin to feel better and withdrawal lifting if you are in any kind of withdrawal methadone/buprenorphine/oxycodone/heroin...buprenorphine works pretty quickly.
 
Yea, I agree that there's really nothing to it. If you're in Buprenorphine withdrawal, you can pretty easily abort the situation by dosing some. The amount required to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms will vary based upon your tolerance and consumption, but the sublingual route is generally very quick in onset.

As for how long the withdrawal period will last and how intense they will be, I've never had to see a Buprenorphine withdrawal through to the end (I switched after about 5 days to a Methadone program) but I have a little bit of experience. Buprenorphine withdrawal for me started about 36 hours after my last dose, with near-full onset by 48 hours. This is shorter than with Methadone. Bupe withdrawal was not nearly as intense mentally or physically as Methadone withdrawal. What I've heard about Buprenorphine withdrawal though, is that the Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome last for a very long time. This can mean months of apathy, depression, anhedonia. With Methadone, these symptoms last a while, but I can say, that at about 4 months off, I started to feel some contentment and happiness.

Some people claim that their PAWS from Buprenorphine lasts years. I don't know how true these claims are, but the general concensus seems to be that Buprenorphine is a longer, nagging experience than withdrawal from Methadone, which tends to be more intense. Everyone's experience is different though.
 
Last edited:
MrRoot said:
Sublingual onset is 30-60 minutes after administration so you'll end up your withdrawals fast if you want.
Click to expand...
happens much faster than that. I know we play this person by person but anytime I go through sub withdrawal and take my morning dose sub-lingual I am back to "normal" within 10-15 minutes after the pill is gone. again, its all based on the person but can happen very quickly if you ask me. I think an hour is a bit long as far as an expectation may go but its good to use it as worse case scenario.

I understand everyone is different when it comes to bupe but I feel too many people play it too carefully; waiting for WD's to take bupe again is NOT A MUST; some make it out to be but even when I would use daily I would never wait for WD's; would only take 8-12 hours after last dose and would never have a worry in the world. bupe has always worked miracles for me so maybe its MY wonder drug but I am thankful because it still keeps me in "check".
 
The onset of buprenorphine also depends on the method if administration as to how long it will take to work. IV or intranasal will work faster because the bupe enters the blood stream quicker than sublingual administration. Though the effects and bioavailability may be stronger and faster acting using these routes of administration, it will wear off faster than using it sublingually, so you may feel the withdrawal set in quicker.

As for how much time it takes for the withdrawal to set in depends on you. Mainly on metabolism and how much buprenorphine you were taking. Generally with common doses of 4-8mgs/day, and average metabolic rates in individuals, and in my own experiences, withdrawal from buprenorphine would set in somewhere between 36-48hours. Doses smaller than 4mg, would be 24-36hours. High doses over 8mg, and doctors commonly prescribe 16mg/day it can take 72hours+.

As for how long the WDs last, as mentioned above, opiates like methadone and buprenorphine are slow acting opiates and have very long half-lifes. Therefore, the WDs can be long and drawn out, lingering on and on. From unfortunate times where I have wound up incarcerated and forced to cold turkey buprenorphine a couple times, I felt the WDs linger for a few weeks. Since buprenorphine is slow-acting the withdrawal wasn't as intense as a fast acting opiate full agonist like heroin, the WDs still were quite a nag, the worst of it lasting 7-10days, then lingering over 3weeks to a month.
 
Keif' Richards said:
Some people claim that their PAWS from Buprenorphine lasts years. I don't know how true these claims are, but the general concensus seems to be that Buprenorphine is a longer, nagging experience than withdrawal from Methadone, which tends to be more intense. Everyone's experience is different though.
Click to expand...

This is true. Methadone withdrawal is known to be terrible but Suboxone withdrawal is even worse. At least in the psychological aspects. Tapering down to sub-milligram doess will make the jump off to nothing no worse than a flu for 3-4 days but the psychological stuff can last for an extremely long time.

If you are on other opiates then you risk precipitated withdrawal. As I just posted on another thread, the protocol is this:

start with 2-4mg bupe up to 8mg depending on your habit
if precipitated withdrawal begins add 1-2mg sublingual every 30-60 minutes
then over next 48 hours or so taper down to the minimum tolerable dose
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top