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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Suboxone and Wellbutrin?

I

idontremember

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 28, 2024
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Hi everyone, I'm prescribed 300mg of Wellbutrin. Could the wellbutrin be blocking the effects of the subxone? I feel like I'm taking sugar pills instead of suboxone and wondering if it's the wellbutrin or not. Thank you.
 
Tomer said:
Please mention the dosage of the suboxone? Thanks!
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I'm prescribed 16mg of suboxone but attempting tolerance breaks. I've been taking less than and then none for 2 days and am going to try 2mg tomorrow or the day after if I can stand it.
 
Tomer said:
Please mention the dosage of the suboxone? Thanks!
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I am not getting any relief at al from suboxone. I was on it before and I did get relief then, I am getting none now. I'm trying anything though it has been super hard for me to go longer than three days without it.
 
That's worrisome that you feel such a large difference has been created when taking these two medications together. I would say it's not crazy, but it's somewhat out of the ordinary.

Our first question in these situations would be to look to the pharmacokinetics (how drugs are metabolized and move through the body) of each drug, searching for interactions in the process.

Bupropion (Wellbutrin) is metabolized primarily by CYP2B6

Buprenorphine (Suboxone) is primarily metabolized by CYP3A4

This should mean that, at the most basic level, these two drugs shouldn't affect one another to a significant extent. I'm totally open to other arguments, but I feel we can reasonably disqualify enzymatic activity as a cause.

Bupropion is a stimulant of the cathinone class. Cathinones are very simiilar to Amphetamines. For someone who knows little about pharmacology, it suffices to say that Cathinones and Amphetamines are both potent stimulants and we can leave it at that.

My nest educatd guess would be that the addition of a relatively high (300mg) dose of Bupropion, it's possible that the stimulant properties of the drug are counteracting the foremerly depressant/relaxing qualities of the Buprenorphine. Symptoms of anxiety, stress and the like are common for those inducting on Bupropiion, so I don't think it's out of the question to think this could be your situation as well.
 
I agree with Keif, Wellbutrin is a stimulant, it Increases levels of norepinephrine and dopamine but has no effects on serotonin. It is also a synthetic cathinone and has a similar chemical structure to amphetamines. There is a pharmacological conflict, because Wellbutrin acts a stimulant, it can accelerate heart rate and increase alertness, while suboxone is a depressant, therefore these substances send conflicting signals to the body. It is like pressing the gas pedal and brake at the same time. Additionally, it probably increases the metabolism of suboxone so later in the day there is less of a concentration in your blood.
Wellbutrin is good for some though, it is the only antidepressant not associated with weight gain and sexual dysfunction.
The flip side is that other antidepressants specifically SSRI's do interact with buprenorphine because they act as potentiators and do the opposite, they slow down absorption which can lead to a toxic level. others like Fluvoxamine may cause increased plasma levels and discontinuation has been associated with onset of opioid withdrawal. Lexapro and Cymbalta both increase the risk of an irregular heart rhythm that may be serious and potentially life-threatening.
 
Thank you Keif and DSM!!!

I actually figured out the culprit. After I detoxed from tinapetine for a couple of weeks and didn't take suboxone for 3 days, the suboxone worked again. Then I relapsed for a couple of days and it stopped working again. It could be a coincidence, but I think not.

Thank you!!
 
I've experienced this as well.


It is my belief that DRI drugs block dopamine release from other drugs in different parts of the brain.

DRI stimulants work differently than dopamine releasing agents like amphetamine.


If I take welbutrin & then take suboxone, I don't get the mood-lift & energizing effect from the suboxone. Buprenorphine does weakly release dopamine similar to other opioids. So I believe by blocking the re-uptake of dopamine with welbutrin, you're also blocking dopamine release from other drugs. This is just a theory though as I don't have the science to prove it.

The same thing happens when I try to mix suboxone and ritalin as well.


I disagree with the take that it's because suboxone is a depressant & wellbutrin is a stimulant. First of all, if you're taking welbutrin orally, very very little of it gets converted into an active DRI. Plus this isn't a problem when suboxone is taken with other dopamine RELEASERS. I find amphetamine & methamphetamine to potentiate the effects of suboxone. Actually opioids are in fact potentiated by dopamine releasing stimulants.

They even use to make pills that were stimulant/opioid combinations waaaay back in the day because of this. It has absolutely nothing to do with mixing downers & uppers or any of that.


So yes, taking dopamine reuptake inhibitors does something that blocks the euphoria or mood lift from opioids (and various drugs) in my experience. But the opposite is true when mixed with dopamine releasers (like amphetamine/meth).

 
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Oh interesting, thank you. What do you think about tinapetine and suboxone? I know it's used in some countries as an antidepressant. Could that be why it (with me at least,I think) blocked the helpful effects from suboxone? Same reason?
 
idontremember said:
Oh interesting, thank you. What do you think about tinapetine and suboxone? I know it's used in some countries as an antidepressant. Could that be why it (with me at least,I think) blocked the helpful effects from suboxone? Same reason?
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I'm not really sure.

My best guess was that it was the welbutrin messing with the mental effects of the suboxone, making it feel like it wasn't doing much, since that's been my personal experience mixing DRI drugs with subs or other opioids.


As for tianeptine, I only have experience with the tianeptine sulfate that I used several years ago. And it did next to absolutely nothing in terms of opioid effects for me. Maybe the sodium is different (if that's what you were using). I've heard tianeptine can jack up tolerance pretty good, but from my experience with it, I find it hard to believe that it would since it barely gave any opioid effects to begin with (for me anyway).
 
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