My thoughts in bold:
I recently started suboxone maintenance, I'm taking 4 milligrams 4 times per day, now before you say, "great another thread by somebody trying to get high off suboxone", that isn't what this is about. As many have said, there's no reason to dose 4x/day. Suboxone is designed so you only have to take it once a day. I suppose I could see dosing twice a day, but 4x is just overkill.
I'm simply wondering if insulfating (snorting) suboxone is a better route of administration than sublingual, because one, its hard for me to sit there for 20-30 minutes with a mouth full of nasty tasting saliva, and two, when taken under the tongue, doesn't the suboxone just absorb through your mucus membranes? So snorting would be the same thing right?, just a lot easier to ingest. Snorting has a higher bioavailability - provided you snort it just right and don't let it drip resulting in you swallowing it (oral bioavailability is much lower than both snorting and sublingual). If you take suboxone enough sublingually, you learn different tactics and whatnot. Its much easier for me to do now than it was when I first started. It also absorbs faster because I know exactly where to keep it and how salivated my mouth should be when I take it, to make sure its either (1) not super-dry cotton mouth or (2) salivating like hell which causes a mouthful of liquid.
I'm also wondering if snorting the subs is bad for you in any way, like more Naloxone getting into your system? No matter what you do, the naloxone will not have any effect. Buprenorphine binds stronger to opiate receptors, so even if the naloxone was absorbed, it wouldn't be active. Naloxone doesn't even reverse buprenorpine overdoses like it does with almost every other opiate. Thanks for any info.
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More thoughts:
Now really, if you're on maintenance, you really should take your suboxone sublingually. Snorting them is just holding on to a relic of drug-abusing past. I'll admit, I've snorted my suboxone a few times before, but in the end its not worth it. The times I've done it were either (1) I was terribly sick and wanted to get it in me as fast as possible, (2) I was running low and had to make one days worth last two days, or (3) a desperate attempt to get high, which didnt work. I take 4mg a day, and even if I take huge amounts like 24-32mg, it doesn't even give me a buzz. Which is great, because I have no desire to abuse it.
As for the 4mg that I take each morning. It holds me over just fine dosing once. In fact, I can skip days, which I've done because I stay somewhere overnight and don't bring any with me, or sometimes because I just forget. The fact that I can just go a day forgetting to take my bupe and not feel sick or feel cravings is amazing to me. Bupe really is a beautiful drug for opiate maintenance/detoxification. I realize that You've just started, so it will take you a while before you can equalize and be steady on the drug. For now, I recommend you start taking your bupe twice a day, 8mg each time, sublingually, then ultimately once a day. Maybe your metabolism is different than mine, I don't know, but anyone I've ever known is fine with once a day dosing.
From there, you should lower your dose. I had a very large oxycodone/heroin habit for years, and right as I got onto bupe 4mg held me just fine. Actually, 2mg holds me also, but I take 4mg because it gives me slight pain relief on protruding discs I have in my neck as well as a shoulder problem. What I'm saying is you could easily get by on lower doses, bupe is odd like that. You will find that you can take a fraction of your dose and not even feel a difference; I'm sure you heard people say "less is more" with regards to bupe. It really is true. Try taking lower doses - it will be easier on your body, give you less side effects, save you money, and ultimately, whenever the time comes that you want to taper off, make that a whole lot easier.
Now, you don't necessarily have to listen to my words. I can promise to you that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to buprenorphine therapy, and the drug itself. It's just one guy on suboxone talking to another. I've been on it for a long time, and seen many others go on and off of it; you could say I've been around the bupe block. If you ever have any questions, concerns, etc about suboxone, please ask me, PM me. This goes for anyone, actually. I really do care, and I'm here to help.
Good luck on your journey,
JC