So, do I understand correctly that:
- you are dependent on buprenorphine; you are not dependent on methadone
- as you understand it, bupe should not cause PWD when someone is not dependent on the other opioid (this is what I have heard too but I would love if anyone can confirm this for certain)
- you find you are able to get noticeable effects from methadone even though you are on bupe maintenance - I assume you normally wait a day in between taking the bupe and the methadone?
- you want to take a small amount of bupe with methadone, because
in theory in small amounts the bupe should not have enough antagonist effects to block the methadone
- your question is is this going to potentiate the methadone?
Honestly, I think it will probably be different for everyone and there is no way to predict whether it will lessen the effects of the methadone, do nothing, or have an additive effect. I don't think it would
potentiate the methadone, potentiation is when one drug makes the other noticeably stronger, (such as A + B = A + BBB), there is a stronger than additive effect. As far as I understand, taking 2 opioids together only has an additive effect (like 1 + 1 = 2). Am I mistaken?
@Kid Amine, that is not true. I was on (and still take) benzodiazepines by prescription and I was let into my methadone clinic with no questions asked. Most MMP are going to be more concerned with making money than possible drug interactions.l mean, what you're saying makes no sense as methadone maintenance patients are notorious for using benzodiazepines.
It actually varies greatly depending on where you live. For example, where I live (western Canada) MMT patients are NOT prescribed benzos and are regularly drug tested for benzos. Whereas in other places (many parts of the US) benzo use by people on methadone is rampant. And while many people who have been on methadone for a long time
can safely take small therapeutic doses of benzos, there have been so many ODs from this combo that many clinics (in various places)
are increasingly hesitant to initiate someone on methadone when they are taking benzos, especially if they are not prescribed the benzos.