OPIOID & SUBOXONE

[Hulksmash]

Hi guys,

First time posting, but I’ve been visiting the forums for years. I know that if I asked my GP this question, I’m going to get a very biased answer.

I was an opioid addict for 8 years - mainly abusing OTC codeine and OxyContin/Codone.

As soon as the Australian government put a ban on the sale of OTC codeine, as well as tighter restrictions on GP’s prescribing all forms of opioids, it was proving more and more difficult to feed the massive addiction I had.

Fearing that I was soon going to go to Heroin, I bit the bullet and spoke to my GP. Out of sheer coinsidence, my GP was one for 3 doctors in my area that does the methadone and suboxone. I’ve been on 6mgs of Suboxone a day for the last 15 months.

Because I was constantly full of opioids at all times, I found that I never really got sick. Today is the first time since being off opioids, I’m starting to get the flu/tonsillitis. Previously, I’d just take something with codeine in it plus antibiotics, then I’d be fine in a day or two. My normal dose of 6mg, coupled with panadol and neurofen didn’t provide any pain relief.

I have some leftover codeine from a while ago, however I know that if I take too much codeine, I’ll snap into instant withdrawals.

Considering I’m on such a low dose of Suboxone, would I be able to take X amount of codeine to provide pain relief? If so, how much can I take that would not throw me into instant withdrawals.

 

[Quere]

Taking full agonist opioids on top of Suboxone WILL NOT put you into precipatated withdrawal. It is however quite likely you won't feel codeine or other opioids due to buprenorphine's binding affinity.

If someone dependent on a full agonist (morphine, h, codeine etc) takes suboxone/buprenorphine while the full agonist opioid is in their system then they WILL go into precipatated withdrawal.

So you can take oxy, codeine etc and you won't go into withdrawal but you might not feel the opioid you took either.

It varies from person to person, I could feel opioids while on 16mgs suboxone, whereas others haven't felt them at all on lower doses.

And 6mg isn't that low a dose btw

 

[Hulksmash]

Taking full agonist opioids on top of Suboxone WILL NOT put you into precipatated withdrawal. It is however quite likely you won't feel codeine or other opioids due to buprenorphine's binding affinity.

If someone dependent on a full agonist (morphine, h, codeine etc) takes suboxone/buprenorphine while the full agonist opioid is in their system then they WILL go into precipatated withdrawal.

So you can take oxy, codeine etc and you won't go into withdrawal but you might not feel the opioid you took either.

It varies from person to person, I could feel opioids while on 16mgs suboxone, whereas others haven't felt them at all on lower doses.

And 6mg isn't that low a dose btw

This is so detailed thank you so much.

This is completely different to any info I’ve had previously, however understandable considering I was trying to get info from a chemist.

When you say I won’t feel the full effect, are we taking the general euphoria effect that comes along with opioids, or do you mean they won’t assist with pain relief?

Correct, I’m on a low dose as I didn’t want to replace one addiction to another.

 

[Quere]

This is so detailed thank you so much.

This is completely different to any info I’ve had previously, however understandable considering I was trying to get info from a chemist.

When you say I won’t feel the full effect, are we taking the general euphoria effect that comes along with opioids, or do you mean they won’t assist with pain relief?

Correct, I’m on a low dose as I didn’t want to replace one addiction to another.

Well opioids work by binding to opioid receptors in your brain, and the bupe (suboxone) binds to those receptors and stops other opioids from binding. So it will likely block, to some extent or another, both euphoria and pain relief as they are both caused by the opioid binding to the receptor, which it can't do because of the bupe.

It seems to vary from person to person how effectively bupe blocks other opioids and what doses are required to do so with some people not feeling anything from 2mg+ and at the other end of the extreme I could still feel opioids while on 16mgs.

And yes, there is a lot of misinformation about how suboxone and precipitated withdrawal work. It seems like most prescribing drs don't actually understand it all.