Bupe Using Buprenorphine when you don't have Naloxone.

[KS78]

If an opiate dependent person is overdosing, would IV Buprenorphine work like Naloxone because of its high affinity?

 

[FutureReference]

Intravenous use of illicit buprenorphine/naloxone to reverse an acute heroin overdose - PMC

A case of heroin overdose reversed through the intravenous (IV) administration of a crushed sublingual tablet of buprenorphine/naloxone (Suboxone®) by a lay responder is described. Although the sublingual administration of buprenorphine/naloxone to ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Here, we present the case of a heroin overdose reversed through the intravenous (IV) administration of a crushed and dissolved buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual tablet. Although the sublingual administration of buprenorphine/naloxone to reverse a heroin overdose has been reported previously, we believe this is the first report of IV administration of buprenorphine/naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose."

I have read up on this for a while but nothing substantial leads me to believe Buprenorphine is a guaranteed alternative to Naloxone. I highly recommend any recreational opipod users to have a steady amount of Narcan on-hand. Of the cases I have found, one overdose was successfully reversed by sublingual Suboxone use and this likely was from the Bupe but the IV was also Suboxone and likely the Naloxone that reversed it. I do not believe Subutex IV would have the same result and there are deaths accounted to overdose that could not be reversed with Buprenorphine alone. It is a gamble and life is worth more than that. Please be safe!

 

[KS78]

Thanks for the reply FutureReference. I was thinking of a situation where one is overdosing and there's no naloxone but only buperenorphine (also there is no way of getting medical help because of the location). Would you try it or just decide to only help with CPR and heart massage? This isn't a real situation for me but I would like to know just in case.

 

[KS78]

Thanks Somaniferum. Great answer.