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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

WD comparison between buprenorphine, morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone

d3Xo-fan

Bluelighter
Joined
May 6, 2007
Messages
231
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In my head
I am now on buprenorphine, 2-4mg a day, but I want to switch to a full agonist. I was thinking morphine, oxycodone or hydrocodone. If I ever were to cold-turkey after having been on one of those for some time, which of the 3 would yield the "easiest" withdrawals do you think? Please compare all 4 products to each other, and take such aspects as half-life, potency and receptor affinity into account.

I'm sorry if that sounds demanding; I just wanted to be very specific about what sort of answers I'd like :)
 
Well, receptor affinity pretty much determines potency. I would say hydrocodone. While morphine and hydrocodone are said to have the same effects mg/mg when taken orally (I feel as thought the Morphine does more for my pain though) because of the oral bioavailability, hydrocodone is only 59% as potent as morphine but has a higher oral BA. Oxycodone is gonna have the highest mu-affinity as it is 1.5-2 times as potent than morphine (and 2.5-3 times as potent as hydrocodone). So in order from worst withdrawal to "best (for lack of better words)" withdrawal, I would say that oxycodone will have the worst, Morphine will be your middle-ground, and hydrocodone will be the easiest withdrawal. Bupe, I've heard, has one of the worst withdrawals as far as opioids are concerned which makes sense to me, as it's 40 times as potent as Morphine. I will say though, you're only on a C-III drug, so going in and asking for a specific C-II drug might not be a good idea as it tends throw up red flags for you being a drug seeker for abuse, misuse, addiction, or criminal diversion (selling them/giving them to others). I never ask for any controlled substances just so that I will be treated without being labeled a drug seeker, because chronic pain sucks, and I need SOMETHING stronger than OTC meds. I'm not too sure on half-life of those, and I'm pressed for time so I can't exactly look them up. Good luck on whatever you decide to do though, I need to make a thread to get something asked, and go get ready for class though lol.

P.S. There's also tapentadol, which I've heard is kind of like how oxycodone is to hydrocodone, but it's counter part is tramadol. Sorry, I know that's worded weird, but I'm sure you'll get the idea. ;)
 
I can shed a little light on Buprenorphine. I was prescribed 8mg a day for about 18 months. I did a 12 day taper and jumped off at 2mg. My last dose of bupe was August 18th. I am still unable to function well enough to work, or really to do much of anything . I was taking 60-100mg of hydrocodone daily for about a year before I went on bupe. I now wish I had just went through w/d from the hydrocodone, I would now be functional and able to work . The withdrawal symptoms from bupe last a LONG time, since its half life is much, much longer than the others you mentioned, and the "stacking" effect from daily use contributes to the difficult w/d. Just my 2 cents .
 
nsauce, that's exactly what I want to avoid! I knew bupe was strong, but I thought maybe, only be a partial agonist, it would somehow create easier w/d's. But I don't mind the w/d's being slightly more intense if that means they'll be over faster, and that's why I only asked about opioids with short halflives.
 
If I could do it over again, I would sweat out a shorter, more intense w/d than going through the extended hell of bupe withdrawal. I will never again touch bupe under any circumstances .
 
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