• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Going from subutex to suboxone. Advice needed.

theother64

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 2, 2015
Messages
4
Hello everyone, its been a while.

I have been on suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone for a while now. I was prescribed 30 8mg strips, and just recently my doctor switched me to subutex (buprenorphine only). I also have to note that because I have increased my tolerance from 8 mg a day to 12 mg a day (stupid I know), I have been cold copping suboxone strips in order to fill the remainder I need.

The Question: Will there be any issues when I go from subutex to suboxone again? (for when I run out of subutex) Will the nalaxone interact at all after I go from straight buprenorphine to buprenorphine/nalaxone?

I am from the school of thought which says the naloxone does nothing, and the blocking effect is because of the buprenorphine itself, along with the fact that naloxone is not very bioavailable at all when taken sublingually.

Did I just answer my own question? I would appreciate any help from someone who has experience with suboxone and subutex, as well as anyone who knows anything at all. I would hate to run out of subutex and then feel different when I have to take suboxone for the remainder of the month.
 
Considering many people can IV Suboxone, that should stand out as a testament to the binding affinity of buprenorphine over naloxone. In the beginning doctors would use Subutex for induction and prescribe or send home suboxone but that's not even a consistent practice anymore and was a psychosomatic thing imo.

You could save a strip of subutex and give it the pepsi challenge, but I think you already know that if you were blindfolded there would be no way to tell. This is just a case of nerves as cold copping should be your only concern, not a smidge of naloxone that won't make it into systemic circulation and wouldn't do anything if it did. Don't spend another second of concern on this, as a sub is a sub 64.
 
Thank you for your response. Yes, when I say cold copping I mean a certain area in San Francisco, and although it is very easy and imo has a much smaller risk for buyers than other cities (the cops more or less just contain the situation rather than go after buyers let alone sellers), it still is a thing I dread doing as I hate going back to that place once a month.

Yes from what I understood in the past is that buprenorphine has higher binding affinity than the naloxone so in theory it really shouldnt don anything at all. Im glad you cleared that up for me.

I have been attempting to taper my dose down and have been gradually doing so however am still dependant on at least 5 extra subs a week which is too much of a hassle and risk.
 
Top