Suboxone

[moxie68]

Hey. Does precipitated withdrawal when on suboxone mean that the leftover opiate leaves the body faster or just the brain receptors? Thanks!

[salsinator]

Suboxone is a partial opiate agonist, so it does not fully stimulate the opiate receptor like a full opatie - although it is much stronger and binds fully to the mu receptor.  Full opiates bond to more than one receptor - although the main one is still the same that suboxone works on.  If you still have opiates on the receptor that were taken in a fairly high dose and then you take suboxone, the suboxone will completely kick the opiate off the receptor and since it is only a partial agonist, this could cause precipitated withdrawal.  Taking higher doses of suboxone will usually not help in this case because it does have a ceiling effect at around 32mg.  If you are taking hydrocodone or oxy, try to not take it for at least 12 hours before taking sub and you should not have any trouble.  I took sub for 4 years and never had any problem with it.  When I started on it, my last dose of hydro was probably only 4-6 hours earlier - maybe 30mg  - and the sub worked great.  Best of luck to you.

[kolo13]

Interesting question. I've done withdrawl w/suboxone a number of times and although it obviously shoves the opiate off the receptors and precipitates partial withdrawl, I don't see how that would increase the rate that the opiate breaks down into metabolites and leaves the body. I do know that the sooner you stop the sooner you'll be clean. Good luck.