Buprenorphine (Suboxone) Treatment

Buprenorphine has both opiate and "anti-opiate" properties. When administered while patient is suffering from opiate withdrawal, it rapidly reduces and often eliminates symptoms within an hour.

Buprenorphine is an opioid partial agonist. This means that, although buprenorphine is an opioid, and thus can produce typical opioid agonist effects and side effects such as euphoria and respiratory depression; its maximal effects are less than those of full agonists like heroin and methadone. At low doses buprenorphine produces sufficient agonist effect to enable opioid-addicted individuals to discontinue the misuse of opioids without experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

The agonist effects of buprenorphine increase linearly with increasing doses of the drug until at moderate doses they reach a plateau and no longer continue to increase with further increases in dose-the "ceiling effect." Thus, buprenorphine carries a lower risk of abuse, addiction, and side effects compared to full opioid agonists. In fact, in high doses and under certain circumstances, buprenorphine can actually block the effects of full opioid agonists and can precipitate withdrawal symptoms if administered to an opioid-addicted individual while a full agonist is in the bloodstream.

Subutex®

In October 2002, the FDA approved the buprenorphine monotherapy product, Subutex for use in opioid addiction treatment.

Suboxone®

Suboxone is a combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone. Suboxone is sublingual, which means it is taken under the tongue. Suboxone cannot be injected, because the Naloxone element will cause instant opiate withdrawal.

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