Suboxone, an oral drug used to treat opioid dependence, contains both buprenorphine (a partial agonist) and naloxone (an antagonist).

Buprenorphine binds to mu receptors, causing euphoria and sedation; however, it does not bind to kappa receptors, which cause hallucinations. Naloxone blocks the effects of opioids, including those caused by buprenorphine. Thus, if someone takes suboxone and then ingests heroin, the heroin will not produce any effect because naloxone will block it. However, if someone who is already high on heroin consumes suboxone, they may experience withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, muscle aches, fever, chills, sweating, goose bumps, yawning, shivering, malaise, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, weakness, fatigue, insomnia, restlessness, irritability, anxiety, nervousness, tremor, tachycardia, palpitations, shortness of breath, increased blood pressure, blurred vision, confusion, delirium, seizures, coma, respiratory depression, bradycardia, or even cardiac arrest.

It helps move addiction treatment forward

Suboxone works in much the same way as other opiate medications, by blocking opioid receptors in the brain. However, unlike those other medications, suboxone does not cause euphoria or sedation. In fact, it may actually increase your energy level. And because it doesn’t produce any kind of high, it can help you avoid the intense craving associated with withdrawal symptoms.

The vast majority of doctors, addiction specialists, and advocates agree: suboxone saves lives. In recent years, the government has loosened regulations regarding who can prescribe buprenorphine (Suboxone) and how much they can prescribe. These changes were made in response to the growing numbers of people dying from overdoses of opioids such as heroin and prescription painkillers.

While it depends on what definition one chooses to apply, the circa 1930’a AA-influenced abstinent-based models that have ruled the past century of addiction treatment are generally giving way to newer conceptions of recovery that include the use of medications such as Suboxone that help regulate your brain chemistry and treat addiction as a chronic disease. As addiction is increasingly seen as a medical condition, Suboxone is viewed more as a medication for a lifelong condition, similar to someone with type 1 diabetes needing regular injections of insulin. To say that one isn’t really in “recovery” if they are taking Suboxone is stigmatizing to those who take Suboxone and it’s certainly not the medical reality of successful addiction treatment.

Suboxone, just like any opiate, can be abused. However, because it acts as a partial agonist of the main opioid receptor (the mu receptor), it causes far less euphoria than the others, such as heroin and oxycontin. In many cases, addicts may use Suboxone to help them through detoxification, or even to wean themselves off heroin or fentanyl altogether. If Suboxone was more readily available to those who needed it, they would not have to self-medicate. We are essentially blaming the victim here.

Behavior is key

In order to treat someone effectively, we must understand what causes them to develop an addictive behavior in the first place. Addiction is not just a matter of willpower; it is a complex set of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and cultural factors that interact in ways that are difficult to predict. For example, research shows that genetics play a role in whether someone develops an addiction, but so do life experiences (such as childhood trauma) and culture (such as family expectations). Addressing these issues is critical to developing effective treatments.

Experts agree that Suboxone treatment should be continued for the long term, but there is no proof that patients who take Suboxone for shorter periods of time suffer any negative side effects. In fact, research shows that people who take Suboxone longer experience fewer withdrawal symptoms and better overall health.