Can Suboxone Get You High?

Suboxone is one of the most effective medications available for treating opioid use disorder (OUD), and it has helped save countless lives. Because it contains buprenorphine, which is a partial opioid agonist, some people wonder whether it can produce a euphoric high. For most people taking it as prescribed, the answer is: not significantly.

When combined with benzodiazepines, alcohol, or other central nervous system depressants, Suboxone can produce intensified sedative effects and carries a serious risk of respiratory depression and overdose.

How People Abuse Suboxone

Buprenorphine, which is the active ingredient in Suboxone, binds to the same opioid receptors in the brain as other opioids.

However, as a partial agonist, it activates those receptors only partially and produces significantly weaker effects than full opioid agonists like heroin or oxycodone. It has a ceiling that limits how intense those effects can become.

Suboxone misuse occurs when the medication is taken in ways other than prescribed, such as taking higher doses than directed, injecting it, or obtaining it without a prescription. For most people taking Suboxone as prescribed for OUD, the aforementioned ceiling effect makes significant euphoria unlikely.

What Is Suboxone?

Suboxone is a medication-assisted treatment (MAT) used to help individuals with opioid use disorders. It is often used with behavioral health treatments on an outpatient basis.

Suboxone is available in the following 4:1 combinations of buprenorphine and naloxone:

• Sublingual Suboxone tablet (under the tongue):
  • 2 mg buprenorphine with 0.5 mg naloxone
  • 8mg buprenorphine with 2 mg naloxone
• Sublingual Suboxone film (under the tongue or inside the cheek):
  • 2 mg buprenorphine with 0.5 mg naloxone
  • 4 mg buprenorphine with 1 mg naloxone
  • 8 mg buprenorphine with 2 mg naloxone
  • 12 mg buprenorphine with 3 mg naloxone

Different combinations are used to help different severities of opioid dependency.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist or “blocker” and is used to reverse an opioid overdose.

When Suboxone is taken sublingually as prescribed, the naloxone is poorly absorbed and has minimal effect. However, if someone were to inject Suboxone, naloxone would become active and trigger immediate withdrawal symptoms. This also makes injection misuse unpleasant and dangerous, which is the intended deterrent effect.

Is Suboxone The Same As Buprenorphine?

Although Suboxone and buprenorphine are not the same medication, Suboxone is partly buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine is in a class of medications called partial opioid agonists, which means that it works in the same manner as opioids but with a decreased effect.

Buprenorphine decreases opioid withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing the full effect of more potent opioids like fentanyl.

This is also known as “the ceiling effect.” The effects of buprenorphine level off even with an increased dose. The ceiling effect reduces the risk of misuse, dependency, and side effects.

What’s The Difference Between Suboxone And Subutex?

The main difference between Suboxone and Subutex is that Subutex does not contain naloxone. Subutex is also a sublingual tablet only containing buprenorphine.

Subutex is another medication-assisted treatment program used to treat opioid addiction. However, its lack of naloxone potentially increases the risk of misuse compared to Suboxone.

Note: The Subutex brand was discontinued in the U.S. in 2011. Generic buprenorphine-only tablets and films remain available and are used in similar clinical contexts.

Can Suboxone Cause Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms?

When someone goes through an opioid detox, they can experience a range of withdrawal symptoms. Opioid withdrawal symptoms can vary from person to person.

Depending on the mode of administration (digesting, snorting, or plugging), individuals abusing painkillers may experience withdrawal at slightly different rates.

Suboxone is typically used to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms. When taking the medication as prescribed, a person should not experience withdrawal.

Opioid dependence commonly results in the following symptoms of withdrawal:

• Early withdrawal symptoms:
  • agitation
  • anxiety
  • muscle aches
  • increased tearing
  • insomnia
  • runny nose
  • sweating
  • yawning
• Late symptoms of withdrawal:
  • abdominal cramping
  • diarrhea
  • dilated pupils
  • goosebumps
  • nausea
  • vomiting

These symptoms can be very uncomfortable but are not typically life-threatening.

Finding Suboxone Treatment Near You

There are many different treatment options when it comes to getting help for an opioid use disorder. Support is available for anyone with a substance use disorder.

Contact our substance use disorder treatment helpline today to learn how to enroll in a treatment program that works for you or a loved one.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff