Can You Get High From Eating/Chewing A Butrans Patch?

Butrans is a prescription pain medication that comes as a transdermal patch worn on the skin to provide continuous, long-lasting pain relief. The active ingredient in Butrans patches is buprenorphine, a powerful opioid that’s supposed to be absorbed slowly through the skin over several days. When used correctly by applying the patch to clean, intact skin as directed, Butrans provides steady pain control without causing a euphoric high in most patients. However, some people misuse Butrans patches by chewing or eating them in an attempt to get high or intensify the drug’s effects, a dangerous practice that can have devastating consequences.

Yes, it is absolutely possible to get high from chewing or eating a Butrans patch, and this method of abuse is far more dangerous than wearing the patch as prescribed. Buprenorphine is an incredibly potent opioid that’s approximately 20 to 50 times stronger than morphine at clinical doses. When someone chews or swallows a Butrans patch, they release all of the medication at once instead of receiving it slowly over days as intended. This rapid dose can cause intense euphoria, sedation, and respiratory depression, especially in people who are not opioid-tolerant. The concentrated amount of buprenorphine absorbed through the mouth and digestive system can easily lead to overdose, loss of consciousness, stopped breathing, and death.

Learn more about the recreational use of Butrans patches

How Does Eating/Chewing A Butrans Patch Get You High?

Chewing a Butrans patch will result in a sudden release of buprenorphine into the body. Buprenorphine is an opioid, and like any other opioid, it has the potential for misuse because it can create a high. This sudden and uncontrolled release of the substance can lead to euphoria or a high.

Risks Of Eating/Chewing A Butrans Patch

Eating or chewing Butrans patches can be extremely dangerous and pose major health risks, including death. The potential for a stronger high is not worth the serious negative consequences of abusing the substance by chewing or swallowing it.

It Is A Choking Hazard

Butrans patches are not dissolvable and they do not break down easily. Attempting to chew or eat a Butrans patch whole may result in choking on the patch.

Overdose On Butrans

Chewing on or eating an entire Butrans patch can lead to dangerous levels of buprenorphine, which may result in a life-threatening overdose. With a Butrans patch, the medicine is designed to release slowly over seven days. For those seven days, buprenorphine is released in doses of 5 micrograms (mcg) per hour (hr), 7.5 mcg/hr, 10 mcg/hr, 15 mcg/hr, or 20 mcg/hr.

An overdose on Butrans can cause:

• fainting
• respiratory depression
• heavy sedation
• coma
• weakness
• extremely low blood pressure
• death

Especially when it comes to the larger doses of Butrans patches, consuming the patch will result in ingesting amounts of buprenorphine significantly higher than the safe hourly dose.

Severe Respiratory Depression

The biggest concern with eating or chewing a Butrans patch is respiratory depression. Consuming such a large quantity of the opioid at once can have major negative consequences on the airways. One 2006 study determining the connection between high doses of buprenorphine and respiratory depression found that the opioid can cause respiratory depression.

The study examined multiple cases of asphyxia deaths reported among those treated with buprenorphine.

Fewer Life-Saving Measures For Buprenorphine Overdose

In the case of severe respiratory depression, it’s much more difficult to administer life-saving measures because buprenorphine does not respond to naloxone. Naloxone blocks and reverses the life-threatening effects of many opioids. However, the respiratory effects from buprenorphine are unaffected by naloxone.

The Ceiling Effect Of Butrans Makes It Dangerous To Consume

One of the most deceptive and dangerous aspects of abusing Butrans is its “ceiling effect”, a characteristic where increasing the dose beyond a certain point doesn’t produce a stronger high or more intense euphoria. This happens because buprenorphine only partially activates opioid receptors in the brain, so after reaching a certain level, taking more of the drug won’t increase the pleasurable effects. This ceiling effect creates a deadly trap for people trying to get high by chewing or eating multiple patches. Because they don’t feel the intense euphoria they’re chasing, they may consume more and more Butrans patches thinking the drug isn’t working or isn’t strong enough.

While they won’t experience stronger highs, their body is still absorbing and processing massive, dangerous amounts of buprenorphine. This can rapidly lead to life-threatening respiratory depression, loss of consciousness, and fatal overdose, all while the person may not even realize how much danger they’re in because they’re not feeling the expected effects.

Find Help For Opioid Abuse With Butrans

Though Butrans is subject to misuse, it’s been proven as an effective treatment method for chronic, severe pain and for treating the symptoms of opioid withdrawal. For many people, ceasing opioid abuse is a difficult thought because of the inevitable symptoms that come with withdrawal from opioids. But with medications like Butrans, a person recovering from opioid dependence can safely withdraw over a longer period of time.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff