Can you take suboxone if you took A pain pill?

Answer 1

Absolutely. But did you really just take A pain pill? Suboxone is a great medication to help those with a history of opioid dependence who are in a rehabilitation program. This medicine is NOT for those that want to get a narcotic high. Nor are they for opiate addicts who cannot find a fix and need something to hold them over until they can find "their drug of choice." Suboxone is a mixture of buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a partial agonist, naloxone is an antagonist. What this actually means is the buprenorphine binds to the same receptor that all other opiates (morphine, oxycontin, dilaudid, etc) bind to, the mu receptor. Normally, full agonists, such as morphine and others, bind to this receptor and produce the common effects of euphoria, among others. But buprenorphine is a partial agonist, meaning it binds the mu receptor but produces effects on a much smaller scale than the full agonists. Clinically, this means it will help to quell an addict's cravings for opiate, but it will not give them the "high." Naloxone is an antagonist, it binds the mu receptor without producing any of the effects, it is only there to block the full agonists from binding the receptor also. It is used for those that overdose from opiates, like heroin, and have decreased respirations and heart rate secondary to the high amounts of opiates in their body. The naloxone knocks the heroin off the mu receptor and blocks it from reattaching for a short time, reversing the overdose. Suboxone is meant to be absorbed sublingually, leave it under the tongue until it dissolves. This way, the buprenorphine absorbs but the naloxone is not. So only the buprenorphine gets into the system to decrease opiate cravings without the high. If a person decides to crush and inject the suboxone, which would quickly increase buprenorphine levels and possibly give the person a little high, the naloxone, which can be absorbed only intravenously, will block the buprenorphine from acting. Another characteristic of buprenorphine is its intense attraction to the mu receptor, a much stronger attraction than most other opiates, like morphine. So if both morphine and buprenorphine were in a body, the buprenorphine would bind the receptor the morphine would just get metabolized and excreted without producing effects. I bring this up to you because if you have been taking opiates on a regular basis, which will produce dependence and tolerance, then take suboxone, the buprenorphine will knock any other opiate from the mu receptor and since it doesn't produce the same level of effects, it can actually cause you to go into withdrawal. So please think about all this before mixing pain meds and suboxone.