Recreational Suboxone Use Guidelines and Info

Here's some background info on the drug. If you don't care about its history and such and just want to know how to get high from it etc, scroll down. I encourage you to read the whole post though!

Buprenorphine is an opioid painkiller, falling into the same large class of substances ranging from codeine to Oxycontin to heroin. All opiate and opioids are derived from the poppy plant; opiates are made directly from the plant, whereas opioids are made synthetically in a lab but mimic the effects and chemical structure of the natural opiates.
Today, buprenorphine is a widely available substance in the United States, appealing both to novice experimenters to hardcore, heavily-dependent heroin or pill addicts. Several decades ago, buprenorphine was prescribed solely as a painkiller under the trade name Temgesic, coming in 0.2 and 0.4 mg doses for sublingual use and 0.3 mg/mL injectable solutions. Now that doesn't seem like a lot, 0.2 or 0.4 mgs; however, this is an extremely potent chemical. 1 milligram of it is equivalent in painkilling properties to 20 to 40 milligrams of morphine . (For more info on comparing the strength of painkillers, put equinalgesic chart morphine-centered into the search engine. I plan on posting the chart at some point)
In places such as France and Scotland, Temgesic became wildly popular on the streets. Its long duration, powerful potency, and low cost made it appealing to users with varying levels of experience with painkillers. It was soon discovered that heroin addicts could take small amounts of the drug to avoid becoming "dope-sick" when they ran out of drugs. By 2002, the United States approved the medication Subutex to be prescribed to opiate addicts, in an effort to ween them off of their drug of abuse. It came in 2 mg and 8 mg pills. For somebody who's been injecting heroin daily for several years, all the drug does is prevent withdrawal and cravings from happening, so the user can get on with their life, but not necessarily getting high. However, the drug leaked into the streets, and quickly became a popular recreational chemical. To deter people from abusing the drug, particularly via injection, the FDA approved a modified formulation of the drug-Suboxone-to hit the market. Suboxone comes as a thin film, and contains the same amount of buprenorphine as Subutex, but with an additional ingredient : naloxone. When people overdose on opiates, they usually receive a shot of Narcan (naloxone) as soon as they get in the ambulance. It instantaneously terminates any effects of most painkillers--yet oddly enough, not buprenorphine. The addition of naloxone was essentially a marketing ploy that would allow the drug to be more loosely prescribed. And thus, ironically, increasing abuse of it.


If you have a high tolerance to opiates, you're not going to get really high off suboxone. Assuming you're not a daily user of dope, or you don't swallow a bottle of percocets in one sitting, then suboxone is probably the ideal opiate. You've probably had a painkiller at some point in your life: whether it was those dinky 5 mg vicodins you got when they took out your wisdom teeth, some morphine your roommate got a handful of after visiting his grandmom over the weekend, or you bought some oxycodone to try a couple times. Or maybe you never have done them. Either way, even if you are fairly tolerant of opiates, handle buprenorphine with extreme care. Begin with 0.5 or 1 mg- if you get ahold of the 8 mg strips, this means 1/16 to 1/8 of the strip. It's very important that you take the drug sublingually, putting it under your tongue. Sure, you can put it against your nostril to absorb it through your nose, and there is a way to inject it using a micron filter , but sublingually works just fine. Do not swallow it like you would a regular pill. This is a really peculiar drug with all kinds of strange properties; it does not have good bioavailability when swallowed. Rather, it's best to start with 0.5-1 mg your first time under your tongue, letting it dissolve and not swallowing for 5-20 minutes (however long you can hold it in). Don't eat or smoke for 30 minutes after it's done dissolving for best results, although that probably won't diminish its effects that much realistically. When it's done dissolving under the tongue you may choose to spit or swallow the remainder.

Now, if you don't feel floored the second you're done dissolving it, don't do the rest of your 8 mg strip. That's how Guinea Pig ended up violently vomiting for two days straight. Buprenorphine has an incredibly long duration: it can last an entire day, even longer! With the long duration comes a slow onset of effects. It can be 3-5 hours before you hit the peak of effects. For your first time, add 0.5-1 mg every hour and a half to two hours until you're where you want to be. You can always take more, but you can never un-take any. Once you get a feel for its effects you can do a larger dose the next time you do it.

Anyway, eventually your pupils will become pinned, your eyes will droop, body tingle, and become drowsy (although many also report increased energy with suboxone, unlike most opiates-another weird quality). Euphoria and analgesia are likely. And once you're there, you're there for 8 hours. Absolute minimum. I'm serious; it lasts forever.

It's not a good idea to combine with any other depressants: don't drink alcohol while on suboxone, no benzodiazepines like xanax or klonopin, no quaaludes (if that stuff even exists anymore). Suboxone itself is a CNS depressant, don't stop yourself from breathing! It's probably not a good idea to do stimulants with it either. Weed goes reportedly well with it, and psychedelics it can make more relaxing but also take away from the mind expanding element and take the edge off.

About combining it with other opiates: it's VERY VERY important to understand the interaction between suboxone and other opiates!!! 
Do NOT take any other opiate (be it codeine, heroin, dilaudid, vicodin, methadone, oxy, NONE) within 24 hours before taking a suboxone.
If you take , say, oxycodone, then take a suboxone less than 24 hours later, you will be catapulted into a HORRIFYING, PAINFUL, SOUL-SCARRING HELL known as PRECIPITATED WITHDRAWAL. Precipitated withdrawal is essentially an unnatural, medically-induced mega withdrawal. Even if you're not dependent on opiates, it will happen. Here's how it works: the opiate attaches to the Mu opiate receptors in your brain, that's what makes you feel "good" and relaxes your body. Then, the buprenorphine enters . Buprenorphine has a higher "binding affinity" than pretty much any other opiate--this means that it attaches itself to the receptors more readily and tighter. As it attaches itself to the receptors, it knocks off the other drug, and since buprenorphine takes longer to set in, there is a period of time where your body adjusts to the sudden drop of feel-good chemicals in your brain and your body. Many people think it's the naloxone that causes this effect, it being the drug that reverses overdoses , but the naloxone doesn't even do anything unless injected and even then buprenorphine binds so tightly to the receptors that not even that anti-overdose drug can rip it off (a stronger drug is used in instances of suboxone overdose). precipitated withdrawal can last 10 minutes to 3 hours or longer. Sure, some folks can get away with doing an opiate then taking suboxone 20, 16, even 12 hours later, but JUST WAIT. Don't press your luck...

Conversely, if you take an opiate AFTER suboxone, it probably won't have any effect. Because buprenorphine binds so tightly to receptors, it creates an "anti-dope forcefield" per se that not even large doses of heroin can bust through. Less than 2 mg of suboxone usually won't block other opiates from working, but anything larger than that can effectively make a whole dealer's stash useless for between 24 and 72 hours, depending on individual metabolisms.

Suboxone doesn't show up on standard drug tests as an opiate, either, but it is one (or well an opioid technically).

If I think of anything else I'll add it in but remember: take it sloooow your first time trying it or you could be in for a 3-day barfathon! Nonetheless, its long duration, low price in comparison to the other opiates and opioids (an 8 mg strip may go for $15-35 and cheaper in bulk in most places. An 8 mg strip is equal to roughly 100 mg of oxycodone, which nowadays due to prescription drug monitoring programs often sell for a dollar a milligram!), its availability and the fact that it produces the classical, blissful opiated experience makes it an ideal substance for both the opiate-naive and the heavily dependent addicts.
Be warned though: like any painkiller, repeated back-to-back use can cause dependency and withdrawal symptoms upon cessation. Because it is considered a partial agonist, it is thought to take longer to develop dependency than, say, heroin, its withdrawal profile involves less severe symptoms than the other opis, but due to its extensive half life the withdrawal pr