Buprenorphine, the active ingredient in Suboxone, has a unique action at the receptor that puts addiction into remission. This video explains how buprenorphine differs from opiate agonists like heroin, methadone, and oxycodone.

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18 Comments on How Suboxone Works Part Two

SuboxDoc on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 2:18 pm


I have plenty of ‘addicts off the street’ in my practice. Treatment in my office costs less than $100 per month for my fees; the med is expensive, but almost everybody can do find with 8 mg per day, which costs less than $200 per month in most areas. That comes to $300– before any discounting or insurance (in Wisconsin, the med is covered by Medicaid and almost all private insurers). $300 for a month– that’s cheaper than 2 days of OC for most addicts! But even your ‘$800′ is a bargain.

jataylor7 on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 4:18 am


how the hell is the REAL addict going to get this drug? it costs 700-800 bucks a month! u doctors and pharmacists dont understand the bottom line…MONEY! go pick a addict off the street and tell him to pay u 800 bucks a month and u can get this one! u know what he’ll tell u?

jataylor7 on Fri, 24th Apr 2009 4:11 pm


what if u don’t have insurance? is there any way 4 a addict to get the drug if he/she is broke? because lets all admit that if a person has come this far in addiction,they r prob struggling financially.(to say the least) with it causting so much, most cases result in the addict buying it off the street. (given it is available) and most times it is not. resulting in just another stumbling block for the poor soul. is there anything that can be done?

spgaspar on Sun, 26th Apr 2009 2:31 pm


Thanks for the very informative breakdown. I am actually going to see a Dr next week to get on the drug. I have taken suboxone before (illicitly) when in WD’s and it does indeed help and you do not get high like other opiates.

SuboxDoc on Mon, 27th Apr 2009 1:47 pm


While there might be some individual variation, the ceiling effects of buprenorphine are well established by a number of studies. If you are not getting good absorption, however, the effect would seem to increase with increased dosing… there are also huge ‘placebo’ effects with pain and addiction, and so it would take a double blind study to really prove that the effect was not active in your case. Maybe you can try that sometime– it would be interesting to try.

NickelPrison on Thu, 30th Apr 2009 7:06 pm


I think that the book you spoke of creating would benefit an enormous ammount of addicts because regarding Suboxone, there is a loooooot of mis/disinformation spread by people who aren’t liscensed to provide information on drugs. You are a good man and I applaud your efforts. – C

NickelPrison on Sat, 2nd May 2009 5:30 pm


The part about the effect flattening out after 4mg, I must disagree with myself as an example. My effect most deffinately increases up until about 32mgs, that is I deffinately CAN get more ‘satisfied’ after 4mg.

methoxymetopon on Sun, 3rd May 2009 10:43 am


i should clarify though, i think high-dose bup in the initial stages of treatment (1-2 weeks) would be excellent. i find too many negative effects beyond 4mg. To each his own

methoxymetopon on Wed, 6th May 2009 1:40 pm


i do have theories as to why they are doing it (i’ve been in touch with manufacturers in this part of the world)….but I’m very averse toward using high-dose bup…addicts here demand for more because everyone here is under the assumption it is a full agonist, and so dose-response will be linear….as for making it cheaper…thebaine is the quickest route although i’m sure there could be cheaper alternatives…

SuboxDoc on Fri, 8th May 2009 11:43 am


I don’t know why the high doses– the manufacturer actually has a program going to try to stop diversion of the drug, and they send out flyers to docs and pharmacies saying that the max dose should be 16 mg per day. I tend to blame the doctors, for not understanding the properties of the drug or for not being able to say ‘no’ to the addict demands for ‘more’… Although the manufacturer could certainly make it cheaper!

salamagogo on Mon, 11th May 2009 11:29 pm


very informative…but I wonder why it is that doctors will prescribe up to 32mg max if the effect is the same as 4 mg…the pharmecutical companies trying to get more of thier product sold, possibly? Or to appease the addict that thinks 4 mg isnt enough…thanks alot for your videos…they are very much appreciated…

theorangeoranges on Wed, 13th May 2009 12:12 pm


thank you very much for making this

lilgrl40 on Sat, 16th May 2009 4:35 pm


I for one feel very informed. thanks for the information . I’ll take 2 copies of that book. let us know when it’s done THANKS AGAIN . a lot of people out here need to know more about the weaning process.

zzmannnn on Sun, 17th May 2009 10:29 pm


thank you ,im wanting to get off oxy but cant miss work and maybe suboxone is my answer to that ,again thank you for the free advice

maybecominsoon on Thu, 21st May 2009 12:35 am


You are very kind to be helping for free like this. Thank you very much!

SuboxDoc on Fri, 22nd May 2009 6:17 am


Hey, thank you very much for your nice comments! I hate to make this into a plug– but I am working on a book about Suboxone– ‘an addict’s guide’ or something like that. I will put out a video about it if I ever get it together!

zbyszek654 on Sat, 23rd May 2009 5:17 pm


This information is consice and more valuable to me than the thousands of pages I have read on Suboxone so far. Thank you for taking the time out of what I’m sure is a very busy schedule.

JTurbinator on Mon, 25th May 2009 3:59 pm


Wow… Most of my questions have been answered. Thank you so much for uploading!