Suboxone.com - How SUBOXONE Works

The requested information is provided in Portable Document Format (PDF). To view and print this document you'll need to install a copy of the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®. If you already have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed click "View PDF" below. If you need the Acrobat Reader you can download it from the Adobe Acrobat Reader Download page.

You are leaving Suboxone.com. Links are provided as a public service and for informational purposes only. No endorsement is made or implied. Clicking on "Continue" will take you to a website that is outside the control of Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals. You are solely responsible for your interactions with such websites.

Links are provided as a public service and for informational purposes only.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

On December 8, 2006, Federal legislation was passed allowing physicians to treat up to 100 opioid dependent patients with Suboxone at any given time—a significant increase from the previous limit of 30 patients.

If you can read this, then your browser cannot interpret Javascript. To take full advantage of what this website has to offer, please make sure that you have Javascript enabled in your browser preferences, or update to a browser that supports Javascript. Thank you.

News Room -- Safety Information -- Site Map -- En Español

How SUBOXONE Works

1.	When opioids attach to the mu receptors, dopamine is released, causing pleasurable feelings to be produced.^1,2

2.	As opioids leave the receptors, pleasurable feelings fade and withdrawal symptoms (and possibly cravings) begin.¹

3.	Opioids continue leaving the mu receptors until the person is in a mild-to-moderate state of withdrawal. At this point, SUBOXONE therapy can begin.

4.	The primary active ingredient in SUBOXONE—buprenorphine—attaches to the empty opioid receptors, suppressing withdrawal symptoms and reducing cravings.¹ As a partial opioid agonist, SUBOXONE works by controlling withdrawal symptoms and cravings and produces a limited euphoria or "high."¹

5.	Buprenorphine attaches firmly to the receptors. At adequate maintenance doses, buprenorphine fills most receptors and blocks other opioids from attaching. Buprenorphine has a long duration of action, so its effects do not wear off quickly.

References

1.	Johnson RE, Strain EC, Amass L. Buprenorphine: how to use it right. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2003;70(suppl 2):S59-S77.
2.	Walsh SL, Eissenberg T. The clinical pharmacology of buprenorphine: extrapolating from the laboratory to the clinic. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2003;70(suppl 2):S13-S27.