In this article, I’m going to answer the question: Does Suboxone get you high? It’s a tricky question, because there are many variables that determine whether or not a person will get high after using Suboxone.
Why do some individuals get high off Suboxone, while others do not?
I’ll explain this concept in detail…
Plus, I’ll share with you my first experience using Suboxone, and how I got super high using a very small quantity of Suboxone.
Read on to learn the exact reason:
- Why I got high on Suboxone
- Why one of my friend’s didn’t get high on Suboxone
- And why a coworker of mine got sick on Suboxone (and puked in the toilet!)
Suboxone Overview
Suboxone is a prescription medication containing buprenorphine and naloxone. Buprenorphine is a controlled substance and semisynthetic opioid derivative of thebaine.
Buprenorphine attaches and binds to the same opioid receptors in the brain and other parts of the body that drugs like heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, and other opioids bind to.
Once it attaches to these receptors, it mimics the effects that opioid drugs produce (though it’s not as powerful).
For this reason, buprenorphine is known as a “partial opioid agonist.”
The other opiate drugs I just mentioned are known as “full opioid agonists,” because they activate the receptors in a stronger and more complete way than buprenorphine. See the illustration below.
Naloxone is the other compound present in Suboxone.
Naloxone is a pure opioid antagonist. It’s the drug given to people that overdose because an injection of naloxone puts the opioid-user into instant withdrawal, thus saving them from health issues and death.
Naloxone was put into the Suboxone formulation to deter people from injecting it, which would lead to precipitated withdrawal. Taken orally, naloxone isn’t bioavailable.
A common misconception is that naloxone blocks the opiates.
This is false.
The truth is that buprenorphine binds so strongly to the opioid receptors that it’s actually the buprenorphine which blocks opioids.
Does Suboxone Get You High?
Since buprenorphine binds to opioid receptors, it can in fact get you high. However, it’s not a full-agonist, and the drug also has a “ceiling effect.”
The Suboxone ceiling effect means that beyond a certain dose, increases in dose don’t create more powerful opioid effects.
Suboxone effects also comes on much slower than opiates like oxycodone and heroin.
Suboxone is considered a “long-acting” opioid because the effects can last for up to three days.
Thus, Suboxone won’t get you as high as snorting oxycodone, but some people can still get a great high from Suboxone.
My First Suboxone High
Most people take Suboxone to help them get off opiates. This is not how I took it the first time.
I first tried hydrocodone when I was 22 years old, and I totally loved it.
However, I was able to take these pills and other opiates recreationally for 10 years before I developed an addiction to opiates.
When I was 27, I moved to upstate New York during the most beautiful time of year there…fall.
Within a few months of living there, I made a friend (who will remain anonymous, but we’ll call her Jill) that also liked to use opiates, though she was addicted, and I only did them once every couple of months.
Once I found out she did opiates, I asked her if she could get me any hydrocodone or oxycodone.
She said she had some Suboxone tablets, and I had never even heard of the drug.
She said it would give me a great high, so I bought a Suboxone tablet off her that had 8 mg of buprenorphine in it.
She told me to break off just a tiny piece, crush it up into a line of powder, then snort it.
Once I did this, almost instantly I felt an extraordinary rush of euphoria. I had just gotten high on Suboxone, and since I had no tolerance to opioids, it was only about one fourth of the pill, meaning it only cost me two bucks to get super high on Suboxone.
My friend Jill snorted a much bigger piece of Suboxone.
I asked her if she got high, and she said no.
She said it made her feel “normal,” because she used it to get off opiates. She told me Suboxone helped her to feel happy, balanced, and it helped her to not crave opiates, though it didn’t get her high.
No More Suboxone High
I liked the Suboxone high that night, however, I couldn’t sleep afterwards! I just tossed and turned in my bed all night, itching like crazy.
It was too strong for me, so I didn’t use Suboxone again for quite awhile…that is…until two years later…once I had became an opiate addict.
When I was 32, I had steady work and money, and I also met a lot of people that sold opiates.
I ended up getting addicted to opiates.
After a few months, buying Norco and Percocet was getting much too expensive, so I started buying Suboxone from one of my drug dealers.
With the Suboxone, I could make an 8 mg tablet last 2-4 days.
This really helped me because I didn’t need to spend nearly as much money, and I only had to take it 1-2 times a day.
Once I was addicted, I no longer got high on Suboxone.
It made me feel really good, it gave me energy, and it prevented opiate cravings, but I didn’t get an actual Suboxone high anymore.
Getting Sick From Suboxone
One evening at work, my friend (we’ll call him Chad) covered for me so I could leave for 15 minutes to go buy a tablet of Suboxone.
When I came back to work, I went to the bathroom, locked the door, then snorted about a forth of the Suboxone tablet.
Afterwards, I was feeling pretty good.
My friend Chad had never tried used Suboxone, he felt like getting high, and thus he asked me if he could try it out.
I said yes, then went back to the bathroom to prepare a small amount for him to snort. Once he snorted it then came back upstairs, he looked nauseous.
Within less than a minute, he ran back downstairs and started puking in the bathroom.
Instead of getting a pleasant Suboxone high, he got very sick. He had no tolerance, it was his first time trying an opioid drug, and his body didn’t do well on even a very small amount.
Does Suboxone Get You High? – Conclusion
I hope I did a good job answering the question: Does Suboxone get you high? If you don’t have a tolerance to opioids, Suboxone can get you SUPER HIGH.
If you have a big tolerance, even large doses of Suboxone may not get you high, though it can help you feel good, balanced, and free from opiate cravings.
Most people that try to get high off Suboxone that have never used opiates before (like my friend) will get sick from using Suboxone.
Another question I hear a lot is:
Does Subutex get you high?
Yes, Subutex can get you high.
It contains buprenorphine (without naloxone).
And since buprenorphine can get you high, Subutex highs are possible in the same way that Suboxone highs are possible.
Don’t be like me and try to get high off Suboxone.
Only use Suboxone under the care of your doctor to help you get off and stay off opiates.
Click here now to view my best home detox program.
I’ve been taking 4mg of Suboxone daily, as prescribed. I’ve never felt anything like a “euphoric rush.” I was a daily iv drug addict, in NYC, for many years. I am in recovery now and lead a productive life, centered around the 12 Steps of Narcotics Anonymous. I have been clean for 4 years+. Thank-you.
The Naloxone in Suboxone absolutely makes a difference, I don’t know where these doctors or scientists get their information but they are very wrong about this. Subutex is SO much better than Suboxone because it does not contain Naloxone which is absolutely blocking the effects of the buprenorphine. They are wrong, wrong, wrong about this, I know I have taken both medications for years and the Naloxone makes a HUGE difference. This statement “Taken orally, naloxone isn’t bioavailable” is categorically and completely not true and I do not know why the makers of this medicine and the doctors that prescribe it keep telling people this. If you are on Suboxone tell your doctor you want to try Subutex instead, you can thank me later.
thank you …im on suboxone and it helped me get off a very high percoset addiction …but at the same time i have this nagging question for mysef!! how are you now going to get off this addiction 🙁 i think this is now another addiction and i am worried
This was hands down, the most informative article I’ve ever read on Suboxone. It was clear, concise and used actual empirical evidence instead of the anecdotal ramblings you see all over the internet. Thank you Matt.
-TJ
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback and for commenting.
I’ve had literally the same experience!!! Ages ago, when I wasn’t an addict, I tried the Subutex, the one without the naloxone… that was intense, I slept 2 days, stayed in bed high, throwing up every hour!
Hi to all out here,
I just read the article I’m very pleased with all of it very insightful and inspirational it sure is nice to know I’m not alone out here
Thank you
David I had one more question for you as saboxins half life basically being almost 2 days. Can you continue to take opiates? Would they affect you less? I’ve also heard that it would make you sick to take it before saboxin is out of your system. Do you know this to be True? Curious as to when it is safe for me to take the opiate. As I dont wanna take them if it’s just goin to be a waste and not affect me in any positive way or if it’s gonna get me sick is just wait until the saboxin is out of my system. Thanks for any help in this matter
Hi, I had been taking hydrocodone 10mg 3 times a day from 2/16 until about 5 days ago. Sometimes 3.5 pills but never more, never abused them just was dependent on them. It was becoming an expensive habit so i decided enough was enough. Saw my doctor, got prescribed Subutex 2mg. I waited 26 hours from my last Norco, and took 1mg of a subutex, and boy did i get such a nasty high, which is weird because i thought it would just take away my withdrawals, not make me feel high. Anyways, after 24 hours i took .5mg of the Subutex, didn’t get the high feeling, just very bad headache. Any suggestion why I feel that way? have had no cravings for the Norco either
My son started iff taking suboxine with his girlfriend who was on the monitersd program. He got addicted and eventually used heroin… now he is in prison and has been “buying” suboxine to get through his 4 yrs. he is being released and plans seeing a doctor to get suboxine….. let me say that my sone has ALWAYS done everythings to the extremme, drug wise. He cant just smoke weed. He has to smoke blunts till he is drooling. Drinks till he cant walk and so on. I am NOT happy about him getting out and getting his own suboxine as i know he will use them to get high. My mother argues w me saying a person who has used herionbeven twice like traqv has can NOT get high from suboxine no matter how much he takes. I have been told otherwise buy current addicts/users. He is bipolor, has impulse control issues and other mental instabilities. I dont know what to do and his release date is nnext week. Any advise???? He is 30 going on 15 mentaly.
First, he needs to see a psychiatrist to experiment with bipolar medications until he finds the right combination that allows him to have mental balance. There are also natural supplements and diets that can help with bipolar too.
But until he gets the bipolar disorder under control, he will always reach for substances because he feels the need to self-medicate. The depression from bipolar is so horrible, and the mania is just as bad. Opioid drugs can help with the depression and they can seriously increase the manic or hypomanic symptoms.
Lithium orotate is a natural supplement you can take with breakfast and dinner that helps bipolar symptoms A LOT. People with bipolar have very chaotic lives and their chances of early death or suicide and something like 16 times higher than a person without the disorder.
I know all of this because I’ve had bipolar as well, though a less severe type 2 which is not the intense mania you see portrayed in the movies. I’ve managed to get it under control, but whenever something very stressful in life happens, such as a breakup, I can have a relapse of symptoms.
CBT also helps. Therapy, personal development, and a great holistic treatment regimen to treat the bipolar disorder and the addiction.
Okay, how the hell do you know he is smoking blunts until he is drooling? It sounds to me that you were there to witness his demise. I have had friends who’s parents were like that. They were too wrapped up into their own additions to take care of their children. You should not have been breeding. This is why our world is so screwed right now. All the stupid people are breeding like rabbits…