How Is Buprenorphine Different From Other Opioids?
Buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist, produces limited euphoria compared with full opioid agonists,12 while suppressing withdrawal symptoms and reducing cravings, which helps to reinforce treatment adherence. Also, respiratory depression is limited with SUBOXONE because of its characteristic “ceiling effect.” This effect provides a margin of safety when SUBOXONE is taken alone versus a full opioid agonist.12-14 At higher doses of SUBOXONE, the risk of fatal respiratory depression does not continue to increase as it does with full opioid agonists. However, intravenous use of buprenorphine, usually in combination with benzodiazepines or other central nervous system (CNS) depressants, has been associated with significant respiratory depression and death.
