Author: TeeJay

Posted: Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:42 am

I hear what you’re saying about the half-life thing. If it stays in your body for 3 days then why not take it every 3 days?

Some countries actually practice what they call double / triple dosing. Double dosing meaning patients take twice as much, but only dose every second day. Triple dosing is similar except for 3 days. Reason many countries tried this is because on paper it looks like it should work! Buprenorphine has such a long half life on paper, and taking more can for many people actually increase that half life … which is unique to Sub.

But the reality of double / triple dosing was that it didn’t work as well as they thought it would. Reason is that metabolism varies a lot from person to person, especially with long acting drugs like buprenorphine. People’s livers are different. Some people burn through their Sub pretty quickly, others don’t.

Also something that’s important to note is that sure you might have some Sub still in your system after 3 days, but the amount would be a small fraction of what was in your body shortly after you dose. Most people (myself included) who tried double dosing found that once they stabilised, they’d notice cravings edge in on the 2nd day. In the end they did studies and found that treatment dropout rates were a lot higher for those who "double dosed". It’s no coincidence that they don’t do it anymore where I’m from.