Author: hatmaker510

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:50 am

Because of the way suboxone works, before a person first takes it, their system can’t be "fresh" from having taken other "regular" pain meds (full opiate agonists). If a person doesn’t wait until they are in mild to moderate withdrawals before starting suboxone, then the active ingredient in suboxone, buprenorphine, will knock the full agonists off their opiate receptors and that will cause what is called "precipitated withdrawals". You do NOT want to experience that! It’s said to be many times worse any withdrawal you’ve experienced thus far.

So the person just has to wait to be in mild to moderate withdrawals which could be anywhere from less than 24 hours to up to 3 days, depending on the medication the person is coming off of. If it’s just regular, short-acting opiates, then you’re looking at the shorter end of the spectrum.

I hope this helps make some sense to you. Again, please ask any questions you may have.