Jump to content

Will there ever be a "Suboxone" for benzos?


[di...]

Recommended Posts

I haven't been on this forum for about 4 years. I assume this kind of question has been asked before. I'm aware of the general principle (or perhaps first treatment attempt) of substituting short-acting benzos with a long-acting benzo as a way to stop the need to keep taking multiple pills a day. Maybe in 2023 there hasn't been much success in this.

 

Suboxone (brand name) is buprenorphine and nalaxone. Buprenorphine is a "partial agonist" in how the brain processes opioids. An agonist is the "key" that turns on the opioid behavior of the brain, from blocking pain to causing a sense of euphoria, to respiratory depression. All based on their strengths and route of administration. A full-antagonist performs the opposite, it removes this key, and blocks other keys from entering. Narcan, which contains naloxone, is used in helping someone overcome an opioid overdose.

 

The partial agonist property of buprenorphine is the important part of how Suboxone works. It "partially" turns on the brain's opioid behavior (preventing acute withdrawal), and it's a VERY strong key to remove. It has a "ceiling effect" basically meaning that the body ignores the more you take. Visualize the natural log graph ln(x). The more you take, the faster your body eliminates it. That safety feature allows it to be used therapeutically with much less abuse potential.

 

Other opioids like heroin cannot remove the buprenorphine key in order to use their own. Buprenorphine also has a long half-life which I think most understand the meaning. Dosage is once a day.

 

So I now propose "Benoxone". It performs just like Suboxone, but for people battling benzodiazepine addiction and withdrawal. I am confident that as the advanced human civilization we live in, such a medicine will one day be a reality. The medium to long-term withdrawal effects of benzos are orders of magnitude greater than that of opioids. Opioids simply got all the attention because of the history of pill-mills, narco-terrorists, and the overdoses and deaths. I completely agree in that statement defining our priorities.

 

It's time (or even in 5-10 years) to find that "Benoxone". For now, we continue to do our best to taper to smaller doses, stay on what we are comfortable with, and work with doctors about over-prescribing, limiting initial prescriptions, and limiting daily dosing within controlled environments (with more frequent periods of evaluating a lower dose).

 

I wrote a lot more here than I intended to but I found out that I had a lot to say :)

 

PS: Ignore the nalaxone part of Suboxone. It's basically a product of marketing and getting FDA approval. Research for yourself.

PPS: Please correct me for any factually wrong statements.

 

Thanks!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have wondered the same thing myself. I think as the benzo crisis gets bigger and bigger there will be something like that developed

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People that take Suboxone still have to taper and go through withdrawals upon cessation due to the opioid component.  Flumazenil reverses the sedative effect of benzos and is used in surgery, very much like Naloxone works on reversing opioids in OD’s.  Some people have tried Flumazenil treatments to reverse benzo damage but I personally have not seen a successful case. I just don’t think there will ever be an easy, magical way out of this. Opioids come their own set of nightmarish withdrawal syndrome, very similar to Benzos since they affect gaba, dopamine and serotonin.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

People that take Suboxone still have to taper and go through withdrawals upon cessation due to the opioid component.  Flumazenil reverses the sedative effect of benzos and is used in surgery, very much like Naloxone works on reversing opioids in OD’s.  Some people have tried Flumazenil treatments to reverse benzo damage but I personally have not seen a successful case. I just don’t think there will ever be an easy, magical way out of this. Opioids come their own set of nightmarish withdrawal syndrome, very similar to Benzos since they affect gaba, dopamine and serotonin.

[/quote

 

Certainly no easy magical way. Neither is Suboxone. But taking Suboxone has a medically induced preventative nature (see original post). For opioid addiction or use, there are some bothersome drug/brain interactions that cause withdrawal. There is also the human side of life/career/money/family. Thankfully I have no children or anyone who depends on me. When I go on a benzo withdrawal (tremors, twitching, skin on fire, zero motivation, not trusting myself to drive a car, etc), my mind is constantly cycling all about me and those problems. It's completely selfish. I could not care for a child. Opiate withdrawal is like a bad flu, sweating and/or chills, digestive track constantly changing, boredom). Physically I can function, I just feel like sh*t and I have to push myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have thought about this question a thousand times, researched, asked in the medical community at the local, state, university level, in the benzo harmed community, such as Benzo Information Coalition, the list goes on. The response? Complete crickets. And I've thought, I can't be the only one wondering this. Sure, methadone or suboxone are "step down" drugs and eventually you have to step down from those, so you aren't completely free from withdrawal. But it beats straight up heroin or opioid withdrawal. But, if what folks on these forums say is true, and so many people are suffering such life threatening ENDLESS withdrawal from benzo withdrawal, especially those of use who have been prescribed long term daily use, my question is WHY? Why isn't there a medication assisted therapy for coming off benzos? Why does nobody seem interested or serious about investigating, researching, designing such a thing? Is it impossible? After a two year (failed) withdrawal that left me essentially house bound and out of my mind and in extreme physical and emotional distress, I know that I cannot do this with a slow taper. I just can't. It's the shear length of time one experiences 24/7 misery that, for me, is not survivable. I've told my doctor that the day such a medication exists, I will be the first one on the list. But with the lack of any sort of response from anyone on this topic, and I've asked many MANY diverse individuals and groups, I've sort of lost hope that anything like this will ever happen. And so I exist in a constant purgatory: unable to get off them and unable to function like a normal human (sleep deprivation and sequelae) on them. Hopeless. Distressing. How could that one moment in my doctor's office talking about how I can't perform optimally at my very demanding job on sleepless nights lead to this? There seems no way out for me that is compatible with life.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the OP answers your question in paragraph 5 of his/her initial post. Plus money. No research dollars, not enough demand.

 

With these benzo dope products on the streets hopefully they will come up with a benzo version of Narcan to reverse OD’s. Like a Flumenzil/Narcan product. Clearly there is a need for it. I looked up the rough Xanax equivalent to what’s in the street stuff and holy crap I don’t know how a body can take that. I can only imagine how many of us harmed from psych drugs end up homeless. If I didn’t have a support system (husband) and supplemental income I don’t know how I would have survived this. I lost A LOT as it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...