Buprenorphine(Suboxone/Subutex) and liver problems

 . . . There's a lot of misinformation out there about Suboxone.  First off, let me say I'm certified by the state as a Buprenorphine trained clinician, have a Master's in Clinical and Counseling Psychology, and have been on Suboxone for 4 years after a 6 year Oxy/Dope habit . . . with that said, hopefully you believe me when I say that Suboxone does not CAUSE anything. It can definitely CONTRIBUTE to elevations in certain liver enzymes. . . specifically the AST and ALT . . . and there appears to be a link between misuse of Suboxone with liver toxicity.  Also, patients with Hepatitis are noted to have more issues.  That is to say that every person's body will react differently to Suboxone, which means everyone should have a well-developed Medical continuum of care. 

I just want to say that I hope everyone knows that Suboxone is still an Opioid . . . it's just a more mild one versus other drugs like Oxy's, Opana's, or Heroin.  With that said, be aware of your control with Suboxone. If the pills are still controlling you, talk to your doctor and develop some strategies to overcome the addictive behaviors. If you choose to stay on this medication, you will experience similiar side effects as full Opioids . . . constipation, respitory depression, perinatal concern, tired eyes maybe . . . And stopping does mean getting sick UNLESS you taper down appropriately.  Slowly cutting back 1mg or 2mg every couple weeks will make it much more bearable.  But then you have to deal with Post Acute Withdrawal Sundrome (PAWS), which means your motivation is nonexistant and you just won't feel like yourself for a while. 

Even with the risks . . . I choose Suboxone as a prime route to leaving an active addiction.  It saved my life!

~J~

You shall never shoot Suboxone or Subitex then this can cause acute liver failure!!!! You can die a painful death by doing this. It should be layed under your tongue when it is a methabolized analog!!! Never do that again. You can also risc a heart attack !!!

i have been on suboxone/now subutex. i had some blood test done at my doctor n my liver enzymes are elevated. not alot but im thinkin it c/be the subutex. i go back next week to get them checked again, tho i am also on anti-depressants,anti-anxiety meds.....will keep you posted!!. :)

 

You should all get off the suboxone ASAP. I took it for 4 years and it has ruined my body. I was down to 2 mg. a day and I still hallucinated for 6 days when I quit. Did not know who or where I was "thankfully in hospital". Been off and clean for 4 months now. I still feel like I have been hit by a train everyday! Please find a place to medically detox and get off it. I feel for all of you. It's a nightmare. Wil,

I quit taking suboxone 4 months ago. It is worse than heroin, the withdrawals. The only way to do it is a supervised medical detox. I won't say exactly what they gave me to help with the severe withdrawals because u need to b medically supervised. What they gave me got me through the withdrawals, but I had to b hospitalized because I hallucinated and was basically out of my head for 6 days. It was scary. If u really want help getting off opiates reply to my post and I will tell u my story. I took my life back. So can you.

I am taking suboxone can that cause liver damage? my enzymes are high to drugs i have now stopped taking. Will taking subooxone increase the rise of my liver enzymes?

well i collapsed once already and this morning had the same feeling,very uncomfortable to stay in one position because of my abdominal its nothing visual or anything but i think theres really something bad happening to my liver,and yes not proud but ive been using it for two years and some year n half after started using it again and now i feel so bad i cant stand up on my own,my head is spinning,feel dizzy,scared and dont know what to do,i wish i knew all that i do now a couple of years back,injecting a pill at first sounded veird but when my "friend" told me it would kill the habit i just jumped on it.even right now i cant type for long my head is kind of heavy and out of coordination...guys im in no position to go to doctor or visit a hospital if theres anyone with medical education could advice i appreciate it very much

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Suboxone is best thing ever happened to me!!! Ive been opiats addict for 13yrs 13 yrs of hell i did every kind of opiats known to human. my main addiction was heroin. I was IV heroin user and it was heroin exclusively first 5 yrs of my addiction then i started taking painkillers and other narcotics too due to lack of money for heroin.
anyways im on 8 mg of suboxone last 2 yrs. Ive got my life back, im productive member of society again, i feel normal not high, have great energy lvls, im going to gim 6 days/week my doc. says that im lucky couse 13 yrs of addiction didnt leave any major consequence on my health and right now i am I can with confidence say  very healthy 30yrs old man.

the biggest mistake ppl make when getting on suboxone is that they are so scared of withdrwals that they allmous allways try to get on biggest dose possible and they are not honest with they doc. trying to do that. I was shooting a gram of very high quality heroin a day often and i found that 8 mg of suboxone was sufficient dose to stop my withdrawals. My doc offered the max dose of 32mg couse he new my addiction was baaaad but i didnt wont it 8mg was my dose and i have no sideeffects whatsoever.

32mg a day? You have got to be kidding me, you have no idea how much damage you are doing, you should NEVER take more than 8mg a day, and even that is quite a bit. And for 3 years? How exactly do you plan on getting off them? They are not prescribed for OCD! Thats ridiculous! You are just abusing the drug and digging yourself deeper and deeper! No one should be on subs for more than a year, half way through you have to begin lowering your dosage. You should really think about that. Good luck...

i also have the same issue but dont you remember what it was like when we were high? Its hard to pea if ur faded off dope, pills, any opiate. so theres ur answer. Something haveing to do with th opiate..

I took suboxone for 4 years. I have been off it now for 8 months. I paid alot of money for a medical detox. I also tried a dozen times to stop on my own. I don't think I should say what meds they used to help me with the withdrawals, but I hallucinated and did not know who or where I was for 6 days. So the withdrawals I had were not bad. I'd say it was quite dangerous, but it worked and got me off the subs. I still deal with P.A.W.S. almost daily. I tried weening. I went from 16 mg. a day to 4. It was just as bad! It's much worse than heroin! moeyman,

I've been on Suboxone for 2 mo's now. I had a liver function test done before i started taking Suboxone for an unrelated matter (psoraisis). The test came back with my liver functions being a little more than twice that of a normal functioning liver(60's the norm mine was 140). My Suboxone doctor said it was rare that it effects the liver. I can read..it def does. I will have another test done to see if my functions are higher. Next step is tapering off Suboxone. I've done enough damage.

i think that naltrexone or naloxone in suboxone is from my exp is the part of the drug that realy dose mess with the liver best bet is to just use buprenophine ,subutex is also an opiate blocker because bupe itself has a higher binding affinity than even naloxone so there in my opinion no need for the stuff to be in it in the first place its just marketing prop ,any how cause bupe sticks to opi recetors it stop any other opiate from fully fitting cause of bupes molecular shape .

just found my blood test 4 my liver r way out there then had another test an my liver is enlarged I've taken suboxon 4 bout 5 years

So discouraging to see so much misinformation... Someone wrote that the package insert recommends checking liver enzymes every 6 months--- WRONG.  Someone refers to naltrexone in Suboxone?  WRONG.  Someone says his eyes were yellow on Suboxone, and cleared up after stopping--- RIDICULOUS!

A glass of wine does FAR more liver damage than a month on Suboxone.  Don't believe me?  I don't really care--  be stupid forever for all I care.  The pathetic thing is that the people who wrote about how they stopped subs a year ago, all thrilled about it, are likely dead or in prison now.  

Yknow what? Death is bad for the liver!