People on buprenorphine or Suboxone often write to me with complaints about lab testing. I received an email last week that mirrors my personal experience with lab testing companies. Here is what it said: Dr. Junig I thought you might find this interesting. I continue to see (name withheld) for Read more…
Over the past few months, I’ve read a few posts at the forum that are worth sharing. I’ve been torn whether to share them with the general buprenorphine community, or only with doctors who prescribe the medication. I’ve decided that since the ideas came from a layperson community, I’m not Read more…
First Posted 11/23/2013As fear of buprenorphine diversion sweeps the nation, some states have passed legislation adding more rules for practices that treat addiction using buprenorphine. Never mind that buprenorphine is linked to about 400 deaths over ten years, one tenth of the number of deaths from acetaminophen during that same Read more…
Originally Posted 10/27/2013 I usually have my wife/business partner review my posts and provide her opinion whether my arguments are sound. For the record, she tells me that this post is technical and boring. I disagree, but we aren’t planning to separate over the issue. A valid criticism, I think, Read more…
First Published 4/20/2013 I realize that practice patterns differ between practices, even those treating the same condition (opioid dependence) with the same medication (buprenorphine). Differing patient characteristics result in different regional standards of care, for example. And some areas have access to services (e.g. group treatments or laboratory testing) that Read more…
First Posted 2/15/2013 A recent exchange with a reader decribes some problems from urine drug testing on Suboxone: I have been on buprenorphine for 5 yrs. Recently my doctor stated that my u/a t looked like I have been ‘loading my meds.’ He said my levels where ‘backwards’ and that Read more…
I’ve been in more of a chatty mood lately, as regular readers have likely noticed. I find it interesting that weeks will pass when I have little or nothing to say… and at other times, I have all sorts of random thoughts to discuss. Excuses first– I’ve been tinkering with Read more…
A recent experience with a patient helped me realize some of the dramatic differences in the treatment of relapse in an era of buprenorphine. I drug-test patients who are treated with buprenorphine or Suboxone. The point of testing is not to catch someone messing up, but rather to determine when Read more…
I just wrote a note to a friend who works in the molecular sciences– she has been studying opioid receptors since the early 1980’s, when things were just getting started on a molecular level. I’m keeping her name to myself, but I’ll share a few thoughts about what is needed to Read more…
I have produced a few educational items, and I sell themt priced at a small fraction of the street cost of one tablet of oxycodone. All proceeds go toward the support of this web site, the forum, and other educational efforts. The most popular item is the e-book called ‘User’s Guide Read more…
I have been involved in Q and A with a person in another part of the country, and will share some of our exchange after removing the identifying info. This mother asks about her daughter: is she still using? BTW, I receive many e-mails from people and I just don’t Read more…
I will introduce this topic by typing my response to a reader who asked whether buprenorphine, the active ingredient in Suboxone, shows up in urine drug tests. More specifically he asked whether companies have the ability to test for buprenorphine. I will end the post with a question… so please Read more…