Buprenorphine Overdose After Naltrexone Treatment

Naltrexone induces mu-receptor hypersensitivity.  Buprenorphine’s protective ‘ceiling effect’ may not prevent overdose in patients with this ‘reverse tolerance’. A new patient described his recent history of respiratory failure several days into buprenorphine treatment.  He was told by his doctors that he experienced an allergic reaction to Suboxone. The rarity of buprenorphine or naloxone allergy led me to look deeper into his history, and my conclusion differs from what he was told by his last treatment team. The patient, a man in his mid-50s, has a history of significant opioid use over the past 20 years.  He used a variety of opioid agonists over the past year, mostly prescription opioids, with an average daily dose greater than 200 mg of oxycodone per day. Three months ago he went through hospitalization and detox, and after a week he was discharged on oral naltrexone.  He sought further treatment at a different institution that offered buprenorphine.  He was told to stop the naltrexone two weeks before induction with buprenorphine. He avoided all opioids for that two weeks, and then started buprenorphine, 2 mg twice per day as directed by his physician.  The patient became progressively sleepier after each dose of buprenorphine, and after 24 hours could barely maintain wakefulness.  His complaints resulted in his admission to the hospital intensive care unit. In the ICU he had a rocky course that included several episodes of apnea, ...
Source: Suboxone Talk Zone - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: Buprenorphine Induction pharmacology receptor actions side effects Suboxone tolerance buprenorphine induction buprenorphine overdose naltrexone treatment Suboxone after vivitrol Suboxone allergy Source Type: blogs