Is It Safe To Mix Suboxone and Alcohol?

Mixing Suboxone and alcohol can negatively impact your respiratory system and can lead to some undesirable side effects.


Taking Suboxone and alcohol together can result in potentially dangerous side effects. Understanding how each chemical affects your body is essential to understand why combining these two substances is dangerous. Alcohol changes the chemistry of your brain and depresses the nervous system.

Combined intravenously, Suboxone and alcohol can negatively impact your respiratory system and mental health. Other dangerous side effects include overdosing, potentially fatal breathing issues, loss of consciousness, and coma.

What is Suboxone?

Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist, a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine. It helps patients detox from addictions to lethal opioids like heroin and fentanyl by lowering cravings and suppressing withdrawal symptoms. Licensed doctors can prescribe it for use in drug replacement therapy.

It does have the potential to be abused, though. Suboxone binds to the same brain receptors that opioids do, producing a relaxing high while less dangerous than actual opiates. Suboxone overdoses can be life-threatening and lethal when combined with alcohol.

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Mixing Suboxone and Alcohol

Does suboxone interact with alcohol? Suboxone mixed with alcohol has different effects on the body, which makes it dangerous to combine the two. Alcohol and other depressants should never be mixed with opioid agonists like Suboxone since there is no control over the possible side effects. Dizziness, slurred speech, drowsiness, and, more dangerously, the lack of will and the failure to make wise decisions will all result from mixing Suboxone with alcohol.

Alcohol and synthetic opioid agonists like Suboxone increase the brain’s production of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Your heart rate, body temperature, and respiration can all go dangerously low if you consume too much GABA. Additionally, combining both drugs might raise your tolerance and addictive behaviors, making it more likely for you to become dependent on this deadly mix than if you only used alcohol or Suboxone.

Suboxone becomes more potent when alcohol is present, making the partial opioid agonist behave like a complete opioid agonist. Because of this, the overdose risk is increased.
Suboxone becomes more potent when alcohol is present, making the partial opioid agonist behave like a complete opioid agonist. Because of this, the overdose risk is increased.
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Suboxone and Alcohol Side Effects

Can you drink alcohol with suboxone? Suboxone and alcohol combined can worsen each substance’s negative effects on your respiratory system, but that’s just the beginning. Can suboxone be used to treat alcoholism? Combining these two medications might cause serious harm to your entire body and result in a lethal overdose.

Side effects of combining alcohol and Suboxone include:

  • Slurred or faulty speech
  • Constipation
  • Issues with breathing
  • Sweating
  • Changes in blood pressure
  • An increased risk of myocardial infarction
  • Drowsiness
  • Consciousness loss
  • Coma

When used over time, nervous system depressants like Suboxone alcohol can cause several potentially dangerous symptoms because they both decrease the firing of neurons in the spinal cord and spinal cord. Can you drink alcohol while you’re on suboxone? It can be dangerous to drink alcohol while under any medication. Some of the conditions include the following:

  • Serious side effects of respiratory suppression caused by both drugs include tissue and organ damage and respiratory infections due to reduced blood flow.
  • Severe brain damage can result from ongoing respiratory suppression problems.
  • Heart rate alteration that reduces blood flow can harm organs and tissues over time.
    Neurons in the brain stem that control breathing and heartbeat are inhibited, which leads to comatose conditions.

Suboxone for alcohol use disorder can lead to several other issues, such as:

  • Higher chance of developing several malignancies, such as those of the liver, kidneys, and digestive system.
  • Stroke increases the risk of developing liver cirrhosis, ulcers, and brain damage.
  • Greater potential for cardiac disease.
  • A weakened immune system or engaging in dangerous or harmful behaviors might increase the likelihood of developing several diseases.

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Suboxone mixed with alcohol has different effects on the body, which makes it dangerous to combine the two.
Suboxone mixed with alcohol has different effects on the body, which makes it dangerous to combine the two.

Can You Drink Alcohol on Suboxone?

Can suboxone be used for alcoholism? Suboxone becomes more potent when alcohol is present, making the partial opioid agonist behave like a complete opioid agonist. Because of this, the overdose risk is increased. Can I drink alcohol on Suboxone? Suboxone warns that combining medication with alcohol makes breathing more difficult, may cause breathing to cease, and may even cause death. Can suboxone treat alcoholism? Suboxone is mainly used for opioids, alcohol is a different story, and more often than not, it will only worsen side effects.

Can you drink alcohol while taking suboxone? Both alcohol and suboxone depress the nervous system, which is why this happens. Nervous system depressants include benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and sedative-hypnotics. Can you drink alcohol while on suboxone? Combining these medicines boosts the euphoria and relaxation that each produces, but it also significantly raises the negative effects and overdose danger owing to breathing and heart rate changes.

Does Suboxone Block Alcohol?

Can I drink alcohol while taking suboxone? Opiate medication health warnings advise patients not to combine them with alcohol. Suboxone is a partial opioid agonist but has the same side effects and warnings as other opiate medications. Mixing alcohol and Suboxone accelerates their products because both substances are depressants of the nervous system. In other words, it worsens the effects of alcohol rather than blocking them.

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Suboxone and Alcohol Liver Damage

Abusing alcohol and Suboxone dramatically raises the risk of cirrhosis and liver failure because both substances can harm the liver. When someone gets jaundice, it’s a sign that their liver is damaged. The accumulation of fluid in the abdomen, bleeding in the stomach, esophagus, or even from veins, an enlarged spleen, kidney failure following liver failure, liver cancer, brain abnormalities, coma, and death are other signs of liver failure.

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Does Suboxone Help With Alcohol Withdrawal?

Can suboxone be used for alcohol withdrawal? And will suboxone help with alcohol withdrawal? If a person does not drink while taking the medication, suboxone for alcohol withdrawal can be used. Can I drink alcohol while taking Suboxone? In some cases, Suboxone may be able to help someone with their withdrawal symptoms, depending on the severity of their addiction. During an alcohol detox program, doctors may recommend a low dose hoping that side effects may decrease.

Suboxone is well-known for treating opiate addiction, but it can also reduce the undesirable side effects of withdrawal.

Suboxone is mainly used for opioids, alcohol is a different story, and more often than not, it will only worsen side effects.
Suboxone is mainly used for opioids, alcohol is a different story, and more often than not, it will only worsen side effects.

Suboxone for Alcohol Abuse

Can suboxone be used for alcohol addiction? And is suboxone used to treat alcoholism? Suboxone may help people with their withdrawal symptoms, depending on how severe their alcoholism is. As long as the person isn’t drinking when the prescription is taken, suboxone can treat alcohol addiction. Doctors may recommend a low amount of alcohol during the detoxification process in the hopes that side effects may lessen to help prevent alcohol abuse in the future.

Suboxone for Alcohol Cravings

Can suboxone help with alcohol withdrawal? In some cases, Suboxone for alcoholism can be used for symptoms and cravings. Depending on how severe their alcoholism is, Suboxone may be able to help patients with their withdrawal symptoms. Suboxone can treat alcohol addiction if the patient isn’t drinking when the medication is given. During the detox program, doctors can advise drinking only a small amount of alcohol in the hopes that negative effects will reduce.

Suboxone for Alcohol Dependence

Suboxone is primarily used to treat short-term opioid drug dependence. Nevertheless, it also lessens opioid abuse and successfully keeps people in treatment after detox. Is suboxone used for alcohol addiction? In some cases, Suboxone for alcohol treatment can be used to lessen drug withdrawal. Along with treating opioid addiction, it can help with alcohol withdrawal symptoms to prevent alcohol dependence.

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Having trouble with alcoholism? Get treated today at one of our treatment centers!

Suboxone and Alcoholism Treatment

Suboxone treatment for alcoholism can help with withdrawal symptoms during a detox program, but it shouldn’t be the only treatment option. Suboxone should be combined with counseling, support groups, and other techniques that a treatment program finds essential. Only use Suboxone in the prescribed dosage and manner. Abuse of it may result in negative side effects or dependence.

Alcohol withdrawal can be treated, and it must be endured to beat alcoholism. Call our substance abuse professionals to discuss your detox programs if you or someone you care about has been struggling with alcoholism or other addiction problems.

Alcoholism and mental health treatment use dual-diagnosis approaches. While one treatment program may treat unresolved trauma, unconscious conflicts, and individual issues, group sessions usually incorporate teaching life skills, stress management, and social relationships. Additionally, the therapy enables patients to share their thoughts and experiences with others to create the emotional relationships required for a complete recovery.

Detoxing without medical supervision can be painful and difficult, so avoid attempting it yourself. Take immediate action if you or someone you care about consistently exceeds these suggested daily limits or demonstrates signs of alcohol withdrawal. At We Level Up NJ, addiction specialists are ready to help.

Search Suboxone and Alcohol Rehab / Detox & Mental Health Topics & Resources
Sources
  1. Important Safety Information. Suboxone.com. https://www.suboxone.com/. Accessed February 2022.
  2. Polydrug Use: Health and Social Responsibilities. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/mini-guides/polydrug-use-health-and-social-responses_en. 2021. Accessed February 2022.
  3. Suboxone Sublingual Tablets. Medsafe, Government of New Zealand. https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/Consumers/cmi/s/suboxone.pdf. July 2021. Accessed February 2022.
  4. Buprenorphine Reduces Alcohol Drinking Through Activation of the Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ-NOP Receptor System. Biological Psychiatry. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3035814/. February 2011. Accessed February 2022.
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