For people with opioid tolerance who take the right prescribed dose, Suboxone often relieves withdrawal without a high. Euphoria or impairment can still occur, especially early in treatment. People with little or no opioid tolerance face greater risks of sedation and dangerous breathing problems.
The difference comes down to how buprenorphine, the main ingredient, acts on the brain. This chapter covers what Suboxone feels like, whether it is addictive, and why misuse is risky. Many people meet this medicine through outpatient programs that prescribe buprenorphine, where the dose is matched to their level of opioid dependence.
Does Suboxone Get You High?
Buprenorphine partly activates opioid receptors, while heroin, fentanyl, and oxycodone are full opioid agonists. Its ceiling effect limits some opioid effects, especially respiratory depression [1]. This gives a safety advantage when taken alone, but does not eliminate euphoria, impairment, or overdose risk.
Whether someone feels high depends partly on opioid tolerance, dose, and other substances taken. A dose that feels ordinary to one person may strongly affect another. Our chapter answering can you overdose on Suboxone explains the risks for people with little or no tolerance.
If You Are Dependent on Opioids
People with established opioid tolerance often feel relief from withdrawal rather than a high when taking the right prescribed dose. Responses still vary, especially during induction or dose changes. Withdrawal symptoms can include muscle aches, a runny nose, dilated pupils, sweating, and anxiety.
Many people describe the feeling as being back to normal. They can think clearly, sleep better, and get through the day without chasing the next dose. Our guide to how Suboxone works explains the receptor science behind that feeling.
If You Have Low Tolerance or No Opioid Use
People with low tolerance, including those who have stopped using for a while, can experience euphoria from Suboxone. They may also become very drowsy, dizzy, or nauseated. These effects can signal impairment and increased risk.
The FDA label reports deaths in opioid-naive people who received a low dose of buprenorphine and states the film “is not appropriate as an analgesic” [1]. Even with the ceiling effect, a medicine strong enough to treat opioid dependence can cause respiratory depression, or dangerously slowed breathing, in someone whose body is not used to opioids.
What Does Suboxone Feel Like?
What Suboxone feels like changes over the first days of treatment. The first doses and a stable daily dose are different experiences.
The First Doses and Opioid Withdrawal
Timing shapes the first day of Suboxone treatment. Doctors who prescribe Suboxone wait until clear withdrawal signs appear before the first dose, because buprenorphine taken too soon pushes other opioids off the receptors. That causes precipitated withdrawal, a sudden and intense wave of withdrawal symptoms that can feel worse than the withdrawal it was meant to treat.
When the timing is right, the first dose eases withdrawal instead. Some people feel slightly lightheaded or tired at first while the prescriber adjusts the Suboxone dose.
Once the Suboxone Dose Is Stable
At a stable dose, many people say they do not feel the medicine much at all, other than the absence of withdrawal and cravings. That is the goal of treatment.
Side effects can still happen. The label lists headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, sweating, trouble sleeping, and numbness or redness inside the mouth as common reactions. These often ease with time or a dose change, so they are worth raising with the prescriber.
Is Suboxone Addictive?
Suboxone can be misused, and it can cause physical dependence, even though it is prescribed to treat opioid addiction. The Drug Enforcement Administration places it in Schedule III, the federal category for drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. The label itself lists Suboxone as a Schedule III controlled substance.
Physical dependence and addiction are not the same thing.
Physical dependence means the body has adapted to a medicine and withdrawal can occur if it stops suddenly. Addiction involves a pattern of impaired control and continued use despite harm. Taking more than prescribed or seeking multiple prescriptions can signal misuse, but no single behavior establishes an OUD diagnosis.
Stopping Suboxone abruptly can bring on Suboxone withdrawal symptoms similar to other opioid withdrawal, including muscle aches, trouble sleeping, sweating, and cravings. Because buprenorphine leaves the body slowly, these symptoms may start later and last longer than with short-acting opioids. A detailed look at how long buprenorphine lingers in the body explains the timeline.
Prescribers lower the dose gradually when someone decides to stop. A taper can reduce withdrawal symptoms, but it does not eliminate the risk of relapse or overdose after treatment ends. Continuing treatment may be appropriate for as long as it helps.
Why People Misuse Suboxone and What Raises the Risk
Some people use Suboxone without a prescription, often to ease withdrawal when they cannot get treatment. Others try to inject Suboxone or snort it to feel a stronger effect. For some, it is not the primary drug they use but a stopgap between stronger drugs, and every form of Suboxone misuse carries real risks.
Injecting or Snorting Suboxone
The naloxone in Suboxone, an opioid antagonist, is there to discourage injection. Taken under the tongue, little naloxone is absorbed, but if someone dependent on opioids injects the medicine, the naloxone can trigger sudden withdrawal. That deterrent is one reason the combination product became the more common choice over the buprenorphine-only form, as our chapter on subutex vs suboxone explains.
Injecting any crushed tablet or film also brings risks of infection and vein damage. Snorting it changes how fast the drug reaches the brain and how much is absorbed.
Mixing Suboxone With Other Substances
Combining buprenorphine with benzodiazepines, alcohol, gabapentin, pregabalin, or other sedatives can cause dangerous breathing problems. In a federal analysis of overdose deaths from July 2019 to June 2021, 92.7 percent of deaths involving buprenorphine also involved at least one other drug [2]. This describes recorded deaths, not the chance of overdose for someone taking prescribed treatment.
Benzodiazepines were among the drugs found most often in those deaths. Our post on whether benzos are opioids explains why the two drug classes are so dangerous together.
Using Suboxone Safely in Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
Suboxone is an effective medication when it is part of OUD treatment with a prescriber who can find the right dose. A dose that is too low leaves cravings and withdrawal in place, and one that is too high can cause sedation. Regular check-ins let the prescriber adjust as needs change.
In medication-assisted treatment, people taking buprenorphine also get counseling and mental health support, which helps the recovery process and long-term recovery.
Safe storage matters too. Keep the medicine in its original child-resistant packaging inside a locked container, out of sight and reach of children and others, and never share it. People living with chronic pain often wonder whether it can do double duty; our post on Suboxone and pain relief covers that question.
Does Suboxone Get You High? Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Get High on Suboxone If You’re Not Using Opioids?
Yes, people with no opioid tolerance can experience euphoria from Suboxone, along with drowsiness and nausea. They are especially vulnerable to slowed breathing, even at lower doses. Taking someone else’s prescription is unsafe. Anyone who is difficult to wake or breathing abnormally needs emergency help, regardless of how much they took.
What Does Suboxone Feel Like the First Time?
When the first dose is timed correctly, after withdrawal has started, many people feel their withdrawal symptoms ease, and their body settles. If it is taken too soon after other opioids, it can cause precipitated withdrawal, a sudden rush of intense symptoms. That is why prescribers guide the timing of the first dose closely.
Why Does Suboxone Have a Ceiling Effect?
Buprenorphine only partly activates opioid receptors. As doses rise, some effects level off, especially respiratory depression. This provides a safety advantage over full opioids when buprenorphine is taken alone, but does not mean every effect has the same ceiling. Higher doses and combinations with sedatives can still be dangerous.
Finding Steady Ground in Addiction Treatment
If you are worried about how Suboxone might feel during addiction treatment or whether it is right for you, a prescriber can talk through your history, your treatment options, and what to expect. In Pompano Beach, Simple Path Recovery’s admissions team can explain how buprenorphine fits into outpatient care.
Programs that offer treatment for opioid addiction can also be found through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s free National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. SUBOXONE (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film, prescribing information. Revised December 2025. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2025/022410s057lbl.pdf
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Overdose deaths involving buprenorphine did not proportionally increase with new flexibilities in prescribing. January 20, 2023. https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2023/01/overdose-deaths-involving-buprenorphine-did-not-proportionally-increase-with-new-flexibilities-in-prescribing
