Sweating buprenorphine

An excellent brief article on buprenorphine treatment has been provided by Taikato et al. (2005), which notes the common possible side-effects (headaches, nausea and vomiting, sweating, constipation, etc.) and drug interactions. The limited central depressant effect of buprenorphine may be compounded by alcohol and antidepressants, while the metabolism of buprenorphine can be enhanced by anticonvulsants, with therefore possibly reduced efficacy. There have been some case reports of liver toxicity from buprenorphine that is reversible if the medication is stopped (Herve et al. 2004), and often clinical guidelines will recommend that liver function tests are included in buprenorphine treatment, as they definitely should be with naltrexone. 

Al-Adwani A Basu N (2004). Methadone and excessive sweating. Addiction, 99, 259 Alford DP, Compton P Samet JH (2006). Acute pain management for patients receiving maintenance methadone or buprenorphine therapy. Annals of Internal Medicine, 144, 127-134... 

Concheiro M, Shakleya DM, Huestis MA (2011) Simultaneous analysis of buprenorphine, methadone, cocaine, opiates and nicotine metabolites in sweat by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 400(1 ) 69-78... 

Observational studies The role of buprenorphine in the treatment of non-psy-chotic major depression has been explored in six treatment-resistant patients with severe non-psychotic depression [183 ]. They received buprenorphine 0.8-2 mg/day and their depressive symptoms improved within 1 week. In the initial days, they had adverse effects such as nausea, constipation, sedation, dizziness, and sweating. 

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