Vivitrol information for those forced into it, effects and timelines
Hey all, I've been a long time lurker here and finally decided to post my information on Vivitrol, the 30 day shot that slowly releases that nasty Naltrexone into your ass cheek... I have done extensive research on vivitrol pretty much every day for the past month. I have read the FDA report, the case studies, as well as many personal experiences with this drug. I noticed from all the experiences that the results vary widely from person to person. This is just my personal experience to add to the mixed results with this drug.
First off a little background info. I am 24 now and have been using drugs since the age of 13. At 16 I got sick and was in a lot of pain and that was the first time I tried an opiate. They shot me up with two doses of morphine in the hospital and wheeled my bed to the MRI station and I remember laying down in the bed as we went up in the elevator and I felt wonderful! Warm, cozy, happy, and stress/pain free. After that I got a prescription for percocet and finished my 30 pills in a week. I knew from then on that my DOC was opiates. After I brief stint with oxys, I ended up on IV heroin at the age of 17 and continued everyday till the age of 20 when I first got sent to rehab. I got a year and a half then relapsed and got sober again for another 2.5 years. Recently I went out for 6 weeks and ran out of money and got evicted so I ended up back at home and my parents forced me to get the vivitrol shot. I had no money at the time so I grudgingly agreed. I got the shot 22 days ago after a 7 day detox.
Day 1, Dec 15 - went to the doctor and got the vivitrol shot. It was a giant 2 inch 18 gauge needle that was shot into my right upper glute. It stung a little bit but not too much. I drove home feeling no different until a few hours later. Things started to feel "off." It's hard to describe, it wasn't precipitated withdrawals but it definitely made me feel weird. This sucked because at day 6, right before the shot, I finally started to feel better from my detox and this put me 2 steps back in my feeling normal. I had my last doses of benzos and ambien which I used and was able to sleep through the night. Though I did not eat anything that day or have any desire to eat.
Day 2 - Still feeling weird, no appetite, upset stomach, and INTENSE cravings. I felt like shit. I decided to try the gym because in my past it has always helped me tremendously through my post detox. I am in good shape and had been working out every day prior to my 6 week relapse. I got to the gym and did the elliptical. I only set it for 15 minutes and it was a hugeeeeee struggle. After the elliptical I went into the steam room then left to go back home. I got ZERO relief from the workout. The vivitrol completely blocked my endogenous opioids and all that happened was me ending up incredibly sore. I had no pain relief and my back was killing me. My back was fucked up for the next 10 days and nothing helped. That night I got maybe 3 hours of sleep which for me is unmanageable. Cravings sky rocketed here on day 2. I already have a pretty low pain tolerance (I think from my years of opiate abuse), and my brain kept telling me to use to feel better but I knew it would be futile.
Days 3-6 - Still feel like shit, appetite is off and the pain is still present. Sleep is still fucked up and overall very displeased with this shot. Around day 4, the pain in my ass (Literally!) started to ease up. The worst part is that at day 6 of my detox, right before the shot, I was feeling about 85% normal and the shot knocked me right back to ~50%. This was super frustrating and exacerbated the cravings. I still had a few suboxone left over and had read that some people had some success feeling a little opiate buzz from IV suboxone. This is due to the high affinity of Bupe. Naltrexone blocks opiate receptors through competitive binding and bupe appears to have a higher binding affinity than naltrexone. On day 6 I decided to take 6mg of suboxone sublingually. I don't IV pills and I hate snorting drugs. I took it and had very minimal effect, most likely placebo if anything. I think it failed because the naltrexone plasma levels in the first week is just too high and even with the higher affinity, it was too small a dose to override the ~15mg of naltrexone in my system. Bummed with the failure I craved even harder to feel my sweet sweet heroin and get some relief.
Day 7-10 - The pain at injection site returned and lasted until day 10, I believe this was due to the polymers in my butt breaking down at a quicker rate. Back pain and insomnia was still present but started to ease up slightly. Appetite was coming back a bit but food tasted off. I craved sweets which I thought would give me some of my natural feel goods but the vivitrol blocked it and sweets were not as fun as they used to be.
Day 11-14 - I started feeling a bit better. My pain was letting up and I was getting at least 6 hours of sleep a night. From my research, I read that the plasma level of naltrexone starts to decline after day 14. I took my last 4 mg of suboxone and attempted to prepare for IV. Unfortunately I had no micron filter and no good method of preparation. Unable to get a clear shot, I ended up snorting the somewhat milky liquid instead of wrecking a vein. This time I definitely felt a SLIGHT opiate buzz. Not even a buzz really, just felt normal finally. That day I went on a 3 mile walk with my dog and made it the entire way without much pain. The next day however I was sore! Though I slept well and felt the best I had since the shot.
Day 15-21 - Each day I started to feel better and sleep better. My appetite returned and I started to get enjoyment from things that release natural endorphin's. Not a full on runners high or chocolate high but definitely got some relief. In a few experiences I read I saw that people could start feeling the heroin high around day 20-22 though still blunted by the naltrexone. Decided to pick up .5 of some BTH for testing the following day. (For the sake of science of course.... ;P)
Day 22 (Today) - Decided to try and see if I could get off on some of my BTH. It is what I had been using before and is decent quality. Not "fire" per say but definitely not bunk. I have been blessed with a fast metabolism and had been urinating quite frequently since day 14. Naltrexone is primarily excreted through the urine so I imagined I got a lot of it out withing the past few days. Knowing that the naltrexone, once completely out of your system, actually sensitizes your opiate receptors, I decided to try smoking a point first to make sure I didn't blast my head off with a shot. I smoked the point and felt a slight high. VERY minimal but definitely something. I decided that I still had a decent blockade of my receptors and that I could do a shot without overdosing. I set up .2 in a shot, registered, plunged........ and got a nice buzz!!!! This is day 22 of the "28" day shot. Before getting sober, I was doing .5 shots minimum so this was much less then before and I still got a good buzz. I got a rush, though much less pronounced. Not so much the pins and needles but definitely the warmth and comfort running all over my body. Pupils went to pins and the wonderful itch came back. I'm now writing this feeling warm and wonderful for the first time since I got this damn shot. I got my energy back and the pain relief is wonderful. I don't plan on using again until I get a few more days so that I don't waste the stuff. I'd say this high was 50-70% of my usual and that's off of less then half of what I dosed before. I plan to wait and use less until I get back to 100%.
Conclusion:
Please note that this is only my personal experience and that your results may vary wildly if you take this drug. First of all this is my first injection, I know with multiple injections there is a slight accumulation in the naltrexone levels in your body and it may take longer to feel the effects of your DOC. Secondly, attempting to override the naltrexone blockade can be VERY DANGEROUS if you are reckless. I have read reports of people shooting grams+ to attempt to override the blockade while its strong. The naltrexone only blocks the euphoria of the drug but the respiratory depression still occurs and people have died from this (without even getting high!!!) It's not worth it for the first 20 days and if you do try I would stop at .5 and if you don't feel it just wait. Also when the vivitrol completely wears off, day 26-35, your tolerance will be super low due to the abstinence and sensitization of your receptors. Please don't due your normal dose after completing treatment.
I wrote this article mostly for the people who are forced into this shot. I had no desire of stopping and only did this till I could get back on my feet, which I now have money and a place to go. I do not plan on getting another shot. For me the shot made me feel horrible. I felt like I was trapped in a prison inside my body. I have detoxed 100's of times and never was it this long and painful. My depression and anxiety sky rocketed until a little after the 2nd week when it started wearing off and it did absolutely nothing for my cravings. In fact, I think it made the cravings worse. It was a daily countdown till I was far enough to try and use and that made every day feel 2x longer than usual. As for the time frames, everyone will be different. There are several factors including metabolism and duration on the shot that will effect the levels of naltrexone in your system. I have read of people getting full on high around day 20 (Though rare) and people being unable to get high at all until day 35. Please don't give me shit for using on this drug, I know its meant to keep you sober but if you aren't ready yet then just like most real addicts you will attempt to beat the shot. The key is to be smart and safe while attempting to do so.
HOWEVER, if you are seriously ready to stop using dope... mentally, spiritually, and physically, then this drug might be perfect for you. Though you will feel like shit the first shot (I heard it gets better each successive shot) and your cravings won't be helped like sub or methadone maintenance, this will give you that extra crutch to get through the rough beginning of sobriety. If the shot works normally for you and you get it every 28 days you won't be able to get high at all and won't want to waste your money. That is key for an early addict because even with the strongest desire to stop, that early part of your recovery can still trick you and you could end up high and starting all over. This disease is insidious and can pull you back in at the drop of a hat (or the trigger of a thought in my case).
Anyways, this is my experience and I wanted to share it as I'm sure there are people like me who got the shot and ended up doing shit tons of research on it. If you have any questions please feel free to ask, if I am able to answer I will! I will also keep posted on what happens in the next few days and what day I find the shot to be completely out of my system.
Enjoy!
-Toot