losangeles1993
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2017
- Messages
- 228
this is that shot that makes you not use opiates right? isn't it super expensive? how much do you pay?
Opioids Everything you could want to know about VIVITROL
- Thread starter tfield88
- Start date
Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 84,998
It is very expensive, although most insurance will cover it. The short doesn't make you not use, that is up to the individual (the shot does little to nothing for cravings, however some find it reassuring to know they won't get high if they slip up). All naltrexone does is prevent you from feeling the effects of opioids.
If is possible to undergo surgery while on naltrexone, but it isn't advisable. It is possible to break through the naltrexone but the amount and potency of opioids necessary to do so make trying very dangerous. Next to ORT naltrexone isn't very effective at maintaining abstinence, but in conjunction with or following other treatment some find it helpful.
Don't expect it to be much help with cravings though.
If is possible to undergo surgery while on naltrexone, but it isn't advisable. It is possible to break through the naltrexone but the amount and potency of opioids necessary to do so make trying very dangerous. Next to ORT naltrexone isn't very effective at maintaining abstinence, but in conjunction with or following other treatment some find it helpful.
Don't expect it to be much help with cravings though.
DoctorMolecule
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2012
- Messages
- 732
Sounds like something that would be effective if you are able to stay clean for a few weeks in between relapses and have a serious desire to stop
Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 84,998
If one has enough momentum in their recovery and supportive stuff going on elsewhere, totally.
TBH everyone I've known that this has applied to I know (granted it's only a handful) seems to end up relapsing though, so I don't really have much supportive stuff to say about it as far as opioid use disorder goes. Always seems to have been cocaine related, and most of these folks happened to have OD'd.
Naltrexone is of very limited value in all respects when it comes to opioid use disorder. It is basically proof that recovery is about a hell of a lot more than just getting clean or abstinence alone. It has however definitely helped some people I've known manage alcohol use disorder.
TBH everyone I've known that this has applied to I know (granted it's only a handful) seems to end up relapsing though, so I don't really have much supportive stuff to say about it as far as opioid use disorder goes. Always seems to have been cocaine related, and most of these folks happened to have OD'd.
Naltrexone is of very limited value in all respects when it comes to opioid use disorder. It is basically proof that recovery is about a hell of a lot more than just getting clean or abstinence alone. It has however definitely helped some people I've known manage alcohol use disorder.
subotai
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
- Messages
- 11,669
Vivitrol really is an effective way to keep someone from being able to get high but that only does so much.
the thought process I usually would wind up with is:
ok, so I get this vivitrol shot and keep myself from getting high for a month but I still feel depressed the whole time because all I really want to do is get high for a month.
it begs the question of which is worse?
being sober and miserable
or
just being miserable and continuously getting high to forget about it?
still researching that one, Ill have to get back to you
the thought process I usually would wind up with is:
ok, so I get this vivitrol shot and keep myself from getting high for a month but I still feel depressed the whole time because all I really want to do is get high for a month.
it begs the question of which is worse?
being sober and miserable
or
just being miserable and continuously getting high to forget about it?
still researching that one, Ill have to get back to you
SillyPants
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2017
- Messages
- 1
Hey everyone, I appreciate all the info. I got the shot last month. Quick bio: 33 y/o white female, 5'6", 140 lbs, DOC heroin via IV.
My doctor offered to administer the shot on my initial visit, which was only 4 days clean, which she was aware of. Fearing precipitated withdrawal, I declined and accepted an appointment 2 days later, which was my 6th day off heroin. Within 30 minutes, I began to get sicker than I've ever been in my life, this coming from someone who's detoxed cold-turkey hundreds of times in rehabs and jail cells. Uncontrollable diarrhea, projectile vomiting and muscle spasms so bad I thought I'd break my own back from contorting so hard. So, to anyone considering this shot, PLEASE make sure you're fully detoxed, I'd say 8-10 days minimum, before moving forward.
That being said, here's my experience so far. The hardcore symptoms lasted 2-3 days. I attempted to bang my usual dose on day 5. Absolutely nothing. Waste of money, nevermind very dangerous.
Being stubborn and dying to feel something, I did so again yesterday, which was day 12. It was not earth-shattering but I definitely felt it, body and mind. Today is day 13 and I caved again, same as yesterday, I feel it for sure, maybe 40% of my normal high.
I'm not proud of my failures over the past 24 hours, but I hope this information will be useful to someone else.
I've been an addict for 15 years off and on, spent 8 of those years on Subutex. Anyone has questions, please feel free to hit me up. I'm an upper middle-class educated housewife; proof that heroin addiction really can and does effect every race, gender and social class.
Good luck to everyone reading this, God bless to those struggling, and f*ck you to those with judgment in their hearts.
-SillyPants in Pennsylvania
My doctor offered to administer the shot on my initial visit, which was only 4 days clean, which she was aware of. Fearing precipitated withdrawal, I declined and accepted an appointment 2 days later, which was my 6th day off heroin. Within 30 minutes, I began to get sicker than I've ever been in my life, this coming from someone who's detoxed cold-turkey hundreds of times in rehabs and jail cells. Uncontrollable diarrhea, projectile vomiting and muscle spasms so bad I thought I'd break my own back from contorting so hard. So, to anyone considering this shot, PLEASE make sure you're fully detoxed, I'd say 8-10 days minimum, before moving forward.
That being said, here's my experience so far. The hardcore symptoms lasted 2-3 days. I attempted to bang my usual dose on day 5. Absolutely nothing. Waste of money, nevermind very dangerous.
Being stubborn and dying to feel something, I did so again yesterday, which was day 12. It was not earth-shattering but I definitely felt it, body and mind. Today is day 13 and I caved again, same as yesterday, I feel it for sure, maybe 40% of my normal high.
I'm not proud of my failures over the past 24 hours, but I hope this information will be useful to someone else.
I've been an addict for 15 years off and on, spent 8 of those years on Subutex. Anyone has questions, please feel free to hit me up. I'm an upper middle-class educated housewife; proof that heroin addiction really can and does effect every race, gender and social class.
Good luck to everyone reading this, God bless to those struggling, and f*ck you to those with judgment in their hearts.
-SillyPants in Pennsylvania
I'm a 28 year old male weighing about 150 at 5'11". I've taken the shot several times over the past 3 or so years both fully detoxed and less than 24 hrs clean. Like many of you there have been times where I took the shot essentially to appease family without personal intentions on truly trying to stay clean. I counted the days and googled my heart out trying to find out when I could actually feel the affects of using again. I used dope intranasally. It's been awhile but from my recollection I wasn't able to really get high until about day 35-37. I tried a few days before because I read that people were able to but for me there was no avail. Just a waste of money and also a depressing disappointment. I kept checking the mirror obsessively to see if there was pupil constriction; it was ridiculous.
I recently just took the shot again coming off of a pretty bad 9 month run. I couldn't get the clean time so I chose to get the shot dirty to "force" compliance. I DO NOT recommend this for anyone. Although the chances of serious damage or death are minimal, they are possible. I've read case studies of the administering of vivitrol while not being fully detoxed. Here is what you'd most likely have to look forward to, especially if the shit you've been using has fentanyl:
- feeling like you need to rip your skin off, literally. I was in the back seat of my parents car, ripped my hat off my head and tore it in two (no lie). Everything was burning and on fire and my body convulsed. It was like my addiction hulked out for stopping him for being about to get high. This is when it first started coming on about 20 to 30 mins after the shot.
- After the intital shock to my system, I just had to keep moving. I couldn't sit still for the life of me. I paced back and forth in a space that was approximately 25 ft long. I did this for about and hr and a half.
- While I was pacing the stomach cramping started to come on. You've never felt stomach cramping like this, EVER. It's like someone has stabbed you in the gut with some sort of hook and is just twisting it and jamming it deeper. It's literally takes your breath away. I don't know how bad contractions are for a female so I'd LOVE if a female whose had a child and has also experienced the PWD from taking the shot too soon to let me know if they felt that the cramping or contractions are worse.
- What goes hand in hand with the stomach cramping? Oh that's right, uncontrollable diarrhea! Frequent visits to the bathroom and very soon, you're not even pooping anymore but just losing all the water from your body. 8 to 16 oz at a time. You need to be sure to hydrate Because of this. It's very dangerous. Buttt...
- Then there's the vomiting. (I want to note that I've never vomited from withdrawal. I've actually taken the shot not detoxed two other times before this and didn't vomit. I think it's all the fentanyl and shit they're putting in the bags these days. Dope just isn't dope anymore on most sets.) ANYWAY - the vomiting is UNCONTROLLABLE! I mean PAINFUL projectile vomiting. And when there's nothing left the vomit, the contractions of your muscles don't stop. Painful dry heaving. Literally your esophagus can tear this way. Oh and btw, you're vomiting all over the walls, yourself, the floor, anyone around you, and now you have a bout of diarrhea coming on again. So you vomit and shit at the same time. Great right?
- forget sleep for the next few days/week. I mean forget it period. Not happening. The restlessness is amplified x1000 and you're completely depleted of potassium so your muscles are cramping in every which way.
There are a few more symptoms like weakness and feeling like your body is 3000 lbs but those are the bulk of the terrible ones. Now this will all peak in about 12 to 20 hours and then symptoms will slowly start to get better. It's day 17 for me now and I feel about 85-90 percent. I still get a slight stomach cramp here and there (actually getting one as I'm typing this). I started to feel a lot better at day 10. I couldn't eat for the first couple of days. I started off wth soup. It was hard to hold anything down but even harder to swallow because of how hard I was vomiting; totally wrecked my esophagus. Everything also tasted vile. Just nauseating. Even cigarettes tasted god awful and I couldn't even smoke for the first 3 days. THIS IS WITHDRAWL ON STEROIDS.
Despite all of this torturous hell, I'm still such an addict and my mind is still counting down the days until this shot has worn off and I can use "one more time" and then take the shot again. I suppose I'll see what I'm going to do when it gets there. Right now I'm going to meetings everyday and trying to tell on myself but then there's the other part of me sitting here at 4am on this forum looking at when people said they could get high after taking the shot when I have court in the morning for my first ever possession charge. Insanity right?
Anyway, to close this out. If you want to cheat, you can't. This shit works well and right. I'd personally say the earliest so that you don't waste money would be day 37 because of the half life. So 5 weeks. And if you're thinking about getting the shot while you're not detoxed, only do it if you have no other choice and you're desperate to stop because it will save your life, you just won't see it that way at first. If you do it, just hang the fuck on and be around people who love you and are willing to help take care of you with whatever it is you need. This goes a real long way.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions about my experiences.
I recently just took the shot again coming off of a pretty bad 9 month run. I couldn't get the clean time so I chose to get the shot dirty to "force" compliance. I DO NOT recommend this for anyone. Although the chances of serious damage or death are minimal, they are possible. I've read case studies of the administering of vivitrol while not being fully detoxed. Here is what you'd most likely have to look forward to, especially if the shit you've been using has fentanyl:
- feeling like you need to rip your skin off, literally. I was in the back seat of my parents car, ripped my hat off my head and tore it in two (no lie). Everything was burning and on fire and my body convulsed. It was like my addiction hulked out for stopping him for being about to get high. This is when it first started coming on about 20 to 30 mins after the shot.
- After the intital shock to my system, I just had to keep moving. I couldn't sit still for the life of me. I paced back and forth in a space that was approximately 25 ft long. I did this for about and hr and a half.
- While I was pacing the stomach cramping started to come on. You've never felt stomach cramping like this, EVER. It's like someone has stabbed you in the gut with some sort of hook and is just twisting it and jamming it deeper. It's literally takes your breath away. I don't know how bad contractions are for a female so I'd LOVE if a female whose had a child and has also experienced the PWD from taking the shot too soon to let me know if they felt that the cramping or contractions are worse.
- What goes hand in hand with the stomach cramping? Oh that's right, uncontrollable diarrhea! Frequent visits to the bathroom and very soon, you're not even pooping anymore but just losing all the water from your body. 8 to 16 oz at a time. You need to be sure to hydrate Because of this. It's very dangerous. Buttt...
- Then there's the vomiting. (I want to note that I've never vomited from withdrawal. I've actually taken the shot not detoxed two other times before this and didn't vomit. I think it's all the fentanyl and shit they're putting in the bags these days. Dope just isn't dope anymore on most sets.) ANYWAY - the vomiting is UNCONTROLLABLE! I mean PAINFUL projectile vomiting. And when there's nothing left the vomit, the contractions of your muscles don't stop. Painful dry heaving. Literally your esophagus can tear this way. Oh and btw, you're vomiting all over the walls, yourself, the floor, anyone around you, and now you have a bout of diarrhea coming on again. So you vomit and shit at the same time. Great right?
- forget sleep for the next few days/week. I mean forget it period. Not happening. The restlessness is amplified x1000 and you're completely depleted of potassium so your muscles are cramping in every which way.
There are a few more symptoms like weakness and feeling like your body is 3000 lbs but those are the bulk of the terrible ones. Now this will all peak in about 12 to 20 hours and then symptoms will slowly start to get better. It's day 17 for me now and I feel about 85-90 percent. I still get a slight stomach cramp here and there (actually getting one as I'm typing this). I started to feel a lot better at day 10. I couldn't eat for the first couple of days. I started off wth soup. It was hard to hold anything down but even harder to swallow because of how hard I was vomiting; totally wrecked my esophagus. Everything also tasted vile. Just nauseating. Even cigarettes tasted god awful and I couldn't even smoke for the first 3 days. THIS IS WITHDRAWL ON STEROIDS.
Despite all of this torturous hell, I'm still such an addict and my mind is still counting down the days until this shot has worn off and I can use "one more time" and then take the shot again. I suppose I'll see what I'm going to do when it gets there. Right now I'm going to meetings everyday and trying to tell on myself but then there's the other part of me sitting here at 4am on this forum looking at when people said they could get high after taking the shot when I have court in the morning for my first ever possession charge. Insanity right?
Anyway, to close this out. If you want to cheat, you can't. This shit works well and right. I'd personally say the earliest so that you don't waste money would be day 37 because of the half life. So 5 weeks. And if you're thinking about getting the shot while you're not detoxed, only do it if you have no other choice and you're desperate to stop because it will save your life, you just won't see it that way at first. If you do it, just hang the fuck on and be around people who love you and are willing to help take care of you with whatever it is you need. This goes a real long way.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions about my experiences.
Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 84,998
Thank you for sharing your experience with this! Have you thought about trying buprenorphine or methadone? It would almost certainly help more with cravings than naltrexone.
Well for me, if I'm going to be clean, then I don't want to put anything into my body that I'm going to become dependent on and can't just stop taking. Being addicted to dope is fucking horrible in the end. The beginning is always seemingly great but the truth is it is a liar and doesn't deliver on its promises. BUT if I'm going to take methadone or something, my opinion is I might as well just do the dope. The only reason why my experience with naltrexone was bad was simply because I wasn't clean when I took it. However, after the fact sit can really work wonders as far as giving you that safety net as you try and give yourself time away from the drugs so that your brain and how it processes things can begin to heal itself so your first automatic go to isn't "I need to get high." My experience has show that taking nalteronxe for the first couple of months and working a program can work wonders. I've stayed clean for years before while only taking vivitrol for maybe the first 3 months. But my relapses always came after being away from NA/AA for a lengthy period of time. I forget where I came from and just hope horrible things became and when opportunity meets desire I find myself saying "this time I'll just be able to do it once." Yeah right haha one and I'm fucking done, I'm off to the races. I'm an addict to the core.
Got vivitrol shot 3 days ago and have been very sick.. Will immodium help or just get blocked out? I feel like it has helped a bit but am curious. I have gabbapenton baclofen olanzipine and clonidine.. Any help on what to take ? Bastards put me into precips
Hey I believe that it varies from person to person. For me the colondine and baclofen helped a bit but the smallest amount and it's quite possible it was in my head. Gabapentin can somewhat help but I had to take large does in the past. It was a trade off because taking large does of gabapentin made me feel spacey. I'm sorry to be a buzz kill but in my personal experience nothing really helps with the precipitated withdrawals enough to truly feel relief from its terrible terrible grasp. The best thing you can do is hold the fuck on a weather the storm. You said you're at Day 4 right? Now closer to day 5 with me answering at this time. Your either halfway through or a little more than depending on your body chemistry. I've gone through precipitated withdrawal 3 times from vivitrol in the past 4 years I believe. This time was by far the worst and by day 10 I wS feeling about 80 percent. My stomach was still cramping here and there but was manageable. I still couldn't sleep that well but I'd get at least 4 or 5 hours. The weakness was still there but starting to fade. However I want bed ridden anymore. The first week I was just completely bed ridden vomiting and shitting and cramping, barely able to eat. But now I'm on day 24 and physically I'm feeling pretty great. I've been back to the gym for 2 week now (which helps A LOT) and I'm trying to feed my mind and spirit going to meetings and talking with people. You can get through this. You'll be greateful I'm sure. I still get some pretty heavy anxiety everyday but that's also due to the ending of a 2 year relationship due to my addiction. Just keep up the good fight. Talk to people. Post on here or other forums. Get support, tell people who'll understand how much it fucking sucks but just hang in there and before you know it you won't realize that quite a few days have passed you by and the worst is far behind you. I check this very few days so I'm here if you need an ear to bend. You'll be alright.
Thanks brother that means a lot. Ya the worse has passed but the sleep part sucks ..meds are helping anxiety but just increases the weakness . Like holding up1000 pounds to move . Ending a 4 yr relationship myself. I have hope tho cuz I feel good enough to write this . Thanks n I pray we sleep welll!!!
Not a problem my dude. How are you holding up? You should be feel a decent amount of relief since the last time you posted. How's the emotional aspect going with your breakup not to mention all of the other swirling emotions we feel when first getting clean. Hopefully you're back into some sort of normal routine.
deadfl0wers
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2017
- Messages
- 9
ok so has anyone besides tfield used immediately afer getting their shot and have been able to feel it decent enough? swim is getting their first shot tomorrow but would like to get high for the last time before their vivatrol journey begins
barelysane
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2017
- Messages
- 11
When will my Vivitrol shot wear off enough for me to get high?
Hey so I'm on Vivitrol but I still wanna get high I just can't lol...and i don't want to waste my money buying a bag of dope and slamming it and not feeling anything. I had my shot on Oct 11 (I had just one before that, 2 so far) and my next one is scheduled for Nov 8th...that's about a 28 day gap. I don't care if I have to do a little more to override it, but when will I likely be able to get high again? Like does it actually last fully for 28 days or is that just what the doc tells me...
Hey so I'm on Vivitrol but I still wanna get high I just can't lol...and i don't want to waste my money buying a bag of dope and slamming it and not feeling anything. I had my shot on Oct 11 (I had just one before that, 2 so far) and my next one is scheduled for Nov 8th...that's about a 28 day gap. I don't care if I have to do a little more to override it, but when will I likely be able to get high again? Like does it actually last fully for 28 days or is that just what the doc tells me...