Heroin cravings and vivitrol

[Savinmyson]

My son is just starting rehab for heroin abuse. He was a 3rd year college student with a bright future but somehow got hooked up with heroin after starting out on benzos. Please help me with some questions. First are benzos that popular among college students, 2nd how long before cravings dissipate and has anyone on here used vivitrol? How effective was it for you? How long did you take it? He has just begun his shots and I want to make sure he is on it long enough to help recent a relapse. Thank yoi

 

[cj]

Hello welcome to bluelight. I was addicted to heroin starting in college myself. Benzos are popular everywhere they aren't as ubiquitous as weed but they are fairly easy to get.

Cravings are tough. I've been off heroin for 2.5 years with the help of methodone and I still have cravings occasionally. He will deal with intense cravings at various times for the rest of his life most likely. That said the most intense cravings will come during the first 6 months. Vivitrol will not help cravings despite what the doctors pushing it say. I'll be honest I'm not a fan of vivitrol I have heard far too many horror stories involving it such as suicides, people digging the implant out of themselves, trying to break through the blockade and overdosing. It may be appropriate for someone with a small short term habit but for people with serious addiction I think it's usefulness is overstated.

The best way to treat an addiction is by treating the underlying reason why the person began using drugs. For myself that was too control ptsd from childhood abuse for others it may be depression, anxiety or any number of underlying issues. Unfortunately rehabs are very poor at doing this because treating those illnesses takes time and individual therapy which tends to be expensive. Rehabs focus on group therapy and the 12 steps because it's cheap and easy. It's also why they have a stunningly bad success rate. My advice is too enroll him in individual therapy as many times a week as you can afford in order to treat the underlying problem that led to addiction in the first place

 

[Jabberwocky]

Vivitrol is one of the least effective forms of pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder. It does little to nothing in terms of suppressing or managing cravings. It is more a behavioral aid that simply prevents someone from easily getting high.

Does your child have any outpatient based support in terms of treatment? That will be very helpful once conjunction with the Viv if he wants to continue that treatment.

How does your child feel about the Vivitrol treatment? A lot of people are pushed into that particular treatment by doctors, family and the court system, against any genuine desire for it. When treatment is at all coercive it can easily backire, so I’d suggest having a frank conversation with your child about what they want for themselves, and then doing what you can to support their own choices in recovery. It’s their own recovery after all.

I cannot imagine many things more difficult than a parent watching their child struggle with addiction. I highly recommend you get yourself and their other parent/family your own support system. Meaning individual therapy, MBSR and peer support (the individual therapist is the most important though). The parents of children with substance use disorder need to do their own healing too.

 

[Savinmyson]

Vivitrol is one of the least effective forms of pharmacotherapy for opioid use disorder. It does little to nothing in terms of suppressing or managing cravings. It is more a behavioral aid that simply prevents someone from easily getting high.

Does your child have any outpatient based support in terms of treatment? That will be very helpful once conjunction with the Viv if he wants to continue that treatment.

How does your child feel about the Vivitrol treatment? A lot of people are pushed into that particular treatment by doctors, family and the court system, against any genuine desire for it. When treatment is at all coercive it can easily backire, so I’d suggest having a frank conversation with your child about what they want for themselves, and then doing what you can to support their own choices in recovery. It’s their own recovery after all.

I cannot imagine many things more difficult than a parent watching their child struggle with addiction. I highly recommend you get yourself and their other parent/family your own support system. Meaning individual therapy, MBSR and peer support (the individual therapist is the most important though). The parents of children with substance use disorder need to do their own healing too.

I

my son says he is on board with the vivitrol. We have been trying to get him to admit he had a problem for the past year but he did his best to hide his addiction from us. This was particularly easy for him since he was away at college and then he went to live with another student out in Las Vegas (bad idea) while that student did an internship over the summer break. Anyway it was his fraternity that caught him using heroin and basically did a 5 guy intervention telling him he needs to go home and get the treatment he needed. He is lucky he was not thrown out of college. The fraternity and college was everything for him so I'm hoping he gets it. He is in a 3 month intensive outpatient program along with the shot. He hopes to go back to school in the Spring but I'd like to continue the shot and get him set up with an addiction counselor when he goes back to school. Which btw is in a rural part of the Midwest with not a lot of dr options. Especially for something like this.

It has has been very difficult for the immediate family. We have had to keep everything secretive and under the radar as he doesn't want anyone to know. My younger daughter has had her whole high school time (senior this year) clouded by his drug abuse. Basically we have all been drug down the rabbit whole with him. My daughter feels cheated she has to be involved with all this. She can't understand why he can't see what he is doing to all of us. But most importantly she is terrified he will accidentally kill himself and leave her an only child. I spend my days crying and my husband has a hard time getting out of bed to go to work in the morning.

I wish there was was an easy answer?

 

[cj]

I

my son says he is on board with the vivitrol. We have been trying to get him to admit he had a problem for the past year but he did his best to hide his addiction from us. This was particularly easy for him since he was away at college and then he went to live with another student out in Las Vegas (bad idea) while that student did an internship over the summer break. Anyway it was his fraternity that caught him using heroin and basically did a 5 guy intervention telling him he needs to go home and get the treatment he needed. He is lucky he was not thrown out of college. The fraternity and college was everything for him so I'm hoping he gets it. He is in a 3 month intensive outpatient program along with the shot. He hopes to go back to school in the Spring but I'd like to continue the shot and get him set up with an addiction counselor when he goes back to school. Which btw is in a rural part of the Midwest with not a lot of dr options. Especially for something like this.

It has has been very difficult for the immediate family. We have had to keep everything secretive and under the radar as he doesn't want anyone to know. My younger daughter has had her whole high school time (senior this year) clouded by his drug abuse. Basically we have all been drug down the rabbit whole with him. My daughter feels cheated she has to be involved with all this. She can't understand why he can't see what he is doing to all of us. But most importantly she is terrified he will accidentally kill himself and leave her an only child. I spend my days crying and my husband has a hard time getting out of bed to go to work in the morning.

I wish there was was an easy answer?

You need to get your family some support. Addiction in an adolescent or young adult is a family disease. If he is on board with the vivitrol and it's working then stick with it as long as he needs. But you need to keep the lines of communication open and honest to be sure it's working. Also keep in mind it only effects opiates it won't stop benzos and may increase the symptoms he was using benzos to offset. Have you had a conversation about why he is using drugs?

Honestly it's unlikely that this issue is just going to go away. Most people need multiple rounds of treatment and relapse before the change sticks. The best advice I can give is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Also don't let him effect your daughter in a negative way.