Major issues with Brixadi (and not getting quality medical attention in inpatient treatment.) Please help!!

[LoopyWorm]

So, right now, I am in a partial hospitalization program after having graduated from the 30 day residential program at the facility I am at right now. When I was in the residential program I was given 2 doses of 16mg Brixadi (weekly,) and it was determined to be too weak so I began the 24mg weekly and received two doses of it which worked well for me. It was just the last 24 hours before my next dose was due that was a little challenging.

They then switched me to the 96mg monthly dose on the day my usual 24mg weekly dose was due. It lasted 3 days then I began to feel it seem like it was wearing off. I went to bed, and when I woke up I was extremely irritable and my skin felt like it was crawling off. This eventually turned into muscle aches, restlessness, and extreme nausea the next day. Eventually these symptoms faded and the restlessness took over along with cravings which became quite severe initially and have been wavering in intensity ever since.

Looking at the pharmacokinetics, its obvious that the monthly dose doesn't reach steady state until 4 months out and so boosters should be used to avoid putting patients into withdrawal when transitioning from the weekly (especially considering the Cmax is about 65% lower on first dose than on 4th dose, and Cthrough is 124% lower on first dose than on 4th.) The 24mg weekly and 96mg monthly are roughly the equivalent once steady state is reached, but (again) that takes 4 doses for either one. I'm not sure why they didn't bother setting up for boosters to be given right as soon as the withdrawal began. If anyone has an idea as to why, please fill me in.

Its now been almost 2 weeks since the monthly dose was given. I was told boosters would be given after I requested medical attention, but the bosters never came (insurance issue? Idk. There has been no communication since I spoke with the prescriber who told me he was going to check if insurance would approve it, or if it needed a prior authorization.) It already took days before I saw the prescriber and by then the worst of it seemed to be over, but the restlessness and cravings have been ruining me mentally and emotionally.

Now, today, I am feeling generally unwell and I am sick of having cravings. I am not sure what to do. Other guys here have been having issues with the Brixadi shot too but it seems they're not in quite as bad shape as I am, and they've also struggled in getting medical care to resolve the issue. Initially I was told to tough it out by the first nurse I talked to, but then once I talked to the prescriber (head nurse practicioner) he told me about the boosters like I mentioned. So, I feel forgotten since its been so long since we talked and I have had no answer. I have had numerous requests sent to receive some sort of response at least, but nothing still. Maybe next week on Monday or Tuesday I will get to speak with the prescriber again, but if not I don't know what to do.

My question is what should I do here? They only offer Brixadi or naltrexone (which I don't believe would suit my condition due to the severity of it, and plus I am already established on buprenorphine for the past 2.5 months.) I was on suboxone when I got to residential here which they took away immediately and let me go into withdrawal before finally giving me the Brixadi once my insurance approved it. I am not sure if this was right of them, but its what they did even after telling the last facility I was at that they would keep me on it until the Brixadi was given. I want to switch to sublocade or back to suboxone when I leave because I am sick of the issues I have been having with the Brixadi (doses wearing off too soon.) Everyone here talks up sublocade, and I know suboxone works well for me too thus why I want to switch to either of those.

I plan to go to sober living out of state, but I am not scheduled for release until the end of the first week of September. I have been trying to find local sober living instead just to have somewhere to go until I can get things lined up for out of state so I am not in misery, but I have had no luck. I have nowhere else to go right now as I am homeless.

I just want to get better, but to get the MAT I need I would have to leave meaning nowhere to stay and no food after my little bit of savings run out. There is another program that offers MAT, but its much longer and would be a major setback. I have to get back to work as soon as possible as I haven't worked since March aside from one week before I relapsed and ended up having to go back into treatment.

Any suggestions here anyone?

 

[pixies+]

I’d really like to help you. I have no experience with those meds other than methadone and suboxone (which I’m currently on).

I totally see how insanely frustrating all this has to be… and how backwards it all is. Makes me so sad… really does hurt my heart.

I’d like to reach out to a couple people to see if there’s any advice we can try to offer you.

Of course you know we can’t really give medical advice… but we definitely should be able to give you some information to look into that could help you make some decisions with the help of your doctor (even though they really don’t seem very helpful right now).

I feel for you loopyworm. I truly hope we’ll be able to at least point you in the right direction…

Try to hang in there hey? As tough as it is…
I’m going to try my very best to help as best as I can the knowledge on this site is something that never ceases to amaze me.

 

[LoopyWorm]

I’d really like to help you. I have no experience with those meds other than methadone and suboxone (which I’m currently on).

I totally see how insanely frustrating all this has to be… and how backwards it all is. Makes me so sad… really does hurt my heart.

I’d like to reach out to a couple people to see if there’s any advice we can try to offer you.

Of course you know we can’t really give medical advice… but we definitely should be able to give you some information to look into that could help you make some decisions with the help of your doctor (even though they really don’t seem very helpful right now).

I feel for you loopyworm. I truly hope we’ll be able to at least point you in the right direction…

Try to hang in there hey? As tough as it is…
I’m going to try my very best to help as best as I can the knowledge on this site is something that never ceases to amaze me.

Okay, I look forward to anything you all have to offer which could be of help to me at this time. Thank you for your understanding and compassion, and I will do my best to keep hanging in there for the time being even though it is quite a chore at times.

 

[tryptakid]

So, right now, I am in a partial hospitalization program after having graduated from the 30 day residential program at the facility I am at right now. When I was in the residential program I was given 2 doses of 16mg Brixadi (weekly,) and it was determined to be too weak so I began the 24mg weekly and received two doses of it which worked well for me. It was just the last 24 hours before my next dose was due that was a little challenging.

They then switched me to the 96mg monthly dose on the day my usual 24mg weekly dose was due. It lasted 3 days then I began to feel it seem like it was wearing off. I went to bed, and when I woke up I was extremely irritable and my skin felt like it was crawling off. This eventually turned into muscle aches, restlessness, and extreme nausea the next day. Eventually these symptoms faded and the restlessness took over along with cravings which became quite severe initially and have been wavering in intensity ever since.

Looking at the pharmacokinetics, its obvious that the monthly dose doesn't reach steady state until 4 months out and so boosters should be used to avoid putting patients into withdrawal when transitioning from the weekly (especially considering the Cmax is about 65% lower on first dose than on 4th dose, and Cthrough is 124% lower on first dose than on 4th.) The 24mg weekly and 96mg monthly are roughly the equivalent once steady state is reached, but (again) that takes 4 doses for either one. I'm not sure why they didn't bother setting up for boosters to be given right as soon as the withdrawal began. If anyone has an idea as to why, please fill me in.

Its now been almost 2 weeks since the monthly dose was given. I was told boosters would be given after I requested medical attention, but the bosters never came (insurance issue? Idk. There has been no communication since I spoke with the prescriber who told me he was going to check if insurance would approve it, or if it needed a prior authorization.) It already took days before I saw the prescriber and by then the worst of it seemed to be over, but the restlessness and cravings have been ruining me mentally and emotionally.

Now, today, I am feeling generally unwell and I am sick of having cravings. I am not sure what to do. Other guys here have been having issues with the Brixadi shot too but it seems they're not in quite as bad shape as I am, and they've also struggled in getting medical care to resolve the issue. Initially I was told to tough it out by the first nurse I talked to, but then once I talked to the prescriber (head nurse practicioner) he told me about the boosters like I mentioned. So, I feel forgotten since its been so long since we talked and I have had no answer. I have had numerous requests sent to receive some sort of response at least, but nothing still. Maybe next week on Monday or Tuesday I will get to speak with the prescriber again, but if not I don't know what to do.

My question is what should I do here? They only offer Brixadi or naltrexone (which I don't believe would suit my condition due to the severity of it, and plus I am already established on buprenorphine for the past 2.5 months.) I was on suboxone when I got to residential here which they took away immediately and let me go into withdrawal before finally giving me the Brixadi once my insurance approved it. I am not sure if this was right of them, but its what they did even after telling the last facility I was at that they would keep me on it until the Brixadi was given. I want to switch to sublocade or back to suboxone when I leave because I am sick of the issues I have been having with the Brixadi (doses wearing off too soon.) Everyone here talks up sublocade, and I know suboxone works well for me too thus why I want to switch to either of those.

I plan to go to sober living out of state, but I am not scheduled for release until the end of the first week of September. I have been trying to find local sober living instead just to have somewhere to go until I can get things lined up for out of state so I am not in misery, but I have had no luck. I have nowhere else to go right now as I am homeless.

I just want to get better, but to get the MAT I need I would have to leave meaning nowhere to stay and no food after my little bit of savings run out. There is another program that offers MAT, but its much longer and would be a major setback. I have to get back to work as soon as possible as I haven't worked since March aside from one week before I relapsed and ended up having to go back into treatment.

Any suggestions here anyone?

Hey bud,

Sorry you're going through it. Brixadi is newer but the monthly formulation is not too dissimilar to Sublocade - similar total dose of 96mg (Brixadi) 100mg (Sublocade) and similar duration of action/elimination profile etc.

I've been through opioid withdrawal and I've been on MAT before. I've also worked in MAT programs a very long time (15+ years) since getting clean from heroin. I've seen pills become strips become injections with bupe, and i've seen dope become fetty become tranq.

One of the hardest things about opioid withdrawal is the nexus between the physical and the psychological. The skin crawling which intersects with cravings - the hypersensitivity to sound which intersects with anxiety.

The good news and the bad news:

Bad news - You might be waiting for a booster that could not be covered by insurance and held up in PA hell. Depending on the program, they may not prioritize this as much as you'd like them to. It sucks but that's the reality of these kinds of programs and how much it sucks to have to devote clinical time to sitting on hold and trying to push a PA through.

Good news - you're 2 weeks away from your next dose. You've already made it this far, and the next dose will be much more easily adjusted to than the first. Also, your body is adjusting, even if you're still feeling stressed/restless/anxious.

My biggest piece of advice is this: Distract yourself. Try to stop reading the literature about pharmacokinetics and focus on just letting yourself work on recovery. If you feel like shit, let yourself feel like shit. We have to adjust to dealing with normal ups and downs and having good days and bad days in order to heal and grow. Your addiction is what got you here, and your addiction is what's telling you that you want another booster, that you can't handle it without it, that you just need that one more dose to feel better - sound familiar? It's the lie we tell ourselves with opioids - that we can't do it without that little bit extra - except it's never really enough. It's only enough in the moments before we get it up until the time just after when we realize we still wish it was more.

Once is too many, a thousand is never enough.

My biggest recommendation is use this to get off of MAT. The grey in between of suboxone keeps you tethered between sick and well - never giving you the bliss of getting high, nor the freedom of abstinence. It might keep you able to manage, but at the expense of being able to be free from programs, piss tests, and Prior Authorizations.

Exercise, diet, hydration, hot showers, masturbation, distraction, meetings, breathing exercises - 5 inhale / 7 hold / 8 exhale - do it a few times. Do a body scan after, start at your head and scan down to your temples, jaw, shoulders - relax - scan your chest and back, your stomach and hips - relax - your waist and your legs, down to your feet - relax.

Picture a place you like to be - somewhere that makes you happy - maybe it's a vacation spot or it's the beach - maybe it's the mountains or the woods - wherever it is, picture it in your mind and notice what you see there - then, what you hear, then smell, taste, feel there - then let your senses be active and just let yourself be there for a moment.

Then find your breath-back into your body, and be present in the there here and now.

Let yourself go through this and believe that you can be stronger than it. You've got 2 more weeks until your next dose - you made it through the hard part already.

 

[pixies+]

Okay, I look forward to anything you all have to offer which could be of help to me at this time. Thank you for your understanding and compassion, and I will do my best to keep hanging in there for the time being even though it is quite a chore at times.

I was originally put on methadone. 120mg. I didn’t NEED that much… but I wanted it. And then, I didn’t. I decided I needed to get off of it and I was going to do it fast. I went from 120 to about … 8-10mg within a year. The hardest part was once I hit 30.

During this time on 8-10 (I have a bad memory so it’s the best I can do) I relapsed on crack - which I hate. But I “needed” something. I ended up inhaling the burning steel wool into my throat. Ouch… I finished my couple grams, slept a little then went to the hospital. I didn’t tell them about the methadone, they didn’t ask. I was handed Dilaudid and morphine like candy. Snorted first then I went the iv route. I was on 16mg of suboxone shortly after.

Then I relapsed on shady 8s (fent/dills). Went up to 24mg subs.

Before Christmas I went from 24mg to 16. Then 16mg to 8mg. It was very VERY difficult. Not really sure how i got through it, but I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t do myself any favours with the big drops. My brain needed time to heal and I didn’t allow it.

Now I’m sort of in my own mess again. Haven’t picked anything up, but I’m struggling.

You’ll find all sorts of people here in various stages of use, addiction, and recovery. My suggestion? Find the people that are more interested in staying sober. Don’t count the others off.. just try not to get caught up in the romanticizing of addiction. There’s not a romantic thing in this world when it comes to certain drugs. Not for the addicts. Funny lie we like to tell ourselves - or I do, at least.

@tryptakid offered some great advice. Thanks for that!!

If you have any questions or concerns that you’d rather not post on the forum, feel free to inbox either one of us. We’re here to help. And if I know there’s something I don’t have the experience with, I’ll always do what I can to find someone that has it.

Like tryptakid said, you’re already 2 weeks in! That’s HUGE. TRY not to allow yourself to get overwhelmed - hah - when you do get overwhelmed, try not to suffer through it. You’d be surprised at how much simple breathing exercises really do help.

Please stay safe and be well

 

[LoopyWorm]

Hey bud,

Sorry you're going through it. Brixadi is newer but the monthly formulation is not too dissimilar to Sublocade - similar total dose of 96mg (Brixadi) 100mg (Sublocade) and similar duration of action/elimination profile etc.

I've been through opioid withdrawal and I've been on MAT before. I've also worked in MAT programs a very long time (15+ years) since getting clean from heroin. I've seen pills become strips become injections with bupe, and i've seen dope become fetty become tranq.

One of the hardest things about opioid withdrawal is the nexus between the physical and the psychological. The skin crawling which intersects with cravings - the hypersensitivity to sound which intersects with anxiety.

The good news and the bad news:

Bad news - You might be waiting for a booster that could not be covered by insurance and held up in PA hell. Depending on the program, they may not prioritize this as much as you'd like them to. It sucks but that's the reality of these kinds of programs and how much it sucks to have to devote clinical time to sitting on hold and trying to push a PA through.

Good news - you're 2 weeks away from your next dose. You've already made it this far, and the next dose will be much more easily adjusted to than the first. Also, your body is adjusting, even if you're still feeling stressed/restless/anxious.

My biggest piece of advice is this: Distract yourself. Try to stop reading the literature about pharmacokinetics and focus on just letting yourself work on recovery. If you feel like shit, let yourself feel like shit. We have to adjust to dealing with normal ups and downs and having good days and bad days in order to heal and grow. Your addiction is what got you here, and your addiction is what's telling you that you want another booster, that you can't handle it without it, that you just need that one more dose to feel better - sound familiar? It's the lie we tell ourselves with opioids - that we can't do it without that little bit extra - except it's never really enough. It's only enough in the moments before we get it up until the time just after when we realize we still wish it was more.

Once is too many, a thousand is never enough.

My biggest recommendation is use this to get off of MAT. The grey in between of suboxone keeps you tethered between sick and well - never giving you the bliss of getting high, nor the freedom of abstinence. It might keep you able to manage, but at the expense of being able to be free from programs, piss tests, and Prior Authorizations.

Exercise, diet, hydration, hot showers, masturbation, distraction, meetings, breathing exercises - 5 inhale / 7 hold / 8 exhale - do it a few times. Do a body scan after, start at your head and scan down to your temples, jaw, shoulders - relax - scan your chest and back, your stomach and hips - relax - your waist and your legs, down to your feet - relax.

Picture a place you like to be - somewhere that makes you happy - maybe it's a vacation spot or it's the beach - maybe it's the mountains or the woods - wherever it is, picture it in your mind and notice what you see there - then, what you hear, then smell, taste, feel there - then let your senses be active and just let yourself be there for a moment.

Then find your breath-back into your body, and be present in the there here and now.

Let yourself go through this and believe that you can be stronger than it. You've got 2 more weeks until your next dose - you made it through the hard part already.

Thank you very much for the elaborate and thoughtful response. It has already helped me a lot just in reading it alone. I will be sure to keep everything you have said in mind as I carry on here, and I will be sure to use the suggested tools you provided examples of as well. I wish that there were more feedback like this from those in the groups here or even from the facilitators themselves.

I can't thank you enough.

I was originally put on methadone. 120mg. I didn’t NEED that much… but I wanted it. And then, I didn’t. I decided I needed to get off of it and I was going to do it fast. I went from 120 to about … 8-10mg within a year. The hardest part was once I hit 30.

During this time on 8-10 (I have a bad memory so it’s the best I can do) I relapsed on crack - which I hate. But I “needed” something. I ended up inhaling the burning steel wool into my throat. Ouch… I finished my couple grams, slept a little then went to the hospital. I didn’t tell them about the methadone, they didn’t ask. I was handed Dilaudid and morphine like candy. Snorted first then I went the iv route. I was on 16mg of suboxone shortly after.

Then I relapsed on shady 8s (fent/dills). Went up to 24mg subs.

Before Christmas I went from 24mg to 16. Then 16mg to 8mg. It was very VERY difficult. Not really sure how i got through it, but I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t do myself any favours with the big drops. My brain needed time to heal and I didn’t allow it.

Now I’m sort of in my own mess again. Haven’t picked anything up, but I’m struggling.

You’ll find all sorts of people here in various stages of use, addiction, and recovery. My suggestion? Find the people that are more interested in staying sober. Don’t count the others off.. just try not to get caught up in the romanticizing of addiction. There’s not a romantic thing in this world when it comes to certain drugs. Not for the addicts. Funny lie we like to tell ourselves - or I do, at least.

@tryptakid offered some great advice. Thanks for that!!

If you have any questions or concerns that you’d rather not post on the forum, feel free to inbox either one of us. We’re here to help. And if I know there’s something I don’t have the experience with, I’ll always do what I can to find someone that has it.

Like tryptakid said, you’re already 2 weeks in! That’s HUGE. TRY not to allow yourself to get overwhelmed - hah - when you do get overwhelmed, try not to suffer through it. You’d be surprised at how much simple breathing exercises really do help.

Please stay safe and be well

Thank you very much as well. I greatly appreciate the additional, personal story of your journey and how you made it.

Also, as you said, I will be in touch if there is anything more I need from you privately. I am very grateful for the offer. I know this isn't something I can do alone.

And, lastly, I will bear in mind what you've mentioned about the users of these forums and the way in which I should associate myself to match my recovery needs. This is something I need to definitely keep in mind as I proceed lest I backtrack which I do _not_ want to allow to happen.



I appreciate the promptness of both of you in your responding to me, and also for all the helpful information contained within the responses. So, thank you both once again!

I will be glad to see you two around in the future!

 

[LoopyWorm]

Just an update for everyone, I finally was given the booster dose earlier today. As it was suspected, a prior authorization was needed. But, that wasn't the hold up. The prior auth went through within 24 hours or less of the original denial, and the facility where I am located was to have received it last Thursday (the day after the provider initially called it in.) I discovered this after my insurance's website showed it as having been approved and filled. I had to call to find out what pharmacy it was for certain that filled it, and once I did I got the information.

Before I called though, I had to speak with the one of the two nurses that is tasked with administering the injections for the PHP program. We rarely see them, so when she came to teach our group today I immediately began asking questions and showed her the approval. She messaged the provider who said it was denied, then after he was told it showed approved he told her she was to call the pharmacy. So, she did right before I did my digging to get the full story of what happened.

I don't even know if it was my prescription that I received or one of the boosters they keep on hand here, but because I didn't see a name label on it I suspect it was a "house" dose. That doesn't matter so much, but it made me wonder what happened to the one with my name on it which was sent over. Why did they not receive it with all the other meds and realize it was due to be administered? Sure, it wasn't ordered because the provider thought it was denied because he never followed up after the initial denial, but if it _was_ received then surely someone would have noticed. Another mystery just as good as the two extra doses of the weekly shots I was on before which I notice had been billed to my insurance that I had neither ever been due for nor did I received. Makes me wonder just how chaotic it must be in nursing. I always have thought they needed more staff to keep up for other reasons (med line in residential sometimes got ridiculous, and I waited 4 hours for meds one night last I was here with average wait times of 1-2 hours.)

But, I guess the reason I am sharing now is because I want to point out to anyone who is reading in a similar position how important it is to advocate for oneself. Luckily I had my phone to push my case because if not (say I was still in residential for example,) then they never would have gotten me what they billed my insurance for and should have received.

I want to emphasize that this took a week and a half to get sorted. Initially, I spoke to nursing directly about how I was entering withdrawal and got no resolve (was even told that PHP shouldn't be asking residential nurses for anything though she did message but never got a response.) Then, after filing a paper request to see the provider, I waited 4 days to speak with him. The next day I spoke with him again to confirm the course of action and he stated he would call it in that evening and it should be to me as soon as approved (usually instant, or with prior authorization an extra day or two.) Mind you, I had to reach out to him, not him to me as he said would happen. Twenty four more hours later and I heard nothing, so I talked to a tech who messaged the provider. I got no response. The next day I asked a tech to check if he responded and she literally blew me off. The next tech said I had to request to talk to the provider again via a paper request which I made. No response. Then talked to case management and they messaged the provider. No response. That leads us up to today when I addressed the nurse directly after coincidentally/luckily having discovered that the insurance was billed earlier that day, and even then getting the issue resolved took some work as you read earlier.

So, moral of the story: always advocate for yourself and never give up. It took that much work, but I already am feeling much better and will finally sleep well tonight. Sure it will wear off in a few days, but I _need_ rest and having this in me will surely prevent me from leaving against medical advice as I was seriously beginning to consider more and more as my condition began nagging more and more. I doubt I get the second dose before my next monthly that I was promised, but I am greatful for this alone.

And, on the bright side, all that suffering has led me to find some amazing sober living homes in my area. Not only that, but these homes are nationwide and even global really! They are the perfect fit for me, and had I not struggled I never would have found them. So, always look on the bright side of things if you are reading this right now struggling. Always perservere and problem solve as best you can, and in the end you will be rewarded for your efforts in more ways than you could possibly imagine!!

I hope this helps someone in the future somehow, but quite frankly I think most people will see the length of this and not be bothered to read the text. A shame though if they do if you ask me because its got a good lesson to teach haha. Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Peace

 

[LoopyWorm]

Another update: approximately 7 days post administration of the 8mg booster and I was left hanging again as suspected would happen. That night I vomitted 3 times at around 2AM. The next day I was nauseated all day until evening when I could finally consume around 400 calories (only had 2 mini boxes of cereal at lunch; couldn't even fathom breakfast.) And got to sleep very early for me, then when I woke the next day strong muscle aches occurred all day and abdominal cramps were severe all that day.

Wrote a note to medical, and provider is increasing dose to 128mg monthtly. I am really hoping this works well as I go on to sober living in a few weeks and want to make sure I am in good shape. I imagine I will be when looking at the difference in pharmacokinetics between the 96mg and 128mg dose. It doesn't seem like a major difference, but the 128mg dose seems to hold a lot more promise for someone with a high opioid tolerance.

Hoping my information is helpful to anyone seeking more knowledge on this newer form of MAT. I see very little online, thus why I am sharing as this unfolds. I am not sure what will happen when I leave as not many prescribers in my area seem to exist that will work with my new schedule I will have to have in my day to day life, but I will keep everyone up to date none the less.

 

[pixies+]

But, I guess the reason I am sharing now is because I want to point out to anyone who is reading in a similar position how important it is to advocate for oneself. Luckily I had my phone to push my case because if not (say I was still in residential for example,) then they never would have gotten me what they billed my insurance for and should have received.

ADVOCATE ADVOCATE ADVOCATE!!!!

This is something I’ve learned to do over the years… sometimes I have to use piss and vinegar because “honey” doesn’t work. I’ve been in my fair share of arguments with doctors and nurses. I’m not a confrontational person… I dislike it so much.

But it is sooooooo necessary to make sure people are aware that you’re watching them.
And you have questions. Never allow yourself to get shut down. I’d be demanding answers… but that’s just me. Don’t do anything that would jeopardize you being there

Im glad you’ve been updating… not sure how I missed your last post.

And thanks for keeping us updated. I’ve sent this particular post to another member as he was asking about Brixadi.

 

[pixies+]

And, on the bright side, all that suffering has led me to find some amazing sober living homes in my area. Not only that, but these homes are nationwide and even global really! They are the perfect fit for me, and had I not struggled I never would have found them. So, always look on the bright side of things if you are reading this right now struggling. Always perservere and problem solve as best you can, and in the end you will be rewarded for your efforts in more ways than you could possibly imagine!!

I love this for you!! Life really does have some funny ways of showing us certain things when we least expect it.

Very good advice man. You’re doing so great.. I believe in you

 

[LoopyWorm]

Update: Medical only administed the 96mg monthly dose after all as of yesterday. Withdrawal issues are resolved as of now and I have less cravings, but I am concerned about it wearing off early again. I am due to leave inpatient in about 3.5 weeks, so I plan on immediately having a doctor appointment lined up the day I get out so there is no risk of cravings leading to relapse. I initially was going to schedule it for the following Monday, but I don't want to risk a whole weekend if there are complications such as cravings and/or withdrawal.

I will update again if anything changes such as boosters being given, or whenever I get out of inpatient and move into sober living.

Thank you again everyone who has responded for your support during this trying time. This will not be forgotten!!