I just came from a rehab where they highly advertised vivitrol and tried to push it into every alcoholic and opiate addict, they even stopped putting people on bupe maintenence because they wanted people to take the vivitrol shot so badly, they had a ton of people getting it their. They probably get a pretty big kickback from the makers of it. But here is some info that I learned about vivitrol from the staff at my rehab and people that were getting it. It is a large amount that gets injected into you, and most people reported low to moderate pain for up to a week after the shot due to the huge amount of liquid required. They say it helps with cravings, but this is not entirely true. Everyone I asked that was on it said that the shot itself isn't what helps your cravings, its the fact of just knowing that you can't get high on opiates or any euphoria from alcohol.
Most of them also reported stomach and gastro issues, such as naseua and cramping, as well as Headaches for the first few days after your shot. Some did claim that it did help them with cravings, but I think that is more of a placebo effect than anything, It does nothing but antagonize your opiate receptors and block any other opiates from reaching and binding to them, and alcohol's euphoria comes from the same receptors as most opiates due, the mu-opioid rceptor, so all it does is prevent you from getting high, which can help with your cravings in theory because you know you can't get high. I also heard some other patients that wished they would have never taken the shot and even wasted some opiates and alcohol trying to get break through it, but it worked to no avail. So if you are truly not ready and willing to quit opiates, and are not 100% sure about it yet, I would advise against getting the shot. I hope this information helped.
