Precipitated withdrawls from vivitrol

[Awilliams0684]

I've searched other post and couldn't really come up with an answer to my question so making own in hopes to get some info! I took my husband to get his vivitrol injection today at 3:30 and within 30 minutes of receiving it, he goes into full withdrawals. Obviously he didn't wait the recommended time. He thought he would be fine because the first injection he got in july, he used the day before (heroin) with no complications. This time was a lot different. The injection he received in July he had no physical dependency due to the fact he was just released from rehab. He lost his insurance soon after that and began using in august. This injection was approximately 36 hours after his last use. He had 4 days sober, and used for 2 days and then got the injection 36 hours later. Any advice will be greatly appreciated, how long should this last? I understand it varies but anyone have person experience with precipitated withdrawal from the vivitrol? I mainly just find post on precipitated withdrawals from suboxone and not vivitrol. Also is there anything he can do to help ease this pain he is in? It's now been 12 hours of hell for him! Thanks in advance!

 

[Ligaturd]

Hmm. Well, he obviously was using heroin laced with fentanyl which is super common now. With just normal heroin, 12-24 hours should be fine but if there is fentanyl in it, fentanyl has a really short halflife but its metabolite nor-fentanyl is still active at the opioid receptors for days after last use, even if he is in full withdrawal at the time it will still cause precipitated withdrawal.

Clinics should know this information by now and be warning their patients. The complete disregard for actively studying and actually understanding what their patients are using and what effects the products they are administering is ridiculous. I find that doctors are not fully informed and also the drug users aren't fully in the know about the drugs they are using. Now, I know that not everyone is a drug nerd but the doctors should be making the effort to understand these things and informing their patients at the very least.

I have experience with precipitated withdrawal twice but due to the way it happened and the how it wasn't from a vivitrol shot which will cause complete blockade it probebly wont reflect what he will experience. One time from suboxone and since buprenorphine is a partial agonist it causes precipitated withdrawal but after a few hours starts relieving it. Another time I was on 150mgs of methadone and accidently took a naltrexone pill (it was only a small fragment and didn't form a complete blockade so methadone was ablento attach somewhat and take me out of the worst of the withdrawals), precipitated withdrawal hit hard and fast and it was traumatic, the stuff of movies. It was actually quite close to the way they depicted it on "Trainspotting" except without the hallucinations but that was more symbolic of the guilt that rentboy was going through. Anyways, I drank 150mgs of methadone so the withdrawal sort of abated but I quit after that, the methadone just barely took me out of withdrawal. From the sounds of it he may sound sick for a day or two but I'm not positive.

 

[Awilliams0684]

Thank you so much for your reply. It's been about 21 hours and he feels a tad bit better but definitely not good enough to go to work. What you said made sense and a huge possibility. He isn't an iv user, and only snorts it. He said that batch was extremely potent. He threw up several times and that's not something that he normally does. It happens occasionally but normally not with the amount he did. He tested negative for opiates before he got the shot, so him and his doctor didn't understand why he went into PW. From what I've been reading there isn't much he can do, just wait it out. That vivitrol has already completely attached to his receptors. He just told me he actually tried using again, with hope that it will get him out of this. It did nothing for him! Thanks again for your reply