Misc 6 months into vivitrol-experience

[pretty_regular]

Hey everyone!
i wanted to create a post detailing my personal experience so far on vivitrol. Currently I am in the middle of shot 6, with 7 more to go. I went to an inpatient rehab back in February & stayed for 37 days, during which the last two weeks I was there the doctor started me on 50mg naltrexone tablets to see how I would react.

The very first day I took the pill, I felt great, but as days went by I noticed I began to feel extremely tired & lethargic in the middle of the day. Also, the muscles in my body felt like they needed to be stretched constantly. However, I dealt with it & continued on because I knew I wouldn't have anywhere to return home to had I not agreed to get on the shot.

Needless to say, those side effects I felt early on went away after a month or two of being on the medication. HOWEVER, the 5th & 6th months have been a slight struggle for me. The constant fatigue seems to be getting worse. I have lost about 20-25 pounds (& I'm already a pretty small girl so if anything I want to GAIN) because I never have an appetite & when I do try to eat I can only eat about a quarter of my meal before I start to feel sick. About 95% of any bowel movement I have is straight up explosive diarrhea as well..I'm sorry if that's TMI but I'm just being honest. It has also been a serious STRUGGLE to wake up in the morning. My muscles ache, I yawn a lot & my eyes water (kind of feels like the beginning stages of withdrawal).

As far as cravings go, I strongly believe it takes 3-4 months for naltrexone to really curb opiate cravings, & even then it's my opinion that the only reason you begin to crave less is because you know in the back of your mind you cannot get high. A couple things I was surprised about though is the affect it had on my taste for alcohol and cigarettes. Alcohol was never my DOC but I was definitely a social drinker, & beer was my favorite. Now, just the thought of having a beer makes me cringe. I only drink when it comes time right before my next shot and the medicine starts to wear off. Believe me early on I tried to get a buzz wherever I could and that included getting drunk, but it was always so futile because yes physically I would get drunk. I'd be walking sideways & my body felt heavy, but I wasn't happy, giggly or uninhibited. I didn't get any type of euphoric feeling from drinking. Today, I don't really have that desire to escape my own mind like I did early on.

Cigarettes though. I used to smoke a pack a day & now I'll have days where I only smoke one single cig.

Sorry this is so long, kudos to you if you made it to the end. I'm just really curious about others experiences with naltrexone (pill or shot), especially long term (I think 13 months is the max, which is what I'm doing). Anyway, I know for a fact I wouldn't be clean from opiates today had I not forced myself to get that first shot & there are certainly pros & cons to getting it.. It's not for everyone & I understand that. But I'd love to hear any thoughts/opinions/questions and experiences on the matter. Hope you're all doing well ?

 

[sb_33]

Im midway through my 2nd month. 27 y/o male. I knew i should have checked BL before anywhere else about this. Finally somewhere that has other individuals' vivitrol experiences, as i am deeply craving feedback from someone else on the issues i am experiencing.. Mine is simple. I have been hooked on opes of all brands (mostly H) or about 7 years, could never stop for anything. about 6 mos. ago i heard from the staff at a detox i was at about vivitrol..."it totally blocks the ability to get high and takes away cravings..." OK im sold. Ive had experience with bupe, subs... they say its different...only has to be admin'd once a month and no w/d like with Methadone or bupe...

So i get out of there a few days later and find a doctor who will accept my PPO insurance adn cover the cost of the shot entirely. Check.

They tell me at my initial consultation that ive gotta be clean off any opiates at all for 7-10 days... i say no problem. LOL. Appointment scheduled.

Unbeknownst to my family that i was staying with, i was still using daily, and did so all the way up until the night before the first shot. I figured what the hell, right... "precipitated w/d".... how bad can it be since im only doing a 20 a day..? Well...

I go in that morning and get the shot., informing them and even signing a document stating that i am 10 days clean. I go and get the shot, in and out of the office quickly. Before i even arrive back at my house 20 min away, i start yawning DEEPLY once or twice a MINUTE. NOT exaggerating at all. I could tell i was in for it. What ensued was about 36 hours of w/d, pretty bad.

I thought it would be all smooth sailing from there, but since getting my second shot, i realize that there really are side effects!

I will say, since i started the shot, i have not had the urge AT ALL to use opiates, which to me was and still is a miracle. But like you mentioned, it could be because in the back of my mind i know they wouldnt work anyway. But i did not intend for this to be the end of ALL drug use... as opiates were by far my only habitual problem. But here are some of the issues i have been having as of late.

My sex drive has been DEAD for weeks, it took someone asking me about it to realize i havent even watched porn or anything, not even an urge to flirt with the sexy girls at my new job. Not ONCE

I have done coke and crystal since getting the shot( which while i was using dope, i would do MAYBE once or 2x a year), neither of which got me high, no matter how much i did. And yes, i know both were of A grade quality, and yes, I Did blow til my nose bled and smoked crys until i was like shaking/ twitching. No euphoria at all.

Im quickly learning (evidenced by my own experience AND articles online, some of detailed studies conducted with Meth and Amphetamine) that it not only deletes the effects of alc and opiates.... but anything that includes dopamine/endorphin release, and that goes just as well for natural life experiences that are supposed to make you happy. It artificially limits how the pleasure system in the brain works. Thats why suicidal thoughts and depression are the #1 symptoms, neither of which im really experiencing, but ive got my own. Other Viv' users report feeling totally Moodless, like flat. Thats how i feel.

My appetites gone, my sex drive is gone, i can't sleep well since starting the shot, and now i can't even RECREATIONALLY get high... but dont think thats my main point here...

Im just now realizing all this, and wish i would have done more research before starting this med. The Naltrexone-Stimulant connection is already being discovered on the web, and i have experienced it firsthand.

In my current Vivitrol loaded state, i cannot imagine, even off the shot, going back to dope. It would make no sense... but then again all my other relapses didnt need a reason either. I just needed to spill this out with someone else who may be experiencing some of the same things. Let me know what you think!! 3

 

[mrsnowygrainius]

What is the point of being miserable 24/7, hating life, JUST to say that you are clean from opiates?

fuck vivitrol I think it is a terrible "treatment" option, from your posts it doesn't seem like you guys are enjoying life on vivitrol

if you can afford vivitrol, you must be able to afford suboxone (both of you)... my recommendation is to get on a suboxone program ASAP

so what if being on subs means you are addicted again? at least you will be living life CONTENT. Talk to me if you have any questions about long term suboxone maintenance, I have been on it for years.

 

[pretty_regular]

Ive also experienced precipitated withdrawal from naltrexone. Basically under some fucked up circumstances before I got on the shot I was cheeking my pills & getting high for a few days only the next day my mouth was literally checked with a gloved finger lol so I had to swallow it & off to work I went. About 40 minutes later my body became extremely weak, yawning PROFUSELY, cold sweats..the whole nine yards only intensified & I had only done 20mg oxycodone the night before. Stupidity on my part I know, but I certainly feel for you on the prec. w/d.

The first month I also tried to feel something from coke a couple times but to no avail. What is strange though is just this past month (shot 5) I was taking 20-40mg adderall about once a week before work & it worked great.. Lifted my mood, helped me focus.. All of that.

Sex drive for me has been hit or miss. I'll go weeks withou even thinking about sex & then out of nowhere I'll be fiending for it. Appetite is totally gone (which I guess makes sense since they prescribe low dose naltrexone for obesity). For me personally, the only recreational mind altering substance worth using anymore is weed.. It's about the only thing that helps me eat now anyway. I really don't know if I'm gonna be able to keep myself on vivitrol for anoth 7 months.. I know if I discontinue it before my time is up though I will be kicked out of my house & I just don't wanna deal with the backlash from my parents, especially because I'm still trying to rebuild all that I've destroyed over the last 5 years.

I hear that insomnia is a really common thing early on with vivitrol. Idk if I'm just a weird case but all I ever do is sleep anymore.. I'll sleep for 15 hours straight if I can. But sleeping too much or too little is also associated with depression so maybe it's the depression stemming from the medicine and since everyone deals with depression differently that's why that's happening? Idk.

MRSNOWYGRAINIUS - I completely agree with you. But, the reason I'm choosing not to go back on a medication like suboxone is because I've already been clean from all opiates for almost 8 months now & id just be afraid that that first dose of sub would give me a slight taste of that good feeling & lead me back down the rabbit hole. I'm gonna try my best to stick it out & im really curious to see how I truly feel once the naltrexone is out of my body.

i appreciate the feedback!!

 

[opiatekrzy]

Fuck that shit....alcohol and opiates are one thing when it comes to a drug blocking the effects of it, but to block amphetamines? Hell no...I stopped heroin, cocaine, and benzos...all I look forward to nowadays(getting high wise) is getting my monthly script of adderall and partying for a weekend straight, having non stop sex with my girl..me being clean off of hard drugs ain't that bad, all I ask for is my one weekend a month amp and sex fest with my girl..but to be in vivitrol where it seems from what the above poster said, to kill sex drive on top of the alcohol and opiates, and to top it off , stimulants too!?!?!? My heart goes out to you 2 suffering over there..it feels easier to just flat out not get high ever again than to take a shot that blocks it plus kills sex drive, causes the nasty opiate wd yawns and such..I'm curious to see if anyone on this page is on vivitrol and loves it?

 

[sb_33]

mrsnowygrains... Yeah, well... thats just like.. your opinion maaan.

I dont "afford" vivitrol, my ins just happened to have a doctor who does it frequently and they cover it 100%. I thoroughly enjoy not being hooked on heroin anymore, as im sure many of us can identify as a lofty goal to say the least. Now, i dont even think about it. After i posted that last night, i got in contact with 2 other ppl online who had the same libido and appetite issues and they said they wear off in time.

As for the meth... i hadnt done it for a few days and did tonight expecting the same lame results... but on the contrary... im fuckin wacked off smoking half a g. clear is so quality here in teh LA area. ive never had bad tasting shit or anything remotely close to that here.

And my thing with the sub maint would be like... what if you want t get off it? you know that then half life is longer than dope, the kick is more intense according to every person ive talked to in your shoes... subs can be abused, nal cannot... im just saying.

thanks for your input though brutherrr

 

[sb_33]

opiatekrzy... i retract what i said last night about the stims being inhibited, i mean... im lit right now. its confusing.

and it only caused the yawns and w/d because i was a turd burglar so much that i didnt follow direction and abstain for a week prior for my own good. getting the shot with no opes in your system is like a shot of water, nothing bad happens.

 

[pretty_regular]

Yeah I'm just overall confused sometimes about what the naltrexone is really doing inside my body. Like sb_33 I've been able to get high off of amphetamines most times & then it'll randomly decide to block them others.

idk man it's just the no appetite & sleepiness is killin me!! It seems for everyone else I knew on the shot those things went away over time, but for me it has got worse each month. I'll probably talk to my doctor about it when I go in for the next one at the end of the month.

It's been hard for me to find other people who have been on it for more than a couple months & stuck with it..
it's like, I really hate being on it & I think it sucks in my opinion just cause I feel like dookie ass the majority of the time BUT then again I have to admit that it is the main reason I'm still clean from opiates... Mehh

 

[opiatekrzy]

I would rather be miserable taking subs and clean off opiates than that garbage. Or just stay off everything and avoid side effects from vivitrol

 

[MDPV_Psychosis]

I would rather be miserable taking subs and clean off opiates than that garbage. Or just stay off everything and avoid side effects from vivitrol

As would most, I assume. However, I am sure there are people out there who appreciate vivitrol despite the side effects.

I am currently tapering off of opiates. This is not my first time. I have been able to quit many times, but I have trouble not relapsing. I made it several years before my last relapse, I cannot believe I let this happen again.

I know I can quit. I'm fairly certain I can stay clean for awhile. I'm not so positive I can stay clean forever. I NEVER want to go through this hell again. If I find myself struggling with intense cravings once I come off, and I think I am in danger of relapse, I will seriously consider the shot. Being sober is important to me. So much so, that I would be willing to deal with side effects of the shot if I meant mitigating the possibility of relapse.

 

[MDPV_Psychosis]

I am on mobile and cannot edit, Everytime I try to edit, my post just gets deleted entirely. So I apologize for the double post.

Instead of using the word mitigating, I meant to say eliminating.

 

[therealnasty]

came here to chime in on my experiences with vivitrol. i've been getting it since october 2018, it's march 2019 now, so however many months that is. a while. it's been amazing so far. really eliminated my heroin cravings for a long time and i haven't really experienced any side effects at all. i think after my very first shot i experienced some insomnia for a couple of nights but that was it. i have found i'm easily able to get blackout drunk after two weeks. so it doesn't seem too effective for me in that regard. it works for alcohol at first for me, if i have a drink in the first two weeks i won't feel anything and it'll just be unappetizing and i won't want anymore, but after about two weeks booze becomes fair game. i know most of us are junkies, and don't care about the alcohol aspect as much, but vivitrol did essentially eliminate my cravings for opioids so alcohol is basically all i've tried since i've been on it. i used to struggle with alcohol before i got into heroin so i guess it's kind of natural to gravitate back towards that when i'm struggling in other aspects of life and it's past the two week mark since i've gotten my shot. there was a brief monthlong period where i wasn't able to get the shot because of insurance bullshit, and i had to take the pill version of naltrexone -- 50mg a day, then bumped up to 75mg a day because i was experiencing so many cravings on the pill version. it just did not work like the shot did for me in terms of cravings, even once i bumped up to 75mg a day. i tried to use on my first day of being at 75mg a day, but couldn't feel anything and could barely find a vein, and ended up flushing everything. but as time goes on i'm experiencing more cravings again. i'm 2 and a half weeks past maybe my 6th or 7th shot, and i'm craving now. i've been getting drunk, but i wanna shoot up. but i just don't think it'll work. i'm skeptical to try, or to even waste my money, before maybe day 25. i don't know. i wish it was still working like it was before -- but maybe i'm just going through harder times right now and i just need to get real and get in treatment and stop relying on the vivitrol alone. that's probably what i should do, because i've been clean since september 29th and life has gotten so much better. i don't wanna fuck this up.