Hi all! I have finally made it to 32 days sober after trying for years with the help of AA, group therapy and vivitrol injections. I haven’t seen anyone else discuss vivitrol or naltroxone (pill form) and I am curious what other people think about it. Has it helped? Did cravings come back when you stopped taking it? How long did you take it for? Any words of caution? Thanks!
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Hi Lindsey, Congratulations on 32 days sober. 
I don’t know how it works for alcohol, but it was an absolute God send for me in early opiate pain pill recovery. They’re both opioid antagonists that help with cravings and majorly negates the effects of opiates. The Vivitrol is a once monthly injection and naltrexone is a daily pill. The injection is super expensive (over $1,000) that fortunately my insurance covered. With the injection I didn’t have to worry forgetting to take the pill and kept me from purposely not taking it so I could use again. Naltrexone was just as effective for me (I used it while all of the opiates were getting out if my system). Knowing that if I used I wouldn’t feel anything also helped my cravings I believe. I used Naltrexone for 3 weeks, then Vivitrol for about 6 months. The rehab had some alcoholics it worked great for and others it made kind of sick. If offered to you, I highly suggest you give it a shot.
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I got 4 vivitrol injections over the course of my first 6 months. Coming up on a year next week. Transitioned out of sober living about a month or two ago… I keep busy with my work and involving myself in a 12 step program and it’s fellowship. Everyone’s experience is different… but I could see the benefit of having the vivitrol in conjunction with my program in the first couple months of my recovery this go around. It just had a way of helping curb the obsessive thoughts of using… And I can’t be sure whether or not that was placebo simply because I knew there was no breaking through that stuff, without a lethal dose anyway… (I’m a heroin addict btw) but it helped. And it was in a way holding me accountable to commit to my programming which put me in a position to trust myself without the need of that aid… But yes. I am an advocate of it… but it is certainly not something I would say is the quick and easy solution to these matters. I am a firm believer of 12 step work and action. No matter what the case may be.
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I take naltrexone and I swear by it. I also take gabapentin for anxiety but it also works on cravings. It has not, thank God, made me sick but it must be taken before bedtime because it makes you sleepy.
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Do you take it for alcohol cravings? That’s what I’m using vivitrol for. My Dr is waiting to see if I should take depression meds or not. My depression has gotten much better since getting sober so we will see.
They prescribe it for alchohol in rehab and it did help many people.
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Yes for alcohol and benzos. It was prescribed in rehab.
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