Vivitrol works for alcohol dependence by decreasing cravings for alcohol. Clinical trials also showed that people who stopped drinking alcohol for 1 week before starting to take Vivitrol were more likely to not drink at all during treatment.
This was compared to people who took a placebo. The studies also showed that people who took Vivitrol drank on fewer days and had fewer heavy drinking days than people who took a placebo. In the United States, about 2 million people misuse opioid medications as well as heroin, which acts on your brain in the same way as opioid drugs.
Examples of opioids include:. Dependence can occur when you use opioids repeatedly. Your brain can get used to the drugs being in your body. When you stop using opioids, you may have withdrawal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Sometimes people start using opioids again so that the withdrawal effects will go away. Over time, they may need to take more of the opioid to feel the original effects of the drug. This is called tolerance. Opioid dependence can lead to addiction and put you at risk for overdose.
You should stop taking opioids at least 7 to 10 days before starting Vivitrol treatment. This decreases the risk of sudden opioid withdrawal, which can be dangerous. Before starting Vivitrol, you should go through opioid detoxification. This means that you stop taking any opioid medications.
Vivitrol is available only as a brand-name medication. Vivitrol can cause mild or serious side effects. The following lists contain some of the key side effects that may occur while taking Vivitrol. For more information on the possible side effects of Vivitrol, talk with your doctor or pharmacist.
They can give you tips on how to deal with any side effects that may be bothersome. Most of these side effects may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks.
Call your doctor right away if you have serious side effects. The only exception is opioid withdrawal. You may wonder how often certain side effects occur with this drug. As with most drugs, some people can have an allergic reaction after taking Vivitrol. Symptoms of a mild allergic reaction can include:. A more severe allergic reaction is rare but possible. Symptoms of a severe allergic reaction can include:. Call your doctor right away if you have a severe allergic reaction to Vivitrol.
In clinical trials of Vivitrol, there was no data on how many people had an allergic reaction. This is because if you use opioid medications during these times, you may have symptoms of opioid withdrawal. In such cases, you may need to stay in a hospital or be monitored for symptoms such as a fast heart rate and high blood pressure. The injection would be given in a medical facility where doctors and nurses can monitor your symptoms.
If you develop any serious withdrawal symptoms, they can help treat you. Therefore, there are no statistics on the number of people who may have had withdrawal symptoms. However, after the Food and Drug Administration FDA approved Vivitrol, some people who used opioid medications while taking Vivitrol reported having withdrawal symptoms.
Before you start taking Vivitrol, check any medications that you take including cough and cold medicines , pain medicines, and diarrhea medicines. Sometimes these drugs can have opioids in them. Mood changes can occur with Vivitrol. In a week clinical trial for the treatment of opioid dependence, no one reported a depressed mood or suicidal thinking. This includes people who took Vivitrol or a placebo. A safety study was also performed to compare Vivitrol with the drug naltrexone in tablet form.
Naltrexone is the active drug in Vivitrol. This was a long-term study that compared side effects in people who received Vivitrol injections with those in people who took naltrexone tablets. If you have any thoughts about hurting yourself or ending your life, tell your doctor, a family member, or a close friend right away.
They can help you get treatment. Long-term side effects such as liver disease, including hepatitis swelling in your liver , can occur during the use of Vivitrol. Sometimes the first sign of a liver problem is a higher level of liver enzymes a type of protein. However, some people did develop hepatitis or liver disease after taking Vivitrol. There are many enzymes that doctors can monitor to check the function of your liver.
If you have belly pain, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or dark urine, tell your doctor right away. Sometimes liver injury can be treated, and other times it may cause long-term problems. Other long-term side effects may occur from using Vivitrol, but more long-term studies are needed. If you have questions about any long-term side effects of taking Vivitrol, including liver problems, talk with your doctor. Nausea is a possible side effect of taking Vivitrol. Some people may become nauseous after their first Vivitrol injection.
Usually, the feeling will be mild and will go away within a few days. Diarrhea can occur while taking Vivitrol. Headaches can occur when taking Vivitrol. Headaches were also reported in people who took Vivitrol for opioid dependence. If you have headaches that are bothersome while taking Vivitrol, talk with your doctor about ways to find relief. Reactions at the site of injection were a common side effect that occurred in people who received injections of Vivitrol.
After a Vivitrol injection, you may have pain, swelling, bruising, or redness where the medication was injected. Most people who had injection site reactions had only mild symptoms. However, in some cases, these reactions became severe. In clinical trials , one person who received Vivitrol had a severe injection site reaction. The swelling at the site continued to get worse over a 4-week period. Surgery was needed to remove some of the necrotic dead skin. And some of these cases also needed surgical treatment.
They can inject the drug properly into your muscle. If you have any swelling or lumps under your skin after a Vivitrol injection, tell your doctor. They can look at the area and treat it if needed. Liver problems are a possible side effect of Vivitrol. Because drinking alcohol can also affect your liver, you should avoid alcohol before and while taking Vivitrol. People who drink alcohol while taking Vivitrol tend to have the same side effects as other people who drink alcohol.
This includes loss of coordination and a slower response time. This is because of the way the medication works. Vivitrol reduces cravings for alcohol, so you may drink less alcohol while taking Vivitrol.
If you drink alcohol and have questions about how to stop drinking before taking Vivitrol, talk with your doctor. Other drugs are available that can treat alcohol or opioid dependence. Most symptoms range from mild to moderate:. Some more serious, but less common, side effects of Vivitrol include withdrawal, liver disease, allergic reactions, pneumonia, and depression.
Luckily, the side effects of Vivitrol will most likely go away after a few days or a couple of weeks. If your symptoms do not subside after a few weeks, talk to your doctor about possible alternatives.
How long Vivitrol will last in the body depends on the individual who is using it. For this reason, Vivitrol is usually administered once every four weeks or once a month. Patients are instructed to return to their doctor one month after receiving their previous injection. A long-term follow-up study published in the American Journal on Addiction found that, among community-based patients on naltrexone injection treatment for OUDs, outcomes were superior and with less relapse likelihood and greater time to relapse in spite of concurrent non-opioid substance use.
They noted also that few patients experienced any side effects or adverse events during long-term naltrexone injection treatment. Drug rehab professionals will only administer Vivitrol after the user has been free of opiates for a minimum of weeks days.
As for alcohol, Vivitrol should only be provided to clients who are able to remain alcohol-free and are not drinking alcohol at the time MAT with Vivitrol is started. In addition, according to Drugs. Importantly, Vivitrol is only part of a multi-pronged and comprehensive treatment program tailored to meet the needs of the individual seeking to overcome dependence and addiction to opiates and alcohol.
As such, Vivitrol is part of the MAT that accredited drug rehab facilities use and that has been effective helping people overcome drug and alcohol addiction. Vivitrol injections last for one month. They are administered by injection into the muscle intramuscular or IM of the buttocks once monthly.
Alternating the buttocks is recommended for subsequent injections. Vivitrol should not be injected subcutaneously underneath the skin or intravenously. Recommended dosage is milligrams. Once injected, Vivitrol remains in the body and cannot be removed. At Banyan Treatment Centers Chicago, our Vivitrol treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction is led by our licensed and experienced medical team to ensure patient health and safety. Opioids affect the brain by attaching themselves to opioid receptors in neurons.
Once attached, they affect levels of chemicals called neurotransmitters like dopamine that act as messengers between neurons in the central nervous system. Dopamine is naturally released by the brain when we do something we enjoy, like eating.
Any excess of this chemical is also recycled. Opioids disrupt this process and cause a build-up of dopamine, which causes extreme feelings of euphoria and pleasure. As an opioid antagonist, Vivitrol works by attaching itself to opioid receptors to block the effects of opioids like heroin or prescription medications.
This is not to be confused with Naloxone, which strips the opioid from the opioid receptor to temporarily alleviate the symptoms of an overdose and give time for the individual to get medical attention.
Trying to counter the effects of Vivitrol with an excessive dose of opioids can be extremely harmful. If you take opiates while on Vivitrol, your chances of injury, coma, overdose, and death increase. After receiving a Vivitrol injection, its blocking effects will slowly decrease over time.
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