One dose lasts for about one month. Vivitrol is an effective aid in fighting opiate cravings for many people, but users are strongly cautioned against using drugs while on Vivitrol that their doctor is not aware of, especially opioids. Taking Vivitrol with opiates in your system can be dangerous and life-threatening, so patients are only supposed to take an injection of this drug once detox is complete and their body is opioid-free.
Taking opiates while on vivitrol can lead to overdose, coma, and death. The biggest danger of using opiates while on Vivitrol is the high risk of overdose. Overdoses from opiates are common, with an average of people in the United States dying for this reason each day in 2 , but Vivitrol can increase these risks even more. Because Vivitrol is occupying the opiate receptors in the brain, it is also blocking the effects of these drugs.
If someone starts using opiates on Vivitrol, they might try to take significantly high doses so that they can feel the effects, but this is dangerous. In their quest to get high, the individual may take a toxic amount of opiates and start displaying signs of overdose.
This could lead to loss of consciousness, coma, and even death. 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.
While both Suboxone and Vivitrol outperform placebo medication, this critically important study pitted these two commonly prescribed medications against each other. Opioid overdoses alone accounted for 33, overdoses in the United States in Overdose including but not limited to opioids , is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.
Buprenorphine, often prescribed in a formulation with naloxone brand name Suboxone , is an opioid agonist that can help reduce opioid use or protect against relapse both over the short-term as well as the long-term , compared to no medication.
Naturalistic research also suggests Suboxone helps reduce the likelihood of overdose death. Another evidence-based medication for opioid use disorder is naltrexone, an opioid antagonist formulated as an extended-release once-a-month injection referred to here as the brand name Vivitrol.
This medication is delivered once every 4 weeks, instead of everyday and might help address concerns about needing to take the medication daily as well as the potential problems that could arise if someone is also taking other drugs in addition to opioids like alcohol.
In this study, Lee and colleagues conducting a critically important study specifically comparing Suboxone to Vivitrol. Authors used a randomized controlled trial to test Suboxone against Vivitrol in individuals receiving Suboxone and receiving vivitrol for 6 months who were attending one of eight inpatient detoxification programs in the U.
The primary outcome was relapse, and the secondary outcomes were: failure to initiate the medication, percent of days using an opioid during the 6-month study, and adverse events including overdoses.
All participants had opioid use disorder according to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5 th edition DSM-5 and had used opioids at least one of the past 30 days. Of note, study site and severity in terms of opioid use were taken into account when randomizing patients to receive to Suboxone vs. All patients received medical management at each study visit including psychoeducation about opioid use disorder, an adherence plan, advice to abstain from all substance use, monitoring of side effects, and encouraging attendance at therapy and mutual-help groups.
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