Are there withdrawl symptoms with the Vivitrol Injection?

But to be honest, I just grew tired of feeling so polluted in the morning, and the meds affecting my workouts, so I decided to just stop taking them, and see if I could take a more holistic route. I stopped on a Friday, and by Sunday night I was in the Emergency room, because I couldn't even keep water down. I actually thought I had food poisoning! It didnt take me much longer to figure it out though, because the doctor in the ER, gave me percocet, and the symptoms started to subside. I figured it out, sought help, and I was put on Suboxone. I took it for about 3 months, successfully tapered down, and finished. I was back to normal, and not taking anything, and just dealing with the pain, as best as I could. But then I injured my knee again( 4th time on left knee), this time miniscus tear, ACL tear, and a hole in my knee cap. After another surgery, and another round of pain meds, came another round of suboxone. Only this time it wasn't quite so easy to taper down. The thing is, the suboxone was helping me with symptoms of other preexisting conditions, that were more mental, nightmares, and anxiety from my time in the USMC. Maybe that is why I was subconsciously reluctant to stop that time, as my PTSD was getting worse, but hey it was killing 3 or 4 birds... Some doctors feel that Suboxone, as long as it is working for the patient, can be taken as long as it is needed, because some medications can treat symptoms that the drug is not designed for. But then, many doctors feel that, hey, Suboxone is designed to overcome opiate dependency, and be done with it. This is how my doctor feels, and so we discussed getting off of the Suboxone again. My doctor told me there was this new shot, called Vivitrol, they were using, to help people quit Suboxone. I said I'm in. After a lot of hassle with insurance and almost two months of waiting the day finally came. Here is where it started. For one, when you get the Vivitrol shot, you are supposed to be off of opiates or synthetics(Suboxone/Subutex) for 7-10 days. My doctor told me to stop taking the Suboxone 48 hrs before I was to come in. WOW! I wish I had known then. So I go in, he decides not to give me the full shot, since my dosage was down, and told me if i needed it I could come back and get the rest. I asked him if I would experience any side effects, he said I would feel "kinda bad" that day, but should feel good the next day. It is a good thing he prescribed me Xanax ( I hate the way those make me feel), because within the hour I spun into rapid withdrawal. I wanted to die. For the next 5 days, I was lucky to get 3 hrs of sleep a night, cold sweats, RLS, Anxiety, RLS, Depression, RLS, Diarrhea, I could barely lift my 3 month old daughter, oh and did I mention the RLS??? I got the shot on a monday, and I didnt start to feel normal until the next tuesday, and that still wasnt completely normal, that was just being able to function without looking like a zombie. I apologize for this rant, but I wanted to share my story somewhere. Make sure you do your homework, and don't just go off of your doctor's opinion, even if their staff has gone out of their way to look out for you. Make sure you get as much info as possible, then make an informed decision on your plan of attack.

I actually convinced myself I had somehow become lactose intolerant because I could not fathom the withdrawal lasting as long at it had. May I ask why you are not interested in taking the vivitrol injection? I can tell you from experience that if you are truly READY to get off suboxone, then take the injection. You will be very uncomfortable and you will want to take that suboxone, but with the injection you prevent yourself from that chance of a weak moment. The vivitrol will not ease your withdrawal but I can promise you this, knowing that the use of any opiates for the next 30 days will be completely pointless will make the journey easier. Your brain will learn to accept that this is what you must do as opposed to that lingering feeling that you don't really HAVE to suffer like this, you could just take one little crumb and start again tomorrow... My understanding of vivtrol is that all it is is an opiate blocker. The only thing that it will affect is your ability to feel the effects of artificial endorphins. I have never heard that it affects the brains ability to release endorphins naturally. I know that when I was on it, there were days that I felt almost high because my brain was starting to release those endorphins again naturally. I did not have it affect me in any negative way. My only complaint was the lies that my doctor had fed me.

You CAN do this. I am not trying to scare you but just inform you of the facts because I know that many people will tell you what you want to hear and when you are tackling suboxone withdrawal, you need to know the facts. The withdrawal is not fun and it lasts for awhile but it is not as SEVERE as a 5 day withdrawal from hydrocodone, oxycodone or whatever your poison was. My boyfriend at the time worked an 8-5 Monday through Friday schedule and he still had this job to this day. He took off a few days to get through the really tough days but I know that if he hadn't had those sick days, he could have gone without. The trick is to stay positive, exercise, eat healthy, load yourself up with vitamins and gatorade and keep telling yourself that people have successfully gotten off suboxone before and that you will also.

I hope this has helped you. Please let me know of any further questions.

Good luck!

Scaredlittlelady

The Vivitrol will block all of the mu receptors in your brain, mu equals opiate, and since you can manage most of the symptoms (I hate jerking and strectching till it hurts leg hoppies, too) already, I know that you have been through the worst part of getting clean, I'd say go for it. You can always ask for help if you absolutely need it.
Now, your question wanted input from people that have been through your exact situation, mine is just a similar situaton. I took myself off of oxys completely by myself, from 120 mgs a day to 0 a day, I kind of count that as a like experience.
Go for it girl... then sit back and pat yourself on the back. We are stronger than men when it gets right down to it, dontcha know? You can doit!
Good Luck and Your Karma Is Changing (bout time),
The Happy, Hopeful, Helpful, Sweetest. Smiling Hippie Chickie,
Laura