Vivitrol and Anxiety: What Users Say

• Rog...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 24, 2012

For Opioid Use Disorder "I took my first Vivitrol shot on 7/31/12. Three hours later, I was having the worst withdrawals one could ever imagine. The worst lasted about two days followed by seven days of symptoms like constant anxiety, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, and then three or four days of regular side effects. My doctor told me that I may not have been completely detoxed when I took the shot and that might have been the cause of my extreme reaction. I'm going to get my second shot on 8/31. I feel that without the shot, the possibility of relapse will be greater, so the benefit outweighs the negative side effects. I'll let you know how it turns out."

• Cha...
• February 18, 2014

For Opioid Use Disorder "I have had the shot several times in the past but that has been over three years ago and I did have some side effects. The worst was vomiting in the morning, but it lasted about an hour after I woke up. It lasted for 2 weeks every time I got the shot. It has been 3 years and I started the shot again. I got the shot 3 days ago and I have one swollen lymph node under my neck, and my stomach is messed up with cramps, but it cramps I have never felt. They hurt but only in the morning, and I don't get sick. They are not that bad. I know one thing that sucked is my anxiety has increased, which is a problem for me and kind of scary. The shot is a good idea even with the side effects, it's 1000 times better than being dope sick."

• thi...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 27, 2023

For Alcohol Use Disorder "OMG. I feel like I'm dying of apathy at best, and a shaking, sweating, angry ball of anxiety at worst. I had gone through alcohol and benzo withdrawal a month ago, then got this horrible shot and immediately felt like I was going through it all over again, plus other weird side effects like ringing ears, insomnia but exhaustion, lack of motivation, and no interest in anything... at all. Today is only a week since I got the shot, and I can't stand to think that the next 3 weeks will be like this. Do your research, unlike me. If you have depression or anxiety, think this over. Yay, I'm not drinking or thinking about drinking, but I feel like I wouldn't get off the couch if the house was on fire, either. I would do benzo withdrawal twice over rather than deal with these awful side effects. Never again."

• Dba...
• July 19, 2016

For Opioid Use Disorder "I received my 2nd shot yesterday. I've been a heavy opiate, mostly heroin IV user for 13 years. I was put in jail for 14 days to clean out for my 1st shot. Immediately after the shot, I had no cravings. I was put on Xanax for anxiety because it's been super high. I have acne due to the shot. I get leg cramps. It saved my life."

• Bob...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 12, 2019

For Alcohol Use Disorder "Works good for cravings, but with the side effects I don't like. I feel terrible for a week after the injection. Panic attacks, anxiety, depressed mood, and gastric discomfort. I have been in treatment for over 12 years, several rehabs, and AA. I wish it didn't have the side effects. I am debating about continuing use."

• ELM...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 16, 2020

For Opioid Use Disorder "I've been incarcerated for 47 months, and the treatment center I am going to for outpatient pushed the drug on me, said it would be a safety net for me. I got the shot today at 9 a.m., and I have been depressed, having horrible anxiety all day, no motivation. As one guy said, it felt like he was in a dream, and that is exactly how I feel. None of these side effects were explained to me at all. I'm so upset with myself for taking this. These rehabs get $ for pushing drugs like Vivitrol and Suboxone. I would not recommend this to anyone at all!! If this goes on for 28 days, I'm going to lose my mind, and no - these side effects are not me going through withdrawals or PAWS (Post-acute withdrawal syndrome). I'VE BEEN CLEAN 47 MONTHS!!!"

• Gyp...
• December 1, 2016

For Opioid Use Disorder "Have been on the shot for 2 years now. It helped me recover from alcohol, but I also found it helps my major anxiety and sleep. I don't think they have done enough studies on it to see what else it can help with."

• Ott...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 6, 2016

For Opioid Use Disorder "I still don't know if cravings and anxiety are one and the same, but I've been on this for 6 months. I notice a lot of headaches, increased anxiety, depression, insomnia, and male sexual problems. I still need 0.5 mg Xanax 5 times a day for the anxiety, and Ambien CR for insomnia. The product coordination nurses deny that this causes male sexual side effects. I've had sex twice in 6 months on Vivitrol, and that includes my honeymoon. I think Vivitrol helped me the most by making it clear that if I tried any opiates, I could overdose immediately and die. So I've put up with the side effects, but I hope to be off this in 1 year. And, yes, I want my sex life back."

• Cha...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 21, 2022

For Alcohol Use Disorder "Made me extremely ill. Not an opiate user. Got the 30-day shot. Feel anxious, problems with my digestive system, headaches, trouble sleeping, and overly tired somehow. Fatigued all day, and my body aches. It's awful. I feel like I have the flu, and simultaneously, all the joy has been sucked out of my life. I can't take pleasure in anything during the day."

• Bre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 21, 2021

For Alcohol Use Disorder "First off, this is perfect if you are a hardcore addict for alcohol and heroin. I had a problem with alcohol because of anxiety, but I would only drink one time a month or longer. Naturally, my anxiety is kind of bad, but with Vivitrol, it's 100 times worse, it comes and goes and sometimes feels like a bad drug trip. I have been on it for three months, and ever since I got the injection, I have felt this way. The doctor said it's not known to increase anxiety, but that's completely rubbish. I am no longer going to continue using it, I am 9 out of 10 sure that's why I feel like rubbish. So I would advise you to proceed with caution because once it is in you, there's no turning back. Try naltrexone in pill form first and see how you feel with that. Otherwise, stay with counseling, meetings, and just plain old abstinence."

• JTE...
• February 16, 2017

For Opioid Use Disorder "I recently went through a medical detox from heroin, and after 6 days, when my vitals showed I was opiate-free, I was administered the Vivitrol shot, which is pretty deep and painful in itself. I experienced terrible symptoms like upset stomach, diarrhea, severe restlessness, muscle cramps and twitches, nausea, chills, fever, enlarged pupils, lazy eye, extreme irritability, high anxiety, rapid heart rate, shakiness, and sleeplessness, plus the site where the shot was administered ached like an epidural. I ended up in the emergency room with an adverse reaction. I feel like death and can barely focus on my actual detox and life. Next month, when this shot is hopefully out of my system, I will not get it again! At least I'm off heroin!"

• Ste...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 10, 2018

For Opioid Use Disorder "I was an addict for 20 years. Mainly opiates. I decided to seek help and got into a mat program that provides Vivitrol injections for free and intensive outpatient programs (IOP). That's awesome and everything because I've been wanting to be on Vivitrol for at least a year, but I didn't think it was possible because I didn't have insurance. So I went through the whole withdrawal process because you have to be clean to get the shot, and then when I got the shot, I thought everything was going to be great. I was wrong. The first five days I could not eat or sleep. After that, I have been feeling a lot better, but my anxiety has been through the roof. And the injection site still hurts sometimes, even after 3 weeks. Next week I'm due to get my second shot, and I'm hoping it will be better. It kind of seemed like I was on chemo because the first 5 days after the shot had such terrible side effects."

• Kev...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 20, 2018

For Alcohol Use Disorder "Received my first injection of Vivitrol and had a reaction the next morning to the drug. Swelling in the face and chills with sweats alternating and anxiety. With the drug, however, I did notice a lack of desire for drinking, but it's hard to compare with the reaction I'm having. The doctor is pulling me off of this medication."

• Lau...
• April 23, 2019

For Opioid Use Disorder "While on the shot, I had extreme fatigue and couldn't orgasm. Those aren't horrible, except the orgasm part. It's getting off the shot that has given me constant headaches that nothing touches, extreme anxiety, and irritability. I feel crazy, my mental health is not right. This is not my first rodeo, I was sober for 15 months through AA before I relapsed and got on the shot after a treatment center. This is not normal for me, and the only thing that's different in my life is I was on the shot and now I'm not. I recommend it for someone struggling, being sober is better than dying from the disease. Though the way I have been feeling could have easily made me go change the bad way I feel if I didn't have the support I do."

• Ryg...
• March 26, 2018

For Opioid Use Disorder "Listen up. It's probably worth the risk of trying it for a month to see if you get the side effects or not. I did, I got extreme anxiety, depressing thoughts, and fatigue. Constant stretching and 0 motivation in the first five days. Then it gets a little better, so I don't know, it drove me to go smoke meth, but I didn't do heroin or want to. And now that I have made it through the 5 days of side effects, I guess I could say it's worth it."