Vivitrol and Headaches: What Users Say

• Jqn...
• November 13, 2015

For Opioid Use Disorder "I am a 28 y/o male. I used all drugs from about 12, but only opiates and then IV heroin for about 10 years straight. I went through at least 7-8 rehabs and detoxes, and endless county jails. In all those years, I never had been able to stay clean for more than a month on purpose. I've been clean now for 1 year, 8 months, and a day. Vivitrol saved my life without a doubt. I was on it for 13 months with intensive outpatient treatment and as many NA meetings as I could get to in a week. I had some issues sleeping with the first shot, but after that, the side effects were only a headache here and there. Freedom from active addiction is worth any cost. Give it a try, if I could do it, I promise anyone can."

• Nev...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 2, 2016

For Opioid Use Disorder "Was not given the correct information and was not monitored after injection. I was honest and told the doctor I took Suboxone 6 days before the shot, and he said I would be fine. Well, about 30 minutes after the shot, I started having terrible withdrawals. Sweating, and it felt like my skin was on fire for the entire month. I urinated every 15 minutes. Couldn't sleep and had extreme restless leg syndrome. Constant headache and urinary tract infection to boot. Zero sex drive and a bad mood the whole time. Sought therapy at Calvary House and told all my symptoms. No one cared. At $1,200 each month, why would they?"

• 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."

• New...
• March 30, 2023

For Alcohol Use Disorder "I started off taking oral naltrexone for a few months before switching to these monthly injections at my doctor’s suggestion. I’ve had three shots so far. After my second one, I experienced severe itching at the injection site for days. It was so bad that it kept me awake. However, that didn’t occur after my first or my third injection. I’ve been sober since the first of January. I feel no alcohol cravings at all. I feel this medication is really helping me. The daily oral version was helping me, too, but I had headaches literally every single day after popping my pill. That doesn’t happen to me with the injections. I definitely recommend this if you truly want to get clear-minded and end your slavery."

• Jak...
• July 6, 2017

For Opioid Use Disorder "Vivitrol has made me completely useless. I was taking methadone as prescribed every day for the last six years. I actually cut my dose in half the last 24 months. But, I decided to quit cold turkey to get on Vivitrol. Now I am so miserable! I can only get myself to take a couple bites of food a day if I can keep it down. My head is constantly throbbing. I haven't slept more than two hours every night for at least a month. My body is so weak, yet I'm constantly freezing and sweating. My hands shake all the time, and the ringing in my ears is so loud I have a hard time hearing things sometimes. I find that I don't care about anything. I don't even want to be around my own son anymore. I am not surprised people get suicidal on this drug."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 6, 2020

For Opioid Use Disorder "It’s been 4 days on Vivitrol for opioid addiction. I’ve been experiencing mild headaches, bearable though. The thing that’s bothering me most is my cravings. I was told they go away, but so far I still have cravings and obsessions. Just knowing I can’t get high helps a lot. One day at a time!"

• Mik...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 27, 2019

For Opioid Use Disorder "I hate this stuff. I have to take it because of my sober living house. I've been on it for six months, and I'm always sick off it, in and out of the hospital. It's killing my social life and affecting me at work. It gives me the worst headache ever. I feel like I cannot function or do anything. It makes me vomit all the time and have a constant migraine."

• 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."