Can Vivitrol help people through opioid addiction?

Opioid addiction is one of the significant problems in the US. This deadly addiction can kill hundreds of thousands of people during the next decade. According to www.vox.com: “It is the deadliest drug overdose crisis in US history. In 2016 alone, drug overdoses killed more Americans than the entire Vietnam War and car crashes, gun violence, and HIV/AIDS ever did in a single year. In total, more than 170 people are estimated to die from overdoses every day in the US, and most of the deaths are linked to opioids.”

The numbers are staggering indeed. The researchers are giving their best efforts to develop a medicine that will help fight the addiction. Vivitrol is one of them. According to www.ncadd.org: “Vivitrol is a monthly injection that blocks the effects of opioids, including pain relief or the feelings of well-being that can lead to opioid misuse. It has no potential for abuse.” D. Lee MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Population Health and Medicine/General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation at the NYU School of Medicine states:” “Many people leaving jail think they can stay opiate-free on their own, but the chance of successful recovery without medication-assisted treatment is low…If they receive naltrexone (Vivitrol), they can either continue using it once they are out of jail, or at least it gives them a month to make arrangements for methadone or buprenorphine.”  According to www.mericanaddictioncenter.org: “All forms of naltrexone work by stopping the euphoria and sedation that central nervous system depressants, specifically alcohol and opioids, can cause. The medicine binds to those receptor sites in lieu of the intoxicating substances and stays there for a long time. When a person taking any form of naltrexone as prescribed relapses, the drug will not bind to the opioid receptor sites, so there will be no high associated with using the substance after detoxing.”  Vivitrol seems to be a promising medicine for treating opioid addiction. However, to benefit from its effects fully, it should be used together with other methods of treatment including psychotherapy. The road of getting through opioid addiction is undoubtedly not an easy one, and it takes a lot of determination and willpower to win that battle. However, doctors and researchers are developing new, more effective forms of substances that can help fight the addiction and Vivitrol seems to be one of them.