What Is Vivitrol?

Alcoholism affects not only the alcoholic but the alcohlic's family, co-workers and anyone who may be injured in an accident caused by an alcoholic. Because alcoholic beverages are legal and easy to get, fighting alcoholism is difficult at best. One of the medications doctors use to help treat alcoholism is called Vivitrol. It's also used in the treatment of other addicts, such as heroin addiction.

Identification

• Vivitrol is the brand name for naltrexone (also known as naltrexone injectable), made by Alkermes in America and Cephalon in the rest of the world. Vivitrol is a prescription injectable, given once a month in the muscle of the buttocks. The patient is not allowed to inject himself.

Warning

• Vivitrol alone can't cure a person of alcoholism. It's meant to be used as part of a mutli-layered treatment plan, including counseling, regular exercise and perhaps antidepressants. Some people have shown to be allergic to Vivitrol. Symptoms of a Vivitrol allergic reaction include hives, difficulty breathing, abdominal pains, sudden lowering of blood pressure, mysterious bruises, bleeding from bodily orifices, fainting, chills, fever, vomiting, extreme confusion or sudden trouble seeing.

Function

• Vivitrol acts on the brain's receptors for pleasure, blocking the receptor's ability to gain any reaction from chemicals such as alcohol. This is theorized to reduce an alcoholic's craving for alcohol by slowly releasing the drug over the course of a month. Vivitrol is in the opiod family of drugs, so a patient should not take any opiod (legal or illegal) with Vivitrol. If she takes such drugs or continues to drink while taking Vivitrol, she risks going into a coma.

Misconceptions

• Naltrexone will not make you vomit if you drink alcohol. That medicine is called Antabuse (the brand name for disulfiram). A patient can only take one drug or the other. He can't take both Vivitrol injections and Antabuse pills without getting very sick.

Theories/Speculation

• Vivitrol can have a bad side effect on a person's liver. Another drug that acts like Vivtrol with less damaging side effects on the liver may be Topamax (topimirate), an anti-seizure medication also prescribed for migraines. Studies are still being done with Topamax on alcoholics (see Resources). In the future, Topamax may be approved to help curb alcoholics' cravings and make them more open to learning how to live without alcohol. Side effects of Topamax include birth defects, trouble concentrating, sleepiness and a tingling sensation.