Vivitrol& sober living option?AS leaving detox Tues
 

AS getting out of detox in a few days. Doesn't want treatment. Is considering Vivitrol per the detox recommendation. Can't make him go to treatment, even if I withhold sober living. he told me he'd figure it out himself somehow.
do feel a little threatened. told him nothing definite for sober living now anyway. many want at least 30 days sober.
Am considering vivitrol+sober living at least for a month. He'll have to go to meetings, get a sponsor per the sober living and I'll insist on continuing his mental health visits.

I could put my foot down and he'll be right back where he was before detox, but not at my house. Maybe it's guilt or idk what, but I feel I want to give this 1 last chance at helping him. if he blows it, at least I know I did all I could and he'll have to figure it out.

Vivitrol could have disastrous consequences if someone uses. Would that be enough of a deterrent or would he use anyway and possibly be gone forever? Maybe it would help him to focus on working and rebuilding. Two centers have recommended it.

Vivitrol can cause depression, which he has and is being treated for.

He has done 4 months of rehab recently, although it only lasted 2 months at each place, once with a discharge for drugs. He's been to rehab countless times and it never helped. he resents the loss of freedom. This last one locked him down for 2 months. Sober living will provide a structured environment where he'll have to work, work a program, stay clean and have no excuses and no one to blame but himself.

The center can find him a rehab, but they can't make him go either. They will also help find a sober living if that's what he wants. I know of one that's a little more, but under $1000, and has a good reputation. They're not about money like so many others and the manager comes highly recommended.

I may go for that if nothing else materializes. I'll know more tomorrow after I call and see if there is an opening or not.
Trying to get him to wait in rehab until an opening...but if facility finds him a sober living that will take him....I just have to decide how much I'm willing to pay.

Does anyone know anything about Vivitrol and it's effectiveness and whether the benefits outweigh the risk?

Am torn...

I haven't heard any negatives about Vivitrol. My sons doctor says it's very effective for cravings and it lessens the buzz tremendously. You may be thinking of Antabuse which makes the patient very ill if they drink while on it. My son is on this and he hasn't had a drink since he started.

Thank you Ingal. No, it's definitely Vivitrol, which is used both for alcohol and opiate addiction. I'm glad your son has been able to stay sober on it. For many addicts, it may give them a chance at resisting cravings, when combined with counseling and/or meetings can be effective.

vaya, I can't help thinking that while you offer him a home he will not take up any of the other options. He's obviously contemptuous of the treatments and maybe isn't at the point where he realises he can't control his addiction.

If you are offering to pay for sober living (did I get that right?) then you are not seeing him out on the street. But beware of him coming back home.

Addicts (I'm a sober alcoholic) often have an exaggerated idea about how they can give up, but once they get out among the triggers things tend to fall into old patterns.

((Vaya))

It's because I don't want him to come back home that I am working on the sober living. At least he can try to build from there, have structure, find work and be around others in his position.

Prob won't do the vivitrol now. No, I don't want him in the street now either. he's very fragile and in the streets right after rehab is sure to end it all.
My choice..I feel it's the best compromise at this time and take it day by day.

Hey Vaya. I got your message about your son and figured I would just post here since you started a thread. I personally have never taken Vivitrol so hard to comment on its effectiveness, but it does sound promising. I don't think using on it is any more dangerous than using in general as it is an opiate blocker, but your son would need to talk to a doctor about that.

The one thing in common I have seen across all recovery methods including just say no is the person has to have a STRONG desire and willingness to stop. There inlies the problem since no one can give that to them, but themselves. As many have seen no consequence is too great to stop an addict hellbent on using. Even an addict that is 95 percent committed is most likely going to pick up again.

Once you progress to IV dope or crack or meth using one time can send you back on the downward spiral. It was a struggle for a long time for me. I too could get a few months of clean time, but I was just one bad day and a few really bad decisions from going back there. So I had to take it one day at a time. Each day brought new hope and new challenges, but if I had the desire and willingness and wouldn't give in when the crazy thinking started I at least had a chance.

my daughter did very well on Vivitrol. It was the only 6th months she was sober in the last few years. Then her "sober" friends convinced her to stop taking vivitrol because they said it was a "bandaid" and she started using again immediately. So fast forward, she will go to detox again mindsy and if she wants to live with us she'll be getting the Vivitrol shot before coming home. It's the only thing that has worked for her.