Naltrexone Implants- Experiences?

[ex-junkie]

swim just more or less remembered she had a naltrexone implant in the year 2000, in perth western oz.

she had to go a distance without using opiates, as you do when you commence most types of naltrexone treatment. from memory it was between 7-14 days. *swims memory isnt crash hot, but it wasnt a great deal of time.

the implant was put in at the doctors surgery. the conditions werent great there, and she remembers many people lying on mats on the floor recovering after their "operation". the implants were placed under the skin in the upper part of the groin area, and they were the size of two rectangular shaped duracell batteries. it did raise the skin, and depending on your body size it was visible to those who ever saw your naked groin area.

they sedated swim to put in the implant, and she can honestly say she didnt wake up during the procedure, but at the same time she cant remember what they gave her to sedate her because of the high valium consumption at the time, and the desperation to get off methadone and heroin. it was a long time ago.

she remembers only feeling mildy icky after the procedure, extremely groggy, and of course the implant site was tender. there was a wound about 2cm diagonal, which had disolveable stitches.

the groin area was quite painful over the following couple of weeks. it rubbed on her clothing, and walking any distance resulted in inflammation and more pain. it got swollen and it rose to the size of a golf ball. swim went to the doctor, concerned, and he just waved it off. he said it would heal.

unfortunately over the next couple of weeks things did not improve. so she went to the hospital to get them to check it out. she was in much pain by then. they took a look at it and decided that she had an allergic reaction to the implant, which possibly could have been caused by insertion in a non sterile environment, or allergy to the naltrexone. some peoples bodies reject implants, and she thought shed mention that shes had trouble with the implanon birth control rod too.

so the decision was made. it had to come out. it wasnt even in her for 6 weeks, and they had to cut it out. so she was admitted to hospital this time, where the doctor whod put it in her tried to change her mind again, however she wanted it out. it was painful, and shed been advised to get it the fuck out. so out it came.

she was left with an "X" mark this time, and that is how it scarred. to this day it is noticable, but not because of the sheer size of it, because it did actually heal quite well considering. its just because there is a small area where pubes will not grow. which is only noticable when there are pubes there in the first place.

anyways, she thought shed jot this shit down because it is a procedure that many people have attempted in australia to reach their recovery after detox, and she thought it would be cool to have this aspect discussed here on DF.

any other naltrexone implant patients speak up...


edit: just for the record, swim continued on with naltrexone tablets for a few months successfully, then relapsed. then back onto methadone...

also just noticed this thread. http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32437

Reputation Comments on this post:

Interesting personal experience. Naltrexone scares the hell out of me!

[dyingtomorrow]

One of SWIM's friends in rehab was telling him about it. He said he got it and it was like a little pill thing that was bubbled under his skin. And he ended up cutting it out with a razor because he wanted to get high again.

[ex-junkie]

^swims heard stories about people cutting the implants out too. apparently there isnt a very high success rate. in swims case, the implant was quite large, and its a little disturbing to think that people have cut them out from their groin area.

;shudders at the thought:

[Junkhead23]

Pacman thinks it a little stupid for them to be visible. He wonders how many have hacked them out. We are talking about junkys and he probably would if he were desperate

[ex-junkie]

swims was so painful theres no way in hell she could have sliced the tender skin down there. furthermore, after time, they get mushy and need to be pushed in order to get it all out. the surgeon who removed swims said a blob flew across the room lolz.