Raphael (I don’t use patients real names, so I thought this would be a fun one) came to the office recently to have his monthly Vivitrol^® injection. Vivitrol^® is the trade name for a long acting formulation of naltrexone, which is a pure opiate antagonist or blocker.

Raph completed a rapid Opioid Detox with The Coleman Institute several months ago. Prior to that he used heroin and assorted pills for almost a decade. He has a small, but growing construction company. He used to work for someone but had to create his own business because of a felony charge for possession some years ago.

He told me that a couple weeks before this office visit he was looking for something inside the toolbox on the back of his truck when he found a small bag of heroin. Raph said it was like time was suspended; he held the bag in his hand, staring at it as if an alien had started growing up out of his palm. He felt shock, disbelief, and—interestingly-- most strongly, he says he felt fierce anger.