Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
It is unclear how patients experience and adjust to losing the possibility of achieving an opioid effect. This qualitative study is the first to explore how people with opioid dependence experience extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) treatment, focusing on the process of treatment over time.
Findings/Key points
Participants described that XR-NTX treatment had many advantages. However they still faced multiple challenges, some of which they were not prepared for. Having to find a new foothold and adapt to no longer gaining an effect from opioids due to the antagonist medication was challenging. This was especially true for those struggling emotionally and transitioning into the harmful use of non-opioid substances. Additional support was considered crucial. Even so, the treatment led to an opportunity to participate in society and reclaim identity. Participants had strong goals for the future and described that XR-NTX enabled a more meaningful life. Expectations of a better life could however turn into broken hopes. Although participants were largely optimistic about the future, thinking about the end of treatment could cause apprehension.
Design/methods
Purposive sample, n=19
