The Coleman Institute Blog

There is absolutely nothing funny about addiction. Alcohol and opioid use disorders are causing deaths at unprecedented rates, destroying families, and costing the U.S. economy billions of dollars per year.

One of the most troubling aspects of my job as a medical addiction professional reared its head last week as I entered the exam room for a follow-up visit with Gordon.*

Gordon has had a very successful career in banking. He is the 64-year old divorced father of three grown children who adore him. He is very witty, personable, and engaging.

My patients, the struggles they have endured, and the efforts they have made to achieve sobriety inspire many of my blogs. But yesterday at work, I have to say, I was moved so much by my coworkers.

I had the pleasure of seeing my patient Isabel (not her real name, but I love this name) in the office for her regular monthly Vivitrol injection.

Vivitrol is a long-acting, injectable form of naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opiate blocker, also called an opiate antagonist. When naltrexone is present in the system, there is “no room at the inn” for opioids.

When patients come to the Coleman Institute for Addiction Medicine to detox off various addictive substances such as heroin, fentanyl, Percocet®, Dilaudid®, Roxicet®, or any other derivatives of morphine, they aren’t feeling their best.