 So you probably saw the thumbnail and title of this video and you're like that guy Chris He's a huge hypocrite because I saw his other video. Well, give me a minute and let me explain stay tuned So I figured that right now is probably the best time to talk about why harm reduction is stupid as well as dangerous What's up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution that clip You just saw was from my last video talking about why harm reduction is stupid and Dangerous and then that you have this video right here talking about how harm reduction saved my life What gives I felt the need to make this video I wasn't planning on doing it for a while, but I had to because I made quite a few people angry and I can Understand why because I didn't mention in that last video that I know that harm reduction can help people Yes, I am not ignorant. I understand the harm reduction helps some people. Oh wait, never mind. I did say that so first let's address the main issue here and It's it's pretty much a problem with language There's a lot of issues with the English language And one of them is that we keep creating these blanket terms for things and harm reduction is one of them Harm reduction is a blanket term and it it has a lot of things under that umbrella in my last video I was talking about one specific Form of harm reduction Which I should have made a little bit more clear. So I do apologize about that. This was one Specific form of harm reduction, which was about Teaching people how to use their substance of choice in a more responsible way Which I still stand by is ridiculous and nobody should ever push that on somebody Now there are various other forms of harm reduction. There's suboxone. There's methadone. There's other things I'm about to talk about no track zone. I have my own views and opinions on that Which I will save for another video, which I'll do later So if you haven't yet be sure to do what that thing says and click the subscribe button So you don't miss it when I do I have my own views on that stuff, but I'm not crazy I'm not ignorant. I know I know harm reduction helps people and harm reduction a form of harm reduction has actually helped me as well So in the future, hopefully we get better terms for harm reduction. That isn't just a bunch of stuff under one Umbrella because then we have miscommunications and I have people who are in the treatment World and they think that I'm a lunatic and stuff, but chances are they probably actually do agree with me So I wanted to talk about a medication called naltrexone Any of you who have watched my video on the Sinclair method, you've heard me talk about naltrexone before Naltrexone is a medication which is primarily used as an opioid blocker. Okay They have used it for for people who also struggle with alcoholism and there are some Testings that they've done to help people who struggle with meth. All right So For me naltrexone saved my life and I will share a little bit about that story. All right But as with any form of harm reduction My view on it is that none of it should be a replacement drug. None of it should be We live in a time we live in 2017. We are So lucky to have access to medications that people 100 years ago 50 years ago 30 years ago didn't have access to So something that we'll talk about real quick is matte which stands for medically assisted treatment There's a lot of stuff that falls under this umbrella suboxone naltrexone Vivitrol all these other things they fall under this medically assisted treatment, which I am 1000% for so Naltrexone for me. So I am a recovering opiate addict as well as an alcoholic And basically what happened to me was I was sitting In my sober living home and I had I want to say maybe a month clean And I was craving really really bad. I was having intense cravings and here's The issue about where I live where my sober living was across the street was a liquor store and about two blocks away Was one of my old drug dealers So it would have been really easy for me to leave and go get messed up screw up my sobriety Get kicked out onto the streets. It would have been all bad So I texted my mom and I told her about these cravings I said I can't stop obsessing and thinking about getting high or about getting drunk And my mom is a clinical director of an outpatient facility and she says maybe you should try naltrexone. I'm like What's that? So anyways, I ended up going to the doctor that she works with and he prescribed me naltrexone Naltrexone comes in a pill form and for me and based on my experience I I do think that part of it was a placebo effect But for me when I took the medication It felt like my brain before taking the medication was in a thousand places And then once the medication kicked in it seems like everything just came together And I was able to calm down and quit obsessing over getting high Which is a very good thing So I ended up staying on naltrexone for six months and it was it was an amazing experience. Like I tell all my clients like Try naltrexone. Try it. Try it. Try it because what it did for me and I've mentioned in other videos like 12 step programs Helped me get clean and stay clean. They're not for everybody, but they helped me out And what it did was it allowed me to sit in a 12 step meeting And not obsess about getting high the whole time. So I actually was able to sit there and listen and hear a message of hope all right, so That's my experience. I highly recommend people try it out But I do want to mention a few things Like I said a little bit ago naltrexone is primarily an opioid blocker Basically the way it works is if you try to get high on opiates It won't because it's blocking the receptors So it kind of just makes you not even want to get high But there are people who try to get high on it and it's extremely dangerous Because when they're trying to get high when they're using naltrexone They they it's a lot easier for them to overdose because they don't understand how high they're actually getting because their receptors are getting blocked As far as the cravings go they help me greatly with cravings for some people it doesn't help with cravings So like I said, I don't know if it was a placebo effect or part of what the medication actually does But for me it really reduced cravings. That's why I suggest that everybody at least try it now From my experience is personal my personal experience of somebody with five and a half years clean Working in a treatment center for two and a half years I would say out of all the people I've seen who have tried naltrexone Maybe only five percent of them have adverse reactions to them um, some of them is uh, you know, some anxiety some of them have stomach issues Sometimes you might uh, I think one person had um like a rash or something like that But like I said five percent So like when it comes to life or death of being an opiate addict I I think it's worth worth a gamble and that's one of the reasons why naltrexone is good too because it's the pill form You could just stop taking it So there's also a Injected form which is called vivitrol a lot of people like vivitrol because it lasts for 30 days So I've heard some people say no, I don't want to take that pill because I don't trust myself and say I wanted to get high Tomorrow, I just wouldn't take my pill So they feel that vivitrol gives them more accountability So they take that shot that can't get high for at least 30 days There are other medications out there that can stretch this out five six months Now I want to make clear I didn't have insurance when I got clean and from my experience not all insurance companies cover naltrexone I was paying out of pocket with it for it and I think my weak supply was about 35 or 40 bucks a week And this was five and a half years ago. I'm not sure how much it costs out of pocket now but most insurance providers do Cover it So if you're somebody who's struggling with addiction to alcohol or opiates, I highly recommend it There's somebody who's struggling with meth Like what's the worst that can happen if you try it, you know what I mean Like the the the pros definitely outweigh outweigh the cons like in my opinion the risk is definitely worth it So I wanted to make this video like I I highly encourage all of my clients like every few weeks I ask my clients. I'm like, have we talked to you about this yet? Have you talked to the doctor? I highly recommend that you try it because I truly believe that this This form of harm reduction saved my life. The last thing I will talk about real quick Unlike some of the other medications that they prescribe like methadone and subarxin me personally I didn't have any type of withdrawal after being on this medication for six months So and I don't think I've ever even heard of anybody having any withdrawal from this medication Um, but like I said, I do want to reiterate this medication is only meant to be taken for six months But like I mentioned in my last video about harm reduction This recovery thing it's about learning how to deal with life on life's terms it's about Managing the human condition Managing stress sadness anger loneliness heartbreak all these things So it's not meant to give you a crutch for the rest of your life So take that six months and work on yourself. Whether it's through a 12 set program therapy Meditation support groups, whatever it is. All right, but I would love to hear from you If any of you out there have tried naltrexone or vivitrol or anything like that Please leave it down in the comments below share your experience with other people who are watching this video and might want to give it a try All right So if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up and like I said pretty soon I'm going to make videos about my thoughts and opinions on methadone and subarxin maintenance and things like that So make sure you hit the little round subscribe button If you want to check out some other videos, click or tap on a thumbnail right there But again, thank you so much for watching. I will see you next time