If you are struggling with opiate addiction, your doctors may prescribe you naltrexone as a part of you recovery. This medication works by binding to and blocking your opiate receptors. In doing so, it prevents you from feeling "high" if you take any opiate medications, and it also decreases your cravings. Naltrexone can be really helpful when you're battling addiction, especially in the early stages. But it does sometimes have effects and intricacies that may surprise users. Here are a few things that might happen and that you should not let surprise you too much.

You might feel a bit nauseous.

Some people experience nausea when they first start taking naltrexone. Often, this nausea gets passed off as a withdrawal symptom, and patients assume their naltrexone is not doing as much to block withdrawal symptoms as it should. But usually, the nausea is due to the medication itself — so don't increase your dose thinking that will help! Taking the naltrexone with food does tend to help, and usually, the nausea will pass after a week or so.

You need to have been off opiates for 10 days before taking it.

If you have been struggling to get clean from opiates, then don't be surprised if your doctor delays giving you naltrexone. They are not doing this to be mean or to make you suffer. If you take naltrexone and you still have opiates in your system, you can go through serious and horrible withdrawal symptoms. So, your doctor is protecting you from this by delaying your prescription.

You may need to have periodic liver enzyme tests.

Your doctor may want you to come in for periodic liver enzyme tests when you are taking naltrexone. These are simple blood tests, and they are just meant to check your liver function. Naltrexone can impede liver function, so these tests just ensure that if this does happen, your doctor catches it before any permanent damage is done.

You'll need to take the medication on a strict schedule.

Naltrexone needs to be taken every 24 hours. You'll need to be punctual about taking it on time, or else you may begin feeling cravings for opiates. Most people find that setting an alarm to remind them to take their naltrexone helps.

Taking naltrexone can take some getting used to. However, this treatment is really helpful for the management and treatment of opiate addiction, and it has helped so many people recover. It can help you too, especially now that you know what to expect.

To learn more, contact a resource that offers low-dose naltrexone.