Memantine as a Supplement to Naltrexone in Treating Heroin Dependence
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2011-08-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Prospective participants will undergo a screening process at the clinic to determine
eligibility. After screening, eligible patients will complete an 8-day inpatient
detoxification, followed by a 12-week outpatient phase. Patients will be randomly assigned to
one of two conditions (1) Naltrexone + Placebo; (2) Naltrexone + Memantine 20 mg bid.
Long-acting, injectable form of naltrexone (Vivitrol) will be administered once per month
(the total of three injections) while memantine or placebo will be taken daily. In addition,
patients will receive twice weekly psychosocial intervention that will include motivational
interviewing and cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention. The outpatient treatment will also
consist of 3 weekly visits to the clinic in which patients will receive counseling to help
maintain abstinence and improve compliance with study medication.