Opiate Detox

All About Rapid Detoxification

2009-11-16T23:00:00.001-08:00

All about Rapid Detoxification

Rapid detoxification is other wise known as rapid opiate detox or ultra rapid detox. It is a method of drug withdrawal in a person who is addicted to some types of drugs. A physical addiction to drugs is a very serious medial issue as well that has to be monitored by health care experts when a person lessens or abolishes the substances such that the body has become dependent upon. In a traditional way, body detoxification was actually a long process, lasting anywhere from a few day to a week. But rapid detoxification is a remedial process that permits detoxification to happen with in a single span of day.

Further rapid detoxification is used to rapidly eradicate the tremendously uncomfortable and life bullying removal of opiates, heroin, prescription medications and other alcohol. Withdrawal signs of these drugs comprises of quivering, sweating, confusion, headaches, longings, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, sleeplessness, agitation, depression and also anxiety. Sometimes, seizures and heart attacks could also occur from rapid detoxification.

A person experiencing rapid detoxification should be placed under anesthesia for about four to six hours. Under the control of doctors, the person is managed a particular medication, which speeds up the removal process in the body. Because the patient is anesthetized and unaware, he or she does not feel the withdrawal symptoms, which accompany the customary detox time.

The medications that are used in rapid detoxification work by blocking the receptors in the brain, which is accountable for absorbing the substance that the patient is keen to. This causes the body to start to drive out the toxins and as a result causes removal signs and symptoms. Once a person's body is free of the things or substances, which were abused, they could start the drug or alcohol revival and treatment processes. Substance abu se treatment generally incorporates education, psychiatric therapy and learning lifestyle changes.

Like almost everything, there are as well some pros and cons to rapid detox. This method might assist to motivate people with addictions to look for treatment as they do not have to fear the tender experience of withdrawal and detox. It is also positive as it allows a person to start recovery sooner.

Methadone Treatment, Addiction and Detox

2009-10-25T10:02:00.005-07:00

Most people associate methadone with opioid treatment, to help addicts get off heroin, for example, and ease them into recovery, free of any drugs or pharmacological intervention. By design it works, but as with anything, there are times when the use of the drug is abused.

For starters, methadone is a synthetic opioid, and beyond drug addiction treatment, methadone is used as an analgesic for treatment of various pain conditions. It is a powerful pain killer, used as a substitute for morphine, and it is less expensive. When methadone is prescribed, there is careful monitoring of the dosage and frequency of use, so patients are closely watched.

Why methadone for opioid addiction treatment? Patients are placed on a methadone program to help with the withdrawal symptoms from addiction to opiate drugs, such as heroin. Those suffering from the disease will explain that the withdrawal is worse than the actual addiction, so many avoid treatment for fear that the withdrawal will be too severe. Also, when off their opiate drug of choice, addicts have to deal with the intense cravings that go along with abstinence.

Therefore, methadone, used under very controlled circumstances, is a tool to help addicts come down off the drugs without severe consequences. Understand that methadone is classified as a schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act, so even though it is used as a tool for treatment, it is still a powerful drug and can easily be abused. When used as an analgesic, physicians must have Drug Enforcement Agency registration. You can see that there are serious controls on methadone, and getting a prescription is not easy.

The physicians who are authorized to prescribe methadone have made an application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the FDA, along with the Department of Health and Social Services, decide the dosage and the cases where methadone may be used. Clinics that use it have extra state and federal licenses. Moreover, because there are so many controls, there are only about 700 methadone clinics in the country, and some states do not have any methadone clinics at all. Addicts do not have an easy path to methadone treatment, and even if they do have access, the regimen itself is highly controlled and many addicts have difficulty following the plan.

Methadone can be taken by injection, or by mouth. When administered for the control of opioid withdrawal, methadone doses are slowly increased over five to seven days, but this is not always the case. It depends on how the patient responds to the treatment. For example, if the patient has a high tolerance to opioids, then the dosage will be higher, if necessary. Outpatients are encouraged to make frequent reports to medical staff during the early stages of treatment. This communication is vital to determining the proper dosage of the methadone. Each individual may need to have several adjustments before the right dosage is achieved.

Because methadone is a synthetic opioid, there are side effects which should be clearly understood. Patients can experience respiratory depression, which of course is a major concern for heroin users. Likewise, it is not uncommon for patients to have nausea, or to become confused. Patients also need to understand that methadone and alcohol do not mix, and the use of any other drug must be strictly by design and carefully considered.

There are alternatives to methadone treatment. For example, buprenorphine allows for an easier withdrawal. Remember, the patient has to withdraw from the heroin, and then be eased off the methadone. Buprenorphine is also different because if a person decides to abuse the drug for recreational purposes, they will be disappointed because they won't get high. They will, however, get the side effects. Opioid addiction in the last 10 years has also seen the advent of suboxone treatment, but like methadone, suboxone, a synthetic opioid, can be abused.

The important thing to remember about methadone detox is that the drug is used to help a person avoid the discomfort of withdrawal. It is a serious drug and carries serious consequences when abused. Persons seeking methadone treatment need to understand that the strict controls and the heavy oversight of their program are needed to ensure that the treatment is effective.

Ned Wicker is the Addictions Recovery Chaplain at Waukesha Memorial Hospital Lawrence Center, the author's website for addiction support:

Drug-Addiction-Support.org or

Drug Addiction Symptoms

Drug and Alcohol Detoxification with a Holistic Approach - Alcoholism, Heroin Addiction, Opiate Addiction, Prescription Drug Addiction and Others by John Giordano, CAP, MAC, CCJS and Trina Geiss, MPH

2009-10-25T10:02:00.003-07:00

April 14, 2004 -- Today's drug and alcohol detoxification centers are really just stabilization centers. In order to comply with the term โdetox', detoxification centers would have to wait until all drugs are out of the client's system before discharging them. This, of course, is not cost effective. There are several new approaches to treatment that not only aid in alleviating the symptoms associated with addiction, but also enable the individual to embark upon a new life with a more positive outlook than ever before. These new treatments are considered complementary, or alternative to conventional medicine. Unfortunately, addicted individuals are far from functioning in society if they do not enter a treatment program immediately following a detox episode. Otherwise, they are sure to fail and relapse back into their drug abuse. With our current โdetox' methods, failure occurs much more often than not and most people never make it to receive the type of treatment they need. This is because most of the individuals leaving detoxification centers are still drug affected, rendering them unable to make clear decisions about treatment programs and recovery options. In order to effectively combat this alarming and growing problem, alternative treatment methods must be explored.

One such complementary modality that is quite popular for a variety of functions is acupuncture therapy. Acupuncture is most widely used for its pain relieving properties through sensory stimulation2. More recently, acupuncture has been shown to successfully treat depression4,5 and alcohol withdrawal7. Acupuncture can be an efficacious treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms when used in combination with traditional therapies7. Acupuncture has been shown to reduce the desire for alcohol1. The relief acupuncture causes works through local tissue healing effect and central anti-stress mechanisms2. Acupuncture detoxification therapy uses the application of acupuncture needles to the ear, also called auricular acupuncture. These points target different bodily functions and organs. The effects witnessed on the individual include relaxation, decreased anxiety and restlessness, reduced perspiration, intestinal cramps, watery eyes, and sneezing. It also aids in the excretion of toxic substances for a speedier recovery3,11. Acupuncture for addicted individuals supports a positive mood, relieves stress, and aids in craving control. This therapy also appears to assist in the healing process of the mind based on the client's affect. In Oregon, heroin addicts MUST try acupuncture before getting methadone6. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Panel on Acupuncture reviewed the scientific literature and concluded that acupuncture for addiction "may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management programโ. Overall, acupuncture has been shown to increase substance abuse treatment adherence, reduce recidivism, and stabilize mood.

Decreasing withdrawal or craving symptoms is an integral part of the recovery process. Substance detoxification of the addicted individual is paramount for the holistic healing process to occur. Some of the most difficult substances to overcome include opiates and amphetamines. One such holistic treatment that has worked wonders with withdrawal and craving symptoms is ibogaine treatment. Ibogaine is taken from the shrub, Tabernanthe iboga, and native to West Africa10,13. Indigenous people use ibogaine in low doses to fight fatigue, hunger, and thirst; it is taken in higher doses as a sacrament in religious rituals10. Ibogaine has been shown especially effective for opiate detoxification and for short-term stabilization of addicted individuals preparing to enter substance abuse treatment8. Its healing effects have been shown to significantly decrease craving for both heroin and cocaine along with a decrease in depressive symptoms9,10.

Ibogaine appears to be a hopeful detox drug for the future. The results seem extremely promising for long-term recovery and relapse prevention. Research has been performed on ibogaine's efficacy in treating alcohol addiction, and researchers found that there was some proof that ibogaine suppresses alcohol intake in animal models9,12. Ibogaine treatment is not accepted by the FDA and therefore must be obtained in clinics outside the United States. Ibogaine leaves the individual feeling clear-headed with increased motivation and significant insight into the causes of their addiction. For most, ibogaine does not serve as the proverbial โmagic bullet,โ however this treatment is definitely above current detoxification methods, where individuals leave shrouded in their addiction while remaining hopeless of a future free from the clutches of drugs.

There are a variety of other holistic substance abuse detox treatments that aid those previously mentioned in overcoming cravings and ridding the system of toxins. These should be used in conjunction with other therapies. Proper diet and nutrition consisting of vitamin C, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and sulfur proteins can have a very positive effect. Vitamin C is a very potent anti-oxidant and will help cleanse and destroy free radicals in the tissues. It also aids in intestinal motility, which is an important component of getting clean and sober. Amino acids, especially glutamine will stimulate the body's natural opiates and endorphins to help alleviate some cravings. Essential fatty acids such as flax oil in combination with foods containing sulfur proteins (cysteine or methionine) such as yogurt, eggs, codfish, sesame paste, garlic, and onions will allow fat soluble toxins to become water soluble for excretion through sweat and urine6. In order to facilitate and expedite excretion of toxic substances, perspiration must be enhanced. This should be done through rigorous exercise and steam therapy, such as a Turkish wet steam. Following heavy perspiration, the individual should clean themselves with a high-fat soap to remove toxins excreted on the surface of the skin and prevent their readsorption6.

Utilizing a variety of techniques that recognize the numerous needs and requirements of an individual undergoing substance abuse detoxification and treatment will have much more positive effects concerning treatment outcome. Addiction is a disease that weaves its web throughout every facet of an individual's life, therefore, when treating this insidious disease all angles must be approached from a fresh perspective to gain insight into more efficacious treatment opportunities.

More information can be found at http://www.drugrehabcenter.com, http://www.drug-alcohol-rehab.net and http://www.helpaddicts.com or by calling 800-559-9503 24/7 for a free consultation.

Works Cited:

1.
Bullock ML, Kiresuk TJ, Sherman RE, Lenz SK, Culliton PD, Boucher TA, Nolan CJ. (2002). A large randomized placebo controlled study of auricular acupuncture for alcohol dependence. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, vol. 22(2): 71-7.

2.
Carlsson CP. (2001). Acupuncture therapy today. Background, clinical use, mechanisms. Lakartidningen, vol. 98(46): 5178-82, 5185-6.

3.
Fidler S. (n.d.) The successful use of auricular acupuncture in the supported withdrawal and detoxification of substance abusers. Retrieved 4/2/04 from: www.acupuncture.com/Research/addictres.htm

4.
Gallagher SM, Allen JJ, Hitt SK, Schnyer RN, Manber R. (2001). Six-month depression relapse rates among women treated with acupuncture. Complement Ther Med., vol. 9(4): 216-8.

5.
Han C, Li XW, Luo HC. (2002). Comparative study of electro-acupuncture and maprotiline in treating depression. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi, vol. 22(7): 512-4, 521.

6.
Hoffmann DL, Kane E. (n.d.). Addiction. American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

7.
Karst M, Passie T, Friedrich S, Wiese B, Schneider U. (2002). Acupuncture in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms: a randomized, placebo-controlled inpatient study. Addiction Biology, vol. 7(4): 415-9.

8.
Leal MB, Michelin K, Souza DO, Elisabetsky E. (2003). Ibogaine attenuation of morphine withdrawal in mice: role of glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, vol. 27(5): 781-5.

9.
Levi MS, Borne RF. (2002). A review of chemical agents in the pharmacotherapy of addiction. Curr Med Chem, vol. 9(20): 1807-18.

10.
Mash DC, Kovera CA, Pablo J, Tyndale RF, Ervin FD, Williams IC, Singleton EG, Mayor M. (2000). Ibogaine: complex pharmacokinetics, concerns for safety, and preliminary efficacy measures. Ann NY Acad Sci, vol. 914: 394-401.

11.
Miller J. (n.d.). An evaluation of an acupuncture program for drug treatment in San Diego county. Retrieved 4/2/04 from: www.acupuncture.com/Research/DrugSD.htm

12.
Rezvani AH, Overstreet DH, Leef YW. (1995). Attenuation of alcohol intake by ibogaine in 3 strains of alcohol preferring rats. Phamacol Biochem Behav, vol. 52: 615-20.

13.
Vastag B. (2002). Addiction treatment strives for legitimacy. JAMA, vol. 288(24): 3096-3101.

Dealing With Opiate Withdrawal

2009-10-25T10:02:00.001-07:00

If you are addicted to painkillers or to street drugs such as heroin then you have probably struggled in the past with opiate withdrawal at some point. Every opiate addict knows the pain and discomfort of withdrawal and the intensity of the withdrawal symptoms, and thus they do anything they can to avoid them and thus stay trapped in a cycle of addiction. The only real way to break from this addiction is to somehow make it through the pain and discomfort of withdrawal and learn how to live a new life without drugs. But in order to make it to this goal you have to at least get through detox.

One way to get through this process is to check into a drug rehab. Doing so will probably give you the best odds at staying clean in the long run and beating the addiction. There are several reasons for this, but the bottom line is that an inpatient rehab gives you access to the most resources in terms of fighting your addiction.

For starters, they will put you through a medical detox, and give you medication that will help you make it through withdrawal. If you do not have this advantage and are trying to do it on your own then the temptation to relapse will be very high indeed. Second of all they will connect you with professional therapists and counselors. These people can help you in a lot of different ways, and get you set up for success after you leave rehab as well. Third, you will be connecting with a number of peers, who are going to be supportive of you and help you to stay clean from a social perspective.

And the list goes on. If you want a real advantage in staying clean, then look for it in a drug rehab center.

Learn more about oxycodone withdrawal and also about drug rehab Georgia.

About Heroin Detox

2009-10-23T10:09:00.005-07:00

If you or someone you know is addicted to opiates such as heroin or hydrocodone then you are going to have to go through detox in order to change your life and ultimately get off the drugs. The fear of detox and the severity of the withdrawal symptoms can prevent many addicts from getting and staying clean, so it will help to have a plan in place in order to deal with these symptoms.

If your plan is to simply stop taking the pills and go through the withdrawals cold turkey, then that is not a very good plan. People who do this almost inevitably will end up relapsing very soon after trying, and the success rate will be very low. In order to increase your chances of staying clean you need to ask for help.

For most people this will mean going to a drug rehab of some sort where they can detox you in a medical setting. The reason this is an advantage is because they can give you medication at the rehab that will help to control your withdrawal symptoms and prevent you from feeling so miserable. They can do this without getting you addicted to any other medications as they will carefully ween you down if they have to until you are completely drug free.

Many people think if they go to rehab they will end up hooked on medications and so they justify their decision not to go get clean. This is ridiculous and if you go to rehab you will in fact emerge drug free if that is your choice. The decision is up to you, all you have to do is to ask for help and then follow through with your decision.

Learn more about heroin detox and Hydrocodone detox.

Heroin Drug Detox

2009-10-23T10:09:00.003-07:00

Recovery is a great thing for those of us fortunate enough to actually find it. Many people go their entire life using one form of drug or another without ever making it into recovery.

This is sad because there are so many places one can go today for help for instance; if you happen to be a heroin addict there is places where you can go to detox from heroin. It does not actually really matter what kind of drug you use if you look there is help available.

There are people who continue to use without ever making it to a heroin drug detox or any other type of addiction treatment for that matter. They are simply going to die from the disease of addiction.

I happen to know a lot about heroin addiction because I used and abused heroin it for many, many years. I have seen people who swore up and down that they would never go to rehab and that they would die first a lot of them did. Some of them did get beat down enough to actually try to stop using heroin by going to heroin detox.

If you wish to stop using it can be done but it will take action on your part no one can make you stop using but yourself. Once you have made the decision to stop using help is available for you to go through yo heroin withdrawal.

They have even come out with something new since I kicked heroin and its call heroin ultra rapid detox. If you choose to stop using in this fassion you will be rendered unconscious with anesthesia and given medication to remove all the opiates from your body.

When you wake up you may not remember a thing how awesome is that but don't get the idea in your head that you can go out and use again because this form of detox is very expensive.

For further information please visit heroin drug detox. Also, For further information please visit heroin withdrawal.

Detox Or Detoxification - Whatever You Call It , You May Benefit

2009-10-23T10:09:00.001-07:00

Detox or detoxification includes two things:

1) Withdrawing poisonous substance from the body.

2) Withdrawing one's mind and soul from the darkness of abused substances.

The term Rapid detox was first used ten years ago and was specially related to opiate addictions. But today, it is mostly used to advertise and describe various methods of detox. Rapid detox can be used to describe the methods of alcohol detoxification, drug detox and other substances.
Drug detox

It is a process to withdraw one from drug addiction. Detoxification assists the overcoming of uncomfortable symptoms at the time of drug withdrawal. The ultimate goal of drug detox is to get the body rid of toxins formed due to drug use. It is carried out in various ways depending on where you decide to receive the treatment. Most drug detox clinics provide treatment only for physical withdrawal of drugs and alcohol.

Alcohol detoxification

Alcohol detoxification is the process to withdraw one from alcohol addiction.

There are various aspects of alcohol detoxification:

1) The first aspect of alcohol detoxification is the medical aspect. There should be a medical specialist and a qualified nursing staff in order to help the patient during the procedure. It is an established fact that if a medical practitioner can set the patient's mind calm then the entire procedure goes smoothly.

2) The second aspect of alcohol detoxification is physical. During this process there should be a nutritionist in the medical center to put the patient on a perfect meal plan. If the patient takes balanced diet then the rest of the alcohol detoxification process will go more smoothly.

3) The third and the most important aspect of alcohol detoxification is the emotional aspect. The medical center should have a trained team of psychologists and counselors to help the patient psychologically. The process can be extremely emotional at times. Specialists should be there to assist the patient move forward through emotions.

4) Alcohol detoxification always combines a therapy with medication and that of psychological counseling. These programs are often long lasting; they mostly take two to four months and needs staying at medical institutions. Therapy techniques and personal counseling assist the patients to recover from alcohol completely and more comfortably. The drugs are given to avoid withdrawal symptoms that the patients may experience. Complete recovery from alcoholism is most preferable and the ideal situation.

5) Alcohol detoxification therapies use drugs like Disulfiram, which cause a severe and immediate hangover after consuming alcohol. Drugs like Naltrexone, helps in complete and comfortable recovery.

6) Nutritional therapy has also proved helpful in alcohol detoxification. During this stage, some patients feel 'insulin resistance syndrome' which results in the failure of processing sugar in body. "Insulin resistance syndrome" causes behavioral upsets and mood swings. These mood swings and behavioral upsets can be controlled with specific dietary regimen. Due to these types of psychological problems one should include a dietary regimen during alcohol detoxification.

7) There are some specific programs that help heavy drinkers who are not yet alcoholics but on the same way yet to become alcoholics. Moderation management also helps such people.

Detox Or Detoxification - Whatever You Call It , You May Benefit

2009-10-21T10:00:00.001-07:00

Choose A Drug Detox Procedure You Can Be Certain Is Safe

2009-10-21T09:59:00.003-07:00

Two doctors had their licenses suspended last November following the deaths of two patients to whom they administered rapid detox procedures. The family of one patient sued the doctors for wrongful death. One doctor settled out of court, and the other was just recently ordered to pay the family $34.3 million. The reports also said that other patients were hospitalized after the procedures. Although these doctors did not follow correct medical procedure, many experts feel rapid detox is too dangerous and that someone who wants to get off drugs or alcohol should use other, safer drug detox methods.

What is rapid detox? The addicted person is put under general anesthesia and a drug like naltrexone is pumped into their body for three to six hours. The naltrexone forces the withdrawal process to begin.

If that was all you knew about rapid drug detox, you'd think it sounded pretty good. You're under, not feeling a thing, and it's over in a few hours. But nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact that you're unconscious during the procedure does not, unfortunately, relieve the body itself from the severe pain and trauma of withdrawal. One doctor who observed a person undergoing rapid drug detox commented that the reason the person has to be strapped to the table is that the body flops around "like a fish out of water". Being under general anesthesia for that length of time also adds to the stress. And recovery can take weeks.

Dr. Frank Evans, president-elect of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine and director of the health professionals program at Bellwood Health Services in Toronto, was quoted in The Star.com as saying "Patients still suffer from significant pain, anxiety, agitation, depression, diarrhea, all of the symptoms of an opiate withdrawal, days to weeks after," he said. "I have never heard of any patient being completely symptom-free after 24 hours." Dr. Evans said that, in his opinion, rapid detox is "a waste of money."

And it's a lot of money. The going rate in some clinics is $15,000.

Danny Oppenheim Jr., the patient whose family filed the wrongful death suit, was a 33-year-old husband and father. He became addicted to painkillers after being prescribed them to recover from surgery. According to his widow, Danny just wanted to get better. "What they promised was like a dream come true," she said.

But for Danny, and his friends and family, that dream turned into a nightmare. If someone you care about wants to get off drugs or alcohol, find a safe and effective drug detox program you can be certain won't do the same to you.

The Mind-Body Connection To Detox

2009-10-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

The mind-body connection to addiction may open up new forms of drug-free detox treatments. The breakthrough was discovering that certain drug (opiate) receptors in the brain are only found in humans and different types of animals that have spines or back bones. Specific (limbic) systems that control emotions in the brain are affected by stimulating these drug receptors. Drugs stimulate these receptors but so does physical movement.

What is a detox diet?

A detox diet is thought to strengthen organs involved in detox and promote the excretion of stored toxins through the organs of elimination: the skin, intestines, liver, lungs, kidneys and lymphatic system. A detox diet program may include a special diet, herbs and supplements, hydrotherapy, exercise, breathing techniques and/or sauna.

Think about all the toxins we are constantly pumping into our bodies and it's pretty obvious that the detox system could do with a helping hand. Symptoms that it is functioning badly include: tiredness, dark circles under the eyes, dull skin and bad digestion.

Detox Hot Tips

1. Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake a few days before you start;
2. Buy a detox book or pick out some tasty recipes to cook so you don't get stuck for ideas;
3. Go shopping in advance - with the right foods at hand you shouldn't go hungry;
4. Tell all your friends and family what you are doing in advance. If they know how serious you are they are less likely to try and force feed you a pint/bar of chocolate/Sunday roast when you next see them;

Who shouldn't detox?

If you have any history of cancer, kidney, liver, heart disease or any other disease, are pregnant or under 16, do not contemplate detoxing without talking to your doctor.

Fresh Vegetables

All fresh vegetables except corn, which can be an allergenic food. Great detox foods include broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli sprouts, onions, garlic, artichokes, beets, red and green vegetables.

Helping a Heroin Addict - Choices For Opiate Addiction

2009-10-20T10:05:00.005-07:00

For heroin addiction help in England people first turn to the NHS National Health System. Opiate addicts and family usually go to see their GP. The system is flawed as the impetus is on sending the heroin addict to the methadone clinic. What we end up with is a bunch of zombie like drug addicts who continue to be a burden on society and on the social network. The drug addict still enslaved. Private residential rehabilitation is the other option.

Choices for Opiate Addiction in the UK

For the heroin addict what they really want is to be free of drug addiction. Like the day you were born, free of the physical and mental desire for drugs. To me the following are not really choices but they are yours under the NHS.

Under the current system the GP can offer you a legal substitute called Naltrexone which acts as a blockade for the high if the addict was then to use an opiate such as heroin. The idea being that if you cannot experience the high, then you won't use. I don't buy this concept as the person is still stuck to pills, the reasons for his drug use were never addressed, it does not fix cravings.

Will You Choose Methadone? More difficult to withdraw from than heroin, methadone unfortunately seems to be the cheap solution most commonly offered by the medical system to the heroin addict. 1.8 million methadone prescriptions are given each year in the UK. This is a highly addictive drug and not a solution if you want to live a drug and addiction free life. If a drug is this addictive wherein the withdrawal is more crippling than that of heroin why would anyone see this as a solution. At the end of the day, the reasons a person began using mind altering drugs in the first place are not resolved. You still have a messed up individual barely getting by in life taking a bad drug that will eventually kill him.

Another prescription drug is Buprenorphine. Joining the type of drugs that street drug dealers come to profit from. To most addicts aka Subutex, Subuxone just becomes another dependency and I hear of drug addicts taking it along with their heroin, crack cocaine, ecstacy and speed.

what's left? Private Residential Rehab, including full physical detox to eliminate cravings and full life rehabilitation so the person feels like a capable member of society again. This is the only life-long solution.

Freedom from Heroin Addiction in the UK - here is someone's story "I was a heroin addict for over 10 years, until I went to NN. Nothing in my life had gone the way I wanted it to, I had no control or self-respect and I had succumbed to the effects of drugs. It took its toll on every single aspect of my life until I actually thought the only way to beat my addiction was to kill myself. So I tried and every time I put a needle in my arm I was truly wishing I would not wake up after. I came to the program in one hell of a mess. I was always a person who gave up on everything I had done but this time I was determined that I would complete the program and stay drug-free for the rest of my life. The program itself is so amazing! It gave me the frame of mind and control I had craved for so many years. I had tried other various treatment programs in the past and nothing had worked for me like this program. Every single aspect of my life is now in place for me. Everything I had ever wanted is coming to me. I'm confident, controlled and for the first time in 27 years I am actually happy. MM"

Do you want to learn more about the causes of addiction and how end it?

Go to: http://www.detox-narconon.org

Paula Dewar is a professional rehab consultant and refers clients to Drug-free Detox and Rehab Programs which End Addiction for Life. Paula speaks English and Portuguese.

PS: To subscribe to our free newsletter giving our Latest Discoveries go to: http://www.detox-narconon.org/family-training/subscribe.php

Drug Detox: A Life Changing Experience

2009-10-20T10:05:00.003-07:00

First of all, detox is a term used to define the process of detoxification, which is used to describe the process of removing any toxic waste from the body. Many people today use detox as a way of cleansing their colons of unwanted waste, but for many, detox is more than ridding yourself of a few extra pounds. For many, ridding the body of alcohol and drug remnants and also withdrawing from the use of such is called drug detox. Never, under any circumstances, should a person attempt to perform a drug detox without proper medical supervision.

Drug detox is the first step in a method that will involve the body's own process of ridding itself of drug chemicals that it has grown to rely on. What most people don't realize, is that the remnants of drugs or alcohol in a body system of an addict will produce cravings for more unless every one of those remnants is expelled from the body. It is the first and most difficult step for most recovering addicts, who won't begin the actual recovery process until they complete the drug detox program. Hundreds of drug detox centers are scattered throughout the United States and other countries and can deal with mild to severe addictions to drugs like heroin to addictions caused by anti-depressants and pain killers such as Xanax, Darvocet and Codeine, among a wealth of others.

New medications used in many drug detox facilities enables those withdrawing from drugs of any sort to take prescribed medications to make the process easier and less uncomfortable. Some such drug detox facilities offer closely monitored withdrawal from opiate addictions with a high rate of success. Individual and group counseling is also available at a drug detox center. Staff members encourage patients to talk about their addictions, a main step in the healing process. After the drug detox process has been completed, many drug detox centers also offer drug rehabilitation counseling services as well.

The key to a successful drug detox program is to admit that there is a problem and then to make a decision to so something about it. A drug detox center can help you do just that, and is equipped to help people get off such drugs and abused medications slowly and safely. A drug detox center in hospitals or community settings includes medical and psychiatric support for patients. A good drug detox center will offer more than a room and a bed, but will offer both emotional and caring support for patients and their families. A drug detox center can help not only the person undergoing the detox process, but friends and family when it comes time to offer ongoing support after discharge. Many people are ashamed or embarrassed to admit they have a problem and refuse to go to a drug detox center. But trying to withdraw from drugs on your own is a dangerous and painful process without correct and trained medical supervision. A drug detox center can provide everything someone needs, from medications to counselors for patients. No one should go through the drug detox process alone, and a drug detox center is the best place to undergo this life changing experience.

Surviving a Heroin Detox at Home

2009-10-20T10:05:00.001-07:00

People who've been victims of drug abuse, addiction or even alcoholism would be able to tell you that getting pass the phase of withdrawal symptoms was the hardest but once that phase had passed, life was better and things got easier. If you're trying to kill a bad opiates addiction and want to survive a heroin detox, know that with the right amount of willpower and effort, you can do it at home. First thing you'd need to do would be to get rid of all drugs and substances that make you chemical dependant from your household. Take out the trash too, because in desperate times, you would be surprised to see that you would be willing to dig in through the trash for a quick fix. Aside from that, look up the internet for withdrawal symptoms. If you want to kill your habits, you'd need to be prepared for all that would come your way and you should be able to fight each challenge without falling apart. Set a week in which you'd like to start over and clear your schedule for that one week. Take off from work, send your kids to the sitters and have the house all to yourself. In this time period, write out your goals, make visualizations and believe in yourself. Then, focus on curing the symptoms you'd be feeling by preparing with over the counter medication like ibuprofen, aspirin, painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-nausea as well. In addition, there is no harm in preparing hot baths for yourself with bath salts and going for frequent massages through this week. These little self pampering activities would not only soothe your body from all the symptoms, it would also take your mind off things and help you relax. To sum it up, you can hold yourself together, just stay focus and be dedicated.

For more information about side effects of prescription drugs including Prednisone side effects visit DrugSideEffectsInfo.com

A Few Different Ways of Dealing With an Opiate Addiction

2009-10-18T21:07:00.005-07:00

Anyone who has been addicted to opiate drug before knows how difficult it can be to get off of them. Examples of opiates would be painkillers such as prescription medications like Vicodin or Oxycontin, but also street drugs such as opium and heroin. One of the reasons that it can be so difficult to break away from an opiate addiction is because the pain and discomfort that a person will feel during withdrawal can be very intense. Because of this, the potential strategies that we might use in order to get off of opiates mostly deal with ways of getting through this physical withdrawal.

The first strategy you might try is to check into a drug rehab center and detox there. This is generally the most accepted strategy for a few different reasons. First of all, you are going to get the highest level of support and possible resources from such an inpatient treatment center, whereas other strategies might not have this full level of support. Another reason that this is a good option is because the medical staff at a drug rehab can properly treat your physical withdrawal, making it more comfortable for you than it might have been otherwise. In addition to all this, going to a drug rehab has the greatest potential for aftercare options, and can probably provide a person with the most choices when it comes to continuing care. Of course, going to a treatment center is expensive, and many struggling addicts cannot afford it. If you can get it, go.

Another tactic for overcoming an addiction to opiates is to go to a physician and ask for some sort of drug therapy medication. This might involve taking various medications, such as Methadone or Suboxone therapy. To be specific, Suboxone is a man made opiate drug that can take away cravings for opiates when taken every day as maintenance, and can thus increase a person's chances of staying clean. One issue with this technique for staying clean is that it does not really mandate any sort of therapy or program involvement on the part of the addict. These tactics could be used together, but since they are not really mandatory, most people will become lazy and only rely on the drug therapy to get them through this recovery phase. Research has demonstrated that this does not work in the long run unless an addict gets more involved with either programs or therapies to try and change their life.

One last idea is to simply quit cold turkey, without using any assistance, and simply hope that this works out for you. As you can imagine, this is a recipe for disaster, and will likely result in a relapse very quickly for just about any opiate addict. But amazingly enough, some people have quit cold turkey and made it stick.

How would you like to learn more about opiate addiction? Visit http://www.spiritualriver.com/

Detoxification - Rapid Detox

2009-10-18T21:07:00.003-07:00

The rapid detox is formulated especially for those who are addicted to drugs, opium and heroin. This is a method of removing the toxins in the body by a medical treatment performed in the intensive care unit at a hospital. The traditional treatments performed on the persons addicted to these kinds of drugs may produce harmful results in the recovery. Not only the person isn't cured, but he may be left with immense pain on the way to complete recovery.

For this reason, rapid detox is employed and effective. The most famous and efficient in the rapid method is the waismann method. It is also well known in the names of Neuro-regulation methods. It often performed in an intensive care unit.

The person who is addicted to the opium or heroin is subjected to cleansing of the opiate present in the neurons of the brain. At the time of cleansing, the anesthesia given to the patient makes him unconscious, so that he doesn't have a glimpse of what had happened. The patient can return home in few days after the cleansing is over.

This method proves to be effective in 70 percent of people who got the opiate cleansed by the waismann method, never thinking of drugs for a complete year.

The traditional treatments were not able to remove the patient's intense desire for the consumption of drugs. Hence the Waismann method not only cures the patient, but also makes him a drug free person.

The Waismann method of rapid detox is a painless and effective method.

Anand Ikav is an author living in India. He is an expert in detox for hypertensive patients and you can learn a lot from his website detox program.

Things to Try For Overcoming Opiate Addiction

2009-10-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

There is potential for just about any person to become addicted to opiate pain medications. While many people will take these types of pain pills without any problems, a small percentage of people will become dependent on them. This creates huge problems, not only with dependency but also in terms of pain management. The opiates will basically stop working on the pain and the addict will have to take more and more medicine just to feel normal and avoid feeling sick from withdrawal. If this happens to you then there are a couple of things that you can do about it.

One thing you can do is to go to a drug rehab and go through detox. In that case you will be medically supervised during your withdrawal from the drug and medical staff will likely give you medication that will help you through the uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. This is the ideal solution for most people who are addicted to opiates but keep in mind that it is quite expensive in most cases. If you have insurance then you might be able to go to treatment without paying much, but if not then you will probably have to pay cash and the costs will be similar to a stay in a hospital.

Another option you will have if you get addicted to prescription medications is to work with your doctor on a solution. In some cases a doctor can prescribe different medications that can be used to treat your opiate dependence and possibly also give you medicine to treat any pain issues that you might be having.

There is another option for opiate addiction known as ultra rapid detox but this is fairly expensive and is not covered by insurance companies. If you choose to go this route you will need to research it heavily so that you clearly understand the costs and the risks involved.

Learn more about hydrocodone addiction and vicodin addiction.

Do You Need To Undertake A Rapid Detox Program?

2009-10-18T20:20:00.005-07:00

Some rapid detox programs are aimed just at people suffering from drug or alcohol addiction and these types of rapid detox are normally carried out in hospital under general anesthesia by qualified doctors who are experienced in detoxification. Other rapid detox programs are aimed at cleansing and weight loss.

Do Rapid Detox Programs Ensure Rapid Weight Loss?

I have tried several detox programs over the years and have lost lots of weight very quickly. Some rapid detox programs are designed more for cleansing while others are aimed more at weight loss. I have found that the best rapid detox programs that ensure rapid weight loss are those that combine the both.

What Is A Rapid Detox in Relation To Addiction And Do You Need To Do One?

This process gets the body ready for the rapid detox which lies ahead. This Treatment is known as AAROD or anesthesia assisted rapid opiate detoxification. It blocks the dependency of the drug addict by interfering with the receptors in the patient's brain. This process normally takes six hours, where medication is given to the patient to bypass the withdrawal symptoms. Since it short-circuits the withdrawal symptoms, it does not trigger any pain. The real detoxification starts after the rapid detox has been successfully undertaken. The rapid detox is usually applied for opiate drugs addiction like Codeine, Lortab, Morphine, Percocet, Dialudid, Oxycontin, etc which are normally used as painkillers. It is very hard for the patient however this rapid detox program is not related to food intake.

The Rapid Detox For Weight Loss-Do You Need to Do One?

If You Are Overweight, feel run down, have aching muscles, feel lethargic, suffer from headaches, indigestion, mood swings, constipation, heartburn, colds and are often irritable or restless then Yes now is a good time to do a rapid detox diet.

If you find it hard to lose weight and your skin and hair are dull and lifeless, you will definitely benefit from detoxing.

A rapid detox diet will do wonders for the way you look and feel in yourself. You will lose weight because you will be eating healthier foods. I lost two dress sizes in four weeks when I did my rapid detox diet and you can do this too-it is easy. You will feel more relaxed and less stressed and will be happy with the shape of your new body.

Some Various Strategies for Overcoming Opiate Addiction

2009-10-18T20:20:00.003-07:00

Anyone who has been strung out on heroin or even hooked on a prescription pain pill can know how tricky it can be to get off of opiate drugs. The power of the withdrawal makes it extremely difficult to even think about going for a few days without taking more of the drug, and so the cycle of using continues so that the addict can avoid these symptoms. The various techniques for detoxing from opiates and getting clean from them all have ways of dealing with the withdrawals.The first strategy you might try is to check into a drug rehab center and detox there. This is generally the most accepted strategy for a few different reasons. First of all, you are going to get the highest level of support and possible resources from such an inpatient treatment center, whereas other strategies might not have this full level of support. Another reason that this is a good option is because the medical staff at a drug rehab can properly treat your physical withdrawal, making it more comfortable for you than it might have been otherwise. In addition to all this, going to a drug rehab has the greatest potential for aftercare options, and can probably provide a person with the most choices when it comes to continuing care. Of course, going to a treatment center is expensive, and many struggling addicts cannot afford it. If you can get it, go.Another tactic for overcoming an addiction to opiates is to go to a physician and ask for some sort of drug therapy medication. This might involve taking various medications, such as Methadone or Suboxone therapy. To be specific, Suboxone is a man made opiate drug that can take away cravings for opiates when taken every day as maintenance, and can thus increase a person's chances of staying clean. One issue with this technique for staying clean is that it does not really mandate any sort of therapy or program involvement on the part of the addict. These things could be utilized, but since the are not required, many people will simply rely on the medication to solve all their problems. Research has demonstrated that this does not work in the long run unless an addict gets more involved with either programs or therapies to try and change their life.One last idea is to simply quit cold turkey, without using any assistance, and simply hope that this works out for you. As you can imagine, this is a recipe for disaster, and will likely result in a relapse very quickly for just about any opiate addict. But amazingly enough, some people have quit cold turkey and made it stick.

Would you like to learn more about opiate addiction?
Visit http://www.spiritualriver.com/

Some Strategies for Dealing with Opiate Addiction

2009-10-18T20:20:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has been strung out on heroin or even hooked on a prescription pain pill can know how tricky it can be to get off of opiate drugs. The power of the withdrawal makes it extremely difficult to even think about going for a few days without taking more of the drug, and so the cycle of using continues so that the addict can avoid these symptoms. The various techniques for detoxing from opiates and getting clean from them all have ways of dealing with the withdrawals.

The first strategy you might try is to check into a drug rehab center and detox there. This is generally the most accepted strategy for a few different reasons. First of all, you are going to get the highest level of support and possible resources from such an inpatient treatment center, whereas other strategies might not have this full level of support. Another reason that this is a good option is because the medical staff at a drug rehab can properly treat your physical withdrawal, making it more comfortable for you than it might have been otherwise. In addition to all this, going to a drug rehab has the greatest potential for aftercare options, and can probably provide a person with the most choices when it comes to continuing care. Of course, going to a treatment center is expensive, and many struggling addicts cannot afford it. If you can get it, go.

Another tactic for overcoming an addiction to opiates is to go to a physician and ask for some sort of drug therapy medication. This might involve taking various medications, such as Methadone or Suboxone therapy. To be specific, Suboxone is a man made opiate drug that can take away cravings for opiates when taken every day as maintenance, and can thus increase a person's chances of staying clean. One issue with this technique for staying clean is that it does not really mandate any sort of therapy or program involvement on the part of the addict. These tactics could be used together, but since they are not really mandatory, most people will become lazy and only rely on the drug therapy to get them through this recovery phase. Research has demonstrated that this does not work in the long run unless an addict gets more involved with either programs or therapies to try and change their life.

One last idea is to simply quit cold turkey, without using any assistance, and simply hope that this works out for you. As you can imagine, this is a recipe for disaster, and will likely result in a relapse very quickly for just about any opiate addict. But amazingly enough, some people have quit cold turkey and made it stick.

How would you like to learn more about opiate addiction?
Visit http://www.spiritualriver.com/

Opiate Addiction and Detox Programs

2009-10-18T10:22:00.005-07:00

Methadone addiction can be very difficult to deal with because the drug is so sticky and hard to detox from. In fact it is much harder to detox from Methadone than it is to detox from heroin and so it is almost like the cure is worse than the disease in many cases. If you are on Methadone and are trying to get off then really you only have one way to do so that will go anywhere near smooth for you.

What you need to do is to slowly ween yourself down from the Methadone in 10 milligram increments. The slower the better. Take your time and keep steadily reducing the dose. If you can get it down to about 30 milligrams per day or less then you should try to finish your detox in a drug rehab center. There they can give you other medication that will help you to be fully detoxed from the drug and become entirely drug free.

Many people who were on Methadone as a maintenance drug are switching over to Suboxone because it does not really get you high and give you the same doping effect that Methadone does. If you are hooked on Methadone and you still feel that you need something long term for either pain or for opiate dependence then you should look into the possibility of switching over to Suboxone. Talk to your doctor about it and look into the cost of doing so. Unfortunately it is usually more expensive to do so but it is a much better option in terms of the side effects and the dependency issue.

Learn more about Methadone addiction and a drug detox program.

Opiate and Drug Addiction

2009-10-18T10:22:00.003-07:00

Cocaine and opiate addiction actually go hand in hand, as many addicts who are addicted to one become addicted to the other as well. It is a popular combination on the streets as the two drugs work powerfully together when taken at the same time. Essentially what happens at the chemistry level is that the cocaine increases the effectiveness of any opiates taken. This makes for a powerful combination and seriously increases the risk of addiction.

Treatment for this combination of drugs is going to be very similar to treatment for regular opiate addiction. The addition of cocaine into the mixture does not really affect the type of treatment that should be pursued. There are a couple of different options for this type of rehabilitation and the most popular one is to check into a drug rehab. This will generally include a few days in a detox unit followed by a few weeks of residential inpatient treatment. This is a good plan for anyone who is addicted to drugs in this manner and will generally produce the same or better outcomes as other forms of treatment. In other words, going to rehab is usually your best bet.

There are other forms of treatment and one of them is called ultra rapid detox. If you choose to do this then you will need to pay cash for the procedure as it is not covered by insurances yet. It is also quite expensive and there are some risks involved. It is an outpatient procedure and after you go through it you will be fully detoxed when it is over with. Most people have only minor or no withdrawal symptoms at all at this point. However, the cost is very high and if you use drugs again afterward then the entire procedure was wasted. Of course this is true of any treatment method, but it is especially noticeable if you have an outpatient procedure done that costs several thousand dollars and you manage completely reverse it in a mere instant by taking a drug.

Learn more about cocaine addiction and opiate addiction.

Opiate Addiction Treatment - The Secret Key To Lasting Success

2009-10-18T10:22:00.001-07:00

You may not realize this but before buprenorphine treatment with suboxone or subutex was available, it was extremely difficult to treat opiate addiction outside of a hospital based detox. This all changed in 2002 when buprenorphine became legally available as suboxone and subutex formulations. Keep in mind that buprenorphine is available as both forms - suboxone and subutex.
But opiate addiction treatment with buprenorphine does NOT always go smoothly. In fact I have identified keys to success - or failure - with suboxone - subutex treatment.
I'm often asked what the most common mistake is that people make when they enter buprenorphine suboxone treatment. (Unfortunately, their are plenty of common buprenorphine suboxone mistakes made by patients and treating physicians.
The most common one is related to the person's mindset about the suboxone treatment itself. People who are most successful with this process are those who realize that the medication is NOT the most important part of the treatment process. This statement may seem strange, so let me further explain.
Most people who come to me for treatment have been dependent on their opiate (hydrocodone, oxycontin, heroin, percocet, etc.) for an extended period. This could be many months or years. Most of them have never heard of buprenorphine. That means that they have been in an intense opiate addiction pattern of behaving for a long time. This pattern has literally taken over their life - they spend alot of their time thinking about getting the next dose so they don't go through withdrawal. Other life obligations - to varying extents - are placed secondary. They will let nothing get in their way of making sure they get their opiate.
Additionally, their is the learned, repetitive behavioral pattern of actually reaching out for the opiate addiction every few hours or so that has been ingrained into their minds.
Once on the buprenorphine (suboxone or subutex forms) their is no more need to reach out for something to feel better. Their is no more need to be psychologically "thought focused" on getting the next "hit". This is great ofcourse, and the goal of the medication. And the fact that the buprenorphine treatment is so easy when done right further lulls people into a false sense of the suboxone or subutex itself doing all the work.
However, this is also where their can be problems. Since you have been dealing with this addicted pattern for so long, your brain is not going to simply "forget" it once you are on a stable dose of buprenorphine.
You may still have stressors in your life that may trigger a craving - even a mild one - that can put you at risk for snapping back into the addiction even if you are on the medication.
This is the problem I see with many people who simplistically look at being on the medication as the sole way to recover from opiate addiction. But the medication does NOTHING to help your "unlearn" the addictive pattern and learn new, more empowering life patterns that help you avoid relapse and truly be in addiction recovery.
Simply put, those people who view opiate addiction recovery as simply taking buprenorphine and doing nothing else to enhance recovery are the most likely to fail and begin to use again once the intial detox with the medication is over.
The most successful in my practice are those people who realize that the buprenorphine medication (as suboxone or subutex) in combination with addiction oriented psychotherapy is the best way to go.
Keep this in mind before you enter treatment and make sure that whoever is prescibing the buprenorphine is a DEA certified suboxone-buprenorphine doctor and able to deliver high quality psychotherapy or at least puts a high degree of importance on it and gives you an appropriate referral.
Stephen Gilman, M.D. Addiction Psychiatrist reveals exactly how you can be successful with buprenorphine (suboxone, subutex) treatment. To receive your FREE, no-obligation 5 part mini-course visit Suboxone Secrets Discover even more FREE information about buprenorphine suboxone success at http://www.suboxone-treatment-newyork.com

About Opiate Addictions

2009-10-17T10:17:00.005-07:00

Opiate addiction can be a real problem for anyone who has suffered from any sort of illness or injury in which they have chronic pain issues. Many times doctors are too quick to put people on these potentially addictive medications and inevitably some people will end up with real drug addiction from it. When this happens it becomes very difficult to try and manage their pain and they will slip into a cycle of addiction where they start to build tolerance and go through medication quicker and quicker.

If this is the case and someone is trying to medicate their chronic pain away but is now developing tolerance, then the best thing to do is to find alternative methods of treating the pain. Trying to manage it with opiate painkillers is a losing battle and eventually they will have to take more and more of the medication just to feel normal and not be sick. When this happens their best option is to get to a drug rehab center where they can be detoxed from the drug and start trying to find a better way to manage their pain.

At a detox center the people there can give them medications to help with their withdrawal symptoms and get them detoxed from the opiates so that they can start living a new life. It is only through detox and a new method of pain management that most opiate addicts can really have a chance at living a normal life. Once they get their pain under control then they can go back to a productive and healthy life that they can maintain without heavy doses of narcotics just to feel normal.

Learn more about opiate addiction and a hydrocodone addiction.

Buprenorphine (suboxone, Subutex) Opiate Addiction Treatment - The Secret Key To Lasting Addiction Recovery Success

2009-10-17T10:17:00.003-07:00

You may not realize this but before buprenorphine treatment with suboxone or subutex was available, it was extremely difficult to treat opiate addiction outside of a hospital based detox. This all changed in 2002 when buprenorphine became legally available as suboxone and subutex formulations. Keep in mind that buprenorphine is available as both forms - suboxone and subutex.

But opiate addiction treatment with buprenorphine does NOT always go smoothly. In fact I have identified keys to success - or failure - with suboxone - subutex treatment.

I'm often asked what the most common mistake is that people make when they enter buprenorphine suboxone treatment. (Unfortunately, their are plenty of common buprenorphine suboxone mistakes made by patients and treating physicians.

The most common one is related to the person's mindset about the suboxone treatment itself. People who are most successful with this process are those who realize that the medication is NOT the most important part of the treatment process. This statement may seem strange, so let me further explain.

Most people who come to me for treatment have been dependent on their opiate (hydrocodone, oxycontin, heroin, percocet, etc.) for an extended period. This could be many months or years. Most of them have never heard of buprenorphine. That means that they have been in an intense opiate addiction pattern of behaving for a long time. This pattern has literally taken over their life - they spend alot of their time thinking about getting the next dose so they don't go through withdrawal. Other life obligations - to varying extents - are placed secondary. They will let nothing get in their way of making sure they get their opiate.

Additionally, their is the learned, repetitive behavioral pattern of actually reaching out for the opiate addiction every few hours or so that has been ingrained into their minds.

Once on the buprenorphine (suboxone or subutex forms) their is no more need to reach out for something to feel better. Their is no more need to be psychologically "thought focused" on getting the next "hit". This is great ofcourse, and the goal of the medication. And the fact that the buprenorphine treatment is so easy when done right further lulls people into a false sense of the suboxone or subutex itself doing all the work.

However, this is also where their can be problems. Since you have been dealing with this addicted pattern for so long, your brain is not going to simply "forget" it once you are on a stable dose of buprenorphine.

You may still have stressors in your life that may trigger a craving - even a mild one - that can put you at risk for snapping back into the addiction even if you are on the medication.

This is the problem I see with many people who simplistically look at being on the medication as the sole way to recover from opiate addiction. But the medication does NOTHING to help your "unlearn" the addictive pattern and learn new, more empowering life patterns that help you avoid relapse and truly be in addiction recovery.

Simply put, those people who view opiate addiction recovery as simply taking buprenorphine and doing nothing else to enhance recovery are the most likely to fail and begin to use again once the initial detox with the medication is over.

The most successful in my practice are those people who realize that the buprenorphine medication (as suboxone or subutex) in combination with addiction oriented psychotherapy is the best way to go.

Keep this in mind before you enter treatment and make sure that whoever is prescribing the buprenorphine is a DEA certified suboxone-buprenorphine doctor and able to deliver high quality psychotherapy or at least puts a high degree of importance on it and gives you an appropriate referral.

About Rapid Drug Detox

2009-10-17T10:17:00.001-07:00

When most people talk about rapid drug detox they are referring to a procedure known as ultra rapid detox that can help a person overcome opiate addiction. The idea is that an opiate addict can undergo this procedure, be put to sleep, and then have all of the drugs flushed from their system while they are put under. After they wake up they generally do not experience any physical withdrawal symptoms and can then supposedly return to living a normal life without the drug addiction.

Now this procedure is somewhat controversial because it is expensive, somewhat risky, and does not produce consistent results. It is too new to be covered by insurance companies so people who want to undergo the procedure have to pay a lot of cash to do so. Some addicts have apparently died during the procedure as well and so there is some element of risk involved when compared to more traditional detox methods. Understand that with opiate addiction that there is no danger of death or seizures when undergoing cold turkey withdrawal, as there is with other drugs like alcohol.

Now even if a person wakes up from ultra rapid detox and feels great they still have to deal with the social and psychological factors that led them to abuse drugs in the first place. Without addressing these needs the addict is extremely likely to relapse eventually and return to their old habits. Ultra rapid detox can lead people into a false sense of security regarding their recovery when in fact the addict needs to put in more effort from a social and emotional standpoint in order to stay clean and sober in the long run.

Learn more about drug detox or rapid detox.

Opiate Addiction - A New Breed of Drug Dependency Warrants Unique Approach

2009-10-17T09:48:00.005-07:00

If you're an opiate addict today, nobody is quite sure what to do with you. You buck the trend, you don't quite fit into any of the pre-defined categories of substance abuse and your addiction doesn't progress in a linear and predictable fashion. You're different and that makes you very difficult to treat...or rather, it makes "The Opiate Addict" in general very difficult to treat. Most of the drug-rehabilitation community has no clue how to treat your addiction the way that you need to be treated and it's driving everybody nuts...especially you.

Let me explain. Have you heard the term "evidence-based medicine" before? Well, I could write a long, nauseatingly boring essay on the central tenets of evidence-based medicine but I'll spare you and just give you the basics. As a result of numerous factors including, managed care, litigation, legislation and a bunch of other issues that don't have to do with you, doctors have been "forced" to adopt treatment protocols as opposed to being able to treat you based on their intuition and what their experience has taught them. For instance, if you go into your doctor with a series of symptoms, your doctor will most likely treat you based on what the "data" has shown to be clinically effective as opposed to what his or her experience has taught them. The "data" that I'm talking about includes, clinical trials, other studies, clinical abstracts, clinical advisory panels etc. etc. The data is the "evidence" in evidence-based medicine.Â So you could say that most doctors these days are going to treat you based on the odds and pre-defined clinical protocols rather than treating you as an individual case with unique circumstances. And most of the time, these clinical protocols work...but sometimes you could be the odd man out. It's all about risk-avoidance and not necessarily about good medicine. Again, I don't fault the doctors for protecting themselves against lawsuits and to their credit they are also following clinical protocols because that provides you with the best chance of getting your treatment paid for. If the insurance company sees that your doctor is not practicing "evidence-based medicine" they are not going to pay for it.

Well these same clinical protocols and evidence based medicine applies to the treatment of addiction. However, there's a bit of a problem. Opiate addicts are a unique breed and do not follow the same "rules" that say, an alcoholic might. By the numbers, alcoholics follow a pretty reliable pattern of behavior therefore, the treatment follows the same reliable pattern. "John Doe" begins drinking, John Doe drinks more, John blacks out occasionally, then John crashes car and eventually, John either dies of disease, gets killed, is put in jail or checks into a treatment center. Regardless of where or how John begins his alcoholism, John usually ends up in the same place as the rest of the alcoholics..."the bottom."

As a result of John's inexorable slide towards "the bottom", it's much easier for rehab and addiction centers to anticipate what type of treatment John is going to need when he arrives at a treatment center. The "Data" says that John will need 30 days in-patient treatment in a rehab facility, complete sobriety for the rest of his life and some type of cognitive or psycho-therapy. And in most cases, The Data is correct and although it's a stretch to say that the medical community has found a panacea for alcoholism the point still remains that most of the "Johns" that enter rehab need similar treatment...evidence-based treatment. So what makes opiate addicts so tough? Well what if you mixed, "John" with "Sue" with "Uncle Freddie" and threw in Sheriff Jackson just for good measure? What if all of these people did not follow the same pattern of addiction and behavior?

Well that's where I believe the addiction and rehabilitation community finds itself now when it comes to opiate addiction. All of these people could be taking the same drug yet have wildly different behaviors and therefore completely different therapeutic and clinical needs. "Well just go ahead and throw out the evidence based medicine," - that would be the simple answer. But that's not what has happened. Most treatment centers and detox facilities treat every opiate addict the same way because they cling to the notion that evidence-based treatment is still the best way to approach opiate addiction and dependency. Without clinical protocols, the whole system breaks down. In fact, most opiate addiction treatment facilities don't even have an opiate addiction treatment protocol; they base their treatment on alcoholism! This is not good medicine and it's not reality. People with opiate dependency deserve better.

The reality is that opiate "addicts" sometimes aren't even addicts! Many of you out there had an injury or an accident and had been taking the pills as directed until they didn't work anymore so you take more to keep the pain at bay...you couldn't care less about the "high." Then there are those of you who do have addictive personalities and all you care about is the high. Are you telling me that the construction worker that has been taking Vicodin for 2 years due to a back injury and is now physically dependent on the drugs should receive the same treatment that a person who snorts Oxycodone and vice versa? Absolutely not. The key difference between opiate addiction and something like meth addiction is that the vast majority of those people who are addicted or physically dependent to opiates today are people who began using prescription drugs for a legitimate reason. Nobody began using Meth for a toothache. So you have millions upon millions of people out there who truly want to stop using but see no viable or appropriate options for them within the addiction/rehab community. They need help with withdrawal! And I read news article after news article talking about the rising tide of opiate addiction and how alarming it is that these addicts aren't getting help when all of the rehab centers stand arms outstretched waiting to heal them. The "reason" says the rehab community? Denial!

Listen Mr. Administrator at "Sunshine Rising Recovery", it's not denial that is withholding the run-of-the-mill opiate dependent person from your $40,000, 30-day inpatient treatment program from checking in, it's the fact that your "product" is not what they want or need. For every one person who is an opiate addict in denial, I'll show you ten that are achingly not so. I'll show you ten people that would give their right arm to get off these pills if they could find a way to do so comfortably without having to resort to some, outrageously expensive, slightly-tweaked alcoholism treatment just to get through the withdrawal. Most of the people that I talk to on a daily basis are more than willing to accept their predicament and to accept that they need help; but they need the right kind of help and for the most part, the addiction and recovery community is not providing it. So... most people just keep taking their pills waiting for the right treatment to come along. And if they have to keep waiting, then how much are we contributing to the issue of opiate addiction as opposed to intervening before people really get hooked?

There's evidence that a few rehab and detox centers here in Texas are willing to accept opiate addiction as a truly unique pathology and are creating outpatient detox or short-stay detox treatments with intensive out-patient programs which are more appropriate for the many different types of opiate addiction. For instance, The Right Step group of treatment centers has a multitude of different treatment plans that cater to the budgets and needs of the many different faces of opiate dependency. Yes, they do have long-term in-patient programs for people who truly demonstrate addictive behavior but they also have several "Intensive Out-Patient" Centers in Texas and Louisiana that treat primarily the physical withdrawal and detox from opiates and then provide ongoing therapy to make sure you stay on-track and comfortable as you transition your life from one that revolved around pills to one that revolves around things that matter.

Opiate addiction is a big deal these days for good reason; it's the fastest growing drug addiction problem by far. I can only hope that the drug-rehab and recovery community begin to truly appreciate how different opiate addiction is from other types of addictive behavior and make meaningful and progressive changes to their treatment protocols like The Right Step has done. Otherwise, those of you who are desperate to get off pain killers comfortably and get the treatment you need might be in for a long wait.

George Catlin is the founder of Withdrawal-Ease, provider of an opiate withdrawal natural supplement system. Find out more information about opiate addiction and opiate withdrawal symptoms.

What You Should Know About Opiate Treatment and Detox

2009-10-17T09:48:00.003-07:00

If you are addicted to opiates of some sort, such as prescription pain pills or street drugs like heroin, then you should know some things about opiate treatment in general before you try to get clean. Certainly you will want to make a huge effort to get clean as soon as possible, but you want to do it in a way that will lead you to lasting recovery. It does not do much good to clean up, only to stumble into a relapse shortly thereafter.

The preferred method of getting clean from opiates for most people is to check into a drug rehab. This is ideal for a number of reasons. First of all, if you do anything else, you are going to be on the outside and temptation to relapse will be much greater. In a rehab setting you will not have quick access to drugs, so it is going to be much easier for you to stay clean for a few weeks.

Second of all, if you go to inpatient rehab, you will have support from other people who are going through the same struggle you are. This is a much bigger help than most people anticipate, and can really make a huge difference. Finally, one of the biggest pluses for going to rehab is that they will be able to give you a medical detox, in which you will probably be given medication that will seriously curtail your withdrawal symptoms. This alone should be worth the price of admission for almost any opiate addict who is struggling to get clean.

Learn more about Suboxone treatment and also about Hydrocodone detox.

Ingredients Of A Good Drug Detox Program

2009-10-17T09:48:00.001-07:00

You may have reached a point in your life where you are ready to make a change, and free yourself from an abusive drug habit. You may have even considered some different detox options. However, the stunning variety of programs available may have confused you, as it does many individuals looking to get into a program. This short guide will provide you with a few insights on what to look for in a good drug detox program as well as what preparations you need to take to give yourself the best chance of success.

Building Treatment Perspective

The first step towards a successful drug detox program is to push your mind to arrive at a point where you are ready and serious about the course. When people suffering from serious drug addiction enroll in a detox program, they are asked to prepare themselves first to keep away from the temptation of drugs, a mighty task for those with a history of abuse.

So the first key is to focus on the credentials of the physician running the program. There are various examinations undertaken in detox or drug rehab, so make sure that your doctor is a specialist vis-เ-vis drug detoxification.

The next step is to get an assessment to identify where the body stands. This helps medical practitioners arrive at a decision around the program scheduling. Every patient reacts differently and therefore treatment could vary after the diagnosis, where it goes according to body needs. This process should take into account biological, physical, and social factors.

The Detox Period

While undergoing such a program, proper medicinal practices are imperative as they help to reduce problems that patients feel due to discontinuation of drug intake, which could be insomnia, uneasiness, body aches, etc. Treatment period is usually said to stretch between two and three months but that may not be applicable for all cases.

Nowadays, there are many rehabilitation centers that work on programs focusing on withdrawal phase to help patients stop use of drugs with least inconvenience. Detoxification programs eliminate drug residues from the body by using elements like exercise and low-heat sauna treatment.

Positives Outcomes

One can draw a lot of positives from the detox program that is followed. According to recent studies, the good news is that that rehabilitation doesn't have to be carried in captivity. Hence, people undergoing such programs can lead their normal routine life, contrary to the misconception that prevails. The long term thought on drug addiction has been restrictive in nature, leading to program failures that resulted in the perception that drug addiction is incurable and is a life term illness. But if you do a bit of research on more modern and well-researched programs, you can almost certainly find one that allows you to lead a relatively normal life during the course and that gives hope for long term success in beating addiction.

Surviving a Heroin Detox at Home & Making Sure You Don't Give a Repeat Performance

2009-10-17T00:27:00.005-07:00

People say that opiate detox is like having a bad flu. Well, if you've been there you know that is the understatement of the century! Detox from opiates is a painful, miserable experience. Even at inpatient facilities with medical assistance there will still be some discomfort.

If you want to, or have to detox at home there are ways of making it more tolerable.

Days or even months before you begin your detox it's helpful to start a mental detox. This is the real key to maintaining sobriety, or even returning to 'normal person' status. By 'normal person' I mean returning to the person that you were prior to opiate addiction.

Experts will tell you that this is impossible, once an addict always an addict, that you have a disease. Well, it's just not true. All of those things 'experts' tell us are theories. The methods the medical community uses, based on those theories have been failing to work for 60 years now.

It is possible to train yourself to no longer desire your drug of choice. It all starts in the mind, with your thoughts.

I had some "Addict heal thyself" light-bulb moments while I was still a heroin addict, just before I finally got sober. I want to share with you the most profound:

1. No person, program, or meeting could do anything for me to help me reach my goal of returning to who I was prior to heroin. In fact, they did everything in their power to discourage me from believing that I could be cured.

2. If I believe it's possible I can make it happen.

3. I have control over every aspect of my life. I am not now, nor have I ever been powerless.

It was a very important day for me when I gave up on finding help through any outside sources. That was the day that I took my power back. I decided that if everyone wasn't wrong that I would make them wrong. When I stopped looking for help outside of myself I finally decided to help myself.

Though it seemed sudden when I came to this realization, in retrospect it wasn't. I had been reading personal development books for quite a while. I read a lot about the power of the mind. It struck me, reading about people bending metal with the power of their mind and having surgery without anesthesia using only metal abilities, how could these amazing things be possible, yet we are taught to believe that once an addict always an addict? It simply can't be possible that I can change everything about my life except this one enormously important area.

And so, I have been happily chemically independent for some time now. I think the secret of my success is that I had a running start. Prior to putting the needle down I went to work on myself. I wrote goals, did visualization, watched and changed my thoughts, and I meditated. After a short time I just didn't want drugs anymore. Even when I went into withdrawal I just didn't want the drugs. I don't struggle one day at a time, attend meetings, avoid people places and things - I don't have to.

Detox itself will be more tolerable if you are working toward something that excites you.

Once you've made worthwhile goals and learned a little bit about the powers of the mind the desire to get sober and get a great life will increase. Once you feel that passion you know you're ready to put down and move on. This is true for any drug.

If you are opiate, benzodiazepine, or alcohol dependent you're likely in for some physical withdrawal. If you decide to detox at home there are a number of things you'll want to do to ensure as much comfort as possible. Remember that detoxing from certain substances can, on rare occasions, be fatal (this is the case with alcohol and benzos) so you will want to discuss your options with a doctor.

To ensure as much comfort as possible begin planning your detox ahead of time. Focus on treating the symptoms you are going to be feeling.

1. Make sure that you reschedule any commitments for at least a week.

2. If you have children you might want to make arrangements for them to stay elsewhere or for you to stay elsewhere. At a minimum make sure there is someone else looking after them. Don't underestimate the depression and irritability and lack of energy that accompanies detox.

3. Have over the counter medications on hand that you may need

a. Anti nausea

b. Anti-diarrhea

c. Sleep aids

d. Benadryl (to stop the endless eye watering, sneezing, and nose running)

e. Epsom salts for hot baths (these can be lifesavers, especially if you are prone to intolerable skin burning sensations like me)

f. Motrin for pain

4. If you can, ask that someone gives you frequent massages. This will take your mind off of the discomfort and help the muscle and bone pain. Even a hand massage can work wonders.

5. You will likely feel hot and cold sweats or be freezing even though you are sweating through the sheets. Having someone to change your sheets for you is always helpful. I used to have so little energy that I could barely walk to the bathroom, never mind changing sheets!

6. This is a bit controversial, but some legal herbs can be very helpful. Kava Kava, a powdered ceremonial herb can be used to take the edge off.

7. Once you endure the worst of it (days 2-4) try to get up and walk around as much as possible. At first you will probably be dizzy, but it's important to keep your body moving.

8. Throughout the process stay hydrated. Back headaches accompany most detoxes and water should help to relieve them.

There are some symptoms that people rarely mention, like the sensation of burning skin. I often felt as though I had a very bad sunburn when I went through withdrawal. You might experience strange sensations on your skin and scalp, eyes that are so dilated any amount of light can be overwhelming, and any stimuli can be too much for some people. There was one time I had to walk into a Walmart during a detox and it was stimulation overload. The florescent lighting blinded me and I felt dizzy, there was so much stuff! I never made it past the front door.

Also, people can get extremely horny during withdrawal. Opiates can kill sex drive and sexual sensation, but when the body is stripped of them, the sex organs go into over drive. Unfortunately, you're normally too uncomfortable to want to have sex with anyone other than yourself!

For me, it was usually once I started to feel better, around days 5-7 that I would relapse. This is why I think it's important to work on yourself before you put down the dope. The current paradigm of "put down then heal" just doesn't work for the majority of people.

If you have not had success the traditional route, give my counter-intuitive method a try.

There is a cure for chemical dependence, don't accept anything less! Learn to reprogram your mind, make it your ally and success partner. For more information visit http://www.successforaddicts.com

Today's Opiate Detox

2009-10-17T00:27:00.003-07:00

Drugs are bad, we all know it - we've all heard.But so many people are feeling the need to turn to drugs to ease their pain or depression, and many others are becoming addicted to painkillers that were once prescribed to them for an injury or surgery in the past.More and more people have struggled for years with drug abuse and are now looking to do something about it. Opiate drugs are very addicting and many people find themselves quickly becoming reliant on drugs such as morphine, heroin, or oxycodone.These drugs go right to the central nervous system and provide the body with a substitute for its endorphins.Eventually the body will stop making its own endorphins, which are the natural pain killers of the body and give a high when experiencing something pleasurable.Naturally, this is where the problem arises, because without the body making its own endorphins, it begins to rely heavily on opiates to get that feeling and avoid pain. Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms Withdrawing from opiates causes severe side effects, including nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, anxiety, restlessness, and pain in the joints and muscles.Because of the unpleasantness of the detox, it is a frightening thing for many addicts to think about.It might just be easier for some to keep taking the drug than to face the detox from it. Methods Detoxing from opiates is not life-threatening, but because it is difficult it takes someone committed to recovering to undergo it.There are many methods for opiate detox.Some people quit cold turkey or use naltrexone which blocks the opiate so it does not have any effect on the body.It takes only a matter of days for the most severe symptoms to subside.Others are able to gradually be weaned off by using another drug, like buprenorphine.The problem many people have found with a replacement drug like buprenorphine is that they soon begin to rely on the new drug, and many people are never able to be drug-free.It has been argued that with those that continue to use buprenorphine, at least this drug is manageable and an addict might be able to function in life better than while addicted to other opiates. Recovery After the detox from opiates is complete, the patient will eventually begin to feel better and now the focus will be on staying clean from these drugs.The body will no longer be dependent on the drug, but the mind will feel the need to use them again.A person that has gone through opiate detox should immediately enter a rehabilitation program to ensure they stay sober.Usually drug abuse becomes intertwined with a person's lifestyle and to just take away the drug and not change the lifestyle does little for the patient.It may take years of regular counseling and support group meetings to keep a person from turning back to drugs. Sources Desperation to Overcome Addiction Leads to Unusual Solutions 4/14/2009 Pollard, Ruth In for the quick fix 4/10/2009

This article was written by Jared More for Poinciana At Palm Beach. Poinciana At Palm Beach is an upscale opiate detox center in Florida if you would like more information give us a call at (561) 818-2922.

Opiate Detox and Heroin Facts

2009-10-17T00:27:00.001-07:00

Opiate detox and what to expect. Heroin facts, effects and dealing with opiate withdrawal symptoms. Drug addiction resources and information.

The process of opiate detox can be extremely unpleasant for someone who is not prepared. Proper eduction about such drugs as heroin and other opiates can help in dealing with a variety of opiate withdrawal symptoms. Knowing the heroin fact and the effects of opiate addiction can give insight and enable a smoother recovery. Below are heroin facts as well as other opiate detox facts that can provide someone with some comfort when dealing with the various opiate withdrawal symptoms.

1. Opiate Detox - The process of opiate detoxification varies from person to person. Generally, opiates stay in your system for just a couple of days. The hardest part of the opiate detox as far as opiate withdrawal symptoms are concerned are usually the worst during the first 3 days. For those attempting to detox at home, it is highly suggested that you clear your calendar for up to four or five days at the least. During this time, it is extremely important that one stay hydrated and sleep as much as possible, although sleep may be harder at times. The key to recovery is rest. what happens more often than not is that while a user in on an opiate, they tend to rely on that opiate more than they realize, pushing themselves further and further, getting less sleep, less calorie intake and letting the drugs take the place of good health habits. When an individual gets off of the drugs, they no longer can rely on that drug to push them further, thus can increase the negative opiate withdrawal symptoms beyond what would normally take place.

2. Heroin Facts - If you are a heroin addict, or even an opium addict for that matter. The manner in which you take the drugs is going to affect the longevity of opiate detox and the severity as well. Those who shoot the drugs are going to suffer probably the strongest withdrawal symptoms, smoking second strongest and ingestion third. It may be a good idea to switch the manner in which you currently use sometime before the detox to ensure a smoother heroin detox. Also before the detox, get plenty of sleep, eat well and stay hydrated. The better you take care of yourself now, the better you'll be during the withdrawal symptoms.

3. When going to a outpatient clinic, you may be required to pass positive on a drug test before you are prescribed any medication for recovery. Keep this in mind beforehand as it may be a useful resource to have rather than quiting cold-turkey. There are a few methods used to help those during a period of detox and most of them work quite well. Get a doctors opinion on which method is best for you.

4. Get a list of resources before hand. Visit websites, print information, get phone numbers and so on. If you are going through this alone, it is an excellent idea to have phone numbers, websites and a number of resources ready in case you need to contact them. At the bottom of this article is a link to an opiate addiction help website that may be able to give you such phone numbers and information as well as at-home programs that are guaranteed to help.

5. Get a book or home program to help you through your heroin detox or any other kind of opiate detox you may be going through. Programs or books such as these provide you with on-demand information and resources fro experts who can really help you make it through the rougher times. They may cost some money, but will save you thousands in the long run. Don't take a chance on doing it a worse way. Make the transition as easy for you as possible, you deserve it. Having a book or program might just give you the insight and inspiration you need to really make a change.

6. Stay positive. This may be harder at times, but having a positive attitude can really make a difference when dealing with addiction recovery, withdrawal symptoms and opiate detox. Try to be the best person you can and free yourself of those negative self-defeating thoughts that make life so hard.

These tips are just a few ideas to get you through the hardest of times during opiate detox and withdrawal symptoms. Knowing the heroin facts and heroin effects among various other opiates can make the change as less painful as possible and you will come out a better person.

For Opiate Addiction Help visit http://www.OpiateAddictionHelp.com - Get the answers on Opiate Detox and Heroin Facts you need.

Suboxone, a New Treatment Paradigm: Part One

2009-10-06T16:15:00.001-07:00

Suboxone is a relatively new medication for opiate dependence that will result in a sea change in addiction treatment. Physicians currently prescribing suboxone are aware of the usefulness of this medication, and news of the medication has reached 'the street' to such an extent that opiate addicts often call addictionologists and ask for the drug by name. Word of mouth is spreading the news about suboxone without the benefit (or need) of television commercials. My experiences with suboxone make me wonder if we are at the verge of an entirely new approach to opiate addiction, and in turn to other addictions as well.

The traditional approach to drug addiction treats all substances as essentially the same. Yes, the addict does develop a 'love relationship' with his/her substance, but the substance's sister, brother, aunt, or uncle can easily step in and take the place of the drug of choice in a process called 'cross addiction'. This is one reason why traditional treatment demands sobriety from ALL substances, but there is a more complicated reason as well. The addict, over time, becomes hyper-aware of his/her mood, comfort level, and anxiety. The addict constantly 'checks in' somatically, asking 'am I going up? Or 'am I (oh no!) coming down? Every bead of sweat may portend the pain of withdrawal. Every ache is a new excuse to use. The addict takes comfort in the '4-hour schedule' of use; an internal clock becomes all-important, and eventually the only thing that really matters. Sobriety and recovery demand that the addict learn to take life on life's terms, and give up the obsession with symptoms and medications. Sobriety will 'extinguish' the learned obsession with symptoms over time—sometimes a great deal of time. As the obsession fades, the addict takes steps away from relapse. But if the addict uses a new substance that changes perception, even a substance like diphenhydramine that is not addictive, the old attention to feelings and symptoms returns. Many addicts are aware of an 'addict' frame of mind and a 'sober' frame of mind; a drug that causes the addict to look inward and focus again on symptoms can trigger the addict mindset to re-appear. And once the addict is back, it can be very difficult to return to the mindset of sobriety.

The need for total sobriety no doubt keeps some addicts from asking for help, and there are other addicts who ask for help but simply cannot maintain sobriety from all substances despite multiple trials of treatment. To widen the appeal and utility of addiction treatment, other treatment models have appeared, including an approach that has been called 'harm reduction'. The harm reduction approach helps the addict find ways to reduce his/her intake and so reduce the harm that inevitably results from heavy or uncontrolled use. By introducing 'drink counting' and other behavioral techniques, ha rm reduction has similarities to cognitive therapy. Regarding the various traditional treatment approaches, there are patients who would clearly do better in one vs. another approach, and there also patients who would benefit from either approach. Specifically, some people use or drink in an almost nihilistic fashion—every episode of drinking characterized by drinking to total oblivion. I would favor complete sobriety for these individuals, because the cognitive changes made in treatment will likely be obliterated by the first drink. On the other hand, a patient with a 20-year long smoldering addiction facing his first DUI may be a good candidate for a harm reduction approach. In such a case, alcohol is a major part of the addict's personality, and the idea of total sobriety after one offense would be a difficult sell. But with education about changes in tolerance with aging, and an introduction to drink counting, the patient may do well for another 20 years.

There are problems with traditional treatments, beginning with the simple observation that relapse rates have always been high. The high relapse rate has implications for addiction that go beyond treatment methods, as I will explain later. Another problem with traditional methods is that they require significant motivation from patients--motivation that must be accessible over and over throughout patients' entire lives. Finally, some degree of detoxification is usually required before tradition treatments, requiring expensive medical services that may be far removed from the treatment center. The specter of detox and withdrawal are major roadblocks to treatment. Withdrawal is a unique experience, difficult to compare to other dysphoric experiences. Physical symptoms include headache, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and muscle spasms of the legs that result in involuntary movement. The withdrawing person usually feels profoundly depressed and a nxious. Even in situations where there is no chance of access to drugs, the addict feels the desperate need to use. The description of these symptoms does not do justice to the misery experienced by the withdrawing opiate addict. I also suspect that memory has a 'kindling' effect on withdrawal such that symptoms become more and more severe each time withdrawal is experienced, so that eventually there is no such thing as 'mild withdrawal'—the addict experiences withdrawal as severe as any experienced to that point, regardless of the degree of tolerance going into the withdrawal episode. Addicts who have suffered through severe, unmedicated withdrawal have a sense of camaraderie akin to disaster survivors. Camaraderie is nowhere to be found during the withdrawal experience, however, and the addict feels completely alone.

There have been alternate treatment models for years that are less dependent on character modification and more reliant on medication. Opiate maintenance with methadone and opiate blockade with naltrexone are two treatment approaches that are not dependent on the 12-steps or cognitive therapy that may be used alone or in concert with traditional treatment. Methadone and naltrexone treatments are diametrically opposed to each other in several ways, but have some things in common as well. Methadone maintenance creates deliberate 'hypertolerance' to opiates in the addict by providing very high daily doses of opiates (usually methadone). The high tolerance prevents recreational use of opiates, and the high daily dose of methadone serves to treat opiate cravings. Patients in methadone programs often feel trapped, in that withdrawal from such high doses of methadone is extremely difficult, and any violation of the rules of the clinic (or problems paying the high cost of treatment) result in dose reductions. People maintained on methadone often claim that they always feel 'high', no matter the tolerance th at develops. And while high doses of methadone will satisfy cravings for a time, eventually the tolerance will catch up and cravings will return. There are other problems with methadone; some users claim that methadone results in a lack of motivation to better themselves through education or employment. For decades, methadone maintenance was associated with blighted urban areas, where addicts could line up each morning for their daily 'fix'. There have been recent attempts to make methadone maintenance 'mainstream' by improving the physical facilities, and in some cases relocating to less-blighted neighborhoods. There have been few changes, however, in the regulatory control of methadone. Methadone maintenance for the most part requires addicts to add morning dosing into their daily schedules, which in some cases becomes a barrier to occupational growth.

Naltrexone has already been partially discussed. The Use of naltrexone is limited by the difficulty o f achieving two weeks of sobriety prior to treatment, because it takes that long for the sensitivity of opiate receptors to normalize to a degree that avoids naltrexone-induced withdrawal. Another problem is that the addict can 'choose to use' by simply missing a couple days of naltrexone dosing.. In fact, patients maintained on naltrexone develop a hypersensitivity to opiates, making them subject to dramatic highs during relapse, and vulnerable to the associated risk of overdose by respiratory arrest. In addition to pills, naltrexone is marketed as an intramuscular, monthly medication, which helps reduce the 'choose to use' problem. The primary indication for this medication, interestingly, is alcohol dependence rather than opiate dependence. Naltrexone has been demonstrated to reduce cravings for alcohol. A related form of naltrexone treatment is called 'rapid opiate detox', where the addict is anesthetized and given withdrawal-inducing doses of intravenous nal oxone. After 8 hours or so, the addict awakes with an implanted, slowly-dissolving chip of naltrexone under the skin. This technique has popularity since reports of patient deaths during the anesthesia, or by suicide some time afterward.

In Part Two, I will explain how Suboxone represents a dramatic improvement in the treatment of opiate addiction.

A Look Into Detox Symptoms

2009-10-05T13:00:00.001-07:00

Medical technology has provided specific drugs that can help with detoxification symptoms. I know it sounds odd. Take a drug to get off a drug. But because some of the symptoms are so severe, having these drugs available can be very important. Plus, they are not addictive, and when you are under the care of a doctor, they will monitor your usage very carefully until you won't have to take those drugs anymore.

One very effective treatment of opiate withdrawal symptoms is methadone maintenance therapy. It is safe when administered under the care of a doctor. Taken orally once a day, methadone suppresses narcotic withdrawal for between 24 and 36 hours. Because methadone is effective in eliminating withdrawal symptoms, it is used in detoxifying opiate addicts. It is, however, only effective in cases of addiction to heroin, morphine, and other opioid drugs, and it is not an effective treatment for other drugs of abuse.

Methadone reduces the cravings associated with heroin use and blocks the high from heroin, but it does not provide the euphoric rush. Consequently, methadone patients do not experience the extreme highs and lows that result from the waxing and waning of heroin in blood levels. Ultimately, the patient remains physically dependent on the opioid, but is freed from the uncontrolled, compulsive, and disruptive behavior seen in heroin addicts. Withdrawal from methadone is much slower than that from heroin. As a result, it is possible to maintain an addict on methadone without harsh side effects. Many MMT patients require continuous treatment, sometimes over a period of years.

Physicians and individualized health care give medically prescribed methadone to relieve withdrawal symptoms, reduce the opiate craving, and bring about a biochemical balance in the body. Important elements in heroin treatment include comprehensive social and rehabilitation services. When methadone is taken under medical supervision, long-term maintenance causes no adverse effects to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bones, blood, brain, or other vital body organs. Methadone produces no serious side effects, although some patients experience minor symptoms such as constipation, water retention, drowsiness, skin rash, excessive sweating, and changes in libido. Once methadone dosage is adjusted and stabilized or tolerance increases, these symptoms usually subside.

Methadone does not impair cognitive functions. It has no adverse effects on mental capability, intelligence, or employability. It is not sedating or intoxicating, nor does it interfere with ordinary activities such as driving a car or operating machinery. Patients are able to feel pain and experience emotional reactions. Most importantly, methadone relieves the craving associated with opiate addiction. For methadone patients, typical street doses of heroin are ineffective at producing euphoria, making the use of heroin less desirable.

Another huge part of safe detoxification has to do with nutrition. Because the body will be going through some harsh abuse, it's important that your body is at its strongest. That means eating healthy and getting some form of exercise. You may want to consult with a nutritionist to be sure that you are getting the proper nutrition, but you CAN simply make your own changes in what you eat so your body is at its peak level of performance.

You will also want to get some psychological help with a counselor or therapist. You must treat your mental state along with your body. The therapist can help you remain focused on your recovery and take away some of the mindsets that can hinder your recovery.As we said previously, twelve step programs have proven to be very effective in overcoming problems with addiction. These can be great self-help options.

Some Questions Answered About The Heroin Detox Program In Rhode Island

2009-10-04T10:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some commonly asked queries about the heroin detox program in Rhode Island and their answers. These questions are general questions about the treatment program and do not pertain to any one treatment center. These are meant to give a brief outline of how the detox program works for people with heroin addiction in the state.

Q1. What is the most popularly used medication for heroin detox treatment in Rhode Island?

Methadone is the most commonly used medication for heroin detoxification in Rhode Island. This medication has been in use since over three decades and is still going quite strong. Despite the introduction of several new methods of heroin treatment in recent times, methadone is still prevailing in the state.

Q2. What are the plus and minus points of methadone heroin treatment in Rhode Island?

The biggest advantage in using methadone is that it is the oldest form of treatment and hence is the most tried and tested. People and even the treatment providers themselves rely on this method of treatment more. Also, methadone is known to be a very effective agent in controlling a person's cravings for heroin and is thus a quite efficient heroin addiction therapy.

The drawbacks of using methadone are many as listed in the heroin detox program in Rhode Island. Firstly, methadone is habit-forming. In many cases, it has happened that the person has been able to come out of the heroin dependency but has then become hooked to methadone. This is one of the biggest risks in using this medication due to which methadone is always provided in an inpatient mode of treatment, under careful medical supervision. Secondly, methadone is contraindicated for several health complications and cannot be used with several prescription drugs. Even pregnant and lactating women are not permitted to use methadone. Quite simply put, the use of methadone in the heroin detox program in Rhode Island is under a lot of restrictions.

Q3. Is there an alternative to the methadone treatment for heroin addiction in Rhode Island?

The alternative to methadone heroin treatment in Rhode Island has made its arrival about ten years ago under the name of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is an opiate just like heroin is, but it is not as habit-forming as methadone. For that reason, it can be safely used for the treatment. Formulations containing buprenorphine have also been specially prepared. These are medications such as Subutex (a pure form of buprenorphine) and Suboxone (a mixture of buprenorphine and naloxone, which is added to reduce the habit-forming nature of buprenorphine.

Q4. Why is the buprenorphine heroin addiction treatment program in Rhode Island becoming so very popular?

Organizations such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have introduced the Buprenorphine Initiative that has played an instrumental role in making the drug popular for heroin treatment in the state. However, a very important reason for the popularity in the drug lies in the great benefits that it has. It is less habit-forming than methadone is and has therefore made outpatient programs for heroin addiction treatment in Rhode Island a possibility.

Also, by adding ingredients such as naloxone, the addictive nature of the substance can be completely reduced. Buprenorphine is also permissible for people with most health conditions and is also suitable for patients who have some or the other kind of mental illness. The drug is not quite contraindicated with most other prescription drugs. Hence it can be safely used.

Q5. Why is it important to know what kind of medication is used in the heroin detox program in Rhode Island?

There are many reasons. The progress of the treatment will depend on whether methadone or buprenorphine is used. Every person has a different internal constitution and based on that it is usually decided whether they will be more suitable with a buprenorphine treatment or a methadone treatment. Also, the costs of the treatment will be influenced by which kind of medication is being used.

Q6. What other points need to be seen when selecting a heroin detox program in Rhode Island?

The first thing to check is whether methadone or buprenorphine will be used for the treatment. Once that is done, you must check whether the treatment center has a license to conduct a heroin detox treatment program. It is also a good idea to check what kinds of accreditation the center has. If it has an accreditation, it means that the program has been reviewed by an external organization. Also, check up on the affiliates that the center has. This indicates how well-supported the treatment program is.

Oxycontin Addiction and Detox

2009-10-03T09:15:00.001-07:00

Oxycontin Addiction and Detox

Over the past years OxyContin has become a pain relief drug known for becoming addictive. With its very effective painkilling properties and its similarity heroine, the increasing reports of OxyContin addiction has caused the healthcare professionals and the US FDA to rethink how Oxycontin is packaged and marketed. Oxycontin was made and prescribed to reduce pain for patients who may need long-term pain management.

Realize that not everyone that relies on OxyContin is not always addicted. There are people who are prescribed OxyContin as a way to help pain resulting from injuries or related conditions.It is critical that once the person that has an addiction to Oxycontin admits the abuse, that he or she should seek help to detox. The drug is extremely addicting and becomes habit forming fast. People that use Oxycontin for pain medication can end up going through withdrawal and need more Oxycontin to prevent withdrawals from happening. Some people hesitate to tell their Dr. they are addicted, and they believe the doctor will stop the prescription.

One of the biggest addictions in the US is the abuse of opiates. Oxycontin is a widely abused drug. The people who are addicted to Oxycontin are of all ages. The issue with Oxycontin detoxification is it is a serious drug, and it has a decent amount of withdrawal symptoms. The best path of detoxing can start with inpatient cure.

Medication to help with the withdrawal symptoms is usually prescribed to patients starting Oxycontin detox. The drug that is prescribed the most for an Oxycontin detox is buprenorphine. Taking this drug and following the instructions the doctor has given you will make your recovery come faster and safely.Detoxing from Oxycontin is worth it, and it is not exactly the easiest thing to do. It is an addictive and lethal drug, but there is treatment for people who are suffering and need to initiate an Oxycontin detox. The first step is to seek professional help to make sure your Oxycontin Detox is as easy as it can be. You should not let Oxycontin ruin your life. Because of its relation to heroin, this drug can be very dangerous. There are disputes that Oxycontin should never be prescribed and that different ways of relieving pain should be made. When it comes to aiding pain, Oxycontin is a good pain reliever if used correctly. When it is abused or used for a long time, Oxycontin can affect a person's life and become very addictive.

Treating an Oxycontin addiction is a lot like treating a person who has an heroin addiction. Withdrawal symptoms can be extremely painful and the person can go through nausea, cramping, and restlessness. A lot of times, doctors with patients that have Oxycontin addictions will decide to give them medication to ease the detox process. It is easy to find out if there are Oxycontin Treatment centers in your area. Oxycontin is almost the most abused drug in the United States.

Oxycontin (Oxycodone HCI controlled-release) is the brand name of the drug that contains Oxycodone. Oxycontin was designed to slowly release Oxycodone over a period of time, allowing users to only need to use to twice a day to keep relief.

Oxycontin works by connecting to receptors in the brain called opioid receptors. Opioid receptors are in the brain and spinal cord. When Oxycontin attaches to the opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord they block pain messages sent to your brain. Due to the potency of Oxycontin, if a lot of oxycodone are given off from the pill all at once, there is a high chance for a dangerous overdose.

Drug And Alcohol Detox And Addiction Counselling

2009-10-02T08:15:00.001-07:00

Narcotic drugs and alcohol are very physically addictive substances accounting for the rise in drug and alcohol addiction rates yearly. Once the body is dependent on the substance for normality, the absence of the substance will cause great pain and discomfort to be inflicted on the individual, known as withdrawal.

Addiction
Drug and alcohol addiction counselling and detox are highly controversial topics and met with many mixed beliefs and schools of thought, especially when physical and non-physical drug addiction is concerned. Unlike previously when addiction was considered a moral failing, professionals have now been opting towards a more successful approach of addiction treatment. Many experts and professionals have come to view addiction as a disease which is progressive and fatal if not treated. The disease can however be arrested through ceasing all addictive behaviour accompanied by counselling and a daily programme of recovery.

Physical addiction and the need for detox
Opiates such as heroin and codeine, benzodiazepines such as Valium and Rohypnol, some amphetamines such as methamphetamines (eg Tik) and ethyl-alcohol (the type of alcohol found in regular alcoholic drinks such as whisky and beer), are substances which the human body becomes dependant on when exposed to their effects over a certain period of time. Quaaludes, anabolic steroids, beta blockers, caffeine and nicotine also cause dependence.

Physical dependency can only be overcome through the addicted individual abstaining from use of the addictive substances. This will cause the body to go into a state of withdrawal, as it is dependent on the substance for functioning.

Treatment centres, rehabilitation centres and hospitals usually offer detoxification programmes for drug and alcohol addiction. Detoxification can be extremely harmful, even fatal. The process is nick-named "detox" and is carefully monitored by professionals.

In many instances, the patient is given medication to ease their discomfort during the detox. This discomfort usually results in the use of drugs to rid themselves of the symptoms. It has been found that regulated and decreasing doses of a pharmaceutical replacement with similar actions as an addictive drug is useful in allowing addicts to be "weaned off" the substance without unbearable discomfort.

Detox
When an addict or alcoholic is willing to enter a treatment programme to treat their addiction, many rehab centres require that patients are "clean" of all drugs and substances. The patient will need generally to pass a drug or alcohol test indicating that their systems are free of substances. If a client enters a treatment programme whilst still under the influence of a narcotic or alcohol, it may affect the safety of the other clients and the individual themselves.

The process of a drug and alcohol detox differs for each treatment centre offering the service. Some rehabs do not offer detoxes and require the client to attend a detox in a hospital or separate clinic as the rehab may not have the correct facilities to offer detoxification. The process is an extremely difficult ordeal for the addict to experience and must be handled with a great deal of professionalism. Alcoholic detoxes can cause delirium tremors, inducing hallucinations and violent behaviour. Only qualified, experienced and able professionals should administer a detox to a withdrawing addict or alcoholic.

Counselling
A detox programme can take a week or more to complete, although secondary withdrawals will follow after this; they are less severe than initial withdrawals, not requiring medication or facilitation. Once a detox has been completed, the client is advised to enter an addiction treatment programme at a rehab.

Drug and alcohol addiction counselling is an effective method of treating any form of addiction, helping the client to become a normal and functioning member of society. Group therapy and individual therapy is widely considered the most effective method of drug and alcohol addiction treatment, coupled with a healthy lifestyle and the adoption of a Twelve Step Programme as a way of maintaining abstinence and sobriety.

Counselling and a Twelve Step Programme help to enable the patient to cope with behaviours, past grievances, emotions and dynamics in their lives and to piece together a practical and realistic approach to life. Whilst the patient needs to stop using drugs and alcohol, counselling will help improve their lives much further. Abstinence plus change is the main aim of a recovering addict.

The life of a drug addict and alcoholic needn't be bad or hindered. Addicts have the potential to be very successful and productive people if they are able to stop their drug and alcohol use. Whilst this may require a detox, if followed with proper counselling and therapy plus the endorsement of a healthy lifestyle and application to a Twelve Step Programme, the person suffering from drug or alcohol addiction can arrest their disease and live a normal life again.

Some Various Strategies for Overcoming Opiate Addiction

2009-10-01T06:45:00.001-07:00

The first strategy you might try is to check into a drug rehab center and detox there. This is generally the most accepted strategy for a few different reasons. First of all, you are going to get the highest level of support and possible resources from such an inpatient treatment center, whereas other strategies might not have this full level of support. Another reason that this is a good option is because the medical staff at a drug rehab can properly treat your physical withdrawal, making it more comfortable for you than it might have been otherwise. In addition to all this, going to a drug rehab has the greatest potential for aftercare options, and can probably provide a person with the most choices when it comes to continuing care. Of course, going to a treatment center is expensive, and many struggling addicts cannot afford it. If you can get it, go.

Another tactic for overcoming an addiction to opiates is to go to a physician and ask for some sort of drug therapy medication. This might involve taking various medications, such as Methadone or Suboxone therapy. To be specific, Suboxone is a man made opiate drug that can take away cravings for opiates when taken every day as maintenance, and can thus increase a person's chances of staying clean. One issue with this technique for staying clean is that it does not really mandate any sort of therapy or program involvement on the part of the addict. These things could be utilized, but since the are not required, many people will simply rely on the medication to solve all their problems. Research has demonstrated that this does not work in the long run unless an addict gets more involved with either programs or therapies to try and change their life.

One last idea is to simply quit cold turkey, without using any assistance, and simply hope that this works out for you. As you can imagine, this is a recipe for disaster, and will likely result in a relapse very quickly for just about any opiate addict. But amazingly enough, some people have quit cold turkey and made it stick.

Opiate Addiction Symptoms and Signs

2009-09-30T04:00:00.001-07:00

Opiate addiction is an insidious problem that has plagued society for centuries, but perhaps never more so than today. A two-edged sword, opiates can heal or destroy.

An opiate is any drug derived from the opium poppy plant. The main opiates are morphine, heroin, and codeine. Thebaine and papaverine are also opiates. More commonly we see opiates in their synthetic forms: oxycodone (OxyContin, Percodan), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Darvon, Demerol, and Methadone are other synthetic opiates. The majority of these drugs are used medically for pain management.

Opiates are particularly effective in suppressing pain and reducing anxiety. In sufficiently high doses, they can produce a euphoric state. For this reason, they are often used as recreational drugs. Psychological and physical dependence leading to addiction is common in frequent opiate users. The body quickly adjusts to the use of opiates such that increasingly larger doses are needed to produce the same euphoric effect. Overdosing, sometimes resulting in fatal respiratory failure, occurs when addicts take more than their body can handle.

Most opiates can be swallowed, snorted, smoked, or injected. Intravenous injection is the preferred method of longtime addicts as this method produces the quickest, most intense high. It is also a method accompanied by increased risk of infectious disease.

Physically, the effects of opiates include dry mouth; muscle spasticity; slow, shallow or labored breathing; pupil dilation; stomach and intestinal spasms; constipation; low blood pressure; and diminished mental capacity, drowsiness, and disorientation. A common behavior of the opiate addict is the nodding in and out of consciousness.

Opiate addicts are emotionally detached. Thus, dependents of addicts are often neglected and sometimes abused. Addicts have a difficult time reporting regularly to jobs and even keeping them. Since they cannot function without the drug, looking for it, paying for it, using it, and enjoying its effects become first and foremost in their priority. Other needs are a poor second. Since funds are usually not commensurate to the need and desire, stealing and other criminal behavior are often parts of the addict's lifestyle.

Withdrawal from addiction to opiates can include hot and cold flashes, goose bumps, extreme restlessness, anxiety, muscle spasms, tremors, muscle and bone ache, insomnia, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Fortunately, there are many opiate dependency treatment programs available. Before anything else, detoxification is needed. In the opiate addiction detox center, a longtime user can begin the process of eliminating the toxins from one's body in a regulated environment where medical practitioners are available to monitor any adverse effects of withdrawal.

Some opiate addiction rehab centers administer medications such as methadone or buprenorphine to ease the pain of withdrawal. After the physical cleansing, the tough work of self-transformation begins. Opiate addiction rehabs offer counseling and behavior modification strategies and techniques to enable the recovering patient to sustain a drug-free lifestyle long after he's left the opiate addiction rehab center. Through counseling sessions, the patient discovers the emotional and environmental factors that trigger his cravings, and he learns how to avoid these or control them. Realizing that the treatment for opiate dependency is far from over, even when the rehabilitated opiate addict returns to society, opiate addiction treatment centers connect him to support groups and family outreach programs to assist him and his family in rebuilding their lives.

Detox Or Detoxification - Whatever You Call It , You May Benefit

2009-09-29T01:30:00.001-07:00

Detox or Detoxification - Whatever You Call it, You May Benefit

2009-09-27T23:45:00.001-07:00

Detox or detoxification includes two things:

1) Withdrawing poisonous substance from the body. 2) Withdrawing one's mind and soul from the darkness of abused substances.

The term Rapid detox was first used ten years ago and was specially related to opiate addictions. But today, it is mostly used to advertise and describe various methods of detox. Rapid detox can be used to describe the methods of alcohol detoxification, drug detox and other substances. Drug detox

It is a process to withdraw one from drug addiction. Detoxification assists the overcoming of uncomfortable symptoms at the time of drug withdrawal. The ultimate goal of drug detox is to get the body rid of toxins formed due to drug use. It is carried out in various ways depending on where you decide to receive the treatment. Most drug detox clinics provide treatment only for physical withdrawal of drugs and alcohol.

Alcohol detoxification

Alcohol detoxification is the process to withdraw one from alcohol addiction.

There are various aspects of alcohol detoxification: 1) The first aspect of alcohol detoxification is the medical aspect. There should be a medical specialist and a qualified nursing staff in order to help the patient during the procedure. It is an established fact that if a medical practitioner can set the patient's mind calm then the entire procedure goes smoothly.

2) The second aspect of alcohol detoxification is physical. During this process there should be a nutritionist in the medical center to put the patient on a perfect meal plan. If the patient takes balanced diet then the rest of the alcohol detoxification process will go more smoothly.

3) The third and the most important aspect of alcohol detoxification is the emotional aspect. The medical center should have a trained team of psychologists and counselors to help the patient psychologically. The process can be extremely emotional at times. Specialists should be there to assist the patient move forward through emotions.

4) Alcohol detoxification always combines a therapy with medication and that of psychological counseling. These programs are often long lasting; they mostly take two to four months and needs staying at medical institutions. Therapy techniques and personal counseling assist the patients to recover from alcohol completely and more comfortably. The drugs are given to avoid withdrawal symptoms that the patients may experience. Complete recovery from alcoholism is most preferable and the ideal situation.

5) Alcohol detoxification therapies use drugs like Disulfiram, which cause a severe and immediate hangover after consuming alcohol. Drugs like Naltrexone, helps in complete and comfortable recovery.

6) Nutritional therapy has also proved helpful in alcohol detoxification. During this stage, some patients feel 'insulin resistance syndrome' which results in the failure of processing sugar in body. "Insulin resistance syndrome" causes behavioral upsets and mood swings. These mood swings and behavioral upsets can be controlled with specific dietary regimen. Due to these types of psychological problems one should include a dietary regimen during alcohol detoxification.

7) There are some specific programs that help heavy drinkers who are not yet alcoholics but on the same way yet to become alcoholics. Moderation management also helps such people.

Things You Should Know About The Detox Treatment In Oklahoma

2009-09-26T21:15:00.001-07:00

The detox treatment in Oklahoma is definitely one of the most important parts of the entire addiction treatment program in the state. Most programs for addiction treatment in the state include the detox treatment as the primary process of the treatment and the rest of the program follows suit. Let us understand the detox treatment in Oklahoma a little better.

What is the Detox Treatment Program?

The detox treatment program is a program wherein the person's body is cleansed from the substances that accumulate in it due to the addiction. When a person has been using a particular addictive substance for a period of time, there are high chances that the substance would not be metabolized properly and this could create a toxic buildup in the body of the person. Over time, this toxicity would hamper with the normal working of the body and create health complications. The main intention of the detox treatment in Oklahoma and elsewhere is to free up this toxic accumulation in the body.

How is Detox Treatment in Oklahoma conducted?

There is a definite process for conducting the detox treatment program in Oklahoma. When a person is put into this program, the first thing that is done is to make the person abstain completely from the substance. This is done in an inpatient treatment center so that the person can be constantly monitored for the abstinence and for the progress of the treatment.

Once the abstinence begins, the person will develop the withdrawal pangs within one or two days depending on how intense the addiction has been with the patient and the nature of the addiction. This can take on a very intense form in a very short while. That is the reason constant medical supervision is provided.

There are two aims that detox medication tries to achieve. The first intention of this medication is to stop or reduce the craving the person has for the substance. This is done through special medication that can target the same areas of the person's brain as the addictive substance does. Due to this, as long as that medication is kept on, the person won't feel the craving for that substance. One example here is methadone which is used in the heroin detox treatment in Oklahoma. Methadone is an opiate just like heroin is and it has almost the same influence on the person's brain as heroin. Hence, when a person takes methadone, the urge for heroin is allayed.

The second purpose of the medication that is provided during the detox treatment is to reduce the pain and the effects of the withdrawal. Depending on the nature and the intensity of the addiction, the patient will face several problems such as pains and aches, muscle cramps, giddiness and dizziness, hunger pangs, etc. Antidepressants and painkillers may be provided to mitigate these effects.

The detox treatment in Oklahoma will continue till the time all the withdrawal effects are removed from the patient. This can take anywhere from three days to three weeks, depending on how intense the person's addiction is. In normal cases, the patient will be out of the detox in three to seven days, but if the addiction has been for a very long time, or if there are some other bodily or psychiatric complications coming in the way, or if the addiction is of a very strong substance such as methamphetamine or heroin, then there is a possibility that the detox will go on for a long period of time.

What are the Benefits of the Detox Treatment in Oklahoma?

The primary benefit of the detox treatment is to purge all the toxic materials from the body of the person. This is very important if the person is looking at complete recovery. Without removing these substances, health complications can occur at any time in life, even years after the person has worked his or her own way out of the addiction. A good example of this is the possible occurrence of the fatal cirrhosis of the liver in people who have given up an alcohol addiction years ago.

But there is another very important reason why the detox treatment is considered to be a vital element of the addiction treatment program in Oklahoma. When the substance is completely removed from the body of the person, there is a definite chance that the person will lose the craving for the substance. This is not possible even if the faintest trace of the substance remains in the person's body. That is the reason detox has to be conducted, whether the person is physically and mentally able for it or not.

Some Necessary Information On The Detox Treatment In Georgia

2009-09-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

Most counselors for substance abuse treatment will recommend the detox treatment in Georgia quite emphatically if you visit them about options on addiction treatment programs in the state. The detox treatment in Georgia has always been regarded highly and it is certainly one of the surest ways to get a person back from an addiction. Here are some details on the detox treatment as it is conducted in Georgia.

What is Detox Treatment actually?

The detox treatment is a mode of treatment in which the person's body is cleansed from the substances that are accumulated in it completely. These substances are those that are collected in the body due to the addiction. They could be residues of the substance itself, such as in the case of alcohol, or they could be metabolic products that are produced within the body. Usually they are stored within the organs such as the liver and the kidneys and in the bloodstream. When the person is detoxified, the main intention is to remove all traces of the substance from these areas of the body.

How is Detox Treatment conducted in Georgia?

Georgia usually has an inpatient format for the detox treatment, though thee is outpatient treatment in many cases too. When the person is given an inpatient treatment, the first thing that is done is to isolate the patient from familiar surroundings. Then the patient is made to completely abstain from the substance. The abstinence will be quite alright in the beginning, but soon the patient will develop some withdrawal effects for staying away from the substance of addiction. Different people begin their withdrawals after different lengths of time. Normally, the detox should occur anywhere after one or two days of the beginning of the abstinence.

Once the withdrawal has begun, it is the job of the detox treatment providers to take care of the symptoms that go with it. This takes time too; the treatment providers will have to provide a proper medicinal therapy to take the patient out of the cravings for the substance. This is done by providing some kind of maintenance medication that will allay the urges for the substance as long as it is provided. For example, a patient who is entering for heroin addiction treatment in Georgia is provided a methadone treatment. Methadone is an opiate like heroin itself and as long as methadone is provided to the person, the craving for heroin is significantly reduced.

Also, since the patient will usually suffer from pains and aches and a lot of mental issues during the detox treatment, they are also provided a medication of antidepressants and painkillers. Together, purpose of all these forms of medication is to help the patient overcome the addiction as well as do it without undergoing the nasty withdrawal effects that are bound to occur.

How long does a Detox Treatment in Georgia last?

Most people want to know the duration of the detox treatment in Georgia before they begin. However, there is no such fixed duration. The length of the detox treatment will depend on how long the patient takes to come out of the withdrawal, which can depend on so many factors. The kind of substance the patient is addicted to, the length of time for which the patient has been using the substance and the frequency of use, all influence how long the detox treatment will be. Also, the patient's own condition and state of mind will be important deciding factors for the length of the detox treatment in Georgia.

What happens after the Detox Treatment in Georgia

Contrary to popular opinion, the detox treatment in Georgia is not the end of the addiction treatment program, but you might very well say that it is the start of the treatment program. This is because when a person is detoxified, it is the body of the person that is treated from the addiction; however, the addiction is still present within the mind of the person. It is the mind of the person that creates the repeated craving for the substance. For that reason, it is important that the temptation of the substance be removed from the person's mind.

That is why the patient is led into an aftercare program immediately after the detox treatment is over. This aftercare could be in an outpatient treatment format or in a residential treatment format; that would actually depend on the kind of addiction the patient is in. The length of this aftercare would also depend drastically on the length of the patient's addiction.

Drug Detox: A Life Changing Experience

2009-09-24T18:15:00.001-07:00

Comparing Suboxone With Methadone In The Context Of Heroin Detox Treatment

2009-09-23T16:15:00.001-07:00

Both methadone and buprenorphine have been recommended qualified treatment programs for heroin detox since a long time. Methadone has run for a really long innings, because it has been used for about thirty years now, while the use of buprenorphine is just about ten years old in most states of America. However, the popularity of buprenorphine as a medication for heroin detox treatment has increased by leaps and bounds in the last few years, especially because the FDA approved Suboxone, a formulation containing buprenorphine for heroin detox treatment in the US.

Suboxone contains mainly buprenorphine in combination with another substance known as naloxone. Both of these have a very specific action on the person's body. Buprenorphine is known to remove the temptation of heroin from the body and mind of the person quite effectively. This is because buprenorphine itself is an opiate like heroin and it has almost the same effect on the person's brain as heroin has.

But what is an advantage for buprenorphine here is that it is not as addictive as heroin. Hence, when the treatment provider sees that the administering of buprenorphine is slowly reducing the dependency of heroin from the person's mind, they will lower the dosage of buprenorphine. However, there is still a remote possibility that the person might get addiction to buprenorphine and might experience a withdrawal when the amount prescribed might be reduced.

This is where Suboxone proves to be better than pure buprenorphine (used in medications such as Subutex). Suboxone has naloxone in it. This helps by causing a strong withdrawal if taken in excess. Fearing the strong withdrawal, the person will not consume an excess amount of Suboxone. That is the result the chances of a person abusing Suboxone are quite less.

Now, the same cannot be said about methadone. Methadone is very addictive. It acts on the same principle as buprenorphine does, but the fact that it is quite habit-forming makes it difficult to administer it in an outpatient format. Even if an outpatient methadone treatment is provided, the center needs to be federally approved and the patient will need to check in everyday so that the treatment providers can monitor their condition and alter doses if the need arises.

It is therefore not unjustified that more and more people are turning towards Suboxone treatment. This substance has a very low possibility of being abused due to the presence of the deterring substance naloxone in it.

Heroin detox treatment with Suboxone is actually so simple that patients can just carry this substance home from the physician's office, under their prescription. They will not need a constant monitoring of their condition too. Though not advisable, there are people who self-administer Suboxone and even alter doses as they deem fit. This should not be done, but it indicates that Suboxone is a simpler form of treatment than methadone is.

Suboxone is considered to be a maintenance medication. What this means is, as long as the person is kept on Suboxone treatment, there are very less chances that they will revert to their opiate addiction. But the moment the Suboxone treatment is stopped or stalled, there is a possibility of relapse. Because Suboxone is a form of maintenance medication, it becomes important to use the right kind of dosage. However, this is where the big benefit with Suboxone lies. Due to the special formulation present in it, it is possible to keep the dosages flexible and still the drug will have its effect.

Suboxone is a substance meant for oral consumption. The drug is meant to be just kept under the tongue from where it is automatically dissolved and mixed into the body. The amount of naloxone is adjusted to such a degree that it does not cause withdrawal in the person. If the person were to take more of Suboxone, there would be a great possibility that the person might get addicted to it. However, if the person oversteps the prescribed amount of Suboxone, the amount of naloxone entering their body will increase too and they might experience a withdrawal process.

Thus, you can say that there is a mechanism in Suboxone that actually prevents any recreational use of the substance. This can definitely not be said about methadone treatment. There is actually a very high chance that a person will get addicted to methadone, while the chances of a person getting addicted to Suboxone are almost nil.

You must make sure you understand the effects of both Suboxone and methadone in heroin detox treatment before you plan on either one. The Internet can be a big help for you in this.

Is Suboxone the Answer to the Crisis of Opiate Addiction?

2009-09-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

In the past few months 100s of fatalities spread across the nation from heroin overdose. The states most affected by those tragedies included Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. This surge in fatalities was due to
Fentanyl Laced heroin! A new tactic adopted by drug dealers to drag people into their webs. Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic opiate that dealers mixed with heroin to increase its efficacy and appeal to their customers. Both federal and state governments felt the impact of this phenomenon on the society and acted swiftly to combat it.

In the course of my work with patients addicted to heroin, I have frequently heard from them that drug dealers are giving away free heroin bags in order to get the customers hooked. An estimated 140,000 new patients fall into the traps of those dealers each year. Most new comers into this underground world are our youth who hold that the future of the nation and world. 75% of these patients are men.

Painkillers addiction is also invading this section of the population. The 2004 National Institute on Drug Abuses (NIDAs) Monitoring the Future survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th-graders found that 9.3 percent of 12th-graders reported using Vicodin without a prescription in the past year, and 5.0 percent reported using OxyContin-making these medications among the most commonly abused prescription drugs by adolescents.

Does that seem compelling enough for us to consider it as a national crisis. In my eyes it definetly qualifies as such. Traditional drug rehabs for this particular condition have proven to be of minimal value and that prompted our government to research alternative approaches resulting in the approval of Suboxone for out patient treatment of opiate addiction.

Suboxone was approved by the FDA in late 2002 and became available on the market by early 2003. It does not cause significant sedation like methadone does, rather it results in a feeling of normalcy, which is one of the reasons why patients really embraced this treatment modality. Another benefit is that it does not result in the same level of dependency as methadone does hence it is easier to detox patients off this medication.

Patients often tell me that Suboxone has changed their life and for the first time they feel that they are back to the way it was prior to using opiates. Could Suboxone be part of the answer to the crisis of addiction to opiates? We will just have to wait and see.

Drug and Alcohol Detox at Clearview Los Angeles

2009-09-20T10:15:00.001-07:00

Medically facilitated detoxification services are available through our Primary Residential/Inpatient Program.

Detoxification (detox) can be defined as a period of treatment where an individual is helped to overcome their physical dependence on a substance. Detox is intended to relieve the physical symptoms of withdrawal and helps prepare the patient for entry into a treatment program or rehab center. The ultimate goal of detox is to prepare the patient for long term sobriety and recovery.

Alcohol detox can cause a variety of physical symptoms and psychological ramifications. The process of alcohol detox can be traumatic and can trigger any number of side effects including tremors (the shakes), headaches, vomiting, perspiration, restlessness, loss of appetite and insomnia. More serious effects of alcohol detox can be Delirium Tremors (DT's), autonomic hyperactivity and seizures (convulsions).

The time necessary for alcohol detox treatment can be anywhere from 3 to 10 days. A variety of medications and procedures are used to detox a patient from alcohol.

Withdrawal from drugs is caused by stopping or dramatically reducing drug use after heavy and prolonged use. The reaction frequently includes sweating, shaking, headache, drug craving, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, diarrhea, inability to sleep, confusion, agitation, depression, anxiety, and other behavioral changes.

Often, there is a significant, self induced, psychological dependence associated with these substances and therefore, a period of initial stabilization followed by residential treatment is advisable. Treatment of withdrawal (detox) includes closely monitoring the person's vital signs, supportive care and medications. The time period for drug detox is generally 3 to 7 days.

Detox at Clearview

Clearview provides detoxification services in a safe, comfortable, home-like environment. Clients work with a medical doctor who specializes in detoxification methods.

Proper detoxification and minimization of acute and post acute withdrawal symptoms are essential to the treatment process and can greatly increase the likelihood of a client successfully completing treatment.
Clearview utilizes the latest detoxification techniques and medications depending on the patient's pattern of abuse. When appropriate, Subutex and Suboxone are utilized for opiate detoxification. Our goal is to make the patient as comfortable as possible during the detoxification process.

Clients are rigorously monitored and receive support and guidance from our trained staff while they are detoxed. Gradually, they begin to participate in therapeutic services.

Common substances that clients are detoxed from include:
• Alcohol
• Cocaine
• Heroin and other opiates such as Vicodin and Oxycotin
• Benzodiazapines such as Xanax and Valium
• Stimulants pills such as Aderal and Ritalin
• Methamphetamine and speed
• Marijuana
• Club drugs such as Ecstasy and GHB
• Muscle relaxers
Clearview offers everything that traditional treatment programs for Alcoholism provide, and more. While standard education, counseling, relapse prevention, and introduction to 12-Step Programs make up the entire curriculum at most other programs, at Clearview it's just a beginning.

Drug Detox: is it for You?

2009-09-19T04:45:00.001-07:00

Well, I hate to be the one to bring you the bad news, but drug detox is only your stepping stone to recovery from your drug addiction. Drug detox is the first step in becoming a recovered addict. An alcohol or drug detox is required when a person's body becomes physically dependent on alcohol, drugs or certain types of prescription medications. Although drug or alcohol detox may not be necessary for you or your loved one, for many, drug detox is an important step in their treatment program.

Drug Detox Is Equally Important For "Accidental" Prescription Painkillers Addicts. Drug detox is usually a short program and will normally last between 3 and 10 days. The basic feeling of an individual that enters a center for Drug Detox is desolation. Drug detox is performed in many different environments with a variety of philosophies. The goal of drug detox is the removal of poisonous toxins in the body that are accumulated from drug use. Medically supervised prescription drug detox is highly recommended for methadone dependency or addiction. Rapid opiate / narcotic drug detox is safe, effective, painless and fast. Drug detox is often necessary, especially when opiates such as heroin or prescription pills like OxyContin are involved.

Drug detox is sometimes ordered by the court as the result of a conviction related to charges stemming from possession or use of an illegal substance. Non medicated drug detox is the process of cleansing and getting rid of all the drugs and toxins in your system without the use of any medication. While it is not physically painful like drug detox is for most substances, it is very difficult emotionally to stop using. After drug detox is complete, comprehensive addiction therapy is crucial.

What you Have to Know About Opiate Addiction

2009-09-18T02:30:00.001-07:00

Drug addiction is an enormous worldwide catastrophe. Opium-based drugs became some of the most common addictive drugs nowadays. Opium-derived drugs are widely accessible and tremendously circulated all over the world. Before discussing opium-based addiction, its nature, and its treatment procedures, it is necessary to learn more about the opium-derived substance first.

Basically, an opiate is a substance that is derived from the sleep-bringing poppy plant. The major variants of opium-derived compounds include codeine, papaverine, heroin, morphine, and thebaine. Amusingly, two of the most popular kinds of opium-derived compounds, morphine and heroine, have identical chemical structures. Due to this feature, heroin can be discovered through urine screening when morphine is being administered to the body. According to medical science, heroin has the potential to be a central nervous system tranquilizer and it has the capability to enter the brain faster when compared to morphine. As a matter of fact, both substances are even used as analgesics and narcotics that provide relaxing effects.

(1) Morphine: Morphine or opiate analgesic drug is the most popular and the most obtainable opium-derived compound in the world today. Morphine is a variant of alkaloid. Morphine is very essential in the field of medicine since it is utilized in the treatment of disorders such as the swelling of the lungs. An oversupply of morphine can produce plenty of troubles to the physical condition of the drug dependent person. The health complications triggered by an oversupply morphine include respiratory depression, pulmonary edema, congestive cardiac failure, respiratory system failure, coma, as well as death.

(2) Codeine: Codeine is slightly similar to morphine, content-wise. Codeine is also considered to be a medication for treating cough, severe and acute pain, bowel syndrome, and diarrhea. Codeine overdose can create several complications such as itching, nausea, euphoria, miosis, dry mouth, vomiting, urinary retention, constipation, hypotension, respiratory complications, and drowsiness.

(3) Papaverine and Thebaine: The structural make-up of thebaine is slightly akin to those of morphine and codeine. Thebaine also goes by the name of paramorphine. This sort of drug is not used alone. Some of the substances that are used with thebaine include naltrexone, naloxone, oxymorphone, oxycodone, nalbuphine, etorphine, and buprenorphine. An oversupply of thebaine is absolutely similar to the side-effects of morphine and codeine.

(4) Heroin: Heroin is referred to as a semi-synthetic sedative. Because the demand for this opiate is very high, heroin enterprise is also one of the fastest growing illegal industries. The most popular means of abusing heroin is the utilization of the substance to the body by means of an injection. Heroin is also known by the trademark name Diamorphine. Dependence to heroin may result to AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. An oversupply of heroin may initiate acute difficulties like chronic constipation, renal failure, respiratory depression, profound unconsciousness, as well as death.

The lone source of opium-based compounds is the poppy plant. The quality of opium-based compounds is dependent on the moisture content of the poppy plant.

The liquid form of opium-based compounds is called methadone, a substance that is utilized in the removal of toxins from the body of drug dependent people. An oversupply of methadone may cause addiction.

Opium-based drugs have a few beneficial side-effects on the body in situations where they are prescribed by medical experts as pain relievers. When overdosed, opium-based compounds may initiate a few severe troubles. Addiction to opiates may progress to physical and psychiatric dependence. Muscle spasm is a common side-effect that resulted from the constant use of opium-based compounds. Respiratory complications are considered to be some of the side-effects of opiate drugs. The other side-effects of opium-based addiction include cracked lips, skin rashes, hypotension, and constipation. Addiction to opium-derived compounds may damage the central nervous system and it may initiate lethargy and coma. Eventually, a continuous usage of opium-based compounds can cause the death of the person who has drug addiction problems.

The treatment procedures for opium-based addiction may be performed in a residential or a non-residential basis. The full treatment method in both cases is classified into two components: the detox and the advising. Detox includes the riddance of toxic substances from addictive patient's body. In advising, the drug dependent person is motivated to live a better life.

While the patient is experiencing the different treatment procedures, support from his relatives, his loved ones, and the society are extremely necessary.

The Pain Of Opiate Addiction And Withdrawal

2009-09-17T00:15:00.001-07:00

In the United States, opiate addiction has increased dramatically over the last decade mainly due to the rising level of pain killer addiction. Many people are ignorant to the fact that these pain killers are just like heroin.

They contain opioid compounds that can lead to opiate addiction. Of course, you will have to go through all the stages of addiction, which are dependence, tolerance and withdrawal.

Opiate addiction and withdrawal are not something that you would want to experience in your life. The opiate addiction alone will wreak havoc to your life. You will find yourself frantic most of the time especially when you develop dependence and then tolerance and need to increase your dosage.

You will start to use the pain killers for different reasons ranging from simple headaches to stress, and eventually just to avoid the horrible withdrawal symptoms. You will also ruin the trust of everybody around you as you try to deny and hide your opiate addiction.

You might even hit rock bottom when you try to steal your husband's or wife's pain medication (or money and things to pawn for money), or lie to get prescriptions from any doctor you know (write fake prescriptions, a federal offense).

Withdrawal is even worse. You will experience runny nose, suicidal thoughts, stomach pain, depression, shaking, horrible cramps, aching bones, restlessness, insomnia (the inability to sleep for days and sometimes weeks), vomiting, loss of appetite and sweating .

The only logical thing to do is seek treatment for your opiate addiction and face your fears.

Treatment by Professionals:

Because opiate addiction and withdrawal can be pretty difficult, checking into a rehab or detox facility is a good idea, and your best chance at a successful recovery. These facilities are fully-equipped to treat people with different addictions.

Standard treatment for opiate addiction and withdrawal may involve medication and behavioral counseling. In any case, this treatment option is best for individuals who have tried quitting on their own or with the help of their friends repeatedly, but have still relapsed.

Because these facilities are private, some people prefer opiate addiction and withdrawal treatment in these places. Without professional treatment, it is very highly unlikely that you will quit on your own.

I know hundreds and hundreds of opiate addicts, and I only know one who quit on his own (with the the help of the drug suboxone).

Treatment by Friends/Family:

For people whose opiate addiction has been detected early on, you can ask assistance from your friend or another family member. They can monitor you as you detox in a room at your own home.

You must explain to your friends what they can expect while you are ridding yourself of these substances. They might hear you cry, shout and beg and they must ignore this. They will only have to make sure that you are fed and given water.

It would also be best that a licensed doctor prescribe you medication that will help you manage your opiate withdrawal treatment. Your friend can give you these medications and report your progress to your doctor.

I don't recommend this method, but it has been successful for some people, very few though.

Seeking treatment for your opiate addiction and withdrawal is not as easy as it may seem since there is always the issue of control. After treatment you will have to make sure that you curb your urges and stay sober.

A support group can help you accomplish this and you can even provide others with inspiration. As always, you must be strong-willed and committed to getting better in order to beat this opiate addiction.

For those of you who don't know, it is much much harder to to successfully rid this disease than you expect.

Some FAQs About Heroin Detox Treatment In Connecticut

2009-09-15T22:30:00.001-07:00

Here are the answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the heroin detox treatment in Connecticut. These are the questions that most people who are looking for this kind of treatment have, and their answers.

Q1. What is the main intention of a heroin detox treatment in Connecticut?

The primary purpose of the heroin detox treatment in Connecticut is to cleanse the body from the various toxins that the addiction might have accumulated in it. This is done by making the person abstain from the substance. Within a short time, the abstinence will bring about withdrawal effects. This is where a secondary intention of the heroin detox treatment comes in. The treatment providers will try to provide a medicinal therapy in order to completely remove the withdrawal in the patient. The detox treatment is only said to be over when the patient has been completely pulled out of the withdrawal that has been caused due to the abstinence from the heroin they are addicted to. For the long term, the purpose of the detox treatment is to keep the person abstinent from the substance and ensure that there are no cravings produced for it again, which ensures that the patient doesn't fall into a relapse.

Q2. How does methadone act for heroin detox treatment?

Methadone is an opiate like heroin itself. It is used to reduce the temptation that the person has for heroin. Strange though this may sound, this is the method in which the program works. Heroin, being an opiate, can be weaned away only when another opiate is introduced into the body and methadone fits the bill quite nicely. As long as the patient is kept on a maintenance medication with methadone, they will feel a reduction in their craving for heroin, and as this craving diminishes, the amount of methadone provided to the patient can be gradually reduced. This is not done all at once; rather it is done quite slowly, because methadone can produce withdrawal effects of its own.

That is the reason why methadone treatment always needs to be provided under strict medical supervision. Methadone is a habit forming drug and reducing its amount drastically can cause withdrawal. Also, methadone can react with some other substances that the person is consuming. Hence, medical care in an inpatient treatment setting becomes very important.

Q3. Are there any alternatives to the methadone treatment that is provided for heroin detox treatment in Connecticut?

Quite recently, the FDA has approved another substance for heroin addiction treatment in Connecticut. This substance is buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is also an opiate like heroin and like the methadone that is used for heroin treatment, but it is becoming more popular than methadone nowadays. The main reason is that buprenorphine is not as habit-forming as methadone is. While methadone needs to be provided in a carefully planned out medical routine with constant supervision, buprenorphine is not that drastic a form of treatment. Buprenorphine treatment can be provided on an outpatient basis also. This treatment can be altered in a more flexible way than methadone can be. For these reasons, buprenorphine is becoming quite widely accepted in the heroin detox treatment in Connecticut.

However, most treatment centers do not have the buprenorphine treatment yet. You will need to check out in advance whether the treatment is present or not. Asking a counselor for heroin addiction treatment in Connecticut will help, and you can also find out which centers provide buprenorphine treatment by visiting the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website.

Q4. How long does a heroin detox treatment in Connecticut last?

This actually depends on the condition of the patient who is undergoing the treatment. In most cases, the patient will be out of the heroin detox within seven to ten days. That is, this is the period within which the patient will be able to overcome most of the withdrawal pangs provided a maintenance medication has been kept up. However, for people whose addictions have been long running and for complicated cases such as people who are dually diagnosed with a mental condition also, the detox treatment can go on quite long. There have been some detox treatments for heroin addiction in Connecticut that have gone on for a whole month even.

Basically, the length of the detox treatment is quite unpredictable. People who seem to be relatively less addicted to heroin could have longer periods in detox and vice-versa. This is because the length of the treatment also depends on the physical condition of the patient and their determination to get out of the addiction.

Suboxone is No Miracle

2009-09-14T20:30:00.001-07:00

Touted by Congress as a miracle drug for heroine addiction treatment – buprenorphine – most commonly prescribed as Suboxone, was introduced to the American public in 2003. The idea seemed a good one: extend treatment options for opiate addiction (heroine or prescription pain killers) beyond specialized clinics to include private physicians' offices. And the drug held promise: it would be a replacement medication, like methadone, to relieve cravings and the painful effects of withdrawal as the patient comes down from the addiction, with only a "limited" euphoric effect. Such were the hopes at least behind Suboxone in 2003. But few today are quite so eager about it, and no one's calling it a miracle drug.

Unlike methadone, which is distributed in daily doses within federally controlled facilities, Suboxone is a prescription medication. And as physicians nationwide have been strongly and steadily encouraged to prescribe the drug, it's found its way into a great many medicine cabinets. This wide availability has, for 5 years now, been creating its own set of problems, most of them unforeseen by the lawmakers who first approved the sale of buprenorphine in 2000.

One of the first problems was in its formulation. Suboxone is a small, orange pill in the shape of a stop sign, designed to be dissolved under the tongue. US officials, to prevent it from being snorted or injected, required the producer of Suboxone, Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, to add naloxone, a compound that makes users who inject the drug become sick. But "street" chemists very quickly found simple ways of filtering out the naloxone from the crushed pills so they could be injected or snorted, and a new street drug was born, paid for by US taxpayers and as addictive as any other opiate-derivative.

Another problem is common to all prescription opiates—the street market. Some patients sell all or part of their Suboxone prescriptions to buy other drugs, often the very drug for which they purported to need addiction treatment in the first place. And in some cases, taxpayers are subsidizing such schemes because Medicaid is picking up the prescription costs. Well-meaning doctors can try to curb this activity by randomly calling in patients for pill counts. And it works for a while, until users begin renting their pills to each other. The street market is a sophisticated economy, and "bupe" at street level is on the rise.

But for all the hype, promise, political currency, and millions of federal dollars behind it, Suboxone has an even bigger problem in that it fails to do the very thing it was created for—to free the addict from opiate addiction. Today, what some call the "bupe method" of drug-addiction treatment is doing for addicts what methadone clinics have been doing since 1973—taking one addiction in trade for another. Suboxone, whether it's used legally or illicitly, is a highly addictive opiate. And addiction to Suboxone requires the same attention as would addiction to heroine or prescription pain-killers. But replacement therapy is not—and has never been—the answer.

If you or some one you care about is struggling with an addiction to Suboxone, or to any opiate drug, please help them now.

Ingredients of a Good Drug Detox Program

2009-09-13T18:45:00.001-07:00

Building Treatment Perspective

The first step towards a successful drug detox program is to push your mind to arrive at a point where you are ready and serious about the course. When people suffering from serious drug addiction enroll in a detox program, they are asked to prepare themselves first to keep away from the temptation of drugs, a mighty task for those with a history of abuse.

So the first key is to focus on the credentials of the physician running the program. There are various examinations undertaken in detox or drug rehab, so make sure that your doctor is a specialist vis-à-vis drug detoxification.

The next step is to get an assessment to identify where the body stands. This helps medical practitioners arrive at a decision around the program scheduling. Every patient reacts differently and therefore treatment could vary after the diagnosis, where it goes according to body needs. This process should take into account biological, physical, and social factors.

The Detox Period

While undergoing such a program, proper medicinal practices are imperative as they help to reduce problems that patients feel due to discontinuation of drug intake, which could be insomnia, uneasiness, body aches, etc. Treatment period is usually said to stretch between two and three months but that may not be applicable for all cases.

Nowadays, there are many rehabilitation centers that work on programs focusing on withdrawal phase to help patients stop use of drugs with least inconvenience. Detoxification programs eliminate drug residues from the body by using elements like exercise and low-heat sauna treatment.

Positives Outcomes

One can draw a lot of positives from the detox program that is followed. According to recent studies, the good news is that that rehabilitation doesn't have to be carried in captivity. Hence, people undergoing such programs can lead their normal routine life, contrary to the misconception that prevails. The long term thought on drug addiction has been restrictive in nature, leading to program failures that resulted in the perception that drug addiction is incurable and is a life term illness. But if you do a bit of research on more modern and well-researched programs, you can almost certainly find one that allows you to lead a relatively normal life during the course and that gives hope for long term success in beating addiction.

At Home Versus Drug Rehabs for Detox from PainKillers Addiction

2009-09-12T17:30:00.001-07:00

Patients who face the disease of addiction to painkillers have a few options to choose from. I will briefly touch on most of them but will focus on the 2 modalities that are mentioned above.

In my view the treatment options are divided into 3 main categories: 1-medically monitered withdrawal (i.e. detox), 2-maintenance therapy, 3-non-medicated recovery.

The latter approach utilizes spiritual recovery through NA meeting and other psychosocial rehabilitation options without the use of medications. This is usually associated with sever withdrawal symptoms and we feel that this can be avoided by the use of Suboxone (see below).

Maintenance therapy, where the patients are maintained on a long acting opiate medication for months or years, can be carried out using Methadone or the newer medication called Buprenorphine (generic for Suboxone and Sututex). The former is a stronger opiate medication that has been utilized for decades to treat opiate addiction. It is very effective in treating sever cases of heroin addiction but carries the porential for overdose that can lead to death. we can talk about methadone for hours but this is beyound the scope of this article.

Buprenorphine is a safer medication which lead the FDA to approve it for outpatient treatment of opiate addiction. After recieving a waiver from the DEA Physicians can prescribe or dispense it out of their regular offices without the need for a methadone clinic.

Many patients however choose to detx completely off opiates using the shortest but least painfull methods. Detox can vary in duration from few days, which I think is to fast and can be painful with more chance of relapse, up to few weeks. Traditionally has been done in hospitals and drug rehabs untill Suboxone became available in the US few years ago. Detox is the first step of a long recovery journey and need to be followed by long term spychosocial rehabilitation.

Now lets talk about the main topic; detox in a drug rehab or outpatient.
Drug rehab facilities have a great role in the treatment of Substance abuse and alcoholism but in the case of dependence on prescription pain killers, at-home detox can be as effective.

The difference: When patients are admitted to a drug rehabilitation facility they are secluded from all the surrounding triggers and hence can stay clean with no effort. When they are discharged they start to face the same circumstances that led them to develop the drug dependence in the first place. Without adherence to the after-care plan designed for them many patients relapse within 90 days of their discharge date. Outpatient/at-home program help patients to recover in face of those triggers and coach them through those urges to minimize the chance of relapse.

Privacy: At-home recovery provides a much more private environment than any other form of treatment. This helps patients avoid stigmatization which can have a tremendous hindrance on recovery. Clinicians help patients regain their self esteem and encourage reentry into the society.
A great value of in home recovery is that clinicians get to examine first hand the surrounding triggers and initiate a plan to reduce and eliminate those.

Functioning: With Outpatient/at-home programs there is no or minimal interruption of your life cycle with the ability to become productive and independent while you are recovering. An advantage that cannot be accomplished in a drug rehab.

Cost:Outpatient/at-home programs cost a fraction of the prices of private drug rehabs which can reach up to $30,000.

Family support: families should be engaged at the onset and through out the treatment period. The convenience of having recovery at home makes this option easy to establish.

Addicted? How to Detox Off of Alcohol and Pain Pills Together

2009-09-11T16:30:00.001-07:00

There are an estimated 20 million alcoholics in America, and about 6 million people dependent and using pain pills daily. Of course a significant number of these chemically dependent people are using the two together

An addiction to pain pills and alcohol concurrently presents with some significant problems, and as with any addiction, the earlier it's dealt with the better the prognosis and the easier the detox.

People may develop an addiction to alcohol with opiate type pain pills as they use alcohol to increase the analgesic or pain killing effect of the pills or more commonly, they use alcohol to increase the intoxicating effects of the pills.

Alcohol can increase the effects of pills substantially, and unfortunately, though concurrent use increases the pleasure of the high, it also intensifies the entrenchment of the addiction, and makes for a far more difficult period of detox.

The health risks of an addiction to alcohol and pills

The health risks of a combined addiction to alcohol and pills also exceed that of an addiction to either substance alone. Acutely, alcohol and pills can combine together to increase the respiratory slowing effects of the opiate type pill, and in overdose reactions, respiration stoppage and death is a scary possibility.

Pills also increase the risks of acute and chronic liver damage from drinking. Vicodin, the most commonly abused pain killer with its acetaminophen content is particularly problematic, and addicts abusing vicodin alone are at risk for liver damage, and when alcohol is also abused, the potential for damage increases greatly.

With the risks of overdose and death and long term health deficits, as well as all of the social and familial problems that a concurrent addiction can create, it's important to tackle any addiction to pills and alcohol without delay

How to detox off of alcohol and pills

The detox off of pills alone can be very arduous, and is much like heroin in duration and intensity. The detox off of alcohol, although not as uncomfortable, is actually more dangerous, and the symptoms of detox can be so severe as to be lethal. The combination when taken together presents with a detox of particular challenge, and risks to health.

Clinical research has shown that the detox off of alcohol and the influence of the hyperactive neurotransmitter GABA during this alcohol detox, actually has the effect of intensifying and prolonging the pains of opiate detox.

Because the dual detox can be dangerous, and is almost certainly very uncomfortable, most people are unable to detox on their own, and need medical supervision for safety, and for success.

Additionally because of the extreme discomfort of a concurrent detox, and the severe cravings typical of the days of withdrawal, very few people can maintain a resolve to stay off of drugs that they know will take all the pains away. A sequestered detox away from access to drugs and alcohol offers a far better likelihood of success.

It's going to be tough, and you should get some help

Although the detox off of alcohol and pills together is likely to be a very challenging few days, once concurrently addicted there is no advantage to delaying the inevitable, and especially as with every further day of abuse the addiction entrenches and the future pains and dangers of detox grow worse.

You very likely need professional and supervised detox for a safe and effective withdrawal, and detox is of course only the first step to sobriety, and most people will benefit enormously from a following period of drug treatment therapies.

It's going to be tough, but you can do it.

Opiate Addiction Is Overcome With Commitment And Support

2009-09-10T15:30:00.001-07:00

Make no mistake. Opiates are some of the most difficult drugs in the world to detox successfully from. The powerful drug family is derived from the opium poppy and it creates such drugs as heroin and morphine. Detox from this particular class of drugs isn't like quitting coffee cold turkey either. There are some serious withdrawal symptoms that often require medical attention to help a person endure. The biggest step in coming clean, however, is the individual's decision to do so.

Overcoming an addiction, especially an opiate addiction, requires the full cooperation and dedication from the person with the addiction. The reasons for this are many, but one of the most compelling is how difficult detox can be.

Detox in and of itself is simply the removal of a drug from a person's body. Generally this is accomplished through the passing of time without a new introduction of the drug. In the case of opiate addiction, however, there's nothing simple about the detox process. But, if a person is successful in detox and dedicated to kicking the habit, the chances are increased.

Opiate addiction includes both a strong mental and physical component. Since the body becomes physically addicted on the drug, the body too must be cleaned of its effects before treatment can progress. Withdrawal from this drug can be very trying on the body and generally requires medical assistance to ease the patient through the process as much as possible.

A person going through opiate detox can experience a variety of symptoms. Many of these symptoms are very serious. Symptoms include seizures, insomnia, vomiting and severe sweats. Heart irregularities may also be present. Other symptoms such as muscle pain and involuntary movements may also show up. The entire process can be excruciating. Getting through detox can be particularly difficult for the heavy user. The withdrawal symptoms can be fatal. Medical help can ensure successful detox of even the most heavy of users though.

Getting off heroin and other opiates isn't easy, but detox is the first step. If this is successful, a person dedicated to a program to get clean and stay that way will have a better chance of doing just that. Support and much follow-through will be necessary to help an addict kick the habit.

The best place for a person with a heroin addiction to start the process of getting clean is with him or herself. If the decision is made and the will power is strong, chances for making it through with success are greatly increased. The detox step is often the hardest, however, and requires medical help.

On the upside, detox typically takes about 72 hours. Keep in mind this is a very difficult 72 hours and detox without assistance in the case of the severe addict can be fatal. Since the body's come to depend on the drug, it doesn't know how to function correctly without it any longer.

Opiate detox isn't an easy road, but it's certainly better than the alternative. This very powerful class of drugs can grab a hold of a person and take over their lives.

Rapid Detox Centers Can Be A Whole New Start In Life

2009-09-09T14:30:00.001-07:00

Detoxification is a vital step in the road to recovery from addiction. It is often difficult to take but most drug and alcohol sufferers have no choice. Extended periods of addiction necessitate the help of medical professionals.

Many of the hardened addicts who attempt to quit on their own, are not successful in breaking free from their habits. Before any long-term addiction recovery can begin, it is essential for the body of the addict to be detoxified.

Detoxification should not be taken as a cure for addiction. It is simply one of the first and most significant steps in a complete rehabilitation program. Addicts can be dependent on any of several substances like heroin, opium, methadone, oxycontin, percocet and codeine.

The objective of a detoxification period is to moderate the withdrawal symptoms because most rehabilitation programs fail due to their demandingness. Sometimes anesthesia is used to conduct opiate detoxification.

The point is to go through detoxification and reduce the body's craving for the abused substance. This process is mostly physical, though psychotropic drugs can be given to tone down the whole experience.

A big problem with drug rehabilitation is the danger of regress after it has finished. Regress usually occurs when the individual's body demands another "fix" even when the mind or emotional state does not demand it.

This physiological dependence is more potent than determination and self-will in a majority of cases and that is why addicts are not able to quit easily. Their bodies will not allow them do so. Rapid Detox Centers can give help with the first important step in the recovery process by helping a patient through the detoxification phase.

Rapid Detox is a straightforward procedure developed in order to reduce and, if possible, altogether eradicate the symptoms common with withdrawal. The more effectively withdrawal symptoms are suppressed, the chances of relapse are fewer and the chances are greater for complete recovery from addiction.

Be aware that, Rapid Detox should not be used as a replacement for regularly available comprehensive treatment and recovery programs. The one and only use for Rapid Detox is to give help people to cope better with their withdrawal symptoms.

Anesthesia Assisted Opiate Detoxification is the one of the first steps taken in a Rapid Detox procedure. The total process can take a long time depending on the psychological dependence and toxicity level of the individual in question. Detoxification "cleans" the body of all drugs and their residues and makes the body starve for them.

The starvation is what manifests itself withdrawal symptoms and the patient will do anything to cure those ephemeral hunger pangs. This is the most vital stage as the chances of relapse are greatest. This is the reason it is normal that, after "detox", most people pass through counseling in some form before proceeding to the next step. Post-detox care is vital to final recovery.

There will be a number of of Rapid Detox centers in your vicinity. If not, then your family doctor can readily provide patients with alternative suggestions.

Rapid Detox Centers can also be called "ultra rapid opiate detox" because they are experts in opiate based substances like heroin, methadone, vicodin, or prescription painkillers.

Some common opiate narcotics that can be treated in Rapid Detox Centers are:

· Codeine
· Dilaudid
· Morphine
· Percocet and Percodan
· Lortab
· Oxycontin

Rapid Detox is carried out under general anesthesia in hospital-like surroundings. This is imperative because detoxification should only be carried out by qualified anesthesiologists and medical staff under the supervision of a competent doctor, all of whom have received specialized training in detoxification procedures.

Withdrawal symptoms can last for a long time after a patient stops taking the narcotic substance. While under anesthesia in Rapid Detox, the patient is given medications that hasten the reactions to withdrawal symptoms. This procedure can last up to six hours.

Anesthesia Assisted Rapid Opiate Detoxification (AAROD) is an effective treatment for oxycontin addiction. The treatment aims to free the patient from dependency on the opiate by managing the "receptor level" of the patient's brain. This procedure does not involve any painful or debilitating withdrawal symptoms.

The selection of a Rapid Detox Center is based on factors like the type and amount of drugs, alcohol or other drugs the patient has been using, for how long, age of the patient, and medical history.

People need not be addicts to street-drugs like heroin. Sometimes, opiate based drugs administered during operations, injuries, and chronic pain conditions can also result in the patient becoming addicted to the opiate.

Many Rapid Detox centers have been opened in order to provide centralized information to all people who need to find qualified and certified rapid detoxification treatments.

New âExecutive Alcohol/Opiate Detox' attracts celebrities to Palm Beach

2009-09-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

People from various walks of life such as business executives, professional athletes, celebrities, politicians, and even the armed forces and the religious world are flocking to Palm Beach from different parts of the globe, and not necessarily to enjoy the spectacular beaches, but rather to save their lives. They are coming to break harmful dependencies to a variety of addictive substances-- medical conditions which until recently were considered taboo to such people.

Recently substance abuse and its treatment have risen in the consciousness of society. With recent television shows such as A&E's Intervention, a general acceptance of substance abuse as a medical not moral issue is developing. Couple this with the recent liberal trends in dispensing opiate pain medications and anti-anxiety medications results in a trend of sorts. According to the most recent nationwide survey conducted in the United States by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), an estimated 6.3 million persons, or 2.7 percent of the population age 12 and older had used prescription psychotherapeutic medications non-medically in the month prior to being surveyed. This includes 4.7 million using pain relievers, 1.8 million using tranquilizers, 1.2 million using stimulants, and 0.3 million using sedatives. The problem is on the rise. According to this survey carried out in 2003, the increase in rates of addiction to prescription medication is significant when compared to previous survey results.

Substance abuse providers are seeing a new profile of patients; that of apparently normal professionals often successful in all other aspects of their lives. Dr Mark G. Agresti, Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia Hospital explains that most of today's addicts are hooked on prescription medication—pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants and sedatives—not illegal drugs purchased on a street corner somewhere.

James Bevell, Director of Admissions for Poinciana, at Palm Beach, a facility that treats patients presenting with this profile, explains that these programs are adapted specifically for high functioning, motivated people who need individual attention and guidance. "Patients can free themselves from chemical addictions and continue with their lives", he says.

Bevell states that 'Executive Detox' is an emerging service being provided to this new patient demographic.

"Many people who have been otherwise successful in their lives yet find themselves addicted had found their choices limited and unacceptable when seeking treatment. In years past the only alternatives were psychiatric hospitals or free standing substance abuse hospitals. They used to find themselves thrown into a system which was often overburdened and understaffed. Some found themselves misunderstood, misdiagnosed and mistreated. These patients could not tolerate the treatment and therefore went largely untreated," he says.

According to Bevell, the concept includes an important component of luxury and confidentiality.

"Even though Poinciana is a hospital-based program, patients are discretely separated from regular hospital patients and other clinical facilities. At this center, they are offered exclusive concierge services for patients and family members. Upon request, they are even provided a private escort to accompany the patient to the facility", he says.

The creators of the plan promise that this method allows patients, while under the supervision and care of a medical team of experts in addiction, to withdraw in comfort from substance dependency as they continue to work or study. They add that this method is different from other treatment programs because it is individually modified for each patient, taking into consideration not only their medical history, but also their personal issues as well. It is a holistic, bio-psychosocial approach.

"This is not cookie-cutter medicine. It is a program created to suit the needs of the individual—one patient at a time," Dr. Agresti clarifies.

Dr. David J. Stern, an internist who practices in West Palm Beach, explains the general procedure as follows: "Patient arrives for assessment and medical examination by a Board Certified physician and substance dependency specialist. Then he/she is diagnosed and treated according to his/her specific needs. Patient receives a regimen of safe and effective medications, such as Buprenorphine, that promptly eliminate symptoms of withdrawal, including anxiety, sleeplessness as well as debilitating aches and pains normally associated with detoxification."

Throughout course of treatment, patient's physical and psychological progress is monitored daily by a team of addiction specialists. Bevell adds, "This safe and carefully controlled program may allow patients to return to their daily schedules within 2 or 3 days, and is a much safer alternative to the Rapid Detox Programs being offered."

After detox, patient returns home, to work or to his or her studies. Although consideration of further treatment options is recommended, hospitalization or confinement to a rehab facility is not strictly necessary.

According to the initiators of this new curative method, recurrence rates are minimal, and that is important because recurrence is the greatest obstacle detoxification treatments have encountered so far.

The new methodology is even applied, with some variations, for conquering addiction to Methadone, a drug used in treating addictions.

Dr. Agresti explains: "Treatment for Methadone is different than our standard treatment for conventional opiate dependency. Methadone poses additional problems and the course of treatment is longer. But the good news is we can help. Here's how it works. Utilizing a medical protocol called Rapid Receptor TransitionTM (RRT), the doctor will safely and comfortably switch your medications, monitoring your progress daily. After 7 days, when Methadone is out of your system you will be switched over to Buprenorphine. You may return home. Where you can follow up with an outpatient provider who will wean you off the Buprenorphine over the next 4 to 6 weeks. You may go back to work, your studies, or daily chores immediately. You will have energy. You will no longer crave Methadone or opiates."

For further information, please call 561-881-5904, write to admissions@detoxpalmbeach.com; or visit Opiate Detox

Rapid Opiate Detox. Detox on Sunday, Back at Work on Mondayâ¦too Good to be True?

2009-09-07T11:15:00.001-07:00

Relative newcomers to the field of addiction and recovery, clinics offering rapid opiate detox have sprung up across the nation and the world, and the claims and promises they make sound very attractive to any opiate addict seeking sobriety, but fearful of the pains of detox.

Advocates of rapid opiate detox claim that through the procedure, addicts can undergo an accelerated form of detox while under anesthesia, finish within a day, and experience no pain.

How it works

Patients are paced under anesthesia, and once sedated they are administered a cocktail of drugs that accelerate and intensify the detox period (primarily the opiate antagonist nalexone) the pains of this quickened detox would be unimaginable were the patient conscious, but since they proceed through the day of withdrawal sedated, they awake at the end of the detox with no memory of the procedure, and completely opiate free.

The process can vary in duration from a few hours to a day or more, but at the end of it detox is over, and patients will feel no additional intense sensations of withdrawal.

The drug naltrexone is prescribed most commonly for the months after detox, to help with cravings back to use, but no additional therapy or education is offered. Patients are considered to be cured of their addiction, and ready to resume their lives without the abuse of drugs after only a day or two of care.

The procedure is expensive, and ranges from between $15 000 and $ 20 000 and insurance providers do not cover any of these expenses.

Problems

There are a number of issues of controversy surrounding the use of this novel technique, and critics have argued that the high costs of the procedure as well as the absence of any therapy towards drug avoidance makes the procedure a very expensive detox, unlikely to offer a long term solution to the problem of addiction and drug seeking.

Perhaps the greatest point of contention surrounds the safety of the procedure, and a well known clinic was recently disbanded after a slew of deaths occurred within days of patients having undergone the procedure.

Doctors argue that the detox is tough on the body as is, and when the detox pains are accelerated and intensified, the strain on the body grows proportionally. Since many patients entering into detox from heroin or other opiate based pills are not in an ideal state of health, they are at serious risk from this acceleration of strain on the body and mind.

Recommendations?

Most independent and impartial addictions professionals do recognize the value in this new form of detox, but argue that as it's used now, and without any complimentary therapies for relapse avoidance, the risks, expenses and likelihood of relapse make it a poor choice, tempting as it may be.

Addicted? 3 Reasons to Think Twice About Rapid Opiate Detox

2009-09-06T10:00:00.001-07:00

Although it sounds like an answer to your prayers, rapid opiate detox may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

Rapid opiate detox clinics promise an accelerated and painless form of detox off of opiates such as heroin or prescription narcotic type pain pills. Patients proceeding through rapid opiate detox are placed under anesthesia and administered certain drugs (primarily the opiate antagonist nalexone) that accelerate the process of detoxification. Although were the patient conscious for this period of accelerated detox the pains would be unbearable, since the procedure occurs under anesthesia, the patient awakes several hours later with no memory of the agony experienced, and completely free from physical addiction.

It sounds too good to be true, and a lot of critics say that it well might be.

Problems with rapid opiate detox

Health risks

There are some serious issues concerning the safety of the procedure, and one well known clinic was disbanded after a string of deaths occurring within days of patients undergoing the rapid detox.

Detox is hard on the body, and anything that accelerates and intensifies this detox also intensifies the trials on the body and mind. Since patients coming in with an addiction to heroin or other drugs are often not in the best of physical condition, many doctors argue that the health risks of the procedure far outweigh any possible benefits.

Long term sobriety

Rapid opiate detox clinics present the technique as a cure to addiction, a claim most addictions professionals dispute heavily. Although a successful period of opiate detox does end the physical addiction to opiates, detox is but the first step to recovery.

Raid opiate detox clinics offer no therapy or education as to future relapse avoidance, and since the cravings and temptations to use remain, without the tools to avoid these triggers to abuse, few people can maintain abstinence.

Without intensive therapy and a commitment to a life changing set of behaviors and habits, the odds of long term sobriety are very low.

Costs

Rapid opiate detox is expensive. Costs for the one day procedure run from $15 000 - $20 000 and this price is inclusive only of the procedure, and without any additional therapies offered.

If it worked and if it could offer you long term sobriety, the costs would be reasonable and comparable to the costs of a conventional residential rehab; but since without therapy or relapse avoidance training the long term prospects are so low, the money spent is not likely to influence a long term change over addiction and drug seeking behaviors.

Because of the controversial nature of the procedure, no insurance carrier will offset any of the costs of a rapid opiate detox.

Although anyone would choose to avoid the agony of opiate detox were they offered an effective and safe alternative, the heath risks, expenses and risks of relapse inherent in rapid opiate detox should raise serious cause for alarm.

Detox; Which is Better, Rapid Opiate Detox, or Detox in a Drug Rehab?

2009-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

With ever increasing research and understanding over the mechanisms of the brain as they pertain to addiction, addicts are now blessed with more effective therapies and greater choice in a personal battle with dependency.

And although the science of mind and addiction remains poorly understood due to the incredible complexity of the subject and of the human brain in general, new therapies are emerging that show real promise.

Opiate addicts now have a number of choices for their recovery, and two of the most prominent of these choices are a conventional detox and stay in a drug rehab, or a process of rapid opiate detox.

What's the difference?

The detox period in a conventional rehab can be quite uncomfortable and takes many days. Although medical management and the prescription of symptoms easing drugs can reduce the intensity somewhat, the period remains quite grueling.

Rapid opiate detox by contrast offers a pain free period of detox, and promises a complete end of all symptoms of detox after one day. They can achieve this by placing patients under anesthesia and administering a cocktail of drugs that accelerate the intensity and pace of the detox. Were patients to endure this consciously the pains would be unbearable, but as addicts remain sedated throughout, they awake at the end opiate free and with no memory of the pains of the procedure.

Which is better?

Obviously, addicts fearful of the pains and duration of a conventional form of detox might find the promises of a rapid opiate detox quite tempting; but there are some drawbacks and risks associated with it.

Most addictions professionals have not as yet endorsed rapid opiate detox as a reasonable, safe or effective way to end an addiction to drugs.

Health risks

There are certain health risks associated with a rapid opiate detox. Addicts entering into detox are often in ill health, and since the accelerated period of sedated detox also accelerates the strain on the body, the procedure is risky, and there have been several deaths within days of people having undergone this quickened detox.

No therapy

Additionally, since the procedure is quite expensive and these clinics do not offer any form of therapy or education as to future drug avoidance, many critics claim that it's a very expensive way to detox and the odds are high that without accompanying therapy participants will likely find themselves abusing again.

The procedure is intriguing and promising, but as it's currently administered, unsafe and ineffective; and only those in a position to profit from it currently endorse rapid opiate detox.

Until the safety has improved, and until rapid opiate detox clinics start to incorporate detox with therapies deemed essential for long term drug avoidance, addicts are far better to endure the days of detox in a conventional drug rehab, and then benefit from the learning that has the best chance of keeping them sober over the long term.

Detox is only the beginning

Real recovery only begins with the end of detox, and detox alone cannot be considered sufficient. Until rapid opiate detox clinics can offer a safe and comprehensive experience, the risks and costs of the procedure outweigh the possible benefits.

Opiate Detox and Heroin Facts

2009-09-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

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New âExecutive Alcohol/Opiate Detox' attracts celebrities to Palm Beach

Rapid Opiate Detox. Detox on Sunday, Back at Work on Mondayâ¦too Good to be True?

Addicted? 3 Reasons to Think Twice About Rapid Opiate Detox

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Opiate Detox and Heroin Facts

New âExecutive Alcohol/Opiate Detox' attracts celebrities to Palm Beach

Rapid Opiate Detox. Detox on Sunday, Back at Work on Mondayâ¦too Good to be True?