Can Methadone Detox Be Done At Home

4 Benefits & Risks of Performing Methadone Detox At Home

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With an estimated 20 million people are dealing with types of substance use disorders, you’re not alone in your path to recovery. While there are many people who are dealing with similar issues, no two roads to recovery will look exactly the same. When you’re going through a methadone detox, make sure you’ve built a recovery program that’s shaped to your needs.

The increasing number of people who are choosing to perform their detox at home can thank increased research and accessibility to detox materials. Whether its the medication that aids detox or just the ability to talk about it in public, this is a great time to get healthier through recovery.

If you’re interested in finding ways of performing your methadone detox at home, make sure you know these 4 benefits and risks.

1. Familiar Surroundings

One of the benefits of handling your methadone detox at home is that you can feel comfortable in familiar surroundings. Whether you live with family members or alone, you can easily be found by the people who care about you. You’ll be in a place that feels like a home rather than someplace clinical.

Inside a hospital, you’ll be in surroundings that are completely alien. You might even have to ask someone if you want to use the bathroom. It can feel very stifling and difficult to regain your autonomy inside of a clinical detox facility.

However, one risk of running your detox at home is that you could be forced to interact with the people who might cause you to use in the first place. Some people have enablers in their life and experience addiction relapse triggers that are connected to members of their family or close friends. If you’re detoxing at home, you’ll be just a phone call or a knock on the door from people who might make you want to use.

Inside of a clinic, you’ll have to approve anyone who can visit. Clinics usually have security and locked doors that can protect your privacy and help to keep out anyone who might interfere with your recovery.

If you need space from the people in your life who are connected to your drug use, make sure detoxing at home can provide that protection.

2. Access to Medical Staff

One risk of doing your detox at home is being outside of the supervision of a medical professional.

Having access to medical staff could end up saving your life if you relapse or have trouble while detoxing. As your body flushes out toxins and gets over its dependency on a substance, it can cause facing opiate withdrawal symptoms. Untreated, withdrawal can cause life-threatening issues as your body goes into shock or attempts to overcompensate for the things its come to rely on.

Under the supervision of medical staff at a detox facility, their intervention could save your life.

However, if you’ve been in the hospital already and have started the process of detox, you won’t need this medical staff. The price of having them at your beck and call is what costs so much in a recovery facility. If you go to a facility unnecessarily, you could end up paying an arm and a leg for someone to bring you soup and medication every day.

If you’ve already overcome the initial shock of going through withdrawal, you don’t need medical staff as badly as someone who is just beginning. Skip the expensive medical bills and do your detox at home.

3. Freedom To Roam

Because many of the aforementioned detox facilities have you under lock and key, you might not be able to move as freely as possible. One of the benefits of detoxing at home is that you can go about your day at your own pace.

You might want to catch up with some healthy, sober friends for lunch or for an evening ball game. Under the supervision of a detox facility, this might not be a possibility. You might need to be home within a certain window of time or be back by a certain time in the evening.

If you detox at home, you get to make your own schedule.

One of the risks of your own schedule is falling into relapse without structure. Your home detox needs to have lots of structure built in, with some flexibility. If you make it too rigid, you’ll find that you get anxious and bored and could end up springing back into your old habits.

The best thing you can do is to have a schedule mapped out and some people to hold you accountable for it. When you have your day planned out, leaving room for time to have fun, you can do the things you love to do while making sure you cut out room to relapse. Idle time could let your mind drift into thinking about use.

4. Bounce Right Back

One of the benefits of detoxing at home is that you can get right back into the swing of things in your life. Maintaining the steady rhythm of things that you rely on and the way you like to live your life is important for people in recovery. Giving your new life a sense of normalcy allows you to feel the benefits of being sober.

One of the risks of being at home is that your choice to bounce right back could lead you to the stressors that caused your issue in the first place. If work stress was causing you to use, being back in the office right after detox could cause those feelings to return.

Ensure you’ve built a healthy barrier between the things that trigger use and the things that make you feel good about your life.

Methadone Detox At Home Takes Preparations

As long as you’re well prepared to treat yourself at home, you should know that methadone helps more than it hurts when detoxing. The biggest hurdles to detoxing at home are the number of triggers you could encounter or people who enable your usage. Make sure you draw a line that can separate you from one another and you should find recovery to be easy. To find out more information or locate methadone clinics nearby contact (855) 976-2092.

Sources:

SAMHSA. (2019, January 30). Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. Retrieved from U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disorders

Psy.D, M. R. (2015, January 08). 5 Steps for Managing Your Emotional Triggers. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wander-woman/201507/5-steps-managing-your-emotional-triggers

What is a methadone clinic?

What Are Methadone Clinics and How Can They Help?

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If you’re struggling with opiate abuse, you aren’t alone. It’s estimated that over 2 million people in the United States are living with opiate or heroin addiction.

If you’re looking for a way to kick your habit for good, you might be wondering what are methadone clinics? Overcoming addiction with methadone could be the answer to your treatment problems.

Want to learn more about how getting treated at a methadone clinic can help your addiction problems? We’ll tell you everything you need to know.

 

What Are Methadone Clinics?

Methadone has been used to treat opiate addictions for decades. Methadone treatment programs help people with opiate and opioid addictions under the supervision of medical professionals.

View these clinics as a type of replacement therapy. Instead of taking the drugs you usually would, you’re given methadone, an opioid analgesic, in its place. It can be administered in a pill, wafer, or liquid.

Methadone works by blocking the effects of opiates and opioids. It reduces the usual feelings of euphoria people would typically feel after doing drugs and helps reduce typical cravings.

Benefits Of Methadone Treatment

There are a variety of ways people choose to stop using drugs. Many people use methadone clinics as a supplement to other forms of treatment and opioid detox methods.

Seeing a therapist or attending a support group in addition to going to methadone clinics can be an excellent way to stop using opiates.

There are a variety of benefits to other forms of therapy, but for now, we’re going to focus on the benefits of getting treated at a methadone clinic.

Good For High-Levels Of Addiction

Some people with opiate problems have been struggling with addiction on and off for years. They may be used to taking large amounts of the drug and may worry about the intensity of withdrawal.

Methadone is a very effective drug for easing the physical cravings for opiates. This can help with other symptoms like anxiety, nausea, and body aches.

People at all levels of opiate addiction can benefit from getting treatment at a methadone clinic. But people concerned about the intensity of withdrawals should look into this kind of treatment.

Treatment Flexibility

Some people find that inpatient drug rehab is the best treatment option for themselves. But there are also people that want to stop using drugs but aren’t in a position where they can go for an extended visit inpatient rehab.

You may be the only person with the ability to earn income in your family, and you don’t want to miss work and put them in a bad position.

You can have other important responsibilities that would be disrupted by extended inpatient treatment.

If you get treated at a methadone clinic, you just need to make time to get your daily doses of medication. Many clinics offer flexible hours so people can attend around their daily schedule.

You should still make time to visit doctors and go to therapy on your own, but this can be much easier to manage than being away from work and other responsibilities for a few weeks.

Controlled Treatment

Many people know that methadone can be used to treat opiate addiction, but they make the mistake of assuming they can get the drug on their own and treat their addiction themselves.

This method can be dangerous and could lead to overdoses and other potential problems.

Methadone can be an extremely effective treatment when it’s administered under the supervision of a doctor.

They can help adjust doses of methadone to ensure that you’re only taking as much as you need. They can evaluate your health and see if there are other treatments that may be helpful.

Have Options

When some people think about going to methadone clinics, they worry that they won’t be able to choose where they go.

The availability of methadone treatment has improved over the years, and people will find that they have a variety of options at hand on where to get treatment.

There are both public and private clinics you can choose to get treatment at.

Some public clinics can have long wait lists for new patients, but they tend to be a more affordable option for people. Private clinics tend to have a much shorter wait time, but they can cost more money.

Some methadone clinics can have relationships with other treatment centers and can help recommend other places for you to go.

Be sure to ask about other treatment options you can use while you’re being treated. They may be able to help recommend a good therapist, group therapy meeting, or nutritionist.

Reduce Depression

Some opiate addicts are worried about stopping because they use it to self-medicate their depression.

It’s important to note that you should speak to a doctor if you think you’re suffering from symptoms of depression. They can help properly medicate you and get you the treatment that you need.

There’s research that shows that methadone may be a good treatment option for addicts with co-occurring disorders. Some addicts that choose methadone treatment find that it helps them manage their depression better when they’re detoxing.

Improve Your Quality Of Life

Addictions of all kinds can have negative impacts on peoples lives. Addiction can cause problems with families, marriages, jobs, and personal health.

Being addicted to heroin or a different kind of opiate could put your loved ones, health, and professional life in danger. If your addiction gets out of control you can cause serious damage to yourself and others around you.

People that use methadone to treat their addictions report having a better quality of life. Because they’re able to stop abusing drugs, they start to see other areas of their life improve.

Learn More

Now that you know what methadone clinics are and how they can help treat heroin and opiate addiction, you may want to learn more.

Read our post on evidence-based practices for addiction that show how helpful methadone treatment can really be. After that, check out our collection of statistics on heroin abuse.

If you know someone that’s struggling with addiction, be sure to share our content so you can help someone else in need. If you’re looking to get someone into treatment or seeking more information contact (855) 976-2092.

 

Sources

American Society of Addiction Medicine. (2016). Opioid Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures. Retrieved From: https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf

Clinical Guidelines for Withdrawal Management and Treatment of Drug Dependence in Closed Settings. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009. 6, Methadone maintenance treatment. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310658/

Parvaresh, N., Masoudi, A., Majidi-Tabrizi, S., & Mazhari, S. (2012). The Correlation between Methadone Dosage and Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Patients on Methadone Maintenance Treatment. Addiction & health, 4(1-2), 1-8. Retrieved From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3905553/

signs of being high on drugs

7 Unique Ways On How To Tell if Someone Is High On Opiates

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Opiates are extremely addictive drugs that can cause restlessness, muscle pain, mood problems, insomnia, and even death if overused.

Nearly 12 million people in the US use opiates for non-medical reasons. Among them, 2.1 million are opiates addicts.

Are you wondering how to tell if someone is high on opiates?

Most people think that one cannot be able to tell when someone is high on opiates. But that’s not true. There are unique signs that someone is using opiates. Read on to discover the warning signs.

How to Tell If Someone Is High on Opiates

It’s quite hard to know if a close friend or a family member is abusing opiates. Here are a few unique ways to tell if a person is addicted to opiates.

1. Looking at a Person’s Appearance

It’s important to learn how to tell if someone is on drugs by looking at them.

If someone is high on opiates, they’ll appear tired or sleepy. They’ll also have constricted pupils. Despite being sleepy, the person will still want to continue with a conversation and will speak in a slurred voice.

Their eyes may be red and glazed. The opiates addict may also appear confused and forgetful.

A person who’s high on opiates will also have less control of their body. For this reason, if a loved one demonstrates poor balance or clumsiness, this could be a sign that they are opiate addicts.

You should also note that nosebleeds can occur when opiates are sniffed or snorted.

Therefore, if a person nosebleeds a lot or has rashes around the nose and mouth, this may be a sign that they abuse opiates.

You should also learn about opiate detox and take the necessary measures to help the addict.

2. Unusual Smells

If a person is abusing opiates, their skin, clothing, or breath may have an unusual smell.

The unusual smell is as a result of chemical interaction between the compounds found in opiates and the person’s body. If a person smokes the drug, this can also cause the foul smell.

You should note that the person abusing opiates is unlikely to notice the unusual smell.

3. Sudden Weight Loss and Changes in Sleep Patterns

Sudden weight loss or changes in sleep patterns are also signs of opiate use in adults.

Most opiate addicts also have reduced appetite. If someone has abrupt changes in their appetite, this could be a sign that they’re battling opiate addition.

It’s also important to look at their weight. Sudden weight loss is a symptom of opiate addiction.

If a person goes for days without sleeping or sleeps for long periods of time, this is a symptom of opiate addiction.

4. Injuries

When looking for signs of opiate use, ensure you look for excessive injuries. As we mentioned, opiate addicts have less control of their body. This may cause injuries.

If you notice mild cuts, bruises, or any other unexplained injury, this could be an indication that the person is an opiate addict.

The person may not remember how they got the injuries or may become defensive when you ask about the injuries.

5. Involuntary Movements

An opiate addict may have difficulty forming words and controlling movements. As a result, you may notice involuntary movements such as tremors.

The person may also have difficulty holding things such as pens and cups.

6. Poor Personal Hygiene

Opiates make addicts forgetful. This may cause an opiate addict to forget their personal hygiene needs such as grooming hair, changing into clean clothes, and taking showers.

The person may also spend lots of hours doing other cleaning activities, despite the lack of personal hygiene.

7. If a Person Can’t Explain How They Use Their Money

Opiates addicts spend almost all their money on the drugs. If a person can’t explain how they spend their money, they may be spending it on opiates.

Someone who is addicted to opiates may also steal to satisfy their craving. If you find yourself missing items of high value, this could be a sign that you are living with a person who is addicted to drugs.

Here are more signs of opiate use:

  • Change in a person’s social circle,
  • Increased level of secrecy,
  • Early refills

If you have a loved one or a friend whose opiate addiction is obvious, you should do something to help.

How Can You Help?

Well, we’ve come up with steps that you should follow. But before we give you the steps, ensure you take some time and study a few things about opiates so you can know how to help the addict.

This will help make the fight against opiates addition easy and successful.

Step 1: Ask Them If They’re Addicted to Opiates

If you notice obvious signs of opiates use, ask the person if they’re addicted to opiates or not. Be respectful and use kind words that will not offend the person.

Don’t call the person a junkie!

The word ‘junkie’ is incredibly disrespectful and insensitive. If you’re respectful and you express your willingness to help, they’ll tell you if they are addicted or not.

If the person admits that they abuse opiates, move to the next step.

Step 2: Ask Them What They Are Doing to Fight Addiction

Before you give your opinion, ask them what they’re doing to fight addiction. This will show that you care and you trust them.

You should, however, avoid being too nice. This might not help; it’ll make the situation worse. Use the “tough love” approach. This will show them that you love them but don’t like their addiction.

After they’ve told you what they’re doing to fight their addiction, move to the next step.

Step 3: Tell Them How You Can Help Them

Tell the person you’re ready to help and explain how you can help them. You should also keep reminding them that they’re not alone and you’re there to help.

This will help them open up and trust you more.

Step 4: Seek Support from Professionals

Seek support from a qualified expert. It can be a therapist or support groups.

Qualified professionals will guide the person and will help them recover from addiction. Once you seek professional help, ensure everything you do encourages change in the opiates addict.

Tip: If you want to help an opiates addict don’t engage in negative enabling. What is negative enabling? This is a term that refers to the act of giving a person addicted to opiates resources to maintain their lifestyle and addiction.

Bottom-Line

Opiate addiction results in serious health issues. Thankfully, you can tell if a loved one is abusing opiates. Make sure you learn how to tell if someone is high on opiates.

If a family member or a friend is addicted to opiates, ensure you follow the steps we’ve discussed to help them.

Remember to visit our website for informative articles about the benefits and risks of various drugs.

 

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/legislative-activities/testimony-to-congress/2016/americas-addiction-to-opioids-heroin-prescription-drug-abuse

What is an Opiate Detox Timeline? | Methadone Near Me. (2018, March 23). Retrieved from https://methadonenearme.com/methadone-maintenance/what-is-an-opiate-detox-timeline

Morley JE , et al. (n.d.). Opioid modulation of appetite. – PubMed – NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6136016

warning signs of addiction

8 Tell-Tale Signs You’re Addicted to Opiates

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Think you or a loved one might have an opiate addiction? Well, what are the signs you are addicted?

In the United States alone, more than 115 people per day die from opiate-related overdose.

You may be familiar with the most well-known opiate, heroin. But over the last thirty years, the availability of prescription pills like Vicodin and Oxycontin have caused the opiate epidemic to become a serious, country-wide crisis.

Because opiates like narcotic painkillers come in many forms, it’s not always obvious when someone is suffering from an addiction.

But there are some tell-tale symptoms that will signal a problem. We’ve broken down a guide below to help you look for signs that you’re addicted to opiates.

Taking Higher Doses Than Prescribed

If you or someone you love is addicted to opiates, it’s very likely they will have to increase the amount they’re taking in order to maintain the same effect on the body they once experienced when first taking the drug.

Over time, the body will build up a tolerance to the drug and a higher dosage will be required. Many times this is how an overdose occurs. Pay attention to how many pills you or someone you know are consuming.

If you see yourself requiring more mediation than your prescription accounts for in order to maintain a baseline high, you may be dealing with an addiction. Needing more means that your body is also likely not experiencing any downtime, off the drug to reset.

The more frequently you take the drugs, the faster your tolerance builds up. So, along with taking a higher dose than you’re prescribed, you’ll also notice you are going through your prescription faster than you likely had in the past when you first started and should evaluate your relationship with the drug.

Seeking Multiple Prescriptions

Another one of the primary signs you’re addicted to opiates is getting your prescriptions from more than one physician.

No reputable doctor will over-prescribe a narcotic and there are steps and protocol he or she must follow in order to determine if you should, in fact, continue on the prescription.

For many suffering from addiction, the amount of medication one doctor is willing to prescribe simply won’t suffice. If you find yourself or someone you love seeking the same prescription from different doctors, this is a signal of overuse and possible addiction.

It is likely the separate doctors are not communicating with one another and sharing your information. Furthermore, you are likely not indicating to the second doctor that you already have access to this prescription. Lying to a doctor in order to receive more drugs is a very strong sign of dependency on that drug.

Mood Swings

Another sign of opiate abuse is mood swings. If you are experiencing big amounts of energy, manic happiness, and overexcitement and then find yourself falling hard into a depression, sadness or despondency, this is a sign of drug abuse.

Opiates signal to our brain a feeling euphoria and with that comes a calmness and a decrease in anxiety. In other words, opiates directly affect your mood.

Because of their powerful effect on our brain chemistry, someone who is addicted to opiates will experience a strong opposite reaction when they are coming off the drug or in need of their next fix. Someone who is addicted to opiates could be in a positive, calm, centered place one minute, and the next, experience extreme agitation, anxiety or overwhelming sadness.

Be sure to watch for these extreme mood shifts from either yourself or someone else in your life you might be concerned about.

Changes in Energy Level

Similarly to the mood swings, you may notice drastic changes in energy level when dealing with an opiate addiction. Someone who is high on an opiate, whether it be a pill or heroin, will experience drowsiness, calmness and overall inability to focus and be attentive.

There is a common term referred to when speaking about opiate abuse symptoms called “nodding out”. This is when the user will appear to have fallen asleep, usually while seated and even in the middle of a conversation with another person or when they just seemed relatively alert a moment before.

Poor Judgment

With drug abuse comes poor decision making. The brain is not operating on all cylinders and judgment has been compromised.

Along with the chemical effects on the brain, an addict is focused on one thing; the high. This becomes the central focus and main priority, causing other important things in life to take a backseat or be ignored completely.

Bad judgment could be anything from falling behind at work to getting into a toxic relationship or finding yourself in financial trouble due to your addiction.

Many times with addiction comes increased lying or omissions on the part of the abuser. This is typically done to protect themselves and maintain their habit by any means necessary, oftentimes resulting in bad decision making.

Changes in Sleep Habits

Because opiates are a sedative, there will likely be a drastic change in sleeping behavior when someone is abusing the drug.

A sign of opiate abuse is the inability to sleep without the help of the drugs and when the drug is taken, longer stretches of sleep and sometimes at strange times.

Someone who is suffering from addiction might take a pill in the middle of the day and find themselves asleep in the afternoon or appear to be more tired than they should.

Inversely, you may notice that someone who is addicted to opiates is not able to sleep at all without them and relies on them for even a normal nights rest.

Track Marks

Opiate addiction can be elusive, especially for those abusing the narcotic in pill form. However, for those who are abusing heroin, the signs are a little more obvious.

Someone who is injecting heroin on a regular basis will begin to show physical signs, called track marks, on their body. Watch for these marks on their inner arm, where a doctor would commonly take blood from.

But be aware that all the user needs is a good vein and therefore track marks could exist in other parts of the body. Some users inject heroin into their big toe which is a much more discrete area and harder to notice.

Having the knowledge that these marks could exist anywhere will help you spot the signs.

Symptoms of Withdrawal

Someone who is seriously addicted to opiates will certainly experience withdrawal symptoms when that drug is no longer available to them, even if it’s for a short time.

An addict needs to maintain a high in order for ways to avoid withdrawal symptoms. As soon as the high begins to dissipate, a withdrawal symptom will be noticeable. The most common things to look for are a change in body temperature, sweating, nausea, irritability or even vomiting.

If these symptoms come on and they are quickly quelled as soon as the pill is taken, this is a huge sign that your body can no longer function without the drug and you are dealing with an addiction.

Signs You’re Addicted to Opiates; What’s Next?

With the guide above, you now know the signals that you’re addicted to opiates. The good news is, there’s always a way out and discovering there’s a problem is the first step in solving it.

Check out tips about detoxing off opiates, read up on how to get opiate recovery and as always, consult with a doctor if a serious addiction does exist.

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019, January 22). Opioid Overdose Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

Opioid Drugs: Dosage, Side Effects, and More. (2012, July 19). Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/narcotic-pain-medications#1

support for families of addicts

10 Supportive Tips for Family and Friends of an Opiate Addict

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Every year, there are more than 2 million Americans who deal with opiate addiction. So if you have a friend or family member who is an addict, you should know that you definitely are not alone.

Despite this, it can be a real challenge for those who know an opiate addict to provide them with the help they need. Some addicts don’t recognize they have a problem, while others are simply unwilling to accept help from those who love them most.

Don’t let this discourage you from providing assistance to an addict. Here are some supportive tips that will help you do it.

1. Learn as Much About Opiate Addiction as You Can

Unless you’re a former opiate addict yourself, there’s a good chance that you don’t have any idea what your loved one is going through. This can make it hard, if not impossible, for you to communicate with them.

You should do your best to learn as much about opiate addiction as you possibly can. You can do it by:

  • Reading books on addiction
  • Finding articles about addiction online
  • Reaching out to an addiction center to get brochures
  • Speaking with an addiction counselor

While you still won’t ever be able to 100 percent relate to an opiate addict, you’ll increase your chances of connecting when you educate yourself about addiction.

2. Let Your Loved One Know You’re There for Them

After you know all there is to know about addiction, you should try to speak with the opiate addict in your life about what they’re going through.

If they haven’t revealed their addiction to anyone yet, you might want to start out by speaking generally and asking if there’s anything they’re struggling with at the moment. If they’ve been upfront about their addiction, you might want to get more specific and see how they’re feeling about their problem.

Above all else, you should let them know that you want to provide them with as much support as you can. Whether they simply want someone to talk to or need help finding an opiate rehab center, you should then follow through and provide them with the help they need.

3. Offer to Assist With Finding Professional Help

One of the things that’s tough for an addict is that they often want help but don’t know where to turn to get it.

If your loved one asks you to find professional help for their problem, you should research different rehab centers in your area and find one that will work for them. You should keep everything from cost to the experience level of those at the centers in mind to come up with a list of their best options.

4. Understand If Your Initial Attempts at Helping Are Rejected

You may want to help an opiate addict, but that doesn’t mean that they want help from you.

If they tell you to back off or ask for you to butt out of their lives, you should respect their wishes and understand where they’re coming from.

At the same time, you should let them know again that you’re there for them if they ever need help.

5. Avoid Becoming an Enabler

Those who know an opiate addict often try to “help” them by enabling them. They do this by:

  • Lending them money
  • Making excuses for them when they continue to use opiates
  • Bailing them out of jail when they run into legal problems

It’s very easy to get sucked into being an enabler. Avoid doing it at all costs since it could just make an already bad problem even worse.

6. Consider Holding an Intervention

Does it feel like the addict in your life just isn’t “getting it” as far as realizing they have a problem?

One way to open their eyes might be to stage an intervention. While you want to be careful about how you go about doing it, you can bring a person’s friends and family together to let them know exactly how their addiction is taking a toll on others.

Often times, someone battling addiction will make a stronger commitment to quitting drugs and get the help they need once they see how their actions are affecting others.

7. Practice Patience and Manage Your Expectations

A person isn’t going to beat an opiate addiction overnight. There are some people who struggle with addiction for months and even years.

Even if a person says they’re willing to get help, you should be patient and manage whatever expectations you might have for them. Don’t expect them to beat their addiction right away.

8. Continue to Let Your Loved One Know You’re There for Them

A lot of opiate addicts will try to beat their addiction only to fail. If this happens to your loved one, it’s important for you to not give up on them.

People often give up on themselves and that makes it even harder for them to bounce back from addiction. They don’t think it’s worth them even trying to beat addiction at that point.

Continue to talk to your loved one and let them know that you’re there for them, even if they aren’t able to beat addiction right away. They’ll appreciate knowing they have someplace to turn.

9. Get the Help You Need to Deal With Addiction

Addiction can obviously wreak havoc on an opiate addict’s life. But it can also wreak havoc on your life if you don’t get any help for yourself.

You should consider scheduling time with a counselor or therapist if you’re not seeing one already. There are also special classes set up for the families of addicts.

You might not realize it, but your physical and mental well-being could take a hit while you’re helping someone else deal with addiction. If you want to be as strong as you can for them, you should take care of yourself first.

10. Prepare Yourself for Relapse

About 40 to 60 people who receive treatment for opiates experience addiction relapses at some point in their lives. It’s not all that unusual for someone to go through the whole rehab process and then find themselves using drugs again.

While you want to hope for the best, you also want to prepare yourself for the worst. Recognize that your loved one may relapse and that it doesn’t mean you should turn your back on them.

If anything, you should start back at square one as quickly as possible before they find themselves getting back to their old ways again.

Start Helping the Opiate Addict in Your Life Today

Are you an opiate addict suffering from the side effects of addiction, or do you know someone who is addicted to opiates at the moment? You can get them the help they need and allow them to turn their lives around forever.

Learn more about recovery from opiates and find out how to combat one of the biggest problems in the country today, contact (855) 976-2092.

Sources

[1] American Society of Addiction Medicine. (2015, October 13). Opioid Addiction – 2016 Facts & Figures. Retrieved from https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf

[2] Intervention: Help a loved one overcome addiction. (2017, July 20). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/intervention/art-20047451
[3] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Treatment and Recovery. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery
recovery after withdrawal

Complete Guide to Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms and Recovery Timeline

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Statistics on opiate overdose in the U.S. shows that over 115 people die every day.

Opiate abuse harms millions of other individuals around the world. Many opiate addicts develop their dependencies from drug prescriptions used to treat viable medical conditions.

Many have suggested that we are entering the age of the opiate crisis and for good reason.

It may be possible to prevent opiate addiction, but dealing with opiate withdrawal symptoms from dependency is a different story. In fact, the severity of opiate withdrawal symptoms is such that they often perpetuate rather than stop an addiction.

In this post, we look closely at opiate withdrawal symptoms and the recovery timeline. Being informed is the first step to helping you or a loved one recover from addiction.

Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms

Opiates refer to drugs classified as having a high potential for abuse or dependence, often leading to severe physical and psychological impact.

Unfortunately, many doctors prescribe opiates for pain treatment and surgery recovery. Some patients taking these opiates develop a dependency immediately and struggle to release this following completion of their prescriptions.

Because opiates are highly addictive, many users develop dependencies in a short amount of time. Addiction surfaces when an individual regularly uses an addictive substance and gradually develops a certain tolerance to dosages.

As tolerance builds, a user must ingest larger amounts of the drug in order to experience its effects.

As your body gets used to these frequent and large dosages, it is more likely to develop withdrawal symptoms when not under the drug’s influence. These symptoms are the body’s response to its dependency.

Symptoms will vary from person to person, and their severity depends on the nature of the addiction, the addict’s gender and weight, and tolerance levels.

The one symptom that is nearly universal in withdrawal experiences is a craving for more opiates. The power of this craving is what many believe to be the linchpin in the cycle of addiction.

6-12 Hours After the Last Dosage

Opiate withdrawal symptoms are likely to appear as early as six hours after an individual takes a dose. People struggling with more severe addictions will experience symptoms sooner rather than later.

However, it is possible to experience these symptoms up to 30 hours after the last dosage.

At this stage of withdrawal, addicts are likely to experience sleep issues, fatigue, and/or insomnia; agitation, including anxiety, hypertension, and a racing heart; or sweating, fever, and/or body aches. Most addicts will have powerful cravings for more opiates.

72 Hours After the Last Dosage

If an individual still has not given into opiate cravings, further withdrawal symptoms are likely to occur 72 hours after the last dosage. These can last as long as a week.

Symptoms can include any of the above as well as nausea, vomiting, depression, abdominal issues, and fever. Body aches are also likely to intensify, and almost all addicts experience longings for further hits.

This stage of the recovery process can be particularly debilitating and even life-threatening. Excessive vomiting can lead to dehydration, choking, and vitamin depletion. Fevers can also invite in other infections and illnesses.

The Opiate Recovery Timeline

Recovering from an opiate addiction is no easy task. Many addicts actively avoid recovery because it often involves dealing with these painful and life-threatening withdrawal symptoms.

While every addict’s recovery process is different, the timeline below gives a good approximation of the withdrawal timeline.

1. The Decision to Recover

The first stage of the recovery timeline lies in an individual’s active choice to recover from an addiction. At this point in the game, an addict may or may not be experiencing active withdrawal symptoms.

Choosing an addiction-free life is no easy task. This is particularly the case if a loved one is struggling with an addiction yet resists the idea of recovery or help from family and friends.

Sometimes a medical emergency induces this decision. In some cases, if an addict has gone to the hospital for severe withdrawal symptoms, a medical detox will occur by necessity.

If you or a loved one is ready to make the decision to recover, we can help. Learn about more information about methadone and how its changing lives.

2. Medical Detox and Intervention

A medical detox often comes right after a decision to recover, particularly if an addict is in the throes of painful withdrawal.

When detoxing, an addict physically releases opiate dependency. Most addicts struggle to detox “cold turkey.”

The best detoxes, therefore, involve medical supervision and/or a medication like methadone. Supervision and medication can ensure a safe and painless release.

Keep the withdrawal timeline in mind as you undergo a detox or intervention. Because withdrawal symptoms often peak 72 hours after the last dosage–and can last for a week–detoxes will require at least 7-10 days.

However, complete opiate recovery is not likely to occur in 2 weeks. Physically recovering from an addiction is only part of the process.

What’s more, physical detox may take longer for individuals with chronic or high-functioning dependency.

3. Further Rehabilitation Work

Further rehabilitation work involving medication, therapy, and/or rehab treatment should be part of the opiate recovery process.

This is because many psychological factors often influence addictions.

It will also take your body a while to get used to life without addiction. This is particularly true for opiate addicts, whose nervous systems are in a constant state of suppression when under the influence.

Recovering addicts may, therefore, have to address other health needs. These may include balanced nutrition, healthy exercise, and treatment for system damage.

Medical professionals are also best equipped to administer appropriate medication and treatment for healthy–and complete–recovery.

Learning More About Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms

Understanding the cycle of opiate withdrawal symptoms is key to comprehending opiate addiction itself. While these symptoms can be life-threatening and the very reason why an addiction continues, they can be managed.

Every individual addicted to opiates will likely withdraw in a different way.

However, most people withdrawing from opiate dependency require a minimum of a few weeks to do so. Effective opiate recovery should also include a therapy or rehabilitation program.

Are you or a loved one struggling with opiate addiction?

It’s possible to effectively manage withdrawal symptoms and healthy recovery with methadone.

Want to learn more?

If so, check out our methadone treatment blog posts today or call us at (855) 976-2092 for more resources to help you make an informed decision about how to navigate the recovery process.

Sources

[1] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019, January 22). Opioid Overdose Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

[2] Controlled Substance Schedules. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/

 

learn about the opioid epidemic

Everything You Need to Know About the Opioid Epidemic

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The death toll from drugs is rising faster than ever. Recently, the President of the United States of America has declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency.

Every day, more than 115 people die in the U.S. after an opioid overdose. This is a serious national crisis.

You might be wondering how we got here, what is going on now, and how we can get better.

Here’s what you need to know about our current opioid epidemic.

What Is an Opioid?

An opioid is something that acts on the opioid receptors in the nervous system. The opioid receptors regulate pain and the reward system in the brain.

Opioids are powerful painkillers and are debilitatingly addictive, but why are opioids addictive?

The first drug like this was called opium.

It’s an addictive narcotic found in a certain kind of poppy and has been used for thousands of years.

People created a whole list of other drugs with properties similar. Morphine was first, followed by heroin. Now, we create prescription painkillers like Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin.

These medications are known as opiates.

There are also a handful of things that act like opiates but aren’t made from the plant. They’re considered synthetics.

Together, opiates and their synthetic counterparts like methadone and fentanyl, create a category called opioids.

How Did We Get Here?

In the tail end of the 1990s, we were reassured over and over again that patients wouldn’t become addicted to prescription opioid pain relievers. Pharmaceutical companies told us repeatedly that this wouldn’t be an issue.

This caused healthcare providers to prescribe them at an increased rate. Afterward, we saw a widespread misuse of these medications.

It took a while before it came clear to us that these medications were highly addictive. The rates of overdose started to increase.

Fast forward to 2015 over 33,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose from prescription opioids, heroin, and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid.

Today, nearly 2 million people suffer from substance abuse and addiction.

How Bad Is It?

The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug issue in American history. This is currently the leading cause of death for people under the age of fifty, and that number is rising faster than ever.

Overdoses killed more people in the last year than guns or car accidents. They’re also set to overtake the H.I.V. epidemic in its peak.

There’s an emphasis on overdose here, but only because it’s more visible than addiction and abuse is.

More than 97 million people took prescription painkillers in 2015 and only 12 million of those were told to do so by a doctor.

Prescription Painkillers vs. Heroin

Both prescription painkillers and heroin play a part in our current opioid epidemic.

It has its roots in the overprescription of opioid painkillers, but prescription opioid deaths have leveled off since 2011.

However, heroin and fentanyl deaths are on the rise and moving fast.

In Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, the drug crisis is particularly severe. Gentalyn is involved in over half of all the overdose fatalities that take place there.

Where Is the Problem the Worst?

There’s a lot of variation in the rate of drug deaths. The highest rates are in cluster throughout places like Appalachia, the Rust Belt, and in New England.

The reasons for these differences aren’t exactly easy to find. In some places, the ways people use drugs are dangerous. Taking heroin via injection is more dangerous than smoking it.

But it’s clear that wherever fentanyl is present, the death toll goes way up.

Fentanyl is a highly potent opioid. They look like prescription painkillers and they can hurt both heroin users and pill users alike.

Why Is it Getting Worse?

This addiction goes back centuries, but the current crisis started in the 80s.

Influential journals told doctors to relax when it came to prescribing opioids for chronic pain. The pharmaceutical industry noticed, and soon started to market OxyContin aggressively and fraudulently.

Combining this with a focus on satisfying a patient and eliminating pain, is increasing the way doctors give out prescription narcotics.

Over the next decade, more people became addicted to drugs. Many people started with pills for legitimate pain and devolved into a heroin addiction. Heroin became less expensive.

In 2014, fentanyl came into play in large amounts and changed everything.

What Is Fentanyl?

Synthetic opioids like Fentanyl are not derived from the plant. It’s used for surgical anesthesia and prescribed for pain, but most of the fentanyl you find on the streets is illicitly manufactured.

Fentanyl is easy to mix with other drugs, which is how most people experience exposure to it. It can look like powdered heroin or used to make fake pills.

IT’s very potent, so its supply is small and hard to stop or control.

Why Do People Use Fentanyl?

Fentanyl is easy to get and more profitable to sell. Because of this, dealers want to sell it.

Most people who face exposure to fentanyl do not do so purposely. It’s hard to know what’s in the drugs that they are buying.

Can We Stop Prescribing Opioids?

Absolutely not. Opioids are a vital part of modern medicine. They have drastically improved the quality of life for people, especially cancer patients and those with acute pain.

Because of the opioid epidemic, people who need this medication are finding it more difficult to fill their prescriptions. The medications are under heavy control.

What Can We Do?

There is no one thing that can stop this epidemic. It will take many solutions combined.

Trying to figure out what to do takes an examination of our priorities. What will be the most effective and efficient? How should we use our resources?

Officials want to use drug monitoring programs to lower the supply of prescription pain meds that people are using recreationally. Experts say we need to change the way the medical world deals with pain.

It’s important to stress how important having access to treatment for those addicted is. That means we need to go to where people are and help them, not wait for them to help themselves.

Addiction treatment doesn’t mean counseling or clinics. The most effective treatment for opioid addiction requires medications like methadone or buprenorphine.

While we wait for this issue to change, we need a widespread distribution of naloxone. Naloxone is an overdose antidote and it can save lives in serious situations.

Stopping the Opioid Epidemic

There just isn’t enough agreement on how we can change things to help.

The US now considers the opioid epidemic a national emergency. This could help ease the current crisis we are in.

In the meantime, if you or a loved one are suffering from opioid addiction, know that you are not alone. If you need resources or information on methadone, please visit our site or contact us today by calling (855) 976-2092.

Sources

[1] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). Introduction. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/relationship-between-prescription-drug-abuse-heroin-use/introduction

[2] Lopez, G. (2018, May 4). Why America’s cocaine problem is now a fentanyl problem too. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/4/17307296/cocaine-opioid-crisis-fentanyl-overdose

 

 

methadone maintenance treatment

What to Know About Methadone Maintenance Treatment

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After failing so many times, you may feel like getting clean is impossible. You are losing hope of leading a normal life ever again.

Maybe you just haven’t pursued the right course of treatment.

Even the professionals say that addiction is a treatable disease. Certain treatments have proven better at helping addicts get clean. Programs that have been shown to work with real-life addicts are called evidence-based.

Twelve-step programs, like NA and AA, are evidence-based treatments that have worked for many recovering addicts. Methadone programs are also considered effective. Many addicts have found success with methadone maintenance programs.

For opiate addicts, a methadone clinic can provide immediate relief from withdrawal symptoms. You can also enter into ongoing maintenance so you can get and stay clean.

Read on to find out how methadone maintenance treatment can help you.

What is Methadone Maintenance Treatment?

When you decide to quit opiates, you have several options.

Of course, everyone knows going cold turkey rarely works. If you decide to seek out methadone, you can choose a rapid detox where you stop completely after 21 or 180 days. You can also enter into methadone maintenance treatment which will go on indefinitely.

Up to 80% of opiate addicts who discontinue methadone treatment, end up relapsing, so authorities have become much more willing to allow people to stay on maintenance as long as they:

  1. Continue to benefit from treatment.
  2. Wish to remain on maintenance.
  3. Are at risk of relapsing on opiates.
  4. Suffer from no significant side effects.
  5. Stay in treatment as long as a clinician deems it is needed.

By law, methadone can only be distributed through an opioid treatment program, under the supervision of a physician.

Why Methadone?

Methadone is a long-lasting agonist opioid that is prescribed for those who are suffering from addiction to opiates.

Methadone alleviates the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, blocking the pain associated with coming off of other opiates. It does not have a rapid onset like other opioids, and is longer-acting, lasting 24-36 hours.

Heroin only lasts 3-6 hours and must be taken several times and day. Methadone is only needed once. What this means is that rather than having to constantly chase a high, you take a single dose of methadone and enjoy a pretty steady mood all day long. This way you avoid the ups and downs associated with the active use of drugs.

The longer you take methadone, the less likely you are to relapse. Those who take it develop a tolerance that can block the effect of other Opioids.

For example, if you have been taking methadone for a while, you are building a tolerance. This extends to other opioids as well, so you will not get as intense an effect from your usual heroin dose because of the tolerance you have to methadone. This is called “class-tolerance.”

Methadone is a treatment, not a cure, which is why maintenance treatment may be a better choice than detox for many. If you are planning a rapid detox using methadone, consider inpatient treatment so you can get the proper support you need anytime.

How Does Methadone Maintenance Treatment Work?

Methadone maintenance treatment involves the long-term prescription of methadone as an alternative to the opioid which the person was dependant.

It has been used since the 1950s to ease withdrawal symptoms and help people recover from addiction to heroin, prescription pills, and other opiates. It has been proven to be an effective way to recover from Opioid addiction.

Methadone comes in liquid, pill or wafer form and must be administered under the supervision of a medical doctor. The patient can choose between a short-term detox with methadone or go for a longer withdrawal.

Evidence-based practice shows that methadone treatment can and has worked for many addicts. The longer a client gets methadone, the less likely they are to relapse on heroin or other opiates.

Methadone Maintenance therapy is not enough on its own, however, behavioral therapy and counseling are also absolutely necessary if you expect to get well.

When you enter into a methadone maintenance program, it is best to commit for at least a year. You want to give yourself the best possible chance of long-term recovery.

Benefits of Methadone Maintenance Treatment

  • Doesn’t get you high.
  • Reduces the euphoric effect of other opiates, like heroin and morphine.
  • Reduces the number of suicides and overdoses.
  • Lessens criminal activity, including work in the sex trade.
  • Reduces HIV rates.
  • Reduces needle sharing.
  • Improves social relationships and productivity.

Drug Addiction and Mental Illness

It is important to keep in mind that drug and alcohol abuse are considered mental illnesses unto themselves. They also occur many times simultaneously with another mental illness.

Substance use changes your desires. It also motivates you to do things you normally wouldn’t, like share needles and engage in unhealthy sexual or criminal acts. It interferes with your ability to do normal activities, like attend school or work or enjoy healthy relationships.

In 2014, 20.2 million adults in the United States had Substance Use Disorder (SUD). 7.9 million of those had both SUD and another mental illness, such as depression, panic attacks, general anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or PTSD.

The medical profession calls this phenomenon “Co-morbidity.” Co-morbidity makes treatment of addiction more difficult because doctors are dealing with symptoms of more than one illness.

When you are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction, you are working with a brain that has been physically altered. It takes a long time for things to go back to normal.

In the meantime, it is very likely that you will suffer from lack of impulse control, anxiety or depression. You will find it much easier to succeed at beating your drug addiction when you get treatment for any other mental illness you may be suffering from.

All Things Considered

Methadone maintenance treatment is an effective way to treat opioid dependence. Using it, many addicts are able to finally get and stay better.

The only way to change and undo addictive behaviors is to explore them and process the emotions around them. Behavioral therapy is an important component in treating opioid addiction. A trained counselor can help you identify triggers, unpack unhealthy thinking, and gain control of your life again.

Visit us for more resources to help you with your recovery.

 

Sources

[1] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019). Treatment and Recovery. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery

[2] NIMH » Substance Use and Mental Health. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health/index.shtml

[3] National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2019). National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/common-physical-mental-health-comorbidities-substance-use-disorders/part-1-connection-between-substance-use-disorders-mental-illness