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Drug Addiction : Finding Help For Loved Ones

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Finding Help For Drug Addiction

Drug Addiction

Drug Addiction

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Getting help for a person you know with a drug addiction is a rough process. It is challenging to confront your family member and talk about the difficulty they are going through. Some may anticipate losing the relationship while others fear the friend will take even more drugs of abuse. There are two parts to this course. The first piece is getting together with the loved one and having a talk with them. The next part is finding the relief that is acceptable for them.

While you are getting prepared to talk with your loved one about their drug habit, make certain you are in a secluded situation. Try to talk to them when either of you are not under a lot of stress. Arrange something happy to do on the weekend with the friend. Try to start by expressing to them you care for them and that you are fearful at things that are going on in their life. Make clear the problems that you have witnessed happening with them and that you anticipate they want to get relief. You want to see how motivated the loved one is to get help.

Some people with a drug addiction may react well to being petitioned to get help by a person who has their best interest in mind. They may just required a little help with making the decision to look for treatment. Most probably, your friend will not be wanting to seek treatment. The process of determining to get help with a drug addiction can last many months or even years. Just reminding the family member at intervals the problems you see is the most constructive deed you can achieve. If you are seeing the family member doing things that place them or others in danger, you can go to any close drug treatment center. They will help in deciding whether there needs to be mandatory steps taken an if the friend needs immediate treatment against their will.

Forcing drug treatment on loved one is only to separate them from harm’s way. Although some persons do take steps with compelled treatment, plenty don’t. When they are let go, they may be disinclined to get any more help from others. Addiction treatment is a long process. A brief stay in an hospital will only get them on the way of recovery, but they are going to need ongoing help for many months or years. Securing them aid requires a lot of fortitude.

Acquiring Aid with Painkiller Drug Addiction

The treatment for drug addiction has gotten better over the preceding twenty years. There are several new medication treatments that may be beneficial. None of them is a panacea, and each has it’s problems, but countless numbers people have been aided.

Addiction to legal medications is a problem that is becoming confirmed as a major problem. May clients have been introduced on pain pills for a specialized problem such as back pain. We are not sure why, but a chunk of these persons will at the end of the day display addiction to the medication. In days gone by, drug addiction to opioids meant injecting drugs. This is no longer the fact. There are millions of people addicted to physician prescribed pain pills.

Some persons can stop their drug addiction to opioids by securing encouragement from their Family Doctor with getting removed from the opioid. Becoming clean from the painkillers works for almost all persons. Medications can be given by your doctor to assist lessening of the withdrawals from a cutback in the opioid medication. Others need longer treatment. They are rotated to a new drug such as methadone, and slowly reduced from the medication over a period of months or years.

Some clients are unable to get off the drug without backsliding to their old opioids , so they are kept on the methadone for as long as required. This is called maintenance treatment. There is an alternate method, Suboxone treatment, which is a newer medication that does the same thing. It is also safer than using methadone.

There is an additional choice for prescription drug addiction when sobriety is a problem. This is the treatment of an narcotic antagonist such as Vivitrol. This medication blocks any opioid drug in the brain so the person will not sense extreme happiness. This type of medication is now ready for use in a longer acting set preparation. It mainly helps coax an individual to not act on an impulse to use drugs because it won’t let them get high.

Summary of Getting Drug Addiction Help

Helping a family member with a drug addiction requires calmness and caring. Reminding the person you care for of the unmanageables in their life coming from from drugs,  that you care for them, and that you will help them seek help is the best way to help them. Many individuals take years to decide to accept drug treament. For some, forced treatment makes them face getting help. There are newer medications available for opioid drug addiction. Reviewing these medications with a doctor can help determine which is the most fitting for you or the person you are trying to help who has a drug addiction.

Drug Addiction Resources

If you are looking for more information on Suboxone, find a suboxone doctor and read artices on suboxone
Find oxycontin addiction treatment and information.

National Institute On Drug Abuse

What is Methadone Treatment ? Facts On This Opioid Addiction Treatment

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Methadone Treatment Basic Facts

Information on the website of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) features the following information about methadone treatment for people who are having problems with opiate addiction:

  • Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) began in the 1960’s. Medication along with vocational and social counseling is part of methadone treatment
  • Untreated Opioid Addiction costs 20 Billion dollars per year

    Methadone Treatment and Methadone Maintenance

    Methadone Treatment and Methadone Maintenance

  • Up to 10,000 people die per year from IV drug use
  • Methadone Treatment stops opioid cravings
  • Methadone Treatment stops opioid withdrawal
  • Methadone is taken once per day
  • 70-80% of Methadone Patients have Hepatitis B
  • Methadone Maintenance Treatment is very effective
  • Methadone Treatment is available in most cities

Problems with opioids have gone back hundred’s of years. Some treatment approaches need a very high level of motivation (abstinence, therapeutic communities, step programs) and are not helpful for many. Methadone treatment can help on it’s own, or help those where other addiction treatment has not helped. So what’s in it for you?

The Benefits of Methadone Treatment:

  • Patients stop or reduce injecting drugs
  • Reduction of the use of opioid drugs
  • Decrease of transmission of blood borne illnesses
  • Patients have healthier babies
  • Patients have more stable employment and a more stable family
  • 30% reduction in early death
  • Less criminal activity

Methadone Treatment : How Safe is It?

Using an opioid that is prescribed and monitored by a physician for the treatment of opioid addiction has been used in the United States since the 1800’s.  In fact, around 1914 several thousand doctors went to prison for prescribing opioids to their addicted patients after the Harrison Act. It prohibited this type of drug treatment. Only until recently, have patients been getting steered by society toward treatment. Between 1914 and around 1970, addiction was basically criminalized and many simply ended up in jail.

Methadone treatment has been studied since the 1960’s.  The White House Drug Policy Fact Sheet on Methadone states the following “When methadone is taken under medical supervision, longterm maintenance causes no adverse effects to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, bones, blood, brain, or other vital body organs.”  When taken appropriately, methadone doesn’t have serious side effects.  The are some side effects of methadone (and a related medication suboxone).

When taken as directed, methadone will not cause a problem with your employment.  You will not suffer from a change in your intelligence from methadone treatment. You should be able to drive without problems with being sedated.  Although methadone is an opioid medication, at the correct dose, it will not cause a person to “get high” and it will prevent any opioid withdrawals from occurring.

Methadone treatment has been the standard for treating opioid addicted pregnant patients.  The substance abuse and mental health administration has a pamphlet that discusses this information in more detail. We now have 40 years of experience managing patients on methadone who are pregnant.

Finally, methadone treatment is highly monitored. In fact, it is one of the most monitored treatments in the United States.  The chain from the methadone manufacturer all the way down to the requirements of clinic are watched closely.  The Drug Enforcement Administration along with State Agencies keep close tabs on the clinics to ensure their safety.

Summary of Methadone Treatment Facts:

Methadone treatment is a highly monitored, safe treatment for opioid addicted individuals.  We have over 40 years of experience with the use of methadone and it has been well studied.  Methadone has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals break the cycle of addiction, get back their families, and maintain employment. It keep people out of prison and improves their lives. See the links below for more methadone treatment information including suboxone treatment.

Here are some other methadone treatment useful links:

Suboxone Treatment : This is another alternative for the treatment of Opioid Addiction. It is a medication based treatment and works well.  This site has a suboxone doctor directory and helpful articles on suboxone.

Centers for Disease Control : This link will bring you directly to the the source pdf for this article.

White House Drug Policy : This link brings you to more information on methadone and other sources. It is another pdf file.

Suboxone Treatment Directory And Methadone Treatment Directory

Dr. Rich is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with licenses in Texas and Hawaii. He specializes in the treatment of opioid addiction with buprenorphine and runs a FREE locator service to find Methadone Treatment including Suboxone treatment of oxycontin addiction. Find a Suboxone Treatment Clinic in your area.
Dr. Rich has written more articles on the cost of oxycontin, buprenorphine (Suboxone) including frequently asked questions and a recent post : How Do I Find A Suboxone Physician?

Suboxone Treatment Methadone Alternative : What is it?

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What Is Suboxone Treatment (Buprenorphine Treatment)?

Suboxone Treatment Methadone Alternative

Suboxone Treatment Methadone Alternative

Suboxone treatment is another type of treatment for opioid addiction. It contains many similarities to methadone maintenance treatment. Opioid addicted patients usually relapse when trying to get off opioids such as oxycontin, heroin, vicodin, and other narcotics. Most addicts are unable to get through the withdrawal periods and don’t even last a several days.  Others get off, but at the first major stressor in their lives, they return to opioid use. Suboxone treatment can help stop this continuous relapse cycle.

Suboxone treatment will stop the dreaded opioid withdrawals. Since suboxone is another opioid, it will stop these withdrawals.  It also stops with cravings that an addict is going through.  Many addicts return to opioid use because of these creavings. Suboxone replaces the opioid in the patient’s system.  It has to be prescribed and monitored by a doctor.  If one is unable to get off opioids, it is better to be on one that is supervised, rather than getting it off the street with all the problems that come with doing this.  Eventually for many, the hope is to get off the suboxone treatment with the aid and medication from a physician. Some are able to get completely clean.

Why Suboxone Treatment ? Why Not Just Quit Suddenly

Getting on and staying on a narcotic such as methadone or suboxone works better than stopping suddenly.  When a patient is not having to be preoccupied with constant cravings they are able to focus on treatment.  When they don’t have to worry about losing their next job from being late getting high, they can focus on treatment. The point of suboxone treatment is to stabilize the person to get other areas of their life better first.

Opioid dependence destroys patient’s lives.  Heroin addicts frequently have legal problems.  Others are forging prescriptions from their doctor or they are doctor shopping. Not being able to hold down a job cause financial instability. Marriages split apart because of all the arguing and sneaking around. It is hard to pay attention to these areas of one’s life when a person is spending their time looking for drugs. Narcotics can found and taken by children. Relatives learn to distrust you.  People seek suboxone treatment to stop all these problems.

Is Suboxone Treatment a Hassle?

Suboxone treatment is much less of a hassle and more convenient than methadone maintenance treatment. The psychiatric evaluation is done in a private doctor’s clinic. Getting stabilized on suboxone can be done in a matter of hours or a few days. The nice thing about suboxone treatment, it that when one is finally doing well with the medication, they only need to go to their doctor’s office once per month to get the medication.  Those familiar with methadone maintenance understand that methadone clinics require going to the clinic daily.

Suboxone treatment is less public than methadone maintenance. They see their own doctor and are not around other substance abusing individuals. It is easier to get in and see a suboxone doctor than to get seen at a methadone clinic. During the treatment process, patients will go to their own therapist or to 12 step meetings for counseling. In most cases, they get to determine who they will see.  Suboxone is a tablet and is taken under the tongue.

In summary, suboxone treatment is a great alternative for opioid dependence.   Although not all patients talking methadone for addiction treatment will successfully be able to convert to suboxone, many can.  Now methadone is not the only medication that will work for opioid addiction. Be aware the generic name for suboxone is buprenorphine.

Suboxone Clinic Directory Find a Suboxone Physician Near You

Dr. Rich Senyszyn is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with licenses in Texas and Hawaii. He specializes in the treatment of opioid addiction with buprenorphine and runs a FREE locator service to find help with  Oxycontin including Suboxone treatment of oxycontin addiction. Suboxone Clinic in your area.
Dr. Rich has written more articles on the cost of oxycontin, buprenorphine (Suboxone) including frequently asked questions and a recent post : How do I find a Buprenorphine Doctor?