Sunday, June 08, 2008
Getting Sober - More Than Just Not Drinking
Getting Sober and Staying Sober...it's much more than just not drinking. Underlying causes of alcoholism and addiction can include low self-esteem and a poor self image. Others are pre-disposed to addictions due to heredity. Still others became addicted completely by accident... a work injury or car crash called for strong pain meds. The doctor told you about the benefits because he had that information. He couldn't tell you or warn you about the dangers because he was never taught. A typical Doctor recieves about 8 hours of substance abuse training during six years of studies...
Monday, February 26, 2007
Discontinuing Buprenorphine (Suboxone) Detox or Maintenance
Treatment using Buprenorphine (Suboxone) may be stopped or discontinued by a physician for many reasons.
Buprenorphine, and the brand name Suboxone, controls opiate and heroin withdrawal symptoms and is an excellent maintenance treatment for many patients. Comparable methadone, buprenorphine blocks the effects of heroin by binding to the same opiate receptors as heroin; so, opiate addicts who use buprenorphine are not able to get a high from heroin. Suboxone also has a ceiling effect- meaning that increased doses do not generate increased effects. Suboxone is estimated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to be effectual for close to one-half to two-thirds of heroin and opiate abusers.
Even so some patients may require a stronger medication for opiate maintenance. If you continue to feel like using, or if you cannot stop abusing heroin or alternate opiates even when prescribed the highest doses of Suboxone, then your physician might transfer you to methadone or LAAN.
Both methadone or LAAN can exclusively be dispensed at clinics that are licensed to supply those medications.
Patients that are part of a Buprenorphine treatment protocol are frequently required make behavioral "contracts", or agreements, that they sign when they are admitted. Patients that break these contracts have consequences which can include discharge from the clinic.
Acting out, or behavior that is disruptive to the clinic or to other patients can result in discharge from Buprenorphine treatment as well. Unsafe or inappropriate behavior also includes showing up at the clinic intoxicated or loaded, and is another reason treatment may be stopped.
Generally, opiate and heroin detox with Suboxone ends by slowly decreasing the amount of Buprenorphine over a span of 2-3 weeks. The "tapering off" is closely monitored by your Doctor to insure that you do not display signs of acute withdrawal. Although friends and family may be seeing a "new you", (and you may feel great), it is the last days of detox that are often linked to relapse or dischage from treatment.
A primary reason for relapse near the end of detox is post-acute withdrawal. Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) is a result of damage to the nervous system caused by the opiates and the emotional and psychological stress that occurs when beginning to experience life without drugs. Although it can appear anytime, it generally occurs 1-2 weeks following phsical detox and stabilization.
As you can see, there are many reasons why Suboxone detox from opiates may be stopped.
What happens next though almost always depends on the patient; their actions and behavior. In some cases, a direct transfer to an inpatient or outpatient facility with another kind of maintenance treatment can be made, for example Methadone at a clinic that has a license to use Methadone as a detox protocol. Ultimately the physician, with input from the patient, will decide whether he/she is referred to another facility, given a 72 hour "cooling-off" period and then re-admitted, or simply discharged.
Buprenorphine, and the brand name Suboxone, controls opiate and heroin withdrawal symptoms and is an excellent maintenance treatment for many patients. Comparable methadone, buprenorphine blocks the effects of heroin by binding to the same opiate receptors as heroin; so, opiate addicts who use buprenorphine are not able to get a high from heroin. Suboxone also has a ceiling effect- meaning that increased doses do not generate increased effects. Suboxone is estimated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to be effectual for close to one-half to two-thirds of heroin and opiate abusers.
Even so some patients may require a stronger medication for opiate maintenance. If you continue to feel like using, or if you cannot stop abusing heroin or alternate opiates even when prescribed the highest doses of Suboxone, then your physician might transfer you to methadone or LAAN.
Both methadone or LAAN can exclusively be dispensed at clinics that are licensed to supply those medications.
Patients that are part of a Buprenorphine treatment protocol are frequently required make behavioral "contracts", or agreements, that they sign when they are admitted. Patients that break these contracts have consequences which can include discharge from the clinic.
Acting out, or behavior that is disruptive to the clinic or to other patients can result in discharge from Buprenorphine treatment as well. Unsafe or inappropriate behavior also includes showing up at the clinic intoxicated or loaded, and is another reason treatment may be stopped.
Generally, opiate and heroin detox with Suboxone ends by slowly decreasing the amount of Buprenorphine over a span of 2-3 weeks. The "tapering off" is closely monitored by your Doctor to insure that you do not display signs of acute withdrawal. Although friends and family may be seeing a "new you", (and you may feel great), it is the last days of detox that are often linked to relapse or dischage from treatment.
A primary reason for relapse near the end of detox is post-acute withdrawal. Post-Acute Withdrawal Syndrome (PAWS) is a result of damage to the nervous system caused by the opiates and the emotional and psychological stress that occurs when beginning to experience life without drugs. Although it can appear anytime, it generally occurs 1-2 weeks following phsical detox and stabilization.
As you can see, there are many reasons why Suboxone detox from opiates may be stopped.
What happens next though almost always depends on the patient; their actions and behavior. In some cases, a direct transfer to an inpatient or outpatient facility with another kind of maintenance treatment can be made, for example Methadone at a clinic that has a license to use Methadone as a detox protocol. Ultimately the physician, with input from the patient, will decide whether he/she is referred to another facility, given a 72 hour "cooling-off" period and then re-admitted, or simply discharged.
What IS Addiction?
There are many people who still believe addiction is a failure of morality or a spiritual weakness, even a sin or a crime.
To non-drinkers it’s often a problem of self-control; for sociologists, poverty; for educators, ignorance...
What is addiction? And what causes it?
To non-drinkers it’s often a problem of self-control; for sociologists, poverty; for educators, ignorance...
What is addiction? And what causes it?
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Preventing Relapse
Relapse Prevention, a cognitive-behavioral remedy, was developed for the management of problem drinking and adjusted later for cocaine addicts. Cognitive-behavioral strategies are based on the proposition that information processes play a critical role in the development of maladaptive behavioral patterns. Individuals learn to label and redress sensitive behaviors. Relapse prevention encompasses many cognitive-behavioral strategies that promote abstinence as well as supply help for people who experience relapse.
The relapse prevention approach to the treatment of cocaine addiction consists of a accumulation of strategies designed to improve self-control. Established techniques take in searching the positive and negative consequences of persistent use, self-monitoring to identify drug cravings early on and to identify high-risk situations for use, and developing strategies for coping with and avoiding high-risk situations and the desire to use. A central component of this treatment is expecting the problems patients are expected to encounter and helping them develop effectual coping strategies.
Research indicates that the skills individuals ascertain through relapse prevention therapy linger after the conclusion of treatment. In one study, most people receiving this cognitive-behavioral approach maintained the gains they made in treatment all through the year following treatment.
Source: NIDA
The relapse prevention approach to the treatment of cocaine addiction consists of a accumulation of strategies designed to improve self-control. Established techniques take in searching the positive and negative consequences of persistent use, self-monitoring to identify drug cravings early on and to identify high-risk situations for use, and developing strategies for coping with and avoiding high-risk situations and the desire to use. A central component of this treatment is expecting the problems patients are expected to encounter and helping them develop effectual coping strategies.
Research indicates that the skills individuals ascertain through relapse prevention therapy linger after the conclusion of treatment. In one study, most people receiving this cognitive-behavioral approach maintained the gains they made in treatment all through the year following treatment.
Source: NIDA
The War on Drugs...On Drugs
Pharmaceuticals The Next Frontier in America's War on Drugs
America's war on drugs, which has been fought in the opium
fields of Afghanistan and the cocaine plantations of
Columbia, will have to reinvent itself to combat what is set
to be America's dominant drug abuse issue, pharmaceuticals.
One in five American's, almost 48 million, have used
prescription drugs for non-medical purposes at least one time in
their lives. The ongoing past month misuse rate amongst
Americans is 6.2 million. According to a current white paper
by Carnevale Associates, this measure of use is already loftier
than the recorded highs of both cocaine and heroin
epidemics.
For some, the passage to illicit use of prescription
medications starts innocently. After a car mishap, back
impairment, or, even, a mental/emotional collapse a doctor
prescribes medicine for a valid use. Over time,
toleration builds up so that more and more of the drug is
needed until a condition of dependence is reached. At this
point, there is no simple way to get off the drug, and
cessation can include painful withdrawal symptoms. Differing
doctors have been known to become fearful and cut their
patients off at this point. Patients have been known to
heist prescription pads, or see assorted doctors to get
the drugs they have become addicted to.
Regardless, contradictory to popular belief, it is not senior adults
or any adults who are most likely to misuse pharmaceuticals.
In the past decade, abuse of formula meds among youth
has been evolving at an frightening first-time use rate of more
than fifty percent each year. In 2002, the latest year for
which there are figures, nearly 2.5 million
American's abused prescriptions for the first time and 44%
of them were under the age of 18 .
Distressingly, as the media fixes its stare on the
methamphetamine predicament; and the Office of National Drug
Control Policy spends much of its time focusing on Marijuana
the chance to address the pharmaceutical addiction and
abuse is being missed. While definite steps have been taken
they have been exploratory. The ONDCP has drawn up a blueprint
for addressing synthetic drugs, but no serious media
campaign to teach Americans about the problem has been
undertaken. Nor has any pharmaceutical company been brought
to heel for producing drugs with high abuse potential
even when alternatives may exist.
The next battle in America's war on drugs must draw a bead
on pharmaceuticals. The ONDCP must be agreeable to set in motion the
identical type of hard hitting ad campaigns against prescription
drug abuse as it has against, marijuana, ecstasy and
cocaine. The FDA must not be fearful to sanction drug
manufacturers who proceed to make unsafe drugs where safe
alternatives exist. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must become
better denizens and spend the research and development
dollars to make safe and effectual drugs, rather than taking
the uncomplicated way out.
This new stage of the war on drugs, without easily targeted
foreigners to scold for America's drug abuse problems, will
take unflagging political resolve, corporate citizenship and
ability. Even then it is expected to take years before the
trend of increases in formula medication misuse and
addiction can be reversed.
Common Prescription Drugs of Abuse:
Opioids: these are artificial versions of opium. Designed for
pain management opioids are the most typically abused
prescription drugs. OxyContin (oxycodone), Vicodin
(hydrocodone) and Demerol (meperidine) are the most popular
for abuse.
Short-term side effects can encompass pain relief,
euphoria, and listlessness. Overdose can lead to death.
Long-term use can lead to dependence or addiction.
Depressants: These drugs are usually prescribed to deal with
anxiety; panic attacks, and sleep disorders. Nembutal
(pentobarbital sodium), Valium (diazepam), and Xanax
(alprazolam) are just three of the many drugs in this
category. Immediately slow down standard brain functioning and
can cause sluggishness Long-term use can lead to physical
dependence and addiction.
Stimulants: Doctors may prescribe these to treat the
sleeping disorder narcolepsy or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
ADHD . Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine)
are two commonly prescribed stimulants. These drugs enhance
brain activity and increase alertness and energy in much the same
way as cocaine or methamphetamine . They increase blood
pressure; speed up heart rate, and respiration. Very high
doses can lead to irregular heartbeat and hyperthermia .
About the Author: Dave Westbrook has worked in the field of crisis intervention and addictions for several years. For more information on prescription med abuse and other addiction related topics visit www.addictionsresources.com
America's war on drugs, which has been fought in the opium
fields of Afghanistan and the cocaine plantations of
Columbia, will have to reinvent itself to combat what is set
to be America's dominant drug abuse issue, pharmaceuticals.
One in five American's, almost 48 million, have used
prescription drugs for non-medical purposes at least one time in
their lives. The ongoing past month misuse rate amongst
Americans is 6.2 million. According to a current white paper
by Carnevale Associates, this measure of use is already loftier
than the recorded highs of both cocaine and heroin
epidemics.
For some, the passage to illicit use of prescription
medications starts innocently. After a car mishap, back
impairment, or, even, a mental/emotional collapse a doctor
prescribes medicine for a valid use. Over time,
toleration builds up so that more and more of the drug is
needed until a condition of dependence is reached. At this
point, there is no simple way to get off the drug, and
cessation can include painful withdrawal symptoms. Differing
doctors have been known to become fearful and cut their
patients off at this point. Patients have been known to
heist prescription pads, or see assorted doctors to get
the drugs they have become addicted to.
Regardless, contradictory to popular belief, it is not senior adults
or any adults who are most likely to misuse pharmaceuticals.
In the past decade, abuse of formula meds among youth
has been evolving at an frightening first-time use rate of more
than fifty percent each year. In 2002, the latest year for
which there are figures, nearly 2.5 million
American's abused prescriptions for the first time and 44%
of them were under the age of 18 .
Distressingly, as the media fixes its stare on the
methamphetamine predicament; and the Office of National Drug
Control Policy spends much of its time focusing on Marijuana
the chance to address the pharmaceutical addiction and
abuse is being missed. While definite steps have been taken
they have been exploratory. The ONDCP has drawn up a blueprint
for addressing synthetic drugs, but no serious media
campaign to teach Americans about the problem has been
undertaken. Nor has any pharmaceutical company been brought
to heel for producing drugs with high abuse potential
even when alternatives may exist.
The next battle in America's war on drugs must draw a bead
on pharmaceuticals. The ONDCP must be agreeable to set in motion the
identical type of hard hitting ad campaigns against prescription
drug abuse as it has against, marijuana, ecstasy and
cocaine. The FDA must not be fearful to sanction drug
manufacturers who proceed to make unsafe drugs where safe
alternatives exist. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must become
better denizens and spend the research and development
dollars to make safe and effectual drugs, rather than taking
the uncomplicated way out.
This new stage of the war on drugs, without easily targeted
foreigners to scold for America's drug abuse problems, will
take unflagging political resolve, corporate citizenship and
ability. Even then it is expected to take years before the
trend of increases in formula medication misuse and
addiction can be reversed.
Common Prescription Drugs of Abuse:
Opioids: these are artificial versions of opium. Designed for
pain management opioids are the most typically abused
prescription drugs. OxyContin (oxycodone), Vicodin
(hydrocodone) and Demerol (meperidine) are the most popular
for abuse.
Short-term side effects can encompass pain relief,
euphoria, and listlessness. Overdose can lead to death.
Long-term use can lead to dependence or addiction.
Depressants: These drugs are usually prescribed to deal with
anxiety; panic attacks, and sleep disorders. Nembutal
(pentobarbital sodium), Valium (diazepam), and Xanax
(alprazolam) are just three of the many drugs in this
category. Immediately slow down standard brain functioning and
can cause sluggishness Long-term use can lead to physical
dependence and addiction.
Stimulants: Doctors may prescribe these to treat the
sleeping disorder narcolepsy or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
ADHD . Ritalin (methylphenidate) and Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine)
are two commonly prescribed stimulants. These drugs enhance
brain activity and increase alertness and energy in much the same
way as cocaine or methamphetamine . They increase blood
pressure; speed up heart rate, and respiration. Very high
doses can lead to irregular heartbeat and hyperthermia .
About the Author: Dave Westbrook has worked in the field of crisis intervention and addictions for several years. For more information on prescription med abuse and other addiction related topics visit www.addictionsresources.com
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