What Is The Difference Between Methadone And Oxycodone?

Posted on October 19, 2017 by dr-admin

The United States is currently in the midst of an opioid crisis, but determining which opioids are the biggest problem can be difficult. Opioids include illicit drugs like heroin, and powerful pain relieving medications like oxycodone, and methadone. Even though they share the same classification, methadone and oxycodone have many differences.

Methadone Vs. Oxycodone

Most opioids have potential to produce a high and can lead to addiction, but some are more powerful than others.

Even though the drug excites the same opioid receptors in the brain as oxycodone, methadone is not derived from opium. Nonetheless, both oxycodone and methadone are central nervous system depressants that can be used to decrease the amount of pain perceived by a patient.

Opioids can be naturally derived from the opium poppy plant; semi-synthetic, or derived from natural opioids and mixed with other chemicals; or fully synthetic and completely man made. Methadone is a fully synthetic opioid, and has a much longer half-life than oxycodone, which is a semi-synthetic opiate.

You won’t feel the effects of methadone as quickly, but it’s still effective—it just takes longer to activate in your system. Methadone can also take longer to leave the system.

There are three different types of opioids, as reported by the National Institute On Drug Abuse (NIDA) for Teens:

Natural opiates are alkaloids, nitrogen-containing base chemical compounds that occur in plants such as the opium poppy. Natural opiates include morphine, codeine, and thebaine.
Semi-synthetic/man-made opioids are created in labs from natural opiates. Semi-synthetic opioids include hydromorphone, hydrocodone, and oxycodone (the prescription drug OxyContin), as well as heroin, which is made from morphine.
Fully synthetic/manmade opioids are completely man-made, including fentanyl, pethidine, levorphanol, methadone, tramadol, and dextropropoxyphene.

Why Is Methadone Used Instead Of Oxycodone?

Methadone has a longer half-life and less potential for abuse. Because of this, methadone may be offered in a clinical setting to replace the effects of, or help to avoid withdrawal symptoms caused by, oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone, or heroin.

Methadone can also be helpful for pain management for someone suffering from an addiction to oxycodone, or from natural or other semi-synthetic opiates. Methadone can still be abused for the euphoric effect, when someone tampers with the dose size, frequency, or method of administration.

The half-life of methadone can be anywhere from 24 to 60 hours, so it can help prevent opioid withdrawal symptoms for a full day. At the same time, the effects of methadone aren’t achieved as quickly as the effects of oxycodone, which has a half-life of about four hours and rapidly takes effect.

To find out the appropriate dose size, it’s vital to speak to a doctor before deciding to take more of a drug. The potency for an opioid is measured in comparison to morphine. This is known as the MME, or morphine milligram equivalent, and doses are regulated on a daily milligram measurement.

The MME for 50 mg per day of oxycodone is 33 mg (~2 tablets of oxycodone sustained-release 15 mg), and 12 mg of methadone ( <3 tablets of methadone 5 mg).

“Calculating the total daily dose of opioids helps identify patients who may benefit from closer monitoring, reduction or tapering of opioids, prescribing of naloxone, or other measures to reduce risk of overdose,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Methadone is also a cheaper alternative to oxycodone. When a patient’s health insurance contribution has run out for the year, they become responsible for paying for their meds out of pocket. This is why a lot of people switch to methadone, because they are unable to pay for expensive prescriptions like OxyContin.

What Are The Overdose Rates And Risks Of Methadone And Oxycodone?

Both methadone and oxycodone are large contributors to the United States opioid epidemic. “From 2000 to 2015 more than half a million people died from drug overdoses. Ninety-one Americans die every day from an opioid overdose,” the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Because oxycodone is more potent than methadone, doctors prescribe smaller doses of it and monitor patients to avoid overdose. Methadone can also result in overdose. However, due to successful monitoring and use, the rate has substantially decreased since 1999. “The rate of methadone overdose deaths increased 600%, from 0.3 persons per 100,000 in 1999 (784) to 1.8 in 2006 (5,406), was stable in 2007 (5,518), and then declined 39% to 1.1 (3,400) in 2014,”s as reported by the CDC.

Nearly half of the opioid overdoses in the United States involve a prescription opioid. In 2015, more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids. The top three contributors to those deaths were oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and methadone.

Not everyone who overdoses on opioids purposely abuses the drug. These adverse consequences can happen just as easily when a person who uses an opioid for a medical purpose increases the dose size. Some people decide that an opioid isn’t working, or no longer feel the effects due to tolerance, so they take more. This is especially true of methadone because of the prolonged activation time.

Taking too much of any opioid highly increases the chances of overdose. Overdose occurs when a dose size exceeds the amount that the body is able to metabolize. It can result in coma, respiratory failure, and death.

It’s vitally important to pay attention to dose sizes of both methadone and oxycodone. But overdose isn’t the only risk of abusing these drugs. They can also result in serious addiction, dependence, long-term health consequences, and other injuries such as:

In 2014, almost 2 million Americans abused or were dependent on prescription opioids.
As many as one in four people who receive prescription opioids long-term for noncancerous pain in primary care settings struggles with addiction.
Every day, over 1,000 people are treated in emergency departments for misusing prescription opioids.
In 2009, opioids were the cause of more than 475,000 emergency room visits.

Opioid Addiction Treatment

Opioid addiction and dependence may require a medically-supervised detox to overcome the physical addiction (dependence). Detoxification may be necessary when a person stops using opioids because managing withdrawal symptoms can be life-threatening and dangerous

After detox, a lot of patients benefit from behavioral treatment to overcome the mental addiction. During a behavioral treatment program, clients learn healthy coping skills, healthy reactions, and ways to adapt to their surroundings. They also learn relapse prevention skills, positive thinking and behaviors, as well as learn to love themselves again. Addiction treatment programs can be conducted in an inpatient rehab center, or other clinical environments that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

In some cases, a medication will be helpful to manage withdrawal, which can be one of the hardest parts of recovery, and when relapse is the most frequent. A medication-assisted treatment may include methadone maintenance for oxycodone, or other semi-synthetic opiates. Other types of opioid medication-assisted treatment may include naloxone, or buprenorphine (or a mixture of both—Suboxone or Subutex).

Some of the best behavioral treatment modalities for an opioid addiction are cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, or motivational interviewing. There are a lot of different phases of recovery. Admitting there’s a problem is often the first step, but that isn’t always easy. Sometimes asking for help is the best way to overcome the first hurdle of recovery.

Choosing The Right Rehab Center For Opioids

Contact DrugRehab.org today to speak to someone who can find the right treatment program for you or your loved one. All calls are 100 percent confidential.

For More Information Related to “What Is The Difference Between Methadone And Oxycodone?” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

Center for Disease Control and Prevention—Calculating Total Daily Dose Of Opioids For Safer Dosage, Methadone Prescribing and Overdose and the Association with Medicaid Preferred Drug List Policies, Understanding the Epidemic: Drug Overdose

NIDA for Teens – What Are the Different Types of Opioids?

5 Signs Your Loved One Is Using Cocaine

Posted on October 17, 2017 by dr-admin

In 2014, there were an estimated 1.5 million people using cocaine in the United States, but finding out if your loved one is using cocaine can be tricky, especially if you don’t know what to look for.

Cocaine is a white powder that people can snort up their nose, or mix with liquid then inject into their bloodstream. Cocaine’s dangerous. It’s a central nervous system stimulant that overstimulates the brain’s reward circuit. Cocaine can increase a person’s heart rate to an alarming level.

There are several signs that may give you a better idea, if you believe that someone is using cocaine. It’s important to know what to look for, because your loved one might need help quitting cocaine. Many people find freedom from cocaine in the safety of a rehab center.

1. Lack Of Money From Cocaine Use

One of the first signs of cocaine use will appear when an individual runs out of money. Cocaine is one of the more expensive drugs, and the high from it doesn’t last very long so one binge can be costly. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “snorting cocaine produces a relatively slow onset of the high, but it may last from 15 to 30 minutes.”

A cocaine binge can cost 150 dollars per gram, and can last for several days, weeks, or months. Some people spend so much on cocaine that they’re unable to support themselves, or their family on an otherwise substantial income. Cocaine use has been known to ruin lives, and may even cost a person their job. In this respect, a person abusing cocaine may constantly need to borrow money, whether they have a job or not.

2. Drug Paraphernalia Used For Cocaine

Another sign of cocaine abuse is the appearance of drug paraphernalia, which refers to objects, and miscellaneous articles needed to use the drug. Here’s a list of paraphernalia used for cocaine:

Tightly rolled dollar bills
Straws
Tubes
Pens with the ends cut off
Sandwich baggies
Flat surface with white residue:
- Piece of glass
- Mirror
- Tray
- Book
- Countertop
- Magazine
Burnt spoons
Unexplained needles or syringes
Glass pipe
Concealable containers with white residue

Some of these items won’t show up, because your loved one may keep it well hidden, or clean up after using the drug. It can also depend on when and where an individual uses cocaine. If you decide to confront someone about their cocaine use, they might not be honest with you—at least not at first. It may be helpful to have them take a random at home drug test, if you suspect your loved one is using cocaine.

3. Behavioral Changes From Cocaine Use

Changes in behavior may be the next sign to appear. When someone starts acting strangely, or constantly sneaks around, it may be due to cocaine use.

The teenage years may present a dilemma, because during this time, people are changing anyways. Teenagers might act out or show aggression towards authority. Similarly, someone using cocaine may do a lot things that seem out of character like become violent, or recluse.

Someone using cocaine might stay up later than usual, sleep at odd times during the day, spend a lot of time alone, and excessively use the bathroom without good reason. Suspicious activities may also include anonymous phone calls, and when you answer. when the person hangs up.

Using large amounts of cocaine may increase a person’s euphoria, but at the same time it can lead to erratic, bizarre, and sometimes violent behavior. Cocaine use can lead to paranoia, anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and panic. Your loved one may seem energetic, talkative, euphoric, mentally alert, and be sensitive to sight, sound, and touch (NIDA).

Some may even develop an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as a result of their cocaine use—this occurrence of both mental and substance use disorder is referred to as a co-occurring disorder. With consistent results from epidemiological studies by the National Library of Medicine, subjects actively using cocaine (and also marijuana) were found to be at an increased risk for OCD.

4. Social Changes From Cocaine Use

Your loved one may stop spending time with lifelong friends as a result of their cocaine use. A teenager might even stop enrolling in extracurricular activities like sports, or academic clubs, and replace those social circles with other people who use drugs. An adult may avoid social situations with the exception of night clubs, bars, and other scenes where drug use is more widely accepted.

The people who aren’t using cocaine may not like their friend’s new found activity, and as a result stop hanging around them. The choice to cut ties with someone because of cocaine use can work from both sides. Sometimes it’s the person using cocaine who stop responding to their friends or family; maybe from fear of being rejected, or judged.

5. Physical Changes From Cocaine Use

Sometimes the physical changes from cocaine use are the last thing people notice before they realize it’s a problem. Using cocaine temporarily decreases a person’s need for food and sleep. So as a result, they may lose a lot of weight, or even seem gaunt, or malnourished. Cocaine use may also come with the appearance of dark circles around the eyes.

Cocaine can also result in a lot of adverse health consequences. Some of these aren’t as easy to determine as others, but may include:

Constricted blood vessels
Dilated pupils
Cardiovascular complications
Increased body temperature
Heart rate
Blood pressure
Heart arrhythmia
Heart attack
Frequent headaches
Seizures
Gastrointestinal complications
Nausea
Stomach pain
Respiratory complications
Slowed breathing
Coma
Death

So repeated cocaine use not only puts a person at risk of becoming addicted or dependent upon the drug, it can also lead serious physical and mental health complications, and emergencies. In 2011, “cocaine was involved in 505,224 of the nearly 1.3 million visits to emergency departments for drug misuse or abuse,” (NIDA). If you believe someone you love is using cocaine, don’t give up on them, get help today.

Find Help For Cocaine Addiction And Dependence

It’s helps to remember that cocaine addiction is considered an disease, and even after a person changes from it, they’re still the same person. They just might need more help now. Contact DrugRehab.net today to speak to someone who understands addiction, and can tell you more about how to find cocaine addiction treatment for you or your loved one.

For More Information Related to “5 Signs Your Loved One Is Using Cocaine” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse – What Are The Short Term Effects of Cocaine Use?
National Institute on Drug Abuse – What is the Scope of Cocaine Use in the United States?
U.S. National Library of Medicine – Cocaine
U.S. National Library of Medicine – Cocaine Use and Other Suspected Risk Factors for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Crohn’s Disease And Addiction

Posted on October 13, 2017October 13, 2017 by dr-admin

Crohn’s disease causes your digestive tract to become severely inflamed. Its often incapacitating symptoms lead some individuals to self-medicate by substance abuse. Some even become addicted to their prescribed painkillers because of this. Whether it be alcohol or other drugs, these substance can lead to addiction and aggravate the disease.

Crohn’s disease currently has no cure. For an individual with Crohn’s, this prognosis can seem quite dim, especially when paired with the life-altering symptoms the disease produces. But with the proper lifestyle, therapies, and treatment, Crohn’s can be successfully managed, and so can an addiction.

What Is Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This inflammation causes distress to a person’s digestive tract, specifically the small intestine and colon. Sometimes the symptoms temporarily subside, this is called remission.

While symptoms can be mild, in its most extreme manifestations, “Crohn’s disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications,” according to Mayo Clinic.

This reality may lead some individuals to self-medicate their pain or emotional symptoms with drugs or alcohol. Doing so will only complicate matters further, and in many cases it will intensify the symptoms even more.

Is It Dangerous To Have Both?

Crohn’s can mask certain symptoms of substance abuse and vice versa. This can make it difficult to identify the root of the problem in some individuals and forestall treatment.

Depending on the drug of abuse, both diseases can create similar symptoms, such as abdominal cramping, diarrhea, weight loss, a suppressed appetite, malnourishment, and dehydration, among others. Individuals with Crohn’s may try to blame the side effects of their drug abuse on it in an attempt to hide their addiction.

These effects (especially malnourishment and dehydration) can become dangerous when compounded by chronic drug use and Crohn’s. Both diseases have also been linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide.

The Emotional Strain Of Crohn’s Can Lead To Substance Abuse

It can be difficult to cope with a serious disease like Crohn’s and the many ways it alters your life. Over time, a person’s mental and emotional health can become seriously compromised, in a way which fosters substance abuse.

Mental Illness

Crohn’s can cause or worsen certain mental illnesses, especially depression and anxiety. One study found that instances of these disorders are highest within the first year of diagnosis.

These findings were in line with other research which “found depression and/or anxiety to be more common in patients with IBD than in the general population or in patient groups with other chronic diseases.”

Isolation And Loneliness

During an active state of Crohn’s, the unpredictability of the disease can make it difficult to socialize. A person with Crohn’s may feel so unwell, or grow to fear the onset of their symptoms and the difficulty of managing them, that they simply stay home.

To self-treat these states, a person may begin using drugs or alcohol, which can actually make these states more severe. As they worsen, a person may continue to drink or use drugs, to the point they become dependent and addicted to the substance.

How Are Crohn’s Disease And Substance Abuse Related?

Alcohol abuse is especially harmful to people with Crohn’s. It irritates an already inflamed digestive tract and increases the odds of further damage to these sensitive tissues.

Some research does show that marijuana may be helpful in treating certain symptoms of Crohn’s, but if a person self-treats their condition they do run the risk of becoming addicted.

Opioid painkillers may be used to treat the pain associated with Crohn’s or after surgery for the disease. But certain individuals may begin to use their medication improperly, which could lead to severe addiction.

What Factors Of An Addicted Lifestyle Can Aggravate Crohn’s?

The following lifestyle factors can aggravate Crohn’s Disease:

Diet: Addicted individuals are more apt to make poor dietary choices, which are speculated to aggravate Crohn’s.
Immune System: Substance abuse can decrease your immune system, which can trigger an episode, and make it harder for your body to fight Crohn’s.
Smoking: Smoking makes Crohn’s disease worse. Certain forms of substance abuse, for instance alcohol, make certain people more apt to smoke.
Stress: An addiction can destroy important aspects of your life such a your health, family, career, and educational pursuits. These happenings can increase stress which inflames Crohn’s.

Individualized Care Is Crucial When Treating Crohn’s Disease And Addiction

If you have Crohn’s disease and addiction, you need to ensure you’ll be in a treatment environment which is sensitive to the needs of both diseases (addiction is, itself, a disease).

Full-spectrum, individualized care is critical for patients who have both a chronic disease and addiction. Behavioral therapies, counseling, and other modalities should be adapted to help you heal on a physical, mental, emotional, and social level from both diseases.

Advanced Medical Care

When the disease is an active state, you may require additional medical care, nutritive support, and even counseling. Certain B vitamins may be administered as they are used to treat both diseases.

Dual Diagnosis Care

Dual diagnosis care is an important element of treatment for those with a co-occurring mental health disorder. Non-addictive medications may be used to treat anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness which you suffer from.

Pain Management

For those in need of pain management, certain non-addictive medications or alternative therapies may be used.

Family Therapy And Support

Chronic disease and addiction can take an immense toll on your family members too. A comprehensive program should offer family therapy and support to help you grow and heal together within the face of such adversity.

Mindfulness And Stress Management Practices

Because stress can cause a flare-up of Crohn’s, it’s important to learn how to manage it in a healthy way. Mayo suggests the following techniques:

Biofeedback
Breathing exercises
Meditation
Yoga.

Many facilities offer these holistic therapies.

Fitness And Nutrition

A program may offer exercise facilities or classes which can help you to channel your stress in a healthful manner, all the while strengthening your body.

Even though experts are still learning about the role diet has on Crohn’s, it’s still important to be mindful of how you eat. A good facility will prepare meals which take into account any dietary restrictions you may have.

Relapse Prevention Training

Since Crohn’s is a lifelong disease, you must be prepared to deal with flare-ups, both mentally and physically. Without relapse prevention training, an active state could become a trigger for addiction. Enhanced coping skills will be taught to help you cope with these challenges.

Battling Crohn’s disease and addiction isn’t an easy task by any means, but it is possible to develop positive and healthy behaviors which can support a drug-free life and better overall physical health.

Even though there isn’t a cure for Crohn’s, the right combination of therapies can decrease the severity of symptoms and/or lead to long-term remission. Recovery from addiction is also something you need to commit to for life, but the right treatment program can make all the difference by preparing you for this journey.

Get Help For Chrohn’s Disease And Addiction Today

If you or a loved one has Crohn’s, you can still seek treatment. Protecting your body from the effects of drugs or alcohol is especially important with this concern, and DrugRehab.org wants to help you reach this goal. Contact us today to learn more about your treatment options.

For More Information Related to “Crohn’s Disease And Addiction” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Medications To Manage Alcohol Withdrawal

Posted on October 9, 2017 by dr-admin

Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug in the United States. Alcohol can form an intense physical dependence for individuals that drink heavily on a regular basis. When they stop drinking, a severe withdrawal can occur.

In mild cases, alcohol withdrawal symptoms may be only uncomfortable. The individual could experience minor symptoms such as shaking or sweating. The most serious withdrawal problem from alcohol is when a person has delirium tremens (DT’s). Individuals can die from a seizure from having delirium tremens so it should never be taken lightly.

A professional medical detoxification in an inpatient treatment setting manages these concerns safely, by aid of various medications. Benzodiazepines and anticonvulsants are most commonly used for this purpose.

Why Does Alcohol Withdrawal Occur?

Like other drugs, the moment you begin using alcohol it goes to work changing the way your brain functions. As use becomes more frequent and intense, these changes become more severe and lasting. One of the largest impacts is felt within our neurotransmitters, specifically one called GABA. These important brain chemicals are responsible for regulating critical functions within our bodies, including the autonomic nervous system, cognition, and mood.

In the presence of a constant influx of alcohol, as within an addicted state, your brain drastically cuts back on its own production of neurotransmitters. This reliance is termed a physical dependency. Should a person stop using alcohol, or radically reduce their consumption, their body experiences an intense state of shock called withdrawal.

When you drink alcohol, it increases GABA’s effects, which reduces the amount of excitability within your brain, as explained by the American Family Physician (AFP). During withdrawal, without alcohol, your brain becomes excessively excited, which leads the sense of unease and edginess which accompanies withdrawal.

What Are The Signs Of Alcohol Withdrawal?

After the last drink, symptoms of withdrawal may occur in as little as a few hours, or it may take up to several days for certain individuals to encounter these effects. The severity of withdrawal is influenced by:

How long a person has been drinking for.
The amounts regularly consumed.

Withdrawal from alcohol can cause:

Anxiety
Brain fog
Confusion
Cravings
Depression
Insomnia
Nausea and vomiting
Rapid heart rate
Sweating
Tremors or shaking

For long-term, heavy drinkers, withdrawal can become severe. Drinkers of this sort are far more common to experience delirium tremens (DT’s), a severe and dangerous form of withdrawal. According to MedLinePlus, symptoms typically begin two to four days after a person stops drinking, but in certain cases they may not occur until day seven or ten. This state is marked by:

Agitation
Extreme confusion
Fever
Hallucinations
Mood swings
Seizures
Stupor

The risk of withdrawal-induced fatality is heavily increased by DT’s. The AFP warns that one to five percent of individuals who progress to these states experience fatality. This reality strongly increases the need for a specialized medical detox for certain individuals.

Is Detox A Necessary Part Of A Treatment Program?

Detoxing from alcohol at home or anywhere other than under medical care is never recommended. Doing so can be very dangerous and life-threatening. for most individuals, alcohol addiction treatment is best begun by a medical detox.

During unmonitored withdrawal symptoms and cravings can become extreme and debilitating. Many people retreat back to substance abuse to stop these effects. Medications can be a life-saving tool during this time.

Medications Used To Manage Alcohol Withdrawal In A Detox Setting

The primary aim of pharmacotherapies (medications used within treatment) during detox is to stabilize and begin to normalize a person’s brain chemistry. Detox seeks to make withdrawal as comfortable and painless as possible. While some medications address physical concerns such as nausea and shaking, work to address issues which trouble a person on emotional and mental levels.

Using Benzodiazepines During An Alcohol Detoxification

Anxiety and agitation can run high during withdrawal. During this time a person may also be fearful of their future, as they’re intimidated by the prospect of living a life without alcohol as a form of self-medication.

To counter these and other states, benzodiazepine medications may be used, either as needed, or on a fixed-schedule regimen. These medications have a sedative and calming effect, which can be of great benefit during this time.

The following benzodiazepines are frequently used for these purposes:

Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
Diazepam (Valium)
Lorazepam (Ativan)
Oxazepam (Serax)

They also note that within “a fixed-schedule regimen, doses of a benzodiazepine are administered at specific intervals, and additional doses of the medication are given as needed based on the severity of the withdrawal symptoms.”

Benzodiazepines widely impact the functioning of your central nervous system (CNS), as does alcohol. This is yet another reason why you should never detox on your own. Should you attempt this on your own, and be taking these medications while you relapse, the CNS depression could lead to overdose and death.

Other Medications Are Used To Treat Alcohol Withdrawal

The following medications may also be used to treat alcohol withdrawal:

Atenolol (Tenormin)
Carbamazepine (Tegretol)*
Clonidine (Catapres)
Gabapentin (Neurontin)*
Haloperidol (Haldol)
Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)*
Valproic acid (Depakene)*

Anticonvulsants are also widely used during this time (these are marked above by an asterisk). They do caution that in most cases these medications should not be used as “monotherapies,” or medications used as standalone treatments.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse asserts that Acamprosate (Campral) works on GABA, and “is thought to reduce symptoms of protracted withdrawal, such as insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, and dysphoria.” They also note that topiramate is believed to impact GABA, and for this reason may be used off-label as a treatment.

Individuals with other medical conditions may require special considerations when using medications. For example, the AFP suggests that phenytoin (Dilantin) may help individuals already prone to seizures, whereas individuals diagnosed with coronary artery disease may benefit from beta blockers.

The toll of withdrawal is further compounded by the way alcohol abuse depletes your body of vital hydration, nutrients, and vitamins, leaving you malnourished and dehydrated. Intravenous (IV) hydration may be used to boost a person’s fluids and electrolytes. Multivitamins and B vitamins (especially thiamine) may be administered to balance any malnourishment caused from abuse.

Detox Safely From Alcohol Today

If you’re considering treatment for an alcohol addiction, contact DrugRehab.org today. We will find the right program that fits both your needs as well as your budget. All calls are 100 percent confidential.

For More Information Related to “Medications To Manage Alcohol Withdrawal” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

American Family Physician — Outpatient Management of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome
MedlinePlus — Alcohol Withdrawal
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — Complications of Alcohol Withdrawal
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism — Alcohol Dependence, Withdrawal, and Relapse

Is Methadone An Opiate Or An Opioid?

Posted on October 5, 2017 by dr-admin

Methadone is an opioid medication used to treat patients with severe pain that is expected to last, and especially for those who need round-the-clock pain medication. Methadone has also been used for several decades to treat people in recovery for heroin addiction or opioid addiction.

Perhaps it’s confusing, understanding how methadone, an opioid, could be used to help treat addiction of other opioids. People who are addicted to opioids tend to form a physical dependence to the drugs. This means they experience adverse physical symptoms, known as withdrawal, when not taking them.

Withdrawal can cause some severe symptoms. Methadone helps opioid-addicted individuals taper off use of the drugs and manage pain or discomfort caused by withdrawal. With time, the goal of methadone therapy is for individuals to quit use of it and other opioids and move on to other forms of therapy in addiction recovery.

What Is Methadone?

Methadone is a narcotic, which means it’s used in treating severe pain, typically for patients with chronic pain or terminal illnesses, such as cancer.

As the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) explains, “methadone works by changing how the brain and nervous system respond to pain.” When used in treating opioid addiction, methadone works by lessening the painful and uncomfortable symptoms of withdrawal, a relief that lasts about four to eight hours.

Methadone is a “full agonist” opioid, which means it works like other full agonist opioids, by attaching to opioid receptors in the brain and changing the brain’s response to pain and perception of pleasure. When used correctly, methadone blocks the euphoric effect of opioids, provides comfort and relief from withdrawal symptoms and cravings, and helps addicted individuals tapers off use of opioids.

However, methadone may also produce a temporary euphoric effect similar to that of other opioids. For this reason, people undergoing medication-assisted therapy with methadone may abuse the medication.

Opiates Vs. Opioids: What’s The Difference?

The term “opiates” refers to drugs derived directly from the poppy plant. The National Alliance Of Advocates For Buprenorphine Treatment (NAABT) explains, “at one time, ‘opioids’ referred to synthetic opioids only… now the term refers to the entire family of opiates including natural, synthetic, and semi-synthetic.”

In other words, while opiates are still classified as natural opioid drugs, opioids include all opioid drugs. Opioids, like methadone, are narcotic drugs, which bind to opioid receptors in the brain, emitting feelings of pleasure through release of hormones. As you may guess, opioids are highly addictive.

Most opioids produce an immediate rush of euphoria and reduced pain. This rush feeling, followed by an extended “high” of similar side effects, contributes to the addictiveness of the drugs. When people abuse opioids, their brains actually change the way they communicate, which is what causes the uncontrollable urges to seek and continue using the drugs.

Opioid Abuse And Consequences

The U.S. National Library Of Medicine explains, “opioid abuse, addiction, and overdoses are serious public health problems in the United States.” In the last few decades, the number of prescriptions written for opioids has increased dramatically, and with it, the rates of opioid abuse, addiction, and dependence.

The American Society Of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) reports that two million people ages 12 and above had a substance use disorder involving prescription opioids in 2015. Opioids can be addictive after only a few uses—it’s the reason the drugs are prescribed for only a few days of use at a time.

Opioids can have both immediate adverse effects and long-term consequences. Right away, use of opioids changes your brain chemistry, which can make it hard to deal with pain without use of opioids (this is how dependence starts). If you develop dependence, withdrawal from opioids can keep you going back to the drugs again and again.

Some methadone withdrawal symptoms include:

Anxiety or depression
Cramps, stomach pain
Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting
Increased heart rate
Insomnia
Pupil dilation
Restlessness
Sweating
Tremors

In addition to withdrawal symptoms, once you form addiction, a psychological condition, you will have a harder time overcoming use of opioids, especially without help.

Some consequences of methadone addiction may include:

Abdominal distension (outward expansion)
Constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting
Liver damage
Tolerance, or needing more of the drug to feel the effects
Respiratory depression, which can cause hypoxia and result in brain damage

Perhaps the most dangerous consequence of opioid addiction is the tendency of addiction to cause tolerance. With repeated use of opioid drugs, you may develop tolerance, which means your body no longer feels the effects with the same doses. As a result, you may take higher and more frequent doses in an effort to produce the same effects.

Increasing dosage and frequency of abuse greatly contributes to the risk of overdose. This is especially true with opioids bought on the street, which may contain dangerous additives or more than one opioid drug. Though your body may not feel the effects of the drugs, they are still present in your body and will still affect you.

What Are The Signs Of Methadone Abuse?

If you suspect someone you know is abusing their methadone medication, it’s important to seek help right away.

The following are some general signs of methadone abuse:

Changes to sex drive
Chronic constipation
Cravings or strong urges
Discontent
Increased sensitivity to pain
Loss of control of use of the drug
Reduced pupil size (“pinpoint” pupils)
Shallow breathing
Slurred speech

For people abusing methadone who are in treatment for opioid addiction, the damage of abuse can be great. It’s important when you enter addiction recovery to understand what type of treatment you will need, what this treatment will entail, and the risks and benefits associated with any and all medication you may use.

There are many alternatives to medication, such as holistic healing without use of medication, or use of partial agonists like Suboxone (buprenorphine) which does not produce the same rush as methadone, and presents less risk of addiction and dependence.

At DrugRehab.org, we know choosing the right type of treatment program for your individual needs is a big decision, and we’d like to help with the process. If you speak to one of our specialists, we can direct you to resources, help you design a treatment plan that’s right for you, and find a rehab center that meets your individual needs.

Finding Treatment For Methadone Abuse And Addiction

If you or someone you know is struggling with methadone abuse, don’t wait until the problem is too great. Talk with a specialist today, and learn what you can do to help. Learn more by contacting us today.

For More Information Related to “Is Methadone An Opiate Or An Opioid?” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

American Society Of Addiction Medicine—Opioid Addiction: 2016 Facts And Figures
Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration—Methadone
The National Alliance Of Advocates For Buprenorphine Treatment—Opiates/Opioids
U.S. National Library Of Medicine—Methadone, Opioid Abuse And Addiction

Seizures from Alcohol Withdrawal

Posted on October 4, 2017 by dr-admin

Seizures may occur during acute alcohol withdrawal, and are characterized by convulsions, muscle spasms, and twitching. Alcohol withdrawal can range from anxiety, nausea, insomnia, hallucinations, seizures, and delirium tremens. A supervised medical detoxification may be the safest way to treat the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

What Does Alcohol Do To The Human Body?

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that has stimulant properties as well. It has stimulant properties, because as a person drinks, certain neurotransmitters in their brain are flooded with adrenaline or norepinephrine. Most other drugs only work as either stimulant or depressant, but alcohol is different.

Alcohol is a small molecule that interacts with a lot of different neurotransmitters in the brain, including: GABA, endorphins, dopamine, norepinephrine, glutamate, and adrenaline. Alcohol causes dependency, partly because as a person drinks, the dopamine in the reward pathway of the brain is increased.

When a person feels any kind of pleasure, it’s because of that release of dopamine. Similarly, the endorphins produced by alcohol are what cause a person to feel “high.” When the glutamate system is affected by alcohol, it causes slurred speech, staggering, and blackouts.

So what happens when a person stops drinking? With repeated use of alcohol, the dopamine levels remain at a constant high in the brain. When alcohol is removed, the brain, which has learned to expect the heightened level of dopamine to remain constant, and in turn stopped producing it naturally, begins to go into the withdrawal stages. The most severe of which includes seizures and delirium tremens.

Most adults in the United States have experienced the calming effect produced by alcohol. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimates that “86.4 percent of people ages 18 or older reported that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime.” Keep in mind that not every person who drinks alcohol will become dependent upon it. There are factors that play a role in alcohol dependency, they may include a person’s: age, weight, height, and alcohol intake.

Alcohol dependency is characterized by craving, loss of control, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. Alcohol abuse can also result in certain cancers, other health risks, and consequences. According to the National Library of Medicine, heavy drinking “can cause damage to the liver, brain, and other organs. Drinking during pregnancy can harm your baby. Alcohol also increases the risk of death from car crashes, injuries, homicide, and suicide.”

What Is The Alcohol Withdrawal Timeline?

Alcohol withdrawal is commonly experienced by a person who regularly abuses alcohol then stops suddenly. Someone doesn’t necessarily have to be alcohol dependent to experience withdrawals, but the chances will be greater in these cases.

There are three stages to alcohol withdrawal, the first of which can begin as early 6 hours after a person’s peak intoxication. The stages go from mild to moderate to severe, and can last anywhere from 5 to 7 days. Generally after a week, the majority of withdrawal symptoms will have subsided, however, some may persist for several weeks without proper treatment.

Not everyone will experience each of these symptoms with the same severity either, but the alcohol withdrawal timeline will look something like this:

Stage 1: nervousness, insomnia, depression, nightmares, anxiety, fatigue, tremors, foggy thinking, mood swings, nausea, loss of appetite, and heart palpitations; 6 to 24 hours after peak intoxication.
Stage 2: high blood pressure, increased body temperature, headache, clammy skin, profuse sweating, rapid breathing, worsening mood swings and irritability, unusual heart rate, and confusion; 24 to 72 hours after peak intoxication.
Stage 3: fever, seizures, delirium tremens—hallucinations, severe mental confusion, and disorientation come with this stage; 72+ hours after peak intoxication.

Approximately 10 percent of patients will experience severe withdrawal symptoms. The mortality rate among patients exhibiting delirium tremens is anywhere from 5 to 25 percent.

Risk factors for prolonged or complicated alcohol withdrawal include lifetime or current long duration of alcohol consumption, lifetime prior detoxifications, prior seizures, prior episodes of delirium tremens, and current intense craving for alcohol (NIAAA).

What Are Seizures From Alcohol Withdrawal?

Seizures during acute alcohol withdrawal are characterized by muscle spasms, contractions, twitching, and convulsions. Seizures that begin locally with the twitching of a limb suggest a co-occurring disorder and need to be fully investigated (NIAAA).

A co-occurring disorder can refer to when an alcohol use disorder such as alcohol abuse, or alcoholism, occurs at the same time as a mental disorder like generalized anxiety, or depression. Co-occurring disorders seldom just disappear, and treatment may include a medical detoxification, or behavioral therapy to help someone stop drinking.

Similar to other alcohol withdrawal symptoms, not every person will experience seizures. Regardless, seizures occur in more than 5 percent of patients with acute alcohol withdrawal.

“More than 90 percent of alcohol withdrawal seizures occur within 48 hours after the patient stops drinking. Fewer than 3 percent of such seizures may occur 5 to 20 days after the last drink. Clinical data suggest that the likelihood of having withdrawal seizures, as well as the severity of those seizures, increases with the number of past withdrawals,” (NIAAA).

In other words, the number of detoxifications and withdrawal complications can increase the likelihood of seizures. The development of each is “ascribed to as cumulative long-term changes in brain excitability,” and is referred to as the kindling hypothesis.

Alcohol withdrawal can be a dangerous situation, and may need more than just an at-home detoxification. The seizures, and delirium tremens resulting from alcohol withdrawal can actually result in permanent brain damage.

Another result of delirium and cognitive impairment is called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, which is a chronic memory disorder that results from a nutritional deficiency, and can be completely debilitation, .

How Do I Safely Detox From Alcohol?

The first step in getting sober for most drinkers is a supervised medical detox. Alcohol withdrawal can be deadly, and should never be attempted alone.

When a person drinks heavily, they may become gaunt, malnourished, and not be able to process fluid or food normally.

During a medical detoxification at an inpatient rehab, a person can have nurse practitioners and physician assistants guide them through the process, which can include:

safely removing alcohol from their body
watching for seizures, hallucinations, and delirium tremens
monitoring of:
- blood pressure
- body temperature
- vitamin, fluid, and food intake
- heart rate
- blood levels
- different chemicals in the body
some require fluids or medicines intravenously
medication-assisted therapy—sedative medicines until withdrawal is complete

After detoxification, the withdrawal symptoms should be pretty well taken care of, but other behavioral treatment programs should be considered. Detoxification merely takes care of the physical addiction to alcohol, but what a person is left with is the mental addiction.

Some of the different evidence-based treatments for a mental addiction to alcohol include:

Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Motivational Therapy
Support Groups
Individual and Group Therapy
Aftercare Support

No matter the route that a person chooses, freedom from an alcohol addiction starts with the first step, and those who receive treatment are on the path to success. Alcohol addiction doesn’t necessarily have a cure, but it’s still treatable.

We Want To Find The Right Treatment For You

Alcohol use disorders can manifest themselves after quitting alone is no longer an option. If you or someone you love is suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism, please reach out to us and we can work out a solution together. Contact us today.

For More Information Related to “Seizures from Alcohol Withdrawal” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – Alcohol Facts and Statistics
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – Complications of Alcohol Withdrawal
U.S. National Library of Medicine – Alcohol Withdrawal

Signs of Speedball (Heroin with Cocaine) Use

Posted on September 26, 2017October 12, 2017 by dr-admin

When a person mixes heroin with cocaine, they may seem anxious, uncoordinated, stupored, and drowsy. This mixture of depressant and stimulant is referred to as a speedball. A lot of people concurrently use heroin and cocaine to counter any side-effects from either drug, but it can also result in consequences such as respiratory failure, overdose, and coma.

What Is A Speedball And Why Is It Dangerous?

A speedball refers to a mixture of depressants and stimulants; it’s a form of polysubstance abuse. A few examples of a speedballing are alprazolam with methamphetamine, alcohol with amphetamines, or the most common speedball, heroin with cocaine.

People may use heroin with cocaine for the intense rush, or to minimize the negative side-effects or “come-down.” But the reality is the effect that mixing heroin with cocaine has on the body is unpredictable, and can be fatal.

How Cocaine Works

Cocaine works by stimulating a person’s central nervous system. It causes a flush of dopamine in a their brain, and increases their heart rate. The euphoric effect makes the user feel energetic, extremely happy, and often sleepless. Cocaine also acts on the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for regulating a person’s fight or flight response.

How Heroin Works

Heroin, on the other hand, works by depressing the central nervous system. Once it’s in the blood stream, heroin rushes to the brain and binds to opioid receptors—these are responsible for feelings of pain and pleasure, but also affect breathing, sleeping, and heart rate. Unlike cocaine, heroin affects the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body’s rest and digestion.

Mixing Heroin With Cocaine

When cocaine and heroin are mixed, their opposite effects can create a system debacle. This is because when both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems mentioned above, are attacked, the brain responds by sending a mixed signal of what to do. Another, perhaps more practical danger is that the effects of cocaine wear off much faster than heroin, which can easily result in respiratory failure.

Most of the time heroin and cocaine are diluted with non mood altering substances such as starch, sugar, flour, powdered milk, talcum powder, or even rat poisoning. So there isn’t always a way to tell what either drug has been cut with, thus the purity of each drug isn’t always clear. An amount that proved to be “safe” last time someone mixed heroin and cocaine, could be a fatal dose this time.

In 2015, heroin alone killed 12,989 people. That same year, cocaine killed 6,784 people. From 2010-2015, heroin and cocaine related deaths more than doubled with a combined total that escalated from 8,408 deaths in 2010 up to 21,823 deaths in 2015.

Mixing cocaine and heroin isn’t only dangerous, it’s part of a growing epidemic in the United States. Without a serious change, and the right help, a lot more lives may be lost to addiction.

Signs Of Speedball Use

Some of the signs of speedballing will be harder to point out than others, but it may help to be able to recognize the signs of heroin and cocaine abuse.

That’s because many of the side-effects of heroin and cocaine are, “associated with the abuse of either one individually,” (NIDA for Teens).

The side-effects of speedballing heroin and cocaine may include:

anxiety
high blood pressure
strong or irregular heartbeat
drowsiness
suppression of breathing
general confusion
incoherence
blurred vision
stupor
drowsiness
paranoia
mental impairment
uncontrolled and uncoordinated motor skills
risk of death from:
- stroke
- heart attack
- aneurysm
- respiratory failure

Why Mix Heroin With Cocaine?

The reasons that someone mixes heroin with cocaine can vary, but there are a lot of people who inject a mixture of the two to chase the perfect euphoria. Others may combine the heroin with cocaine to counter the drug side-effects like anxiety, depression, or even a crash.

Heroin is a mentally and physically addictive drug that can be extremely difficult to quit cold turkey. A lot of people are met with the challenge of intense mental and physical withdrawals when they finally do stop using heroin.

Everybody’s different, and there so there’s no clear-cut reason that people will mix depressants and stimulants. There are also people who use cocaine as a sort self-medication for heroin withdrawal.

Heroin withdrawal can include the following symptoms:

restlessness
severe muscle and bone pain
sleep problems
diarrhea and vomiting
cold flashes with goose bumps
uncontrollable leg movements
severe heroin cravings

(NIDA)

Treatment For Addiction To Heroin And Cocaine

Finding an evidence-based inpatient rehab center is the usually the best first step to get help for someone struggling with an addiction to heroin and/or cocaine.

Some of the unique treatment programs offered at rehab centers include:

Evalulation
Detoxification
Medication-Assisted Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Contingency Management
Individual and Group Therapy

Find An Addiction Treatment Program That Works

If you or someone you love is struggling with an addiction to cocaine and heroin, contact DrugRehab.org to speak to an addiction treatment specialist about how to get help. Your recovery is important to us, and your call will be completely confidential.

For More Information Related to “Signs of Speedball (Heroin with Cocaine) Use” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse: National Center for Health Statistics – Overdose Death Rates
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Cocaine
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Heroin
National Institute on Drug Abuse – How Effective is Drug Addiction Treatment?
NIDA for Teens – Real Teens Ask About Speedballs

The Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Valium (Diazepam)

Posted on September 22, 2017 by dr-admin

Some people mix Valium with alcohol to intensify the calming effects of each drug unaware of the dangers they present. Mixing alcohol with Valium can increase the chances of overdose, liver problems, cardiovascular problems, and memory problems.

Why Is My Loved One Abusing Alcohol And Valium?

Many people drink alcohol to help them relax or unwind, and mixing it with Valium can actually intensify those effects—in a negative way. That’s because alcohol is considered a depressant and so is Valium.

Valium is the most common brand name of diazepam, which belongs to a drug class called benzodiazepines. These depressant are most commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia, panic disorders, and muscle spasms. When dosage is being supervised by a physician, Valium can be also be a safe way to manage some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

Alcohol and Valium reduce the activity in a person’s central nervous system, which is why when someone drinks they often feel drowsy, sleepy, or lightheaded. Mixing the two can be dangerous, because each drug, no matter how potent, is intensified by the other.

Not everyone mixes alcohol with Valium to intensify the effects of each drug—sometimes it happens by accident. If it is on purpose, it might be easier to understand why they did it, if you know more about their background. That’s because addiction can have genetic, psychological, physiological and social factors that contribute to each individual’s illness and symptoms.

The fact is, it isn’t always easy to tell if someone you love is abusing drugs or alcohol. They may get defensive when confronted, change the subject, or seem distant. Here are some of the other things to tell if a loved one is abusing drugs or alcohol, they might:

spend a lot of time alone
lose interest in their favorite things
get messy—for instance, not bathe, change clothes, or brush their teeth
be really tired and sad
be very energetic, talk fast, or say things that don’t make sense
be nervous or cranky (in a bad mood)
quickly change between feeling bad and feeling good
sleep at strange hours
miss important appointments
have problems at work
eat a lot more or a lot less than usual

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Addiction is an illness characterized by a person’s inability to stop using drugs. That’s why some people are able leave substances alone, while others are not. A lot of people require an individualized treatment based on their needs, in order to stop using drugs.

Understanding An Addiction To Depressants

Addiction to benzodiazepines can result from past trauma, undertreated anxiety disorders, and also from excessive use of the drug. A lot of people start using depressants like Valium or alcohol to feel normal. But normal may be a term used for feeling relaxed, getting enough sleep, and so on. Using a drug to feel normal is a type of unhealthy coping, and it can be extremely dangerous. This type of coping has potential to lead to dependence, tolerance, lack of control, and co-occurring disorders.

As time goes on, a people might become unable to handle reality without a drug. They might take the drug so much, that they start building up a tolerance, which means that they need more of the drug than when they first started using it. After a person develops a tolerance to depressants, they become more likely to also develop a dependence.

When a lot of people become physically dependent upon drugs, they also begin having intense cravings, and may not be able to control of the amount they’re using, or when they’ll stop. Alcohol dependence is also referred to as alcoholism. Valium may have originally been used to treat a legitimate medical purpose, but when it’s abused, it can become a vice, and a person may not be able to find balance without it.

The same goes for alcohol—when a person drinks moderately, they may not have an issue with alcohol abuse or alcoholism, but as they continue binge drinking, or drinking too much, they may find that they’re unable to stop once they pick up the first drink.

What Happens When You Mix Valium With Alcohol?

An overdose is caused when a person takes too much of a drug and their body is unable to metabolize it fast enough. Mixing alcohol and Valium can increase the risk of overdose. It often leads to unintended, and unpredictable symptoms; an overdose can be fatal.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism not only does mixing depressants increase the chance of overdose, it can:

slow down heart rate
slowed or difficulty breathing
impaired motor control
unusual behavior
memory problems

As previously mentioned, some people mix Valium with alcohol without understanding the danger. Many will develop an addiction to both of these drugs. This is known as polysubstance addiction or polysubstance use disorder.

Polysubstance refers more than one drug, and is outlined by the Australian Government Department of Health as when “people who are trying to cut down their use of one drug find that they start to use more of another drug to help manage withdrawal symptoms. It’s important to be careful in these situations because the person might find they develop a problem with two drugs rather than one.”

Mixing alcohol with Valium also damages the liver, which is essentially the body’s filter. Liver damage can end with other, sometimes fatal, conditions such as cirrhosis, or hepatitis. When Valium is being prescribed to treat symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, be sure that your loved one is leaving enough time in between the two substances to avoid danger.

How Long After Taking Valium Is It Safe To Drink Alcohol?

The half-life of Valium is fairly long, and can be anywhere from 20 to 80 hours. Let’s say someone is fairly healthy in most respects, and the half-life of Valium in their body is 24 hours. This means that after 24 hours, half of the drug is still in their system. After 24 more hours, there will be a quarter of the drug left in their system. And so on…

On average, for a healthy person, there will have been up to 150 hours passed by the time Valium is completely out of their system—that’s just over six days. Mixing alcohol into that time frame can be extremely dangerous. A lot of people don’t realize this, but alcohol with Valium in the system can be fatal.

It’s different taking Valium after alcohol, because alcohol is out of the system at a relatively fast rate. Generally, it takes your body about 1 hour to process 1 standard alcoholic drink. For someone with a slower metabolism, alcohol might be in their system longer. The previously mentioned time frame of alcohol metabolism can also vary based on a person’s weight, age, amount consumed, and height.

Keep in mind that no matter what, it isn’t safe to mix substances, and if you’re having a hard time stopping, there’s help. In fact, there are people who make it their life’s work to help others recover from addiction. If you’re unsure about what to do to stop abusing drugs or alcohol, sometimes the safest thing to do is ask.

What To Do If You Can’t Stop Using Drugs

In 2009, 23.5 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem. Of these, only 2.6 million received it at a specialty facility.

It’s true, not everybody gets help for an addiction, even though it might be risky to continue living with one. It’s especially hard to lose a loved one to drugs or alcohol, if you didn’t know that they had an issue in the first place. If you think someone you love is suffering from a drug addiction, don’t give up hope, and don’t ignore the problem.

“About 570,000 people die annually in the U.S. due to drug use,” (NIDA for Teens). The fact is that there are too many good people lost to drug addiction, and the United States is currently in the middle of a drug epidemic.

One of the best ways to ensure your safety is to take an active approach towards recovery. There are a lot of different addiction treatments that help people overcome the mental and physical addictions caused by Valium and alcohol.

The first part of treatment is known as detoxification. This is essentially the removal of unwanted chemicals and substances, as well as management of withdrawal symptoms. The withdrawal symptoms of alcohol and benzodiazepines can be painful and uncomfortable—they also have potential to increase the chance of relapse. Once a medical detox is complete, the mental healing can begin.

Oftentimes, a mental addiction can be treated at an inpatient or outpatient rehab, with one of the following behavioral therapies:

Medication Assisted Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Mindfulness and Stress Management
Motivational Interviewing
Group and Individual Therapy

Find The Best Treatment To Help You Stop Using Drugs

If you’re ready to overcome addiction, but don’t know where to begin, contact a treatment specialist at DrugRehab.org. We want to help you or your loved one find treatment, figure out how to fund it, and where to go for it. Call today to learn more.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Valium (Diazepam)” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

Australian Government Department of Health – Polydrug Use
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – Mixing Alcohol with Medicines
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Signs of Drug Use and Addiction
Treatment Statistics
NIDA for Teens – Drug Facts Chat Day: Drug Use

Gray Death Heroin Abuse In The United States

Posted on September 21, 2017 by dr-admin

Resembling chunks of concrete, or concrete mixing powder, gray death is a lethal combination of some of the most deadly opioids known to man. Samples have been found to contain the designer opioid drug U-47700 (“Pink”), heroin, fentanyl, and various fentanyl analogues. All of these drugs alone are deadly, together the fatal potential is staggering. Gray death is reported to have a potency 10,000 times greater than morphine.

The State Of Heroin Abuse In America

Heroin has an increasingly changing face in America. Once a drug which many thought was reserved to urban minority populations, recent findings suggest that heroin abuse knows no bounds. White suburbia has been largely impacted, with the greatest effects felt in young, male populations.

But with this rising use comes new risks. While heroin, like many street drugs, has always been cut with other materials, the substances within this drug today are game changers. Though some adulterants are by themselves fairly benign, like cornstarch or milk powder, more and more deadly opioid drugs are being mixed into heroin.

Fentanyl and carfentanil are two extremely potent opioids which have been wreaking havoc across our nation in increasing frequency over the past year. But now there’s a deadly new concoction in town: gray death.

What Is Gray Death?

In early 2017, an unidentified super drug began surfacing within the South, predominantly in Alabama and Georgia. Ohio and Pennsylvania have also witnessed this drug’s destruction. At the onset of this fatal trend, emergency medical staff and forensic chemists didn’t even know what it was, or what gave it its distinctive gray hue. Hence why Russ Baer, DEA spokesman said that “It’s mad science and the guinea pigs are the American public.”

The thing is, no two samples are guaranteed to be alike. In fact, the chance that two will be different is far more high than that two would be the same. This inconsistency makes gray death a lethal wildcard in the world of drug abuse. But despite this unpredictability, experts do know one thing: gray death is well-deserving of its name.

“These chemicals are all very potent and very deadly in isolation, but in the wrong hands … that’s a fast-track route to the morgue.” These chilling words, reported by CNN, come from someone who knows this world far too well. Donna Iula, director of forensic chemistry at Cayman Chemical is a scientist whose life’s work is focused on identifying unknown street drugs like gray death.

Why Is Gray Death In Heroin?

After reading this, you may wonder why in the world would anyone ever be possessed to add such a lethal drug to their heroin knowingly? The fact is, many people don’t even realize they’re exposed to gray death.

But some people do purposely lace heroin with other stronger drugs (like gray death) to increase the pleasurable effects they seek or to overcome a tolerance. An addicted person’s judgement is often impaired. Chronic drug use changes a person’s brain, and as a person becomes addicted, the pursuit of the next fix or high begins to outweigh anything else.

These people may think that “if heroin is a rush, then how could I make it even better?” But the thing is, lacing heroin isn’t making it better, it’s making it more dangerous. In these impaired states, a person may turn to gray death or another synthetic opioid, without understanding the fatal capacity the drugs have.

Drug dealers often cut heroin with other strong opioids to increase the potency and to hook potential buyers faster. But more often than not, users and drug dealers alike don’t even know exactly what they’re putting into their supply, especially when it’s a substance with so many variables like gray death.

Gray Death Drug Overdoses

Like many of its individual components, a minuscule amount of gray death can kill. This amount is so small that a person doesn’t even have to use the drug to overdose, or to die. Like fentanyl and carfentanil, gray death can cause almost instant, fatal overdose merely by drug-to-skin contact. It’s reported that it takes up to ten times the amount of Narcan, a life-saving overdose reversal agent, to save someone from a gray death overdose.

Now imagine if touching this drug can do this, what using it by itself or within heroin can do. No matter how you administer gray death-tainted heroin, you’re quite possibly writing your own death sentence. Injecting, snorting, or smoking it all place you in the crosshairs of fatal overdose.

In many cases users don’t actually seek gray death out. Here, these individuals may prepare a dose of heroin, believing it to only be heroin, when in actuality they’re moments away from subjecting their body to the ravages of gray death.

Law enforcement, first responders, and the unsuspecting bystander or loved one can also lose their life at the hand of gray death heroin, simply by touching it or an object that came into contact with it.

How Do I Protect Myself And My Loved Ones From Gray Death Heroin?

First, if you have any reason at all to suspect that your or your loved one’s heroin (or other drugs) is cut with gray death, do not touch it or use it. Also, do not touch any drug paraphernalia, surface, or article of clothing that may have came in contact with it. And more importantly, if you believe that you or someone near to you is in jeopardy of, or actively overdosing, contact emergency medical services immediately.

We understand that many users, and even family members, can be frightened of contacting law enforcement when an illegal drug is involved. This is the most oft-cited reason why people refrain from doing this very thing.

But please know this, making this call could be the difference between spending another day with your loved one and planning their funeral. “The chance of surviving an overdose, like that of surviving a heart attack, depends greatly on how fast one receives medical assistance,” this cautionary statement from the Drug Policy Alliance illustrates the impetus of prompt action.

How Do The Laws Protect Me?

Some counties offer protection to those who turn in heroin and other drugs. One example is in Ohio, which has in many ways been ground zero for synthetic opioid overdoses. Here, a Hamilton County judge passed a law granting immunity to those who turn in these drugs. Additionally, as of June 2017, 40 states plus the District of Columbia have written Good Samaritan Laws or the like into their state’s legislation, reports the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

So what protection do these Good Samaritan Laws provide? “These laws generally provide immunity from arrest, charge or prosecution for certain controlled substance possession and paraphernalia offenses when a person who is either experiencing an opiate-related overdose or observing one calls 911 for assistance or seeks medical attention,” writes the NCSL.

If your loved one is using heroin, there’s another life-saving call you can make: the one that gets you treatment. Researched-based, inpatient drug rehab programs are one of the most defenses against the opioid epidemic.

Take Action, Save A Life

At DrugRehab.org, we understand the countless ways the opioid epidemic is ravaging our nation’s families. If you’re concerned your loved one could be at risk for using gray death heroin, let us help. Our knowledgeable treatment specialists can connect you to more resources and the best treatment option for your needs. Contact us today.

For More Information Related to “Gray Death Heroin Abuse In The United States” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

Fox News U.S. — Ohio county offers immunity to people turning in deadly drugs as heroin epidemic rages
National Conference of State Legislatures — Drug Overdose Immunity and Good Samaritan Laws
NBC News — What Is Gray Death? The Killer Drug Cocktail Is Latest Battle in War Against Opioids
NY Daily News — Dangerously potent new drug ‘gray death’ baffles authorities
USA Today — Gray death: It’s 10,000 times more powerful than morphine

The Dangers of Smoking Heroin

Posted on September 19, 2017September 20, 2017 by dr-admin

Heroin is a potent opioid drug derived from the opium poppy. It comes in several forms, including as a powder or sticky, tar-like substance called “black tar” heroin. Either of these forms can be smoked. Drug abusers smoke heroin out of pipes or inhale the vapors off of foil through a straw (“chasing the dragon”). Smoking heroin is extremely addictive and can lead to overdose and drug-induced illness and disease.

What Is Heroin?

Heroin is a derivative from morphine, another potent and addictive opioid extracted from the opium poppy. Like all opioids, heroin creates a sense of euphoria and relaxation. Also like other drugs within this class, heroin causes central nervous system depression, which is why this drug poses such a threat of overdose.

Why Do People Abuse Heroin?

Every user has their own reasons for abusing a drug, though the two most common are for self-medication and recreational use. In situations of the former, a person may be going through a tough spot in their life, or be struggling with a mental health problem, and desire to escape. Recreational users take heroin to create the intense, pleasurable states the drug produces, as well as to promote a sense of extreme relaxation.

How Do People Smoke Heroin?

Heroin is smoked in ways similar to other drugs. Some people may use a crack or meth pipe, which is most typically made from glass. Other individuals sprinkle the drug on top of tobacco or marijuana before smoking it in a bowl or joint.

Many people consider vaporizing heroin a form of smoking. Because of this, we will also discuss how people vaporize the drug. One of the most well known and pervasive is “chasing the dragon.” During this practice the user places the heroin on tin foil which is heated from below by a lighter.

As the heroin runs down the foil, and as the smoke rolls off of it, the smoke is said to resemble a dragon. To inhale it, a person may just breathe it in, but many people use straws or hollowed out pens.

Heroin drug abusers can be very inventive in their desperation. The drug may be:

Heated on top of a pop or beer can.
Heated and inhaled off the tip of a paper clip (in the case of black tar).
Smoked in a foil “tooter” (rolled up piece of foil).
Smoked from the glass that comes with a “love rose” sold at gas stations.
Vaporized in a light bulb turned vaporizer.

As you can see, many of these implements are items found around the house. Heroin is stored and transported in small plastic baggies, balloons, or tiny foil squares. Being aware of the paraphernalia used during drug abuse can make it much easier to spot an addiction.

When heroin is heated up, it will leave a resin behind. If you see a substance resembling this in odd places, such as on pop cans, paperclips, or lightbulbs, you need to be concerned.

Do not touch drug paraphernalia with your bare hands, or if at all if you can help it. Heroin is becoming increasingly cut with other drugs, some of which can be fatal if they come into contact with your skin.

Why Do People Smoke Heroin?

Heroin abuse is becoming more popular (and dangerous) than ever. Experts witness rising trends in heroin abuse in certain demographics which did not previously abuse the drug so extensively. One reason is because of heroin’s relatively cheap cost in comparison to prescription painkillers. A growing number of Americans have painkiller addictions, and when these drugs become too costly or hard to find, their habits frequently shift to heroin.

Injection drug use holds an intense stigma for some drug users, which leads many of these individuals to use heroin in other ways like smoking. These people may convince themselves that smoking the drug isn’t as harmful, or as serious of drug use. Both of these perspectives are dangerously wrong.

Does Smoking Make A Drug More Or Less Addictive?

While the delivery of a drug can change how quickly and intensely a person feels the high or “rush” associated with heroin, it does not protect you from the drug’s addictive potential. To compare, when heroin is injected directly into the vein (intravenously) these sensations peak at seven to eight seconds, whereas smoking elicits a euphoric state around ten to fifteen minutes, according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research.

Some people think that if they smoke the drug they’re protecting themselves from heroin’s addictive nature. No matter how you choose to administer a drug, whether it be by injection, snorting it, or smoking it, the cold truth is that heroin is highly addictive and deadly.

But the route of delivery does matter somewhat, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Heroin is extremely addictive no matter how it is administered, although routes of administration that allow it to reach the brain the fastest (i.e., injection and smoking) increase the risk of addiction.”

What Are The Dangers Of Heroin Abuse?

Smoking heroin carries all the general risks which are associated with heroin abuse. These include a high potential for tolerance, addiction, severe withdrawal, and overdose. More and more, authorities are finding heroin cut with fentanyl, carfentanil, and other deadly opioid drugs. If you smoke a drug laced with any of these, you could die virtually instantly.

Heroin can also cause:

Antisocial personality disorder
Brain damage
Depression
Miscarriage
Nausea and vomiting
Respiratory depression
Sexual dysfunction
Unplanned pregnancies

A heroin addiction can happen quickly. When this occurs finding and using the drug will take precedence over any other task or responsibility in a person’s life. Here, a person’s physical and mental health, relationships, job, schooling, and social responsibilities all become endangered.

What Are The Risks Of Smoking Heroin?

People who smoke heroin may think that they don’t face the risk of infectious disease like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C, since they’re not injecting the drug. Heroin changes the way your brain functions. This impairs your judgement, reduces your inhibitions, and increases risky behaviors. Cumulatively, these things lead many people to engage in unsafe sexual practices and/or to share equipment, which can still expose them to these diseases.

Since you’re smoking the drug, the organs and tissues exposed to the substance can be harmed, which can cause lung problems. Smoking heroin can cause an extreme cough and asthma, to the point a person may need a nebulizer, as cautioned by Livestrong. They continue, noting that a hoarse voice and coughing up blood may also accompany this dangerous practice.

When heroin is heated, it produces a vapor called pyrolysate. When drug users inhale this, they may be exposing themselves to leukoencephalopathy, a debilitating disease of the brain. Though rare, for over 30 years, scientists have been aware of the link between it and “chasing the dragon.”

The pleasure found in heroin abuse fleeting. Using this drug isn’t worth the risk of losing your health and life.

Don’t Let Your Heroin Addiction Consume Your Life

If smoking heroin is a problem in your life, we can help. We can help you to find treatment options and support through our confidential assessment. Call DrugRehab.org today.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers of Smoking Heroin” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

Livestrong — Signs of Smoking Heroin
US National Library of Medicine — Chasing the dragon – characterizing cases of leukoencephalopathy associated with heroin inhalation in British Columbia

The Dangers of Mixing Xanax and Oxycodone

Posted on September 12, 2017 by dr-admin

Mixing a benzodiazepine like Xanax with an opioid like oxycodone can increase the chance of respiratory depression, slowed breathing, slowed heart rate, overdose, and death. Benzodiazepines and opioids are highly addictive substances that can be difficult, and dangerous, to stop using alone. Professional treatment can help someone quit by teaching them to replace unhealthy habits and behaviors with healthy ones.

Understanding Xanax And Oxycodone Abuse

Xanax is the most popular brand name of alprazolam and belongs to a class of medications known as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines (benzos) are a type of sedative most commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and panic disorders. Xanax works by slowing down a person’s central nervous system and helping them feel relaxed.

Opioids like oxycodone are also known to slow down the central nervous system (CNS), and are commonly used in medicine to relieve moderate to severe pain. Oxycodone is the generic version of OxyContin. Because of the potency of oxycodone, physicians will regulate the amount of the drug that’s prescribed.

The problem is that both benzodiazepines and opioids often elicit a feeling of well-being and euphoria. It’s because of that feeling that people abuse each medication to get “high.” Opioids can make a person feel numb, drowsy, and elated. Mixing opioids with benzodiazepines causes that high to be intensified. This can be a dangerous combination, even with a small amount of each drug.

You may be wondering, “if these drugs are so dangerous, then how and why are people getting them?” Oftentimes, after a person starts abusing prescription medications, they start doctor shopping, and lying about symptoms. It can be very difficult for a physician to tell who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.

The predicament is actually getting worse. “The number of patients prescribed both an opioid pain reliever and a benzodiazepine increased by 41 percent between 2002 and 2014. That translates to an increase of more than 2.5 million opioid painkiller patients also receiving benzodiazepines,”(CBS News).

What Are The Consequences Of Prescription Drug Abuse?

Mixing opioids and benzodiazepines is incredibly dangerous, so much that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cautioned physicians and patients about mixing the two. The FDA stated, that “healthcare professionals should limit prescribing opioid pain medicines with benzodiazepines or other CNS depressants only to patients for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate.”

The FDA went on to say that “patients taking opioids with benzodiazepines, other CNS depressant medicines, or alcohol, and caregivers of these patients, should seek medical attention immediately if they or someone they are caring for experiences symptoms of unusual dizziness or lightheadedness, extreme sleepiness, slowed or difficult breathing, or unresponsiveness.”

In other words, mixing benzodiazepines and opioids increases this risk of overdose, and death. In 2015, there were 6,872 overdose deaths from benzodiazepines, and 5,826 of those deaths involved opioids.

Not only can abusing prescription drugs result in overdose, it can cause a mental addiction, or physical dependence as well. Mixing benzos and opioids can also lead to serious health problems with the liver, heart, brain, and stomach.

Opioids can be dangerous without the help of Xanax, and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “opioids killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.”

What Are The Symptoms Of Withdrawal?

Whether they’re taken for a legitimate medical purpose or not, prescription Xanax and oxycodone can lead to a physical dependency. This essentially means that when a person stops taking the drugs, their body continues craving the active chemical.

Because opioids and benzodiazepines are both mentally and physically addictive, most people will experience physical and mental withdrawal symptoms when they stop. When opioids and benzos are mixed, the results are often unpredictable.

When a person quits using oxycodone, they may experience withdrawal that has potential to cause them to relapse. These withdrawal symptoms, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, may include:

restlessness
watery eyes
runny nose
sneezing
yawning
sweating
chills
muscle or joint aches or pains
weakness
irritability
anxiety
depression
difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
cramps
nausea
vomiting
diarrhea
loss of appetite
fast heartbeat
fast breathing

Stopping benzodiazepines cold-turkey can be very dangerous as well, and often intensifies withdrawal. It is for this reason that a physician will gradually decrease dosage. The withdrawal symptoms of Xanax, according to NLM, may include:

seizures
headache
blurred vision
increased sensitivity to noise or light
change in sense of smell
sweating
difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
difficulty concentrating
nervousness
depression
irritability
aggressive behavior
muscle twitching or cramps
diarrhea
vomiting
pain
burning
numbness
or tingling in the hands or feet
a decrease in appetite
weight loss

A medical detoxification can help a person safely remove a drug from their system while managing the symptoms of withdrawal. Detoxification may be required to properly treat an addiction to both benzodiazepines and opioids.

How Do People Become Addicted To Prescription Drugs?

Even when a person takes Xanax or oxycodone as a prescription, they’re at risk of becoming addicted to them. What usually happens with oxycodone, is someone starts out with an injury that requires pain relief. They take the medicine with no intention to abuse it, but overtime, with continued use, they begin to build up a tolerance and then become dependent.

At this point, they might enjoy the feeling oxycodone gives them. Many people who become dependent on opioids continue taking the drug just to avoid relapse, and might even switch to street drugs like heroin, because it can be less expensive while creating a more intense euphoria.

This is only a potential scenario, and doesn’t apply to everyone—the point is that though not everyone abuses prescription drugs for the same reason, all of our minds are wired the same way to crave things that make us feel good.

It can be really hard to understand why prescription medicines are so dangerous, but still used. The fact is that some people suffer from serious mental disorders while others have severe pain. These types of people still need medicine to help them deal with their illnesses or conditions.

NIDA for Teens described how addiction works, by stating that “prescription drugs that effect the brain, including opioid pain relievers, stimulants, and depressants, can cause physical dependence that could lead to addiction.

Medications that affect the brain can change the way it works—especially when they are taken over an extended period of time or with escalating doses. They can change the reward system, making it harder for a person to feel good without the drug and possibly leading to intense cravings, which make it hard to stop using.”

There are other factors that can play a part in addiction as well. These may include environmental, biological, or psychological variables. Some people suffer from mental disorders that require a medication like Xanax. This can be a difficult situation, because as a they continue using Xanax, they’re at a greater risk of becoming dependent, but if they stop using the drug they’re mental condition could worsen—this is where millions are met with a dilemma.

Not everyone’s addiction is the same either, so treating the addiction will be different for each person as well. There are behavioral and physical symptoms that usually need to be tended to in order for a treatment to be successful.

At the end of the day, addiction to benzodiazepines and opioids is not easy to overcome, but it’s still possible. Some of the different treatment programs that can help along the path to recovery include:

Medical Detoxification
Medication-Assisted Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Inpatient or Outpatient Treatment
Motivational Interviewing
Mindfulness and Stress Management

Find Treatment For Substance Use Disorder And Addiction

If you or someone you love is struggling with prescription drugs, please don’t wait to reach out to us. Contact an addiction specialist at DrugRehab.org today to learn how to overcome addiction and build a solid foundation to lifelong recovery.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers of Mixing Xanax and Oxycodone” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Opioid Overdose
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Overdose Death Rates
U.S. National Library of Medicine NLM – Alprazolam
U.S. National Library of Medicine NLM – Oxycodone

National Recovery Month

Posted on September 7, 2017September 7, 2017 by dr-admin

In an effort to raise awareness surrounding addiction and recovery, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has made September National Recovery Month. Every September, SAMSHA assigns a theme to the campaign and promotes their mission in communities across the country in an attempt to bring more understanding and erase the stigma surrounding addiction.

National Recovery Month 2017

This year’s theme is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Strengthen Families and Communities”. The basis around this theme is uniting families and communities together to fight addiction and support recovery. SAMSHA has chosen to focus on uniting families and communities in the wake of the opioid epidemic that has been sweeping across the nation in previous years.

With the opioid epidemic beginning largely with prescription opioids, SAMSHA is urging parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of medications, including prescription opioids, and educate families on keeping their prescription medications locked up and out of reach to children. For more information on this year’s National Recovery Month theme, visit https://www.recoverymonth.gov/.

What’s New This Year?

While drug addiction is not a new ailment to our country, we have seen some recent changes in trends across the United States. With a growing number of individuals affected by the opioid epidemic, experts have noticed increasing trends in addiction among rural and non-city residents. This is a newer trend that makes it more difficult to detect and track the distribution and sale of the drug. Many rural areas have far fewer people per square mile than cities do, leaving miles of un-patrolled roads and communities open for trafficking.

Previously, anti-drug campaigns were centered around inner-city schools, community centers, churches, and other city-wide organizations. However with the increase in addiction rates in rural communities, National Recovery Month is urging communities to work together in fighting the opioid epidemic, among other addictions, as it potentially creeps into their communities and schools.

Education is one of the best methods for fighting opioid addiction. Beginning drug education with kids, even at a young age, can be key to helping them make the right decisions down the road. However, kids are not the only ones who can benefit from drug education. Many grown adults are unaware of the dangers that some unsuspecting drugs, such as prescription medications, can carry with them. When communities are educated on drug addiction, they are better equipped to handle situations like the opioid epidemic.

Be Socially Inclusive

SAMSHA is fighting hard to remove the stigma associated with drug addiction and abuse. For this year’s National Recovery Month, SAMSHA challenges communities to be socially inclusive in their efforts to educate residents on the dangers of drug use, as well as celebrate those who have made it to recovery.

SAMSHA takes the time to highlight individuals who may suffer from mental illness, urging communities to involve them in their fight against drug addiction. Providing support and education to individuals suffering from mental illness could help prevent them from reaching for drugs in the future, or encourage them to reach out if they already struggle with a drug addiction. Did you know: One study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that over 50% of individuals suffering from a mental illness also struggle with a substance abuse problem?

Being socially inclusive also includes supporting individuals who are currently struggling with a substance abuse issue, and celebrating with those who are in recovery. Instead of shielding children from the facts and faces of drug abuse, it is important to include everyone in educational efforts throughout the community. Even allowing an individual who has previously struggled with drug addiction to be a part of the education process can be immensely beneficial, both for that individual and for the community they are educating.

Getting Everyone Involved

It is important to put a face to addiction, especially in communities that think “that never happens here”. Often times residents are shocked to learn that it does happen here, and it happens to people just like you and I. Removing the stigma associated with drug addiction can help bring people forward to tell their stories share in their recovery success.

Community organizations can help too. Schools are a great place for drug education to begin, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Fire departments, police departments, local churches, food banks, homeless shelters, and even book clubs and country clubs can join in on the mission. Addiction affects everyone, not just the shadowy figures depicted in movies. Supporting drug education in your area means you are supporting the entire community, not just a select group of people. Everyone has a chance to get involved and make a difference!

Get Help Today

Have you suffered from an addiction in your past? Do you have a loved one that is suffering from addiction? We are here to support you, your loved ones, and your community, and want to answer any questions you may have about addiction or treatment. Our goal is to get clients set up with the professional help and support they need to treat their addiction.

Our addiction treatment specialists are specifically trained to help you find treatment that fits your needs or the needs of your loved one and their addiction. Our addiction treatment specialists are available around the clock, and your call is always confidential. Give us a call today and let us help you.

For More Information On “National Recovery Month” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

American Psychiatric Association – Implementing Dual Diagnosis Services for Clients With Severe Mental Illness

The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Hydrocodone (Vicodin)

Posted on September 5, 2017 by dr-admin

Vicodin is a prescription medication used to treat moderate to severe pain which contains both the opioid hydrocodone and paracetamol (acetaminophen). Combining alcohol with an opioid such as hydrocodone can lead to devastating consequences. Both drugs are central nervous system (CNS) depressants. Combining them magnifies these effects in a way which can lead to respiratory depression, brain damage, coma, and death. Used together they can also cause kidney damage and acute liver failure.

What Is Vicodin?

Vicodin is a combination medication, that is, it actually consists of two drugs, hydrocodone and acetaminophen, both of which are painkillers. Vicodin is used to treat moderate to severe pain, either for the purpose of temporary relief or for ongoing chronic pain management.

When the drug is used properly, as prescribed, it is for most extents and purposes safe. But this safety is fleeting if Vicodin is taken in a way other than prescribed and/or with another drug.

While the acetaminophen is meant to somewhat act as an abuse deterrent, some individuals still choose to misuse their prescription or use Vicodin recreationally. Doing so can lead to dependence, tolerance, withdrawal, addiction, and overdose. Even individuals who misuse their own prescription to self-medicate can stumble onto this treacherous path.

Is It Dangerous To Combine Alcohol And Vicodin?

Alcohol causes the sedative qualities of opioid drugs to intensify. This can create an intoxicated state much faster than a person anticipates. Even using a small amount of alcohol with opioids can do this. This is why it’s dangerous to drink alcohol if you’ve been prescribed Vicodin or if you use it illicitly.

In these states a person will become uncoordinated with poor balance, which leads to a higher risk of falls and injuries. Memory loss will occur and a person will become too impaired to drive a vehicle.

Alcohol And Vicodin Have A High Potential For Overdose

As depressants, Alcohol and Vicodin both change the way your brain and CNS regulate your heart, breathing, blood pressure, and temperature rates, causing them to slow down. When you drink alcohol with Vicodin (even in small amounts), these life-sustaining functions can become seriously compromised and in certain cases begin shutting down.

If a person uses one or both drugs to excess, they face an even greater peril of progressing to a fatal overdose. When this happens your organs and life-support systems begin to shut down. This is just from the effects of the alcohol and hydrocodone.

The acetaminophen in the Vicodin can also cause overdose if a person consumes too much. MedLine Plus cautions that any amount reaching or surpassing 7,000 mg can initiate acute overdose.

What Are The Signs Of An Alcohol And Vicodin Overdose?

If your loved one is taking both alcohol and Vicodin, understanding the signs of overdose could help to save their life.

Signs of overdose include:

Cold skin
Decreased cognitive functions
Excessive dizziness
Extreme confusion
Irregular and falling heart rate
Irregular, slowed, or stopped breathing
Nausea and vomiting
Passing out
Seizures
Stupor
Weak pulse

One of the most dangerous side effects of overdose is respiratory depression. As a person’s breathing continues to plummet their brain is deprived of oxygen. When this happens, other organ systems follow suit and begin to shut down. The lack of oxygen can also lead to brain damage. During overdose a person can completely stop breathing, fall into a coma, and/or die.

Overdose is not something you can afford to take your time on. When a person is overdosing there’s a good chance they could lose their life unless they get prompt medical attention.

If you at all suspect that yourself or a person near to you is overdosing, or in jeopardy of doing so, contact emergency medical services immediately.

Using Vicodin And Alcohol Together Can Harm Your Organs

Both alcohol and Vicodin can, when abused separately, be harmful to your liver. When these drugs are used together the damage to your liver is compounded. Chronic drinkers should try to abstain from using any acetaminophen-containing product for these reasons.

Your liver is responsible for metabolizing alcohol. When you drink too much, such as within patterns of binge drinking or chronic use, this organ cannot keep up. This causes an immense strain on your liver, one, which over time, can lead to liver damage.

Vicodin abuse can also damage your liver. “Taking too much acetaminophen…is the most common cause of acute liver failure in the United States,” warns Mayo Clinic. Acute liver failure can, according to DailyMed, lead to liver transplant and death.

Using acetaminophen can lead to acute liver failure by one of two ways, either by taking:

A single dose of the drug which is too high
Doses higher than the daily recommendation for several consecutive days

For individuals who abuse Vicodin, this is a very real concern. Drug abusers use Vicodin in both of these patterns.

One scientific survey determined that this drug interaction can harm your kidneys too. It found that “Respondents who reported taking both acetaminophen and drinking lightly or moderately had a more than two-fold higher risk for kidney dysfunction.”

How Much Vicodin Is Too Much?

The FDA established that the maximum amount of acetaminophen per day is 4,000 mg. To put this in perspective, Harvard Medical reports that liver damage can begin occurring just beyond this, at 5,000 mg. This equates to just over 16 Vicodin a day (containing 300 mg of acetaminophen each). While this may seem like a lot, surpassing this amount can come quite easily to individuals who abuse this drug on a regular basis, especially for those who have a tolerance.

Tolerant individuals need higher doses of the drug to create the high or pain-relieving effects they seek. This, in turn, means they’re far more likely to take these toxic amounts of Vicodin. The range of Vicodin an addicted individual takes per day can vary, but some people may take 40 or more tablets a day. When the alcohol is added to the mix, it takes far less Vicodin to create these devastating effects.

Even light to moderate use of alcohol paired with prescribed dosages of Vicodin can begin to damage your organs and create an intoxicated state. The risk of overdose escalates when you increase your consumption of either drug. The bottom line is that combining these drugs in any quantity is harmful to your health.

How Do I Get Help For My Addiction?

If you’re addicted to one or both of these drugs you need to get help as quickly as possible in order to protect your body and brain. Fortunately, there are inpatient drug rehab programs all across the country which can help you with these needs.

Alcohol and Vicodin addictions often require a medical detox to treat the physical addiction. After you’ve progressed through detoxification it’s best to proceed directly to treatment. The most comprehensive programs offer both of these services under one roof.

During your program, medication-assisted treatments, behavioral therapies, counseling, and a wide-range of other modalities will be implemented to help you reach a sober state. Aftercare programs typically follow, which will help you to stay strong in your commitment to sobriety.

Don’t Let Your Addiction Go Any Further

If you’re concerned that someone you care about is mixing alcohol and Vicodin in a way which could harm their health, reach out to us at DrugRehab.org today. Our confidential assessment will get you started on the path to a healthier, drug-free life.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Hydrocodone (Vicodin)” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

DailyMed — LABEL: Vicodin HP
Harvard Health Publications — Overdosing Acetaminophen
MedLine Plus — Acetaminophen overdose
MedLine Plus — Hydrocodone Combination Products

The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Crack Cocaine

Posted on August 30, 2017 by dr-admin

Alcohol decreases a person’s fundamental ability to make sound decisions. As judgment, reasoning, and inhibition drop, a person is far more apt to make poor choices like using crack for the first time, or using large amounts within shorter periods of time.

Crack cocaine is intensely addictive, so much so, that according to CESAR a “A person can become addicted after his or her first time trying crack cocaine.” With this toxic drug cocktail your risk of overdose will always be higher, as is the chance that your body will experience other harm.

What Does Alcohol Do To Your Body?

Even though alcohol may make people initially feel more energetic, it’s actually a sedative or “downer.” When you consume alcohol it goes to work on your central nervous system (CNS) and begins to depress it or slow it down, hence why it’s also referred to as a CNS depressant.

As this occurs, your heart, breathing, and blood pressure rates all start to decline. The more alcohol you use in a shorter period of time, the more pronounced these effects. Alcohol greatly taxes a person’s liver and also affects their heart and brain.

How Does Crack Effect You?

Crack is a powerful stimulant. When a person uses crack their CNS speeds up (the opposite effect of alcohol) and their brain’s chemistry is immediately altered. Here, two things happen. First, as the CNS quickens, a person’s heart rate and other cardiac functions increase. Secondly, as their brain’s chemistry changes, and because crack is so powerful, they quickly begin to crave the drug.

Crack is far more potent than powdered cocaine, and thereby carries an even greater risk when abused. Despite this intense effect, the high or “rush” from crack is relatively short-lived (only about five to ten minutes).

To counter this brief effect, crack, like powdered cocaine, is often used in binges. This means a person keeps using the drug in rapid succession after the first dose, a practice which increases the risk of addiction, heart damage, and overdose.

Why Do People Use Alcohol And Crack Together?

The reasons are similar to most which fuel polydrug abuse. Some users ingest both because alcohol intensifies the high associated with crack. On the other hand, alcohol is often used to moderate the come-down associated with a crack high, or certain unpleasant side effects of the high itself, like twitching, tremors, or anxiety. Regardless of why a person chooses to use these drugs together, they are placing their life and health in a precarious position.

What Happens When You Use An “Upper” And A “Downer” Together?

Due to the opposing nature of each drug’s basic characteristics (one being a stimulant and the other a depressant) the drugs seem, at certain points, to cancel out the effects of the other.

This may lead a person to drink more because they don’t feel the intoxicating effects of the alcohol as acutely. Or a person may use more crack because the alcohol seems to balance out the heightened states associated with it.

Many users take these to be positive effects, when in reality they are anything but. This does not at all mean that your body is immune from the effects of the additional alcohol or crack. While certain effects may wane, the impact on other parts of your body and brain remain.

When you use both your CNS is caught in the middle of a dangerous tug of war which overburdens this critical system, as well as your heart. As your body is pulled quite literally from one extreme to the next in this way, your life is in jeopardy.

Alcohol And Crack Increase Your Risk Of Death

Both alcohol and crack, can, alone, cause overdose. Using these two drugs together increases the risk. As a person uses crack more frequently to fulfill their cravings, their CNS system becomes even more taxed, increasing the risk of overdose. This hazard is high when a person is binging on the drug, behaviors which increases when alcohol is present.

For individuals who aren’t accustomed to consuming alcohol with crack, the potential for a fatal overdose skyrockets. Alcohol can actually make it easier for your body to absorb cocaine, which increases the concentration of cocaine within your blood by 20 to 30 percent. From this effect, a person could overdose if they take an amount they are typically used to when using the drug alone.

In the instances where crack seems to “cancel” out alcohol’s effects, a person may continue to consume alcohol in pursuit of a buzz. The problem is that even though they don’t feel the alcohol, their body is still taking large amounts of it in.

Once the crack begins to wear off a person may become very intoxicated quickly, to the extent they get severe alcohol poisoning.

Also, research shows that cocaine as a whole has been linked to an increased risk of suicide when used with alcohol.

What Is Cocaethylene And Why Is It So Toxic?

When alcohol and crack cocaine enter your system within the same period of time their chemical components begin to react together, forming a new chemical called cocaethylene.

Cocaethylene itself has psychoactive properties that many users seek out even if they don’t realize it. This chemical has a longer half-life by three to five times compared to cocaine, which means it remains in your system longer, lengthening the euphoric state of the crack.

Cocaethylene has been associated with an increased risk of:

Cardiac complications: Various cardiac processes can malfunction from this chemical. The risk of heart attack climbs (especially in those under aged 40).
Liver damage: Since your liver metabolizes the two drugs to create cocaethylene, this organ can suffer substantial damage.
Seizures: Seizures can lead to bodily injury and head trauma, which could cause death.
Sudden death: Cocaethylene “carries an 18- to 25-fold increase over cocaine alone in risk for immediate death,” according to the Journal of Addictive Diseases.
Immune system: A compromised immune system makes it harder for your body to fight disease and infection and maintain an altogether healthful state.

Even though a user may feel the pleasurable effects for a more substantial period of time, the longer cocaethylene is in your system, the greater the opportunity it has to damage your body.

It is possible to treat two addictions at once. In these instances, inpatient drug rehab is typically the best choice for treatment.

Get Help For Alcohol and Crack Cocaine Abuse Today

If you or a loved one is addicted to both alcohol and crack, or experimenting with one while addicted to the other, don’t delay. Contact DrugRehab.org now to begin exploring your treatment options today.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Crack Cocaine” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

US National Library of Medicine — Effects Of Concurrent Use Of Alcohol And Cocaine
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics — Cocaine and Alcohol Interactions in Humans: Neuroendocrine Effects and Cocaethylene Metabolism

Ativan Withdrawal And Detoxification

Posted on August 29, 2017 by dr-admin

While most of us have become anxious or apprehensive at one point in time over something that worried us, for 18 percent of the population this anxiety can become excessive to the point it negatively affects their quality of life. These individuals have what is considered an anxiety disorder. Ativan is a benzodiazepine medication used to treat anxiety. Sadly, Ativan can be abused in a manner which leads to addiction.

What Is Ativan?

Ativan is a brand name medication of the benzodiazepine (benzo) drug lorazepam. As a benzo, it’s a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, which means it slows several important bodily functions, including breathing rates, heart rate, and temperature. The benzodiazepine class of drugs produce anti-anxiety, hypnotic, sedative, and tranquilizing effects. These actions are what allow Ativan to treat anxiety and short-term insomnia, specifically by the way it produces a relaxed state by decreasing activity within the brain.

Unfortunately, some individuals pursue these states for recreational purposes or self-medication, by taking the medication in higher than normal doses. These behaviors intensify these effects and also increase the risk of addiction.

Is Ativan Addictive?

Like all benzodiazepine drugs, Ativan has the potential for abuse and addiction. In fact, according to an American Family Physician (AFP) publication on benzodiazepines, short-acting benzos with a high potency (of which Ativan is) are more readily abused than their long-acting counterparts. This is because the effects are felt more rapidly and intensely.

Further, a US National Library of Medicine DailyMed article warns that “The risk of dependence…is further increased in patients with a history of alcoholism or drug abuse or in patients with significant personality disorders.”

While benzodiazepine drugs can, and are, abused alone, as the AFP notes, they are often used in situations of polydrug abuse. This is because users abuse them to balance their high or increase euphoria and to reduce withdrawal symptoms associated with a variety of other drugs. These behaviors are exceedingly dangerous, as several of the drugs used in these practices are CNS depressants as well (like alcohol and opioids). This combination drastically increases the risk of adverse interactions, including those which lead to overdose and death.

Lastly, some individuals may stumble into addiction. Individuals who have an Ativan prescription may alter their dosage themselves to try and self-treat their anxiety or insomnia. Doing so is considered abuse, and these increased doses significantly raise the risk of addiction.

What Are The Signs Of Ativan Withdrawal?

Within an addicted state, a person is dependent on Ativan to function and will withdrawal should they abruptly decrease their dosage or stop using altogether. Withdrawal includes a set of symptoms which can become intolerable and at times painful, if not treated properly. These include, as explained by DailyMed:

Abdominal cramps
Agitation
Decreased appetite
Depression
Diarrhea
Dizziness
Hypersensitivity to light and sound
Irritability
Nausea and/or vomiting
Panic attacks
Rebound anxiety
Rebound insomnia
Restlessness
Sweating
Tremor
Vertigo

These symptoms may become so extreme as to alter a person’s perception of reality, by causing:

Delirium (confused thinking and a disturbed state of mind).
Depersonalization (feeling detached from yourself, as if you’re not quite there).
Derealization (feeling like what’s around you isn’t real).
Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things which don’t really exist).

Attempting to treat these on your own is extremely unwise. Instead, consider a medical detox. This treatment delivers exceptional care to support and protect you through this trying time.

Why Is A Medical Detox Important?

Choosing to treat Ativan withdrawal on your own places your sobriety and life in your hands. Are you up to this challenge? The truth is, no one should ever treat this on their own, as a benzodiazepine detox is best addressed by comprehensive medical support.

Aside from alcohol withdrawals, benzodiazepine withdrawals are the only other form which can be directly life-threatening. Like alcohol withdrawals, withdrawal from benzos can cause seizures and delirium tremens, critical states which require immediate care, as they can endanger your life. At home you do not have the medical equipment or highly-trained professionals which can save your life, should this situation arise.

Withdrawal creates strong cravings. Without the support of a detox program you may be tempted to use Ativan again to avoid feeling this way.

What Happens During A Medical Detox?

Healing from addiction begins on a physical level, and during detox your body works hard to flush toxins out of its system. This process isn’t always easy and can be very overwhelming.

To address this, effective detox programs use medication-assisted treatments (MAT) to reduce or alleviate withdrawal symptoms. Within this, a variety of medications will be used to target specific symptoms of withdrawal, so that you are as safe and comfortable as possible. Detox provides 24/7 hour support, from start to finish of the withdrawal process.

Detox can be emotionally strenuous as well, which is another reason detoxing in a facility is so important. The facility’s staff will comfort you during this time, answering any questions you may have, or will simply provide an ear and any emotional support you may need.

Because benzo addictions commonly occur with other forms of drug abuse, additional medical support and medications may be necessary. For instance, alcohol, a drug commonly abused with benzos, is extremely dehydrating. To counter this, IV fluid hydration may be used. This, and other drugs of abuse, may require other forms of MAT to address additional symptoms of withdrawal.

Should You Get Treatment After Detox?

Detoxing alone isn’t enough to treat an Ativan addiction. To create a solid, drug-free life, you also need to treat the psychological addiction. To do this, a variety of behavioral therapies and counseling methods will be tailored to your specific needs. These will be offered in an individual, group, and/or family support setting.

Inpatient drug rehab is typically the best choice for a benzodiazepine addiction. Here, you’ll work through any issues that led to or aggravated your addiction, including any co-occurring disorders you may have been attempting to self-treat, such as anxiety.

If your anxiety is what led you to Ativan in the first place, it’s important that it’s treated too. When you suffer from an addiction and a mental illness at the same time, it’s called a co-occurring disorder or dual diagnosis.

Co-occurring disorders should always be treated while you’re treating an addiction. Failing to do so will only undermine your sobriety. A mental illness can aggravate substance abusing-tendencies, leading a person to relapse. The most effective programs offer comprehensive dual diagnosis care within their treatment programs.

Sobriety Can Be Yours

An Ativan addiction, and any co-occurring anxiety disorders, are best treated within an individualized treatment program. If you’d like to learn more about how a medical detox and inpatient drug rehab could help you to overcome an Ativan addiction, contact us now. Your call to DrugRehab.org is confidential.

For More Information Related to “Ativan Withdrawal And Detoxification” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sources

National Institute of Mental Health — Any Anxiety Disorder Among Adults