Fentanyl addiction is fueling the deadliest drug crisis in America. Learn how this synthetic opioid affects lives and how professional treatment can save them.
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An image of a well-dressed, attractive man sitting alone with a glass of whiskey in his hand, reflecting the hidden struggles of high-functioning addiction in men and the emotional toll it takes.
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Learn effective strategies for building resilience during recovery. Gain insights from personal stories of men who have overcome adversity.
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Heroin is a potent and highly addictive drug. Period. Full stop.
If a loved one is hooked on heroin, there’s a good chance that outpatient simply may not be enough to overcome the pull of the drug.
Every situation is unique but heroin falls into that infamous class of drugs known as opioids that have been tearing people and families apart for over 2 decades now.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lay it out plainly:
Concerning heroin specifically, the CDC notes that “nearly 130,000 people died from overdoses related to heroin from 1999 to 2019”.
The scope of the issue remains enormous and while inpatient heroin rehab isn’t a silver bullet, it does increase the odds of a sustained recovery.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines it as “an opioid drug made from morphine, a natural substance taken from the seed pod of the various opium poppy plants grown in Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and Colombia. Heroin can be a white or brown powder, or a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin.”
It’s worth noting that heroin is an illegal opioid, the methods of ingestion of which are injection, snorting and smoking.
The emphasis on opioids here isn’t an accident, NIDA adds that “about 80 percent of people who used heroin first misused prescription opioids”.
In other words, when a person grows dependent on their prescription and that prescription runs out, they turn to buy heroin on the street as it has very similar effects.
To be able to do something to help an addict, you need to be able to recognize an addiction. The sooner the better.
The ability to hook people fast is a well-documented aspect of opioids and the signs of that look like this:
Heroin takes a toll and it takes it quickly. Left unchecked, these signs and symptoms of addiction will only get worse over time.
There’s not necessarily a line in the sand that you would cross that marks the exact appropriate time to enter rehab.
As the above signs compound though, it’ll become more and more clear.
The key thing to look out for is the loss of control or the point at which heroin becomes the priority in your life. Where any and all decisions are being made through the prism of using heroin.
For rehab to have the best chance of succeeding, it’s important that you or your loved one is actively deciding to get better and not being coerced into treatment under some false pretense. In some cases that might even be achieved through an intervention.
If you’re concerned for yourself or a loved one and want to know if now is the time for inpatient rehab, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and speak to one of our addiction specialists.
Making the conscious decision to get clean and actively working towards kicking benzos is already a huge mental hurdle to clear and deserves applause.
It’s the first in a series of hurdles with the next big one being detox.
The entire process of recovery is a lot of work, no bones about it, but the rewards are so worth the effort. Having control over your life again rather than being directed by benzos is priceless.
Benzos, or benzodiazepines, fall into a class of drugs called sedatives.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds they’re “a class of medicines approved to treat generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, seizures, social phobia, and panic disorder. Benzodiazepines are also used as premedication before some medical procedures.”
Given how common some of those conditions are, it’s no wonder that research found benzos were the “most widely prescribed pharmacologic agents in the United States (more than 112 million prescriptions in 2007)”.
With a drug that’s become so ubiquitous, you’ll easily recognize some of the most commonly prescribed ones:
Understanding what a benzo addiction looks like is the only way to start solving the problem because if you can’t name it, you can’t fix it.
Addiction to benzodiazepines manifests in several ways, so keep an eye out for these:
You’ll also begin to notice behavioral, psychological/cognitive, and physical issues arise:
Don’t let these signs and symptoms pile up, take action early.
Detox unfortunately comes with withdrawal. That’s just the way it works.
And withdrawal from benzos comes with physical and mental pain. In fact, withdrawal symptoms can become so severe that they can rise to the level of actually being life-threatening if you try to quit cold turkey.
So, how to safely detox from benzos then?
Easy. By going through it under the supervision of experts in the field. Trained professionals who can support you through those very low lows of withdrawal and guide you towards that light at the end of the tunnel. At Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, we understand detox because it’s something we’ve been specializing in for years.
It’s critically important to keep in mind that detox from benzos is not the end of the process but rather it’s the beginning. It’s the start of your recovery journey.
Detox is about overcoming physical addiction. That’s only part of the battle because addiction is mental. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) puts it, addiction is “considered a brain disorder, because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Those changes may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs.”
So after detox, it turns from the physical to the mental and that’s where treatment and rehab come in. For more severe addictions, residential inpatient care is often the best course of action. Even better is finding a facility that specializes in recovery from benzodiazepine addiction which is exactly what you’ll find at VRC at Agua Dulce.
To learn more about our program, give us a call or shoot a message over.
Codependency is when there is a relationship in which one partner has extreme physical or emotional needs, and the other partner dedicates themselves to fulfilling those needs. A lot of the time, addiction and codependency are experienced simultaneously, and it can make it that much more difficult to recover.
It is common for those struggling with addictions to become codependent with certain relationships. Depending on the situation, many people tend to lean on one another that much more closely during vulnerable moments. Codependency and addiction can manifest itself in a multitude of ways. Codependency can occur in partners who are both abusing drugs, in children of people who are addicted to drugs, and with close adult family members or significant others of an addict.
When a person is in a codependent relationship with someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, both parties may experience negative side effects. Some of the risks of this behavior include the inability to focus on responsibilities outside of the relationship with this person, increased risk of developing an addiction, loss of relationships outside of the codependent relationship, and neglecting your own needs to care for someone else’s.
For the person who is struggling with addiction and codependency, the codependent relationship can have a severe impact on the addiction itself. Being codependent and relying on someone else to take care of you can severely impact the recovery process. Codependency can also turn into enabling. When an addict knows that they are being taken care of so closely, they may brush off getting help because they feel that they are already being helped. Additionally, the idea that the addiction may one day be resolved may scare either party off because they are scared to alter the intensity of their relationship.
When a person is struggling with addiction as well as codependency, it should be addressed and taken into account when starting treatment. First and foremost, there are studies that show higher relapse rates in individuals who exude codependent tendencies. Because the codependent partner may feel dependent on the addiction to maintain the relationship, returning to the relationship as it was after treatment may incur a risk for relapse for the addicted partner.
There are various ways to get help when attempting to get over a codependent relationship that involves addiction. First, it is highly important that you address the nature of your relationship at the start of rehab. From there, literature is a great place to turn to look for answers.
Some of the best books to help with codependency and addiction are: Codependent No More by Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie, The Power of Letting Go by John Purkiss, It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn, Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend, Facing Codependence by Pia Mellody and more.
Addiction is a complex disease that affects not only the person who is going through it, but also their loved ones and all the people they surround themselves with. It can be an extremely devastating thing to watch someone you love go through, therefore it is important to seek help from the right places.
Rehab offers therapy, psychoanalysis, medical supervision, and an incredible team of around-the-clock support that is essential to the recovery of someone who is struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Valley Recovery Center in Agua Dulce is an incredible place to start your recovery journey and to start making both yourself and your loved ones proud. Please visit us today to learn more about how you can recover from an addiction to drugs, alcohol, codependency, and more.
The first step to recovery is to admit that you have a substance abuse problem and to accept help. A lot of the time when you are the person with the addiction, it can be hard to see things clearly. Therefore, it can be difficult to evaluate or diagnose yourself properly. Rehab centers stress the importance of undergoing a drug and alcohol evaluation at the start of treatment as a means of diagnosing patients accurately and offering the right help.
Addiction is a disease categorized by the compulsive overconsumption of a harmful substance despite knowing the negative implications the drugs are having on your body. There are various indications that you yourself are suffering from an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Some of the symptoms that you are suffering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol include the compulsive need to consume the drug regularly (daily or several times per day), building up a tolerance to the drug where you need more of the drug than you initially used in order to feel the effects, having intense urges for the drug that distract you from other thoughts, consuming larger amounts of the substance that you initially intended on taking, spending money that you may not have, not meeting obligations or work responsibilities, cutting back on social activities you once found enjoyable, continuing to use the drug even though you are aware of its harmful side effects, doing things outside your normal behavior to obtain the drug (such as stealing), failing in your attempts to stop using the drug even though you may want to, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you stop using the drug.
There are also behavioral and physical signs to look out for when you suspect a loved one might be experiencing a drug addiction. Some of the behavioral signs include missing work or school, suddenly not showing up for activities they once enjoyed, isolation or hanging out with different groups of people, changes in behavior, mood swings, lack of energy, and changes in sleep patterns. Some physical signs to look out for, which may depend on the individual as well as the substance they are abusing, include sudden changes in appearance such as weight loss or gain, break-outs of the skin, bloodshot eyes, expanded pupils, slurred speech, lack of coordination, rapid or rambling speech, mouth sores and tooth decay, and chills and sweating.
When you or a loved one decides it is time to seek help for an addiction, it is imperative to undergo a drug evaluation. Drug evaluations allow medical staff, therapists, and addiction specialists to treat you based on your specific diagnosis. There are many cases in which addiction is coupled with a mental health disorder, otherwise known as ‘dual diagnosis,’ and treatment for dual diagnosis is entirely different from treatment for addiction alone.
It is unwise to treat a patient that has not had a proper drug evaluation. The implications of doing so will cause a higher chance of relapse because the patient had not been treated in full. For example, if you are suffering from a drug addiction, and you are also suffering from anxiety and depression, without treating both the mental health disorder as well as the substance use disorder, the patient will leave rehab without treating the root of the problem. Additionally, patients who might be suffering from a mental health disorder might require certain medications that they must start taking under strict medical supervision.
If you or a loved one is suspected to be suffering from an addiction and/or mental health disorder, we urge you to undergo an alcohol and drug evaluation “near me” so you can receive a proper diagnosis and get the help you need to overcome your condition. Start your recovery process the right way.
Change takes effort and work. It doesn’t happen overnight and it’s not necessarily linear with plenty of ups and downs along the way.
Because of this and other factors, it can be difficult for people to stay motivated and to see the treatment through.
While the goal of any therapeutic effort is to produce a change in a person, if a person isn’t motivated it can become a profoundly difficult and sometimes even fruitless endeavor.
That’s where something like motivational enhancement therapy (MET) can be a gamechanger.
But what is motivational enhancement therapy?
Motivation is a common problem for a lot of things in life. Getting going and being invested in something, even if it’s a clear net positive, takes dedication. Quite frankly, sometimes it’s just tough for people to get there.
Addiction specialists and treatment centers have come to understand this and now actively work to build that motivation with MET.
As the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) puts it like this:
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is a counseling approach that helps individuals resolve their ambivalence about engaging in treatment and stopping their drug use. This approach aims to evoke rapid and internally motivated change, rather than guide the patient stepwise through the recovery process. This therapy consists of an initial assessment battery session, followed by two to four individual treatment sessions with a therapist. In the first treatment session, the therapist provides feedback to the initial assessment, stimulating discussion about personal substance use and eliciting self-motivational statements. Motivational interviewing principles are used to strengthen motivation and build a plan for change. Coping strategies for high-risk situations are suggested and discussed with the patient. In subsequent sessions, the therapist monitors change, reviews cessation strategies being used, and continues to encourage commitment to change or sustained abstinence.
In a very specific study used to find out the helpfulness of motivational enhancement therapy on those with an alcohol use disorder and hepatitis-C, it was found that MET appeared “to increase the percentage of days abstinent in patients with chronic hepatitis C, alcohol use disorders and ongoing alcohol use”.
MET is used because on a basic level it takes motivation to get motivated and then to use that motivation to truly commit to a full-scale change in your life.
Motivational enhancement therapy isn’t itself a treatment for addiction but rather a complementary tool that aids in the effectiveness of a rehab program.
A manual published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism lays out basic principles of the MET approach, which serve to explain why it’s used:
Motivational enhancement therapy is about understanding and “listening rather than telling”. It’s not pushing anyone towards anything.
As the manual puts it, “motivation for change occurs when people perceive a discrepancy between where they are and where they want to be”. It’s only when you see this divergence that you can make a change.
Arguing can lead directly to defensiveness and ultimately resistance to change and “when MET is conducted properly, the client and not the therapist voices the arguments for change”.
Resistance in many ways is part of the process of rehab and changing one’s habits. The idea with MET is for the counselor or therapist to not meet resistance in a combative way but rather to take it in stride with the intention of shifting the patient’s perspective and perception.
On a basic level, this is about encouraging someone with a substance use disorder to believe in themselves and their internal power to change.
These principles are the building blocks of motivational enhancement therapy and why it’s used as a powerful tool in treating addiction.
It’s certainly something we employ at Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce, to learn more about this type of motivation and why it’s so helpful, give us a shout.
Alcohol is among the most widely accepted addictions you can find in the United States, it’s just utterly normalized.
For some, it remains an occasional, but controllable, habit. One that they can quit or cut back on without much effort or stress.
We can call those the fortunate ones.
For others, like with drug addiction, there’s a line that gets crossed where alcohol takes control and dictates what happens each day. It’s known as an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and it affected 14.1 million adults over the age of 18 in 2019 according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
AUD exists on something of a spectrum or continuum from mild to moderate to severe and the more severe the case of alcoholism the more dangerous it becomes, particularly in relation to detoxing.
Alcohol detox centers in California are exactly what they sound like; specialized facilities where you can detox from alcohol under the counseling and supervision of trained medical professionals.
Detox is truly the very first step on the road to recovery. Addiction to anything, be it alcohol or drugs, is both physical and mental but to be able to work on the mental side you first need to break the physical addiction.
That’s what detox is all about.
At an alcohol detox facility you’ll be guided safely through the process of ridding your body of toxins. In some cases, for more severe addictions, it’s possible to take medication to assist with the detox process. Utilizing medications can lessen the cravings and help to alleviate, mitigate and take the edge of the harsher withdrawal symptoms.
Medications like naltrexone, an FDA-approved option that can be incorporated into the treatment itself after detox, reduce cravings and help with maintaining sobriety.
If your addiction is on the serious side and your body is essentially fully dependent on alcohol to function, detoxing on your own can be particularly dangerous. That danger is compounded dramatically if you attempt to quit cold turkey and basically yank the rug from under your body.
Moreover, with intense and prolonged alcoholism you also run the risk of encountering a severe form of withdrawal known as delirium tremens or DTs. DTs are marked by “profound confusion, autonomic hyperactivity and cardiovascular collapse” which can ultimately be fatal.
While only 3% to 5% of those with severe alcohol go through this, the mortality rate is over 35%.
Even if your alcohol use disorder is milder though, going it alone represents an uphill battle.
Withdrawal is never easy or pleasant, no matter the level or degree of your alcohol use disorder. If you’re alone, that discomfort can grow unbearable to where it can feel like the only solution is just downing some drinks to quiet the storm brewing inside.
Critically, being by yourself through this process means you also lack a proper support system or network of people to lean on. Something that goes a long way when working through withdrawal symptoms.
And, of course, detox isn’t treatment and it isn’t recovery. You can be fooled into thinking that getting the alcohol out of your system means you’re good to go but the underlying causes of your alcoholism remain untouched which means a quick relapse is more than likely.
After detoxing in a dedicated facility staffed with medical professionals, it’s time to take the next big step on the road to sustained sobriety: rehab.
Fortunately, treatment for alcoholism is something we focus on at Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce and it’s something you can transition to straight from our detox program. Reach out to us today to learn more about our detox program and how we can help you achieve lifelong sobriety.
Quitting any drug cold turkey comes with some degree of discomfort but with Xanax that discomfort can turn into a very serious medical issue.
Stopping in an instant and doing it without proper supervision or guidance carries the risk of seizures, psychosis and more.
So, is quitting Xanax cold turkey dangerous?
Yes, it is.
Nonetheless, it is doable but the risk and agony are hardly worth it when detox and withdrawal under the supervision of medical professionals can mitigate all the dangers to such a great extent.
The recommended course of action for freeing yourself from the clutches of Xanax – and the entire benzodiazepine family of drugs – is to taper off the dosage slowly with the support and planning of addiction experts.
Xanax, the brand name for alprazolam, is a benzodiazepine “used to treat anxiety disorders and panic disorder…It works by decreasing abnormal excitement in the brain” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In other words, it’s a sedative.
Incidentally, if you click the link above, you’ll notice an extensive and lengthy warning about Alprazolam before you see any information about the drug itself.
The most important section for our purposes is this:
“Do not stop taking this medication or take fewer doses without talking to your doctor. Stopping alprazolam suddenly can worsen your condition and cause withdrawal symptoms that may last for several weeks to more than 12 months. Your doctor probably will decrease your alprazolam dose gradually”
Despite the dangers, the abundance of those suffering from anxiety and panic disorders in America has made Xanax “the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medication in the United States” as per the NIH.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that from 1996 to 2013, “the number of adults who filled a benzodiazepine prescription increased by 67%”. In 2013 alone, 48 million prescriptions were dispensed.
In scientific terms, “benzodiazepines [Xanax] bind to the GABA-A receptor… The major inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, when bound to the GABA-A receptor, mediates the calming or inhibitory effects of alprazolam on the human nervous system”.
In layman’s terms, Xanax slows down brain activity and helps calm you, which is why it’s known as a central nervous system depressant as well as a sedative.
Worth noting that this is also why mixing benzos like Xanax with alcohol can be catastrophic, the two depressants intensifying the effects of each other dramatically – potentially even leading to death.
Aside from the ability to live free from anxiety and panic, the addictive nature of Xanax is owed largely to the release of dopamine in the brain. You get addicted to the rush of “feel-good” chemicals – the reward – and once you build a tolerance, you naturally begin to crave more and begin taking higher doses.
This of course brings us back to the main question, is it dangerous to stop taking benzos, Xanax specifically, abruptly.
It very much is.
Withdrawal symptoms from Xanax span quite a range and can be extremely intense for some.
To say withdrawal can get uncomfortable is an understatement.
Therefore, the first step and safest step towards quitting Xanax is to do it under the care and supervision of experts who not only will develop a systematic and individualized plan for tapering your dosage (if that’s what’s best for you) but will also walk you through it and be there with you every step of the way.
Learn more about overcoming a Xanax addiction by reaching out to us at Valley Recovery Center at Agua Dulce.