Pain Killers- Abuse and Addiction

The injury was enough to warrant a subscription.  You were in a car crash, suffered a fall during your softball game or just came home from surgery.  Your doctor prescribed you a painkiller. Probably an opiate like OxyContin (codeine) or Vicodin.  Either way, the purpose was to treat the pain.  The relief was just a pill away.  After a while, the body needed more.  You needed more.  You developed a tolerance and now you are upping the doses to get the same relief.  You are now abusing the drug just to feel normal again.
Besides the higher doses, you’re probably taking them more frequent.  Instead of the suggested tablet(s) with a glass of water, you’re crushing it up and chewing them or snorting it.  YES, snorting the crushed up pill now in powder form through your nostrils.  Forget about the warnings on the label, you need this stuff.  You are now showing the signs of addiction as you crave more.
Unfortunately, that abuse has accelerated to addiction and now you can’t stop. It’s getting worse.  You start setting appointments with several different doctors to keep the supply flowing and the doctors questions to a minimum.  The body is dependent on the drug.  As you struggle to hide this addiction from loved ones, you become desperate to maintain the relief or fix by adding other medications or even alcohol to the mix.  By now, there is no hiding the addiction as you seek that “high” as often as you can. Eventually, you’ll try harder substances to feel the same effects.
The good news is there are indicators to show you, there is a problem.  A few signs to look for would be:
- your body needs the drug to function normally
- your tolerance increases over time
- withdraw symptoms surface when you try and stop
- you are using despite possible health risks
- you become defensive and/or deny there is an addiction
- withdraw from friends and family or daily  activities
- your behavior exhibits drug-seeking patterns
The first thing you need to do is except and recognize there is a problem and then seek help.
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Filed Under: Signs Of Addiction Tagged With: ,

Treatment for addiction to painkillers

You’ve acknowledged the reality that you are addicted to painkillers.  You’ve accepted it’s now time to get help.  How do you begin?  There are several approaches to battle this addiction depending on where you are with it. Unfortunately will power alone won’t get the job done.
If you are physically dependent on the painkillers, and decide to stop cold turkey, your body may still crave the drug due to the symptoms of withdrawal.  Withdrawal is when the body has gotten used to the external supply of medicine and the brain has released receptors to allow the drug to work, causing nerve cells in the brain to stop working normally.  Reducing or stopping the drug causes the body to go through physical changes or a chemical imbalance if you will, resulting in painful side effects known as withdrawal symptoms.
Withdrawal symptoms may include include:
- craving for the drug(s)
- Diarrhea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Mood swings
- Cold sweats
- Restlessness
Withdrawal usually lasts between 6 hours and a few weeks.  If you think you are going through withdrawal, you should consider some sort of detoxification program right away.
Detox is where you physically cleanse your body of the harmful drugs you put into it.  Usually done through a medical facility or hospital, detox is done by administering (of all things) drugs to control your withdrawal symptoms while cleaning you out. Basically, by blocking the receptors that allow the painkillers to have any effect on the brain. You may still have the psychological craving, but your body’s tolerance is greatly reduced.
Other methods of treating your addiction include individual and group therapy and residential treatment where you enter a clinic to avoid those outside influences.  If you are not feeling the symptoms of withdrawal, you should consider one of the later options.  Successful recovery
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Filed Under: General Rehab & Addiction Tagged With: , ,

Acai-The super food of the Amazon

"White" table grapes
Image via Wikipedia
This small black and purple berry about the size of a grape is from the Brazilian rain forest.  Acai (pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”) has been used by ancient inhabitants for centuries utilizing the berry’s health promoting properties as their source of wellbeing and vitality.
Grown in rich fertile soil in clusters of palm trees standing nearly 100 feet, this “super fruit” surely packs a punch with its list of nutrients.  Polyphenols, which has antioxidant properties that may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.    Phytosterols, which are known to lower cholesterol.  Omega 3 fatty acids which are known to prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer and assist in the function of the immune system and brain.  Antioxidants, known to defend the body against free radicals and vitamins and minerals.
Scientists refer to Acai as one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world, as they continue to study and document the berry.  It didn’t take long before the berry was sharing its beneficial properties worldwide with everyone serious about their health.
Although Acai is quickly making a name worldwide, be careful when purchasing the product.  Most products claiming to have Acai don’t have enough of the Acai ingredient to really work.  A couple of things to watch out for when shopping around.  First, stay away from products that offer free trials.  They usually get you when you pay for shipping and handling by sending you more every month unless you know to cancel.  Second, make sure you read the label for “berry skin and pulp” and that it’s been freeze dried to lock in all the nutrients with 1000mg doses.  That is the required amount per day to reap the benefits.  Third, stay away from extracts and blends.  Many companies blend the Acai with other ingredients to mask the fact that Acai does cost and they want to skim on the ingredients to offset the costs.
Like any new products on the market, make sure to do your own homework and research to see if Acai will benefit you.
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Filed Under: General Rehab & Addiction Tagged With: , ,

Medical Marijuana-Medicine or Recreational Drug

Pot shops, cannabis clubs, quick clinics, they all mean the same thing…  Medical Marijuana.  They seem to be popping up everywhere.  It’s funny that in Denver, there seems to be more pot shops than Starbucks.  That’s pretty bad when you consider these shops started off with the intent to treat those suffering from cancer and nausea-related symptoms. It seems just about anyone used to be able to show an I.D. card and it was off to market.  Now, it’s not that easy and you better have a serious medical condition to prove it.
In a 2002 medical review, cannabis (the active ingredient in marijuana) was shown to treat nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy from various cancers as well as treating eye pressure associated with glaucoma.  Other remedies included loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss. The argument is that there are identified health risks with marijuana use with regards to the smoke inhalation.  The tar and other components that get inhaled along with the complaint that you can’t be sure of the dose you are getting nor the type or strength of the marijuana.  Consistent marijuana use can affect your short-term memory, impair your ability to function and lead to depression and/or anxiety.  According to the FDA, “marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no current accepted medical use in treatment in the U.S. and has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.”
Cannabis has been legalized for medicinal purposes in Canada, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Italy, Finland and Portugal.  Here in the U.S., Federal Law forbids cannabis use, but each state is able to regulate use for medical purposes.  Repeat, medical purposes.  If you have a condition that may warrant medical marijuana use, please check with your physician about the benefits versus the potential problems.
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Filed Under: General Rehab & Addiction Tagged With: ,

Addiction–An Equal Opportunity Abuser

Depiction of a wino or town drunk
Image via Wikipedia
Addiction is completely democratic.  It does not discriminate by age group, sexual identity, race, creed, culture or economic status. An addict can be the teenager doing bongs in the backyard, the wino sleeping under the railroad tracks, or the nice little old lady scamming doctors for pills. It can be a lawyer, a mom or a professional athlete. Addiction effects every area of our society.
The good news is, recovery is also democratic. It is available for the teenager, the wino, the little old lady and the rest. Today there are highly successful Twelve Step recovery programs for alcoholics, drug addicts, and all sorts of other addictions–sex, gambling, shopping, you name it.
The first of these programs was Alcoholics Anonymous, and it was founded in 1935 by two drunks–a doctor and a businessman– who discovered that they could stay sober if they shared honestly about their problems, called on a Power greater than themselves to help them, and reached out to other suffering alcoholics.
Through trial and error, they set down guidelines for recovery which seemed to work for everyone who sincerely applied them. These became  the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and versions of the same are used in many Anonymous programs. The steps involve much more than abstinence from drinking. They are a method of character development which involves making peace with one’s past, and living for a cause greater than yourself, one day at a time.
After decades of failure by science and medicine to find a cure for alcoholism, it turned out that one drunk talking to another drunk was ultimately the most effective key to changing problem behavior. From these humble beginnings, there are now millions of members of Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in over 60 countries worldwide. The sister programs, Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, etc., are also growing rapidly and bringing hope to people everywhere, because they no longer have to face their problems alone.
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Filed Under: General Rehab & Addiction Tagged With: ,
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