Archive for October, 2009

Some Types of Drug Rehab Programs

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

There are a number of different philosophies in drug and alcohol rehab, that give us different kinds of programs.

Truly, rehabilitation by definition means to restore something to a former state as through training or education. So that would be the thing to look for - somewhere the addict will learn how to create a good life successfully without drugs or alcohol.

So we aren’t going to even going to discuss here drug replacement / maintenance type of treatments.

Here are some of the types of rehabilitation:

Bio Physical:
This type of rehab takes someone through a drug free withdrawal and then a full drug detox getting rid of the residual toxins that are stored in the body tissues. These steps are done along with good nutrition, vitamin and mineral supplements, exercise, sauna use and a regular schedule with good sleep. Following the detox steps the rehabilitation part of the program is done addressing all those components that cover creating a full, successful life with out drugs or alcohol. The programs are done for as long as it takes the client to do it, usually 3 to 4 months, but can be longer, the program cost does not change due to amount of time on the program. It has a very high success rate.

Twelve Step:
The most used approach in various types of rehabs. This is based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model with the twelve steps to sobriety, This covers all the AA, NA, CA meetings without actually being in a program to going to a rehab facility and attending meetings in house while there. Depending on the other components of the program some are more successful than others. According to Dr. Abram Hoffer, one of the early pioneers in orthomolecular medicine, a nutritional supplemental program was tested by Doctors in AA years ago and increased success of the program. Although thousands have recovered through the 12 Step approach, the overall success is not very high.

Long Term Religious Rehab:
This approach is one of faith. Rehab is conducted through bible study, prayer and services. For those with a religious nature and commitment it can be very good. Often times they will spend up to a year or more in a therapeutic community type of living arrangements, where everyone works together to keep the place running.

Dual Diagnostic:
This is also called co-occurring disorders. A mental illness is diagnosed like depression or bipolar as well as addiction. The idea is to treat both disorders. As all addicts have some crazy behaviors and certainly experience depression as a part of their addiction it really is an unfair diagnosis. Unfortunately the treatment of the mental illness these days comes in the form of a pill - most of these pills have black-box warnings and are addictive on their own. Don’t complicate matters by going this route.

Inpatient or Outpatient Rehab:
Most success we see comes from long term (over 30 days), residential rehab. It keeps the addict out of trouble, keeps his focus on what he needs to deal with personally without the day to day distractions. A return home plan is needed and follow up by the program very helpful as the ex-addict reenters the mainstream. Unfortunately there is an acute shortage of beds for all those in need of help all across the United States and Canada. The outpatient model can be very difficult, there is just too much temptation and triggers, however some do succeed. It is usually highly advantageous to attend a long term residential program.

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When You Need Reassurance

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Sometimes it is difficult to keep hope up for an end to addiction.
Maybe you have tried a couple of times or a couple of dozen times.
Well try again, there is nothing to lose and a new life to gain!
If you are the family of an addict, and you have tried everything, you are in the same boat.
Don’t give up hope, take a deep breath and get back at it.
Call us if you need help - that’s what we are here for.

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Intervention - by Family and Friends or Life

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

The family and friends of an alcoholic or drug addict are often at a loss as to how to help them.

This leads to enabling behaviors where they actually make it possible for the addict to continue the addiction without the consequences. They pay the rent when the money was spent on drugs, take them in when they have no where to go, bail them out of legal problems, lie to employers for them etc.

They know they are not helping, but trying to get them to a program that will help goes no where. The addict doesn’t have a problem, if he just had some gas money he would get out tomorrow and get a job, he can quit on his own and on and on and on.

So friends and family are faced with doing an intervention.

The very word intervention comes from Latin inter meaning between and venire meaning to come. By definition the word means to purposely involve yourself in a situation, especially a dispute or conflict to influence what is happening and prevent undesirable consequences.

So what happens if no one takes the steps of intervention with the addict? Well life itself with do the intervention. And life can be brutal.

Families and friends who want to do the right thing do an intervention. The end result is the addict willingly going for help without being punished or humiliated. The help of a professional Interventionist to guide those doing the intervention can make the difference of success or disaster.

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Could They Be Using Cocaine or Crack?

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

What is cocaine?
The drug cocaine is extracted from the South American Coca plant. It is a powerfully addictive stimulant.
Crack is cocaine cooked in baking soda and water, sometimes a solvent is used to form a chunk. It is broken into pieces resembling small rocks.
Cocaine is a white powder and crack is an off white solid. The name crack comes from a cracking sound made when it is smoked.

How is it used?
Cocaine is most commonly snorted or sniffed into the nose where it is absorbed through the membranes, it can also be injected. It produces a high that lasts about a half hour
Crack is most commonly smoked. Smoking crack is called freebasing, it produces a faster more intense and shorter high.
It is the short term high that results in binges of repeated use that become more frequent and the dosage increases to achieve a similar high.

Street Names
Some street names for cocaine are coke, snow, blow, nose candy and others. Names for crack are crack, rock, freebase.

Signs of Cocaine and Crack Usage
If as a parent or spouse suspecting drug abuse here are some things to be aware of.
Cocaine and crack both come in small plastic bags that are twisted or tied off. If they have traces of white, crystalline powder it is probably cocaine.
Discarded syringes, spoons with burn marks or residue in them are evidence of intravenous drug use, cocaine can be injected.
Glass stems, brillo pads and stripped wires are used to smoke crack. Soda cans bent with indentations can be a homemade pipe. Baking soda is used to make crack, small mirrors or smooth surfaces are used to snort cocaine, traces of white powder on them can be looked for,
Someone sniffing a lot, has a red, raw or scabby nose, is possibly from cocaine snorting. Injection marks in the arms, knees, toes from intravenous use.
Smoking crack can result in burns on the lips, face and hands and a callus will form on the thumb from lighting the lighter repeatedly.
Usually a person on cocaine or crack will have glassy eyes with large pupils and might wear dark glasses even indoors to hide this. They will have a hard time relaxing, they might be nervous, anxious, irritable even aggressive. They may appear hyper and not be able to sleep for extended periods while high and then crash and sleep for days. Lack of appetite and weight loss can occur, excessive thirst, cotton mouth are also frequent. They usually have bad skin tone and a lot of blemishes.
The person will be short of money even if employed. Might spend an entire paycheck on a binge and be asking for money, loans and sell off possessions to get money.
The down hill slide is very fast.

There are devastating effects of long term usage. The addict has to take more and more of the drug to achieve the same high. He can experience enormous mood swings, paranoia, hallucinations.

If you are concerned that someone you love is using cocaine or crack, don’t wait, get help now.

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Addiction in the Work Place

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Companies are always looking for good employees, ways to increase productivity, cut cost wastage and increase sales. The goal of most companies is financial success as the result of providing a needed product with good service. They depend on the employees making and delivering the service to represent the company well.

Having a drug free work place is usually a high priority for all the above reasons as well as safety and health for all employees. One employee doing drugs and bringing all the related problems into the work place can mean disaster for the whole company. If you are employed and you are a drug user your job is at risk.

However, if you seek help most companies will be supportive provided you have been doing a good job. In many areas you can not be let go because of drug/alcohol use, but you can be for not attending work, doing a bad job, unsafe practices etc. If you belong to a union sometimes they can help.

If you or a loved is in a position like this now is the time to act. There are options, you can turn things around before it is too late. There are many programs available, some will cooperate with your company, getting you safely and quickly through an effective program and back to work.

If you are an employer looking for options to help valuable employees get themselves cleaned up and back producing then find a good service to help them.

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Saving Money with Rehabilitation

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

Is it worth the investment to get an addict into a drug rehab?
Why would you spend money on someone who is out there taking drugs, bent on killing themselves?
How much should you pay for a drug rehab program?
The fact of the matter is it costs money to continue an addiction and in most cases to stop an addiction. How much does the addict spend getting his drugs, how much do others lose in money and property because the addict turns to crime to support his habit, how much does a company lose by having an addicted employee?
Then there is the matter of emotional stress, families falling apart, children being hurt as a result of addiction - how much does that cost?
The judicial system of court time, police time, incarceration expense, what does that add up to?
What is it worth to have a neighborhood you feel comfortable in, safe in, where you aren’t concerned about drug dealers or old syringes at your child’s school or local park?
Drug rehab programs vary in length, services, success and costs. These are variables in the equation of ending an addiction. Each piece has to be weighted, given a value and from there you can work out your own resources and work out what you are willing to do to ensure success, sound monetary investment and a life saved.
If you love life, if you love someone make the investment!

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Good Advice for Pot Smokers

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

” The truth is marijuana probably isn’t going to make you kill people. Most likely isn’t going to fund terrorists, but pot makes you fine with being bored and it’s when you are bored you should be learning a new skill or some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out you are not good at anything.”

Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Southpark, My Future Self n’ Me
2002

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Heroin Addiction

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive opiate. It is commonly available across North America. It is available in a powder form ranging in color from brown to white or in a black, sticky substance known as black tar heroin. Heroin is injected, smoked and snorted. Street names are smack, junk, H, skag and many more.

Use of heroin builds tolerance and leads to addiction. It numbs pain and produces a sleepy euphoria. Pupils become pinned (smaller) and breathing is shallow. Breathing can become too shallow resulting in overdose that can be fatal without immediate medical aide.

Heroin is often cut with other substances so the addict does not really know the purity of what he is getting. Depending on what it is cut with and the amount of heroin in what he uses results in many overdoses.

Some of the many health hazards of injecting heroin are diseases such as hepititus B and C and HIV, collapsed veins, bacterial infections, abscesses, infection of the heart lining and valves. Any form of use can result in malnutrition and lack of menstrual periods for women and impotency for men. Babies born of addicted mothers are often underweight, do not go full term and undergo withdrawal symptoms at birth.

Withdrawal symptoms are physically gruesome including restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, muscle and bone pain, diarrhea, chills, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting. Depending on the individuals level of health these can be harder.

Drug replacement is a common protocol for heroin and other opiate addictions. This involves treating the addiction to heroin with a dependancy on methadone or suboxane. This is done to help order the addicts life and get him out of the need to be involved in crime as the replacement drug is given by a clinic or doctor. As this results in further dependancy it is not a good alternative for those who want to come clean of drugs.

In Europe and Canada there are areas where medical heroin is administered under government programs to addicts to reduce the harm they cause themselves.

For those who truly want to get their life back and not be dependent on any drugs then withdrawal must be accomplished safely and then rehabilitation done to help them with the drug depression, guilt, and learning the life skills so they can make a life for themselves they are happy with.

There are many programs available to help someone achieve this goal. Generally private rehab costs in the $10,000 a month range and there are many programs that cost less or cost more. The most important thing is that the program have a record of success and a philosophy agreeable to the attendee and sponsor.

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Methamphetamine

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

There is a very high use of methamphetamine all across Canada and the United States. It has very few medical uses, narcolepsy, Attention Deficit Disorder and short term weight loss. It is a schedule II drug, which means it has a high potential for abuse, it has a restricted medical use and abuse will result in in severe dependancy.

Methamphetamine differs from amphetamines only in the fact it is water soluble. This makes it faster for the body to absorb and also makes it injectable. Once it is ingested meth breaks down into amphetamine.

Meth comes in a pill to be ingested, a powder to snort or inject and in crystal to be smoked. In the crystal form it is referred to as crystal meth, glass, ice.

Both smoking and injecting results in a “flash” that only lasts a few moments but reportedly pleasurable, whereas ingesting or snorting results in a euphoric high.

Abuse can be low, where it is used as a stimulant, like other people use caffeine or nicotine and is usually ingested or snorted. Low intensity abusers say they like it to keep their energy up, stay awake, suppress appetite. At this level of abuse the addict often can hold a job, raise a family and if thus referred to as a “functioning addict”.

Binge abusers generally smoke or inject meth getting an immediate rush, where the heart beat, metabolism and blood pressure sore, this rush can last 5 to 30 minutes. It is followed by a high where the abuser might feel smarter, want to argue points or become fixated on some task. Depending on dosage this can last 4 to 16 hours.

As the drug wears off the binger will use again and do this over and over again each time the rush and high lessens until there is no longer a rush or high from the drug and the abuser starts to crash. During a binge the abuser will become hyperactive both mentally and physically. A binge can last 3 to 15 days.

Tweaking occurs at the end of a binge, the abuser may not have slept for days and will experience depression and a feeling of emptiness, they often are irritable and paranoid. They can appear normal but are actually unpredictable and potentially dangerous. Meth will not relieve this and often the abuser will use a depressant such as alcohol or heroin to get through this stage.

The tweaking is followed by the crash at which point the abuser is not a threat but becomes lethargic and sleeps, followed by a return to less than his normal state. He experiences depression and is lethargic. At this time they can once again binge.

If you or someone you know is addicted to meth, they need good help and need it soon. To break the addiction cycle it generally requires a long term, residential program, where the addict can learn to build a life he will enjoy with out the use of meth or other drugs. Contact us at 1 866 731 3729 to help you find just such a program.

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