Watching your loved one struggle with their drug use, repeatedly trying to stop on their own. You want to help, but you know that you lack the skills and background to truly reach your loved one in a way that gives them the kind of support they truly need.
You probably despair at each new low that your loved one descends into while in the grasp of their drug addiction, especially if they have been using drugs several years. Having watched a healthy, bright and promising person become so reliant on something so life-altering and devastating has probably created a feeling of helplessness, causing you to wonder what their future might hold. Or how long their future might be if they don’t get some kind of help.
Some Drug Addictions Require In-Treatment Medications
The more you know about your loved one’s addiction, the easier you will find your search for a drug treatment program that can treat their addiction. Programs can help your loved one detox from addiction with the assistance of pharmacological treatment. Substance monitoring will help them stay on track.
Many times when patients first stop taking opioids, such as heroin, hydrocodone or dilaudid, they suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms, which include pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting1. Medications such as methadone and buprenorphine work as agonists which ease the craving for the opioid itself and help to prevent relapse2. Patients also benefit from taking the antagonist drug naltrexone to help prevent a relapse in their long-term post-rehabilitative care plan.
Supplements to Help with Maintenance
Other drugs that drug treatment centers use to help patients include a simple vitamin C supplement for methamphetamine drug users while those addicted to alcohol sometimes benefit from SSRIs, tricyclic antidepressants and BuSpar3.
No matter what drug, or drugs, your loved one uses, it is important to find a substance abuse treatment center that will give them every possible chance to detox with as little pain and illness as possible.
Monitoring the Detox Process Is Critical for Drug Treatment Centers
During treatment, it is important that the drug treatment facility’s staff carefully monitor an individual’s progress. Patients often respond well to monitoring of their drug treatment since it serves as a powerful incentive for them to resist the urge to relapse and use drugs again4.
When a patient is continuously monitored, the staff can detect an early indication of a patients relapse. At that time the treatment facility will reassess the patients treatment program and determine the next step to be taken5.
If you need more information about a pharmacological detox plan to help your loved one, contact Avalon Malibu for a confidential consultation.
References:
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, November 2014, http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/heroin/what-are-treatments-heroin-addiction
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), February 2002, http://www.cdc.gov/idu/facts/MethadoneFin.pdf
- PsychCentral, January 2013, http://psychcentral.com/lib/detoxing-from-drugs-and-alcohol/
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, December 2012, http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/principles-drug-addiction-treatment-research-based-guide-third-edition/principles-effective-treatment
- National Institutes on Health, 1999, http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct99/nida-12a.htm
