Methadone and Suboxone can be used in opiate/opioid detoxification or as substitute/maintenance medications to replace heroin or other opiates/opioids. Some patients might take these medications for a few weeks or for several months, using it as a bridge to transition to total abstinence. There are also individuals who are not able to achieve and maintain…
DetailsAntabuse Antabuse (disulfiram) is an older drug that has been around since the 1950s. everybody calls this medication Antabuse, (the brand name); disulfiram is the chemical or generic name, and it is used in the treatment of alcohol addiction. Anyone who takes this medication and drinks alcohol while he or she is on it will…
DetailsMedication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) has historically focused on the needs of people who are addicted to alcohol or heroin and other opiates. Since the 1960s, antabuse had been the primary medication used for alcoholism, and methadone had been the primary medication used for opiate addiction. In recent years, additional pharmacological interventions have been researched and utilized.…
DetailsAlcohol For alcohol detox we use a tranquillizer or sedative replacement. Benzodiazepines are tranquilizers. Any tranquilizer can be used for this purpose. I personally like to use Valium (diazepam) as do most doctors, but Librium (chlordiazepoxide), Ativan (lorazepam), or Serax (oxazepam) can be used as well. These are all tranquilizers. Previously, barbiturates (such as Phenobarbital)…
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Detoxification means changing the resolution of a toxic state. Basically the brain has been poisoned and the manifestations of this are changes in behavior and changes in heightened body functions and physiology. Different drugs have very different withdrawal patterns, but there are some basic principles of medically managed detoxification. First we provide a calm environment…
DetailsAnyone going into the addiction counseling field should know something about the medications that are used in medical detoxification, as well as to stabilize active addiction and assist the recovery process. Even though therapists don’t participate directly in the medical aspects of the detoxification and treatment processes, it is helpful to know generally what physicians…
DetailsDenial can take many forms. As an addiction treatment professional, you will find many of your clients in various stages of denial. Their inner voice says, “I don’t have a problem; I can control this. Yeah, maybe I got a DUI (or even two), but I was just in the wrong place at the wrong…
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The emergency rooms are full of people on all kinds of drugs. Many hospital emergency rooms just let the alcohol-intoxicated patients lie there in a subacute area and “sleep it off.” The nursing staff monitors their vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and respiration) and makes sure that patients don’t go into acute withdrawal. Some…
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The structures in the brain that these neurotransmitters activate and that are involved in the addiction cycle are the prefrontal cortex, the nucleus accumbens, and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The reward pathway connects the VTA to both the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex via this pathway. The neurons of the VTA release dopamine…
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It’s important to have at least a basic understanding of the different parts and processes of the brain that are involved with the reward pathway because they are fundamental to addiction. There are neuropeptides that activate the various chemical receptors and act on the reward pathway. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that relay, amplify, and modulate signals…
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