Cocaine impacts people differently, but it can actually be more harmful to teenagers than it is for adults, simply put. Cocaine addiction can be hard for family members as well. In a study by the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP), in Brazil, researchers discovered that cocaine abuse in teenagers results in deficits of sustained attention, working memory, and declarative memory.

With the multidisciplinary treatment approach offered at an inpatient rehab center, both teens and adults can overcome cocaine addiction, and return to living a normal life.

Why Do Teenagers Use Cocaine?

Cocaine is a white powder that’s manufactured from the leaves of the coca plant, which is native to South America. It’s a central nervous system stimulant, that’s often snorted, or mixed with a liquid and injected into the bloodstream. Cocaine can also be free based or smoked as crack. The majority of teens who try cocaine for the first time will snort it.

Where did it all begin? In the late 1800s, cocaine has been impacting society. But it got a lot worse in the 1970s and 1980s, when cocaine use became more of a trend among college students.

Why Do Teens Try Cocaine?

Psychology Today described teenage rebellion as a part of adolescent growth, stating that “it can cause them to experiment with high-risk excitement.” In this respect, cocaine might be deemed attractive, or mischievous because of the risk involved. Cocaine might also be viewed as something that rich and famous people do, but parents scorn. To a teenager, someone using cocaine might seem cool with their lingo, sex-appeal or expendable money.

What’s worse is that cocaine is also highly addictive, and also potentially lethal. Actually in 2015, cocaine was the cause of 6,784 deaths in the United States (National Institute on Drug Abuse).

Cocaine isn’t always called by name; it has nicknames or “street lingo.” Here are some of the most widely used terms for cocaine in the United States:

• Candy
• Blow
• Snow
• White
• Powder
• Toot
• Coke
• Yayo
• Line
• Rail
• Base
• Flake

Taking a closer look into a cocaine addiction reveals that it’s a lot less glamorous than it appears at first glance. Cocaine addiction can result in permanent brain damage, nasal damage, cardiovascular damage, or even spending time in a federal prison. According to the National Library of Medicine, cocaine abuse also comes with a risk of diseases like HIV and hepatitis from having unprotected sex and sharing needles.

What Are The Effects Of Cocaine On Teen Brain Development?

Cocaine gives a person a rush of happiness, numbness, or alertness. It gives them energy; so much that it may keep them awake all night. As it wears off, cocaine causes a crash, and can make that person feel irritable, hostile, and paranoid—which is what happens when the brain stops naturally producing dopamine. Teens might start using cocaine to fit in, seem cool, or rebel, but in the process they’re actually causing serious damage to their brain.

Scientists used to think that the human brain stopped developing in the teenage years. In recent years, however, it was established that the brain continues growing until well into a person’s twenties. Teenagers using cocaine are at a greater risk than adults for shortfalls in cognitive development in memory, and attention.

“Adolescence is considered one of the key stages of brain development when surplus synapses are eliminated and the structures essential to adulthood are selected and refined. Drug use in this stage can impair the brain programming process and lead to the loss of important connections,” said Paulo Jannuzzi Cunha, a professor at FM-USP.

Through their research, scientists at FM-USP found the main difference between teenagers and and adults who use cocaine was their attention span, and ability to perform more than one task at a time. In essence cocaine can change the structure of a teenager’s brain, the prefrontal cortex, and how it works.

Yale University has done similar studies to show that when a teenager first experiments with cocaine, “their brain launches a strong defensive reaction designed to minimize the drug’s effect… vulnerability to cocaine is much higher in adolescence, when the brain is shifting from an explosive and plastic growth phase to more settled and refined neural connections characteristic of adults.”

So what happens is the teenage brain actually changes the shape of it’s cells. This defensive reaction is controlled by a certain pathway in the brain involving integrin beta, which is a crucial gene involved in the development of the nervous system in humans.

When a teenager uses cocaine, the changes it makes to their brain can alter the rest of their life. These changes involve behavioral, developmental, and cognitive growth impairment. If one should become addicted to cocaine, the drug not only has potential to damage the brain, but can also result in heart attack, and stroke.

How Can I Tell If A Teenager Is Using Cocaine?

It may come as a surprise that in 2014, there were 1.5 million people 12 and older using cocaine (NIDA). As parents, it can be difficult to believe, or realize that your child is using drugs. Most teenagers aren’t going to come home and tell their parents that they’re using cocaine. It can help to know what to look for. By understanding that addiction is a chronic disease; that someone addicted to cocaine is suffering from a mental obsession to use the drug. They might not be able to stop without help.

The signs of cocaine abuse and addiction are presented through nearly every aspect of a person’s life, and can include financial, behavioral, physical, and social problems.

At an inpatient rehab, the professionals not only understand what addiction looks like, but that it requires a treatment that will cover every aspect. If your loved one is having a hard time quitting cocaine, they may benefit from the comprehensive care, and education offered at rehab.

Treating Cocaine Addiction With A Multidisciplinary Approach

Teens are at a greater risk of developing a cocaine use disorder, which includes addiction.
In a normal brain the neurotransmitter dopamine is released into the reward pathway, when that person does something they enjoy. Then after the activity, the dopamine goes back into the cell that it came from.

When someone uses cocaine, the drug causes a flood of dopamine into their brain, and prevents it from recycling the neurotransmitter. The flood of dopamine is what makes a person feel high when they use cocaine.

When a person uses cocaine repeatedly, their brain may stop producing this dopamine naturally, which makes it nearly impossible to feel pleasure from normal activities. Further use causes them to develop a tolerance to the drug, where they need more of it to feel the same effect. After that, a lot of teens (and adults) become dependent and addicted to cocaine. Now they may need the drug to feel normal, whereas before it was just for a good time.

“The typical age-related pattern of drug use involves experimentation in the late teens and early 20s, so those who experiment before these typical times are the most at risk” for developing substance use disorders and addiction (NLM).

In the study by FM-USP, scientists found that those with severe cognitive deficits from cocaine abuse or addiction needed an intense multidisciplinary treatment approach to recover. This means that the treatment professionals are able to work against the addiction from several fields. Some of the methods included in multidisciplinary treatment include:

• Behavioral therapy and behavior modification
• Individual and group counseling
• Physical activities
• Pain management
• Social skills training
• Adventure or Wilderness therapy
• Nutrition counseling
• Stress reduction
• Alternative therapy such as yoga, acupuncture or massage
• Vocational training
• Family or relationship counseling and therapy
• Support groups
• Relapse prevention and aftercare

Teens Can Overcome Cocaine Abuse With The Right Treatment

If you suspect that your teen is using cocaine it is important to intervene and get them the help they need right away. Contact one of the treatment specialists at DrugRehab.org today for more information.

For More Information Related to “Teen Cocaine Use More Harmful Than Adult Use” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

How Long Does Cocaine Stay In Your System?

What is the Difference Between Cocaine and Crack?

Cocaine Use And Depression

Difference Between Amphetamines And Cocaine

Signs of Speedball (Heroin with Cocaine) Use

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse – Overdose Death Rates
National Institute on Drug Abuse – What is the scope of cocaine use in the United States?
National Library of Medicine – Are adolescents more vulnerable to drug addiction than adults?
National Library of Medicine – Cocaine
NIDA for Teens – Cocaine and the Teen Brain
Yale University – Cocaine and the Teen Brain: Yale offers insights into addiction

Along with intravenous injection, drugs like cocaine, steroids and heroin can be intradermally, subcutaneously and intramuscularly injected—also known as “skin-popping.” These types of drug injections can lead to health problems, euphoria, overdose, and amputations. Drug rehab centers can help a person safely begin recovery and stop abusing drugs.

Skin-popping is a method used to inject illicit substances like heroin and other opiates, cocaine, anabolic steroids, barbiturates, and some medications. Over the years, methods for using drugs have become more effective and easier. Skin-popping may be an easy method, but is just as dangerous as any other method and has potential to lead to serious skin conditions and other health complications.

What Is Skin-Popping?

Skin-popping is also known as subcutaneous or intradermal injection. It’s a preferred method of using black tar heroin, cocaine, and anabolic steroids. Intradermal injection is the introduction of a drug between the skin and fat just below the surface, and subcutaneous is injection of a drug into the tissue layers just beneath the layers of skin. A drug doesn’t work as quickly through intradermal or subcutaneous injection as it does from injecting it into the veins, directly into the bloodstream.

Why Skin-Popping?

There are a lot of reasons that people prefer not to inject chemicals directly into their veins. “For some, trying to hit a vein gets so frustrating that they just give up and shoot anywhere they can. Some do it because drugs absorb more slowly this way. Muscling and skin-popping give you less of a ‘rush,’ but the effects of the drug may last longer” (Public Health Seattle and King County).

People will also switch to skin-popping if frequent intravenous injections have led to hardened or scarred skin and the veins are no longer easily accessible. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), the most frequently used sites for injection are “the neck, supraclavicular region and the thorax.”

Some addicted individuals may be at the point that they aren’t so concerned about the rush, but more about the withdrawal that comes when they stop using the drugs.

Most Frequently Injected Drugs

The substances most commonly used for intradermal and subcutaneous injection are heroin and other opiates, cocaine, anabolic steroids, and sometimes barbiturates. Some of these substances are more dangerous and more addictive than others, but neither intravenous, nor intradermal, nor intramuscular injection is considered a safe alternative to use them.

“All three have serious risks. All three put you at great risk for blood-borne infections like HIV and Hepatitis B and C. Although muscling and skin-popping may cause more abscesses and skin infections, shooting into a vein may be more likely to cause serious long-term illnesses like endocarditis (heart valve infection)” (Public Health Seattle and King County).

Intradermal And Subcutaneous Substance Abuse

Intradermal means “within the skin” and subcutaneous means “under the skin.” In either case, they’re types of skin-popping, and can lead to different health problems and skin conditions. Subcutaneous injection goes deeper than intradermal but not as deep as intramuscular. More specifically, subcutaneous injections are inserted into a layer of skin just before the muscle.

Intradermally Injecting Cocaine

Cocaine is a stimulant that has a serious impact on a person’s nervous system and heart. When injecting cocaine, the drug goes directly into the bloodstream. This not only intensifies the euphoria, but also the health consequences.

Intradermal cocaine abuse is actually associated with Fournier’s gangrene. Further, “cocaine abuse is associated with a number of medical complications, most notably arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and cerebral hemorrhage” (NLM).

Intradermally Injecting Opiates

Opiates like oxycodone, morphine, and heroin are the most commonly injected drugs and, like cocaine, they can lead to a lot of negative consequences. Opiates are classified as central nervous system depressants that cause a person to feel an intense euphoria, drowsiness, disorientation, and numbness. Heroin takes longer to reach the bloodstream through intradermal injection, so a person may use more of it to achieve a more intense high—increasing their chance of overdose.

Is Heroin More Addictive When Injected?

Some people believe that heroin isn’t as addictive when it’s snorted or used by skin-popping. This is not true. The drug is highly addictive no matter how it’s abused. The biggest difference between intravenous, intramuscular, intradermal, and nasal administration is the amount of time it takes for the substance to reach the brain.

According to the Center For Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), “intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of effects, as users can feel peak effects after 7 to 8 seconds. Intramuscular injection produces the euphoric high within 5 to 8 minutes, and when the drug is sniffed or smoked, effects are felt within 10 to 15 minutes.”

Heroin Overdose Statistics

CESAR goes on to describe the some of the side-effects of heroin by stating, “overdosing is a very real danger for heroin users. It is far more common than one might expect; a 2001 study in Australia concluded that 54% of regular injecting drug users reported experiencing at least one non-fatal overdose in their lifetime.”

Heroin overdose can include one or more of the following side effects:

• Extremely slow and shallow breathing
• Convulsions
• Pinpoint pupils
• Confusion
• Blue lips
• Weak pulse
• Low blood pressure
• Uncontrollable muscle spasms
• Disorientation
• Loss of consciousness
• Stopped breathing
• Coma

If someone is overdosing, they need to be taken to the hospital immediately. An overdose can be fatal.

Intramuscularly Injecting Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic steroids are the drugs most commonly abused by intramuscular injection, or muscling. Muscling occurs when a person injects a substance into the muscle instead of the vein, usually in the upper arms or legs. This method is commonly used in medicine for oral/dental surgeries, for substances that irritate the veins, or because a vein can’t be found. No matter which method is used for injecting, it can lead to abscesses, lesions, and tissue scarring.

Skin-Popping Abscesses, Lesions, And Scars

As substance abuse continues, the areas of injection become scarred, and lesions or abscesses start to form. When the body becomes infected, the immune system sends white blood cells to fight the infection. These injured sites become callused scar tissue over time.

“Scars are most commonly found on dorsal hands, digits, wrist, forearms, and lower extremities” (VisualDx). These scars and abscesses can last for life, and can show up years after a person stops.

Dangers And Complications Of Skin-Popping And Muscling

From Public Health Seattle And King County, “muscling and skin-popping allow germs to ‘sit’ inside muscle and fat tissue or under the skin. These are great places for abscesses and other infections to brew. Infections in these areas can be very serious. They can also spread to the blood, bones, heart and other places in the body. Some of the worst infections include wound botulism, tetanus (also called “lockjaw”) and necrotizing fasciitis (‘flesh eating disease’). If not treated quickly, these and other infections can become life-threatening and result in death.”

Treatment And Therapy For Addiction

Some people might continue abusing injectable substances to avoid painful withdrawal and intense cravings. Through a medically-supervised detoxification, these withdrawals and cravings can be managed through a healthy and natural process. After detox, addiction specialists, therapists, or psychologists can help patients better understand addiction, emotions, and behaviors.

Some of the most effective addiction treatment programs are:

• Professional Intervention
• Detoxification
• Evaluation
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Mindfulness and Stress Management
• Contingency Management
• Individual and Group Therapy
• Healthy Living
• Peer Support Groups
• Family Therapy
• Aftercare Support

Finding The Right Treatment For You

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, we understand what you’re going through. We want to help you on your road to recovery. Contact us today to speak to one of our kind, caring professionals about skin-popping and rehab treatment.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers Of “Skin-Popping” Drugs” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

Sepsis From Intravenous (IV) Drug Use

Cotton Fever From IV Drug Use

Cellulitis From Intravenous (IV) Drug Use

Recovery Solutions: Hepatitis C Treatment For Former IV Drug Use

Understanding A Needle Fixation

Sources

Center For Substance Abuse Research—Heroin
Public Health Seattle And King County—Muscling and Skin Popping
U.S. National Library Of Medicine—Fournier’s gangrene associated with intradermal injection of cocaine
U.S. National Library Of Medicine—Pneumothorax: A Complication of ‘Skin Popping’
VisualDx—Skin Popping Substance Abuse

Determining if someone’s abusing methamphetamine can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. Signs of methamphetamine abuse may include behavioral, paraphernalia, physical, financial, and social changes.

What Is Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine (meth) is a highly addictive, man-made stimulant that commonly appears as a white powder, pill, or glass-like substance referred to as crystal meth. Meth has several street names including chalk, speed, tina, crank, fire, glass, go fast, and ice. Though it’s chemically similar to amphetamine, greater amounts of meth get into the brain, making it a more potent stimulant, as reported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Some of the most popular ways to abuse meth are to swallow, snort, inject, and smoke it. Long-term meth abuse can cause irreversible physical and emotional damage, and overdose can result in death. If you find out your loved one is abusing methamphetamine, it’s important to seek help. The following are five signs of methamphetamine abuse.

1. Behavioral Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse

Methamphetamine can cause unusual behaviors like hyperactivity, euphoria, decreased appetite, paranoia, delusion, and increased energy or alertness. It’s also extremely difficult to sleep while on methamphetamine, and a meth binge can keep someone up for days.

The withdrawal symptoms when a person stops using the drug can cause insomnia, irritability, depression, anxiety, shaking, or fatigue.

Methamphetamine is also chemically similar to dopamine, and can make a person feel pleasure from the drug that can last all day. When the meth wears off, a person usually experiences a crash. According to NIDA for Teachers, “even small amounts of methamphetamine can cause a person to be more awake and active, lose their appetite, and become irritable and aggressive.”

Methamphetamine can also cause an overdose, which can lead to seizures, coma, and death. There are two types of meth overdose—acute and chronic, which are defined by the National Library of Medicine:

“An acute methamphetamine overdose occurs when someone takes this drug by accident or on purpose and has side effects. These side effects can be life-threatening. A chronic methamphetamine overdose refers to the health effects in someone who uses the drug on a regular basis.”

2. Paraphernalia Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse

Methamphetamine abuse requires the use of paraphernalia, and other objects needed for abuse of the drug. To someone less familiar with the drug, these may seem strange or foreign.

Types of drug paraphernalia can include:

• Needles or syringes
• Aluminum foil
• Sandwich baggies with drug remnants
• Burnt metal spoons
• Light bulb used for smoking drug
• Straws
• Rolled-up dollar bills
• Tubes
• Smoking pipes
• Unexplained chemicals

Methamphetamine can be created in home labs using hazardous materials, as well as chemicals, that typically create an excessive amount of waste and byproduct. Methamphetamine ingredients may include alcohol, benzene, ether, red phosphorous, iodine, acetone, paint thinner, camp stove fuel, heet, ammonia, lye, drano, hydrochloric acid, propane cylinders, ephedrine, bronchodilators, and battery acid.

If you believe someone is conducting a meth lab, do not try to take the situation into your own hands, and don’t touch anything. To avoid serious injury and violence, it’s absolutely vital to contact authorities.

3. Physical Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse

If your loved one has been abusing methamphetamine, they may start to show adverse physical changes. The physical signs of methamphetamine abuse can be pretty obvious, and may start with dilated pupils, droopy or twitching eyes, and excessive weight loss.

As a person continues abusing meth, they may experience further problems, including:

• Tooth decay (meth mouth)
• Frequent nose bleeds
• Chest pain
• Track marks
• Offensive body odors
• Skin lesions—open sores from picking and scratching
• Boils
• Abscesses
• Infections
• Premature aging

Some long-term health consequences of meth abuse may include

• Hypertension
• Destruction of muscles
• Kidney or liver failure
• Tachycardia
• Major mood swings
• Extreme paranoia
• Heart attack
• Hyperthermia
• Bronchitis
• Seizures

4. Financial Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse

Abusing methamphetamine can cost a person more than their good health; it can cost them a small fortune. By comparison, meth is considered one of the cheaper drugs on the street, but still a person might spend all of their money to continue using the drug.

Someone with a meth problem may constantly need to borrow money to fund their habit, even if they have a job. Friends and family members will do what they can to help their loved one, but sometimes without realizing they may be enabling them. Teenagers and students get a lot of their spending cash from parents, so as parents, it can be important to have an idea where that money’s going.

Someone who’s suffering from an addiction to meth might not be able to pay back loans, pay medical bills, pay their rent and utilities, or pay for the general cost of living. Unfortunately, a person with a meth addiction may even resort to theft to pay for the drug.

5. Social Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse

Methamphetamine abuse can also make a person extremely antisocial. Even when including themselves in social functions, a person suffering from methamphetamine abuse may not seem like themselves. It’s pretty common for someone with a meth addiction to push away old friends, and start hanging around those who are willing to accept their decision to use drugs.

If your friend or family member is struggling with an addiction to meth, please don’t give up on them. They need your love and support. But remember that you can be a friend to someone without giving them money, enabling, or accepting their drug addiction.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is turn the problem over to someone who better understands it—like the professionals at an addiction rehab center.

Find Treatment To Overcome Methamphetamine Abuse

If someone you love is battling an addiction to methamphetamine, contact us at DrugRehab.org. We can help you find the treatment you need to overcome methamphetamine. Your call will be completely confidential.

For More Information Related to “5 Signs Of Methamphetamine Abuse” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• How Long Does Methamphetamine Stay In Your System
• Understanding The Combat Methamphetamine Act
• The Link Between Methamphetamine Addiction And Parkinson’s
• A New Weapon in The Meth Crisis
• Sepsis From Intravenous (IV) Drug Use

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse—What is Methamphetamine?
National Library of Medicine —Methamphetamine Overdose
NIDA for Teachers—Mind Over Matter: Methamphetamine (Meth)
NIDA for Teens—Methamphetamine (Meth)

When a person mixes heroin with cocaine, they may seem anxious, uncoordinated, stupored, and drowsy. This mixture of depressant and stimulant is referred to as a speedball. A lot of people concurrently use heroin and cocaine to counter any side-effects from either drug, but it can also result in consequences such as respiratory failure, overdose, and coma.

What Is A Speedball And Why Is It Dangerous?

A speedball refers to a mixture of depressants and stimulants; it’s a form of polysubstance abuse. A few examples of a speedballing are alprazolam with methamphetamine, alcohol with amphetamines, or the most common speedball, heroin with cocaine.

People may use heroin with cocaine for the intense rush, or to minimize the negative side-effects or “come-down.” But the reality is the effect that mixing heroin with cocaine has on the body is unpredictable, and can be fatal.

How Cocaine Works

Cocaine works by stimulating a person’s central nervous system. It causes a flush of dopamine in a their brain, and increases their heart rate. The euphoric effect makes the user feel energetic, extremely happy, and often sleepless. Cocaine also acts on the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for regulating a person’s fight or flight response.

How Heroin Works

Heroin, on the other hand, works by depressing the central nervous system. Once it’s in the blood stream, heroin rushes to the brain and binds to opioid receptors—these are responsible for feelings of pain and pleasure, but also affect breathing, sleeping, and heart rate. Unlike cocaine, heroin affects the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body’s rest and digestion.

Mixing Heroin With Cocaine

When cocaine and heroin are mixed, their opposite effects can create a system debacle. This is because when both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems mentioned above, are attacked, the brain responds by sending a mixed signal of what to do. Another, perhaps more practical danger is that the effects of cocaine wear off much faster than heroin, which can easily result in respiratory failure.

Most of the time heroin and cocaine are diluted with non mood altering substances such as starch, sugar, flour, powdered milk, talcum powder, or even rat poisoning. So there isn’t always a way to tell what either drug has been cut with, thus the purity of each drug isn’t always clear. An amount that proved to be “safe” last time someone mixed heroin and cocaine, could be a fatal dose this time.

In 2015, heroin alone killed 12,989 people. That same year, cocaine killed 6,784 people. From 2010-2015, heroin and cocaine related deaths more than doubled with a combined total that escalated from 8,408 deaths in 2010 up to 21,823 deaths in 2015.

Mixing cocaine and heroin isn’t only dangerous, it’s part of a growing epidemic in the United States. Without a serious change, and the right help, a lot more lives may be lost to addiction.

Signs Of Speedball Use

Some of the signs of speedballing will be harder to point out than others, but it may help to be able to recognize the signs of heroin and cocaine abuse.

That’s because many of the side-effects of heroin and cocaine are, “associated with the abuse of either one individually,” (NIDA for Teens).

The side-effects of speedballing heroin and cocaine may include:

• anxiety
• high blood pressure
• strong or irregular heartbeat
• drowsiness
• suppression of breathing
• general confusion
• incoherence
• blurred vision
• stupor
• drowsiness
• paranoia
• mental impairment
• uncontrolled and uncoordinated motor skills
• risk of death from:
  • stroke
  • heart attack
  • aneurysm
  • respiratory failure

Why Mix Heroin With Cocaine?

The reasons that someone mixes heroin with cocaine can vary, but there are a lot of people who inject a mixture of the two to chase the perfect euphoria. Others may combine the heroin with cocaine to counter the drug side-effects like anxiety, depression, or even a crash.

Heroin is a mentally and physically addictive drug that can be extremely difficult to quit cold turkey. A lot of people are met with the challenge of intense mental and physical withdrawals when they finally do stop using heroin.

Everybody’s different, and there so there’s no clear-cut reason that people will mix depressants and stimulants. There are also people who use cocaine as a sort self-medication for heroin withdrawal.

Heroin withdrawal can include the following symptoms:

• restlessness
• severe muscle and bone pain
• sleep problems
• diarrhea and vomiting
• cold flashes with goose bumps
• uncontrollable leg movements
• severe heroin cravings

(NIDA)

Treatment For Addiction To Heroin And Cocaine

Finding an evidence-based inpatient rehab center is the usually the best first step to get help for someone struggling with an addiction to heroin and/or cocaine.

Some of the unique treatment programs offered at rehab centers include:

• Evalulation
• Detoxification
• Medication-Assisted Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Contingency Management
• Individual and Group Therapy

Find An Addiction Treatment Program That Works

If you or someone you love is struggling with an addiction to cocaine and heroin, contact DrugRehab.org to speak to an addiction treatment specialist about how to get help. Your recovery is important to us, and your call will be completely confidential.

For More Information Related to “Signs of Speedball (Heroin with Cocaine) Use” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• Gray Death Heroin Abuse In The United States
• What Are The Most Potent Opioids In The United States?
• What is the Difference Between Cocaine and Crack?
• Heroin and Alcohol: A Deadly Combination
• Risks Associated with Snorting Heroin (Insufflation)

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse: National Center for Health Statistics – Overdose Death Rates
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Cocaine
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Heroin
National Institute on Drug Abuse – How Effective is Drug Addiction Treatment?
NIDA for Teens – Real Teens Ask About Speedballs

Some people mix Valium with alcohol to intensify the calming effects of each drug unaware of the dangers they present. Mixing alcohol with Valium can increase the chances of overdose, liver problems, cardiovascular problems, and memory problems.

Why Is My Loved One Abusing Alcohol And Valium?

Many people drink alcohol to help them relax or unwind, and mixing it with Valium can actually intensify those effects—in a negative way. That’s because alcohol is considered a depressant and so is Valium.

Valium is the most common brand name of diazepam, which belongs to a drug class called benzodiazepines. These depressant are most commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia, panic disorders, and muscle spasms. When dosage is being supervised by a physician, Valium can be also be a safe way to manage some of the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

Alcohol and Valium reduce the activity in a person’s central nervous system, which is why when someone drinks they often feel drowsy, sleepy, or lightheaded. Mixing the two can be dangerous, because each drug, no matter how potent, is intensified by the other.

Not everyone mixes alcohol with Valium to intensify the effects of each drug—sometimes it happens by accident. If it is on purpose, it might be easier to understand why they did it, if you know more about their background. That’s because addiction can have genetic, psychological, physiological and social factors that contribute to each individual’s illness and symptoms.

The fact is, it isn’t always easy to tell if someone you love is abusing drugs or alcohol. They may get defensive when confronted, change the subject, or seem distant. Here are some of the other things to tell if a loved one is abusing drugs or alcohol, they might:

• spend a lot of time alone
• lose interest in their favorite things
• get messy—for instance, not bathe, change clothes, or brush their teeth
• be really tired and sad
• be very energetic, talk fast, or say things that don’t make sense
• be nervous or cranky (in a bad mood)
• quickly change between feeling bad and feeling good
• sleep at strange hours
• miss important appointments
• have problems at work
• eat a lot more or a lot less than usual

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Addiction is an illness characterized by a person’s inability to stop using drugs. That’s why some people are able leave substances alone, while others are not. A lot of people require an individualized treatment based on their needs, in order to stop using drugs.

Understanding An Addiction To Depressants

Addiction to benzodiazepines can result from past trauma, undertreated anxiety disorders, and also from excessive use of the drug. A lot of people start using depressants like Valium or alcohol to feel normal. But normal may be a term used for feeling relaxed, getting enough sleep, and so on. Using a drug to feel normal is a type of unhealthy coping, and it can be extremely dangerous. This type of coping has potential to lead to dependence, tolerance, lack of control, and co-occurring disorders.

As time goes on, a people might become unable to handle reality without a drug. They might take the drug so much, that they start building up a tolerance, which means that they need more of the drug than when they first started using it. After a person develops a tolerance to depressants, they become more likely to also develop a dependence.

When a lot of people become physically dependent upon drugs, they also begin having intense cravings, and may not be able to control of the amount they’re using, or when they’ll stop. Alcohol dependence is also referred to as alcoholism. Valium may have originally been used to treat a legitimate medical purpose, but when it’s abused, it can become a vice, and a person may not be able to find balance without it.

The same goes for alcohol—when a person drinks moderately, they may not have an issue with alcohol abuse or alcoholism, but as they continue binge drinking, or drinking too much, they may find that they’re unable to stop once they pick up the first drink.

What Happens When You Mix Valium With Alcohol?

An overdose is caused when a person takes too much of a drug and their body is unable to metabolize it fast enough. Mixing alcohol and Valium can increase the risk of overdose. It often leads to unintended, and unpredictable symptoms; an overdose can be fatal.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism not only does mixing depressants increase the chance of overdose, it can:

• slow down heart rate
• slowed or difficulty breathing
• impaired motor control
• unusual behavior
• memory problems

As previously mentioned, some people mix Valium with alcohol without understanding the danger. Many will develop an addiction to both of these drugs. This is known as polysubstance addiction or polysubstance use disorder.

Polysubstance refers more than one drug, and is outlined by the Australian Government Department of Health as when “people who are trying to cut down their use of one drug find that they start to use more of another drug to help manage withdrawal symptoms. It’s important to be careful in these situations because the person might find they develop a problem with two drugs rather than one.”

Mixing alcohol with Valium also damages the liver, which is essentially the body’s filter. Liver damage can end with other, sometimes fatal, conditions such as cirrhosis, or hepatitis. When Valium is being prescribed to treat symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, be sure that your loved one is leaving enough time in between the two substances to avoid danger.

How Long After Taking Valium Is It Safe To Drink Alcohol?

The half-life of Valium is fairly long, and can be anywhere from 20 to 80 hours. Let’s say someone is fairly healthy in most respects, and the half-life of Valium in their body is 24 hours. This means that after 24 hours, half of the drug is still in their system. After 24 more hours, there will be a quarter of the drug left in their system. And so on…

On average, for a healthy person, there will have been up to 150 hours passed by the time Valium is completely out of their system—that’s just over six days. Mixing alcohol into that time frame can be extremely dangerous. A lot of people don’t realize this, but alcohol with Valium in the system can be fatal.

It’s different taking Valium after alcohol, because alcohol is out of the system at a relatively fast rate. Generally, it takes your body about 1 hour to process 1 standard alcoholic drink. For someone with a slower metabolism, alcohol might be in their system longer. The previously mentioned time frame of alcohol metabolism can also vary based on a person’s weight, age, amount consumed, and height.

Keep in mind that no matter what, it isn’t safe to mix substances, and if you’re having a hard time stopping, there’s help. In fact, there are people who make it their life’s work to help others recover from addiction. If you’re unsure about what to do to stop abusing drugs or alcohol, sometimes the safest thing to do is ask.

What To Do If You Can’t Stop Using Drugs

In 2009, 23.5 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol abuse problem. Of these, only 2.6 million received it at a specialty facility.

It’s true, not everybody gets help for an addiction, even though it might be risky to continue living with one. It’s especially hard to lose a loved one to drugs or alcohol, if you didn’t know that they had an issue in the first place. If you think someone you love is suffering from a drug addiction, don’t give up hope, and don’t ignore the problem.

“About 570,000 people die annually in the U.S. due to drug use,” (NIDA for Teens). The fact is that there are too many good people lost to drug addiction, and the United States is currently in the middle of a drug epidemic.

One of the best ways to ensure your safety is to take an active approach towards recovery. There are a lot of different addiction treatments that help people overcome the mental and physical addictions caused by Valium and alcohol.

The first part of treatment is known as detoxification. This is essentially the removal of unwanted chemicals and substances, as well as management of withdrawal symptoms. The withdrawal symptoms of alcohol and benzodiazepines can be painful and uncomfortable—they also have potential to increase the chance of relapse. Once a medical detox is complete, the mental healing can begin.

Oftentimes, a mental addiction can be treated at an inpatient or outpatient rehab, with one of the following behavioral therapies:

• Medication Assisted Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Mindfulness and Stress Management
• Motivational Interviewing
• Group and Individual Therapy

Find The Best Treatment To Help You Stop Using Drugs

If you’re ready to overcome addiction, but don’t know where to begin, contact a treatment specialist at DrugRehab.org. We want to help you or your loved one find treatment, figure out how to fund it, and where to go for it. Call today to learn more.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Valium (Diazepam)” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Hydrocodone (Vicodin)
• The Dangers Of Mixing Alcohol With Crack Cocaine
• The Dangers of Alcohol Withdrawal
• How Common is Alcohol Abuse?
• Signs of Librium Abuse

Sources

Australian Government Department of Health – Polydrug Use
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism – Mixing Alcohol with Medicines
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Signs of Drug Use and Addiction
Treatment Statistics
NIDA for Teens – Drug Facts Chat Day: Drug Use

Mixing a benzodiazepine like Xanax with an opioid like oxycodone can increase the chance of respiratory depression, slowed breathing, slowed heart rate, overdose, and death. Benzodiazepines and opioids are highly addictive substances that can be difficult, and dangerous, to stop using alone. Professional treatment can help someone quit by teaching them to replace unhealthy habits and behaviors with healthy ones.

Understanding Xanax And Oxycodone Abuse

Xanax is the most popular brand name of alprazolam and belongs to a class of medications known as benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines (benzos) are a type of sedative most commonly used to treat anxiety disorders and panic disorders. Xanax works by slowing down a person’s central nervous system and helping them feel relaxed.

Opioids like oxycodone are also known to slow down the central nervous system (CNS), and are commonly used in medicine to relieve moderate to severe pain. Oxycodone is the generic version of OxyContin. Because of the potency of oxycodone, physicians will regulate the amount of the drug that’s prescribed.

The problem is that both benzodiazepines and opioids often elicit a feeling of well-being and euphoria. It’s because of that feeling that people abuse each medication to get “high.” Opioids can make a person feel numb, drowsy, and elated. Mixing opioids with benzodiazepines causes that high to be intensified. This can be a dangerous combination, even with a small amount of each drug.

You may be wondering, “if these drugs are so dangerous, then how and why are people getting them?” Oftentimes, after a person starts abusing prescription medications, they start doctor shopping, and lying about symptoms. It can be very difficult for a physician to tell who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.

The predicament is actually getting worse. “The number of patients prescribed both an opioid pain reliever and a benzodiazepine increased by 41 percent between 2002 and 2014. That translates to an increase of more than 2.5 million opioid painkiller patients also receiving benzodiazepines,”(CBS News).

What Are The Consequences Of Prescription Drug Abuse?

Mixing opioids and benzodiazepines is incredibly dangerous, so much that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cautioned physicians and patients about mixing the two. The FDA stated, that “healthcare professionals should limit prescribing opioid pain medicines with benzodiazepines or other CNS depressants only to patients for whom alternative treatment options are inadequate.”

The FDA went on to say that “patients taking opioids with benzodiazepines, other CNS depressant medicines, or alcohol, and caregivers of these patients, should seek medical attention immediately if they or someone they are caring for experiences symptoms of unusual dizziness or lightheadedness, extreme sleepiness, slowed or difficult breathing, or unresponsiveness.”

In other words, mixing benzodiazepines and opioids increases this risk of overdose, and death. In 2015, there were 6,872 overdose deaths from benzodiazepines, and 5,826 of those deaths involved opioids.

Not only can abusing prescription drugs result in overdose, it can cause a mental addiction, or physical dependence as well. Mixing benzos and opioids can also lead to serious health problems with the liver, heart, brain, and stomach.

Opioids can be dangerous without the help of Xanax, and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “opioids killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. Nearly half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.”

What Are The Symptoms Of Withdrawal?

Whether they’re taken for a legitimate medical purpose or not, prescription Xanax and oxycodone can lead to a physical dependency. This essentially means that when a person stops taking the drugs, their body continues craving the active chemical.

Because opioids and benzodiazepines are both mentally and physically addictive, most people will experience physical and mental withdrawal symptoms when they stop. When opioids and benzos are mixed, the results are often unpredictable.

When a person quits using oxycodone, they may experience withdrawal that has potential to cause them to relapse. These withdrawal symptoms, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, may include:

• restlessness
• watery eyes
• runny nose
• sneezing
• yawning
• sweating
• chills
• muscle or joint aches or pains
• weakness
• irritability
• anxiety
• depression
• difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• cramps
• nausea
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• loss of appetite
• fast heartbeat
• fast breathing

Stopping benzodiazepines cold-turkey can be very dangerous as well, and often intensifies withdrawal. It is for this reason that a physician will gradually decrease dosage. The withdrawal symptoms of Xanax, according to NLM, may include:

• seizures
• headache
• blurred vision
• increased sensitivity to noise or light
• change in sense of smell
• sweating
• difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• difficulty concentrating
• nervousness
• depression
• irritability
• aggressive behavior
• muscle twitching or cramps
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• pain
• burning
• numbness
• or tingling in the hands or feet
• a decrease in appetite
• weight loss

A medical detoxification can help a person safely remove a drug from their system while managing the symptoms of withdrawal. Detoxification may be required to properly treat an addiction to both benzodiazepines and opioids.

How Do People Become Addicted To Prescription Drugs?

Even when a person takes Xanax or oxycodone as a prescription, they’re at risk of becoming addicted to them. What usually happens with oxycodone, is someone starts out with an injury that requires pain relief. They take the medicine with no intention to abuse it, but overtime, with continued use, they begin to build up a tolerance and then become dependent.

At this point, they might enjoy the feeling oxycodone gives them. Many people who become dependent on opioids continue taking the drug just to avoid relapse, and might even switch to street drugs like heroin, because it can be less expensive while creating a more intense euphoria.

This is only a potential scenario, and doesn’t apply to everyone—the point is that though not everyone abuses prescription drugs for the same reason, all of our minds are wired the same way to crave things that make us feel good.

It can be really hard to understand why prescription medicines are so dangerous, but still used. The fact is that some people suffer from serious mental disorders while others have severe pain. These types of people still need medicine to help them deal with their illnesses or conditions.

NIDA for Teens described how addiction works, by stating that “prescription drugs that effect the brain, including opioid pain relievers, stimulants, and depressants, can cause physical dependence that could lead to addiction.

Medications that affect the brain can change the way it works—especially when they are taken over an extended period of time or with escalating doses. They can change the reward system, making it harder for a person to feel good without the drug and possibly leading to intense cravings, which make it hard to stop using.”

There are other factors that can play a part in addiction as well. These may include environmental, biological, or psychological variables. Some people suffer from mental disorders that require a medication like Xanax. This can be a difficult situation, because as a they continue using Xanax, they’re at a greater risk of becoming dependent, but if they stop using the drug they’re mental condition could worsen—this is where millions are met with a dilemma.

Not everyone’s addiction is the same either, so treating the addiction will be different for each person as well. There are behavioral and physical symptoms that usually need to be tended to in order for a treatment to be successful.

At the end of the day, addiction to benzodiazepines and opioids is not easy to overcome, but it’s still possible. Some of the different treatment programs that can help along the path to recovery include:

• Medical Detoxification
• Medication-Assisted Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
• Inpatient or Outpatient Treatment
• Motivational Interviewing
• Mindfulness and Stress Management

Find Treatment For Substance Use Disorder And Addiction

If you or someone you love is struggling with prescription drugs, please don’t wait to reach out to us. Contact an addiction specialist at DrugRehab.org today to learn how to overcome addiction and build a solid foundation to lifelong recovery.

For More Information Related to “The Dangers of Mixing Xanax and Oxycodone” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• Heroin and Opioid Addiction Statistics
• The Dangers of Snorting Oxycontin (Oxycodone)
• The Most Addictive Prescription Sedatives
• Serax (Oxazepam) Withdrawal and Detoxification
• Klonopin Withdrawal Symptoms

Sources

Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Opioid Overdose
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Overdose Death Rates
U.S. National Library of Medicine NLM – Alprazolam
U.S. National Library of Medicine NLM – Oxycodone

In an effort to raise awareness surrounding addiction and recovery, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has made September National Recovery Month. Every September, SAMSHA assigns a theme to the campaign and promotes their mission in communities across the country in an attempt to bring more understanding and erase the stigma surrounding addiction.

National Recovery Month 2017

This year’s theme is “Join the Voices for Recovery: Strengthen Families and Communities”. The basis around this theme is uniting families and communities together to fight addiction and support recovery. SAMSHA has chosen to focus on uniting families and communities in the wake of the opioid epidemic that has been sweeping across the nation in previous years.

With the opioid epidemic beginning largely with prescription opioids, SAMSHA is urging parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of medications, including prescription opioids, and educate families on keeping their prescription medications locked up and out of reach to children. For more information on this year’s National Recovery Month theme, visit https://www.recoverymonth.gov/.

What’s New This Year?

While drug addiction is not a new ailment to our country, we have seen some recent changes in trends across the United States. With a growing number of individuals affected by the opioid epidemic, experts have noticed increasing trends in addiction among rural and non-city residents. This is a newer trend that makes it more difficult to detect and track the distribution and sale of the drug. Many rural areas have far fewer people per square mile than cities do, leaving miles of un-patrolled roads and communities open for trafficking.

Previously, anti-drug campaigns were centered around inner-city schools, community centers, churches, and other city-wide organizations. However with the increase in addiction rates in rural communities, National Recovery Month is urging communities to work together in fighting the opioid epidemic, among other addictions, as it potentially creeps into their communities and schools.

Education is one of the best methods for fighting opioid addiction. Beginning drug education with kids, even at a young age, can be key to helping them make the right decisions down the road. However, kids are not the only ones who can benefit from drug education. Many grown adults are unaware of the dangers that some unsuspecting drugs, such as prescription medications, can carry with them. When communities are educated on drug addiction, they are better equipped to handle situations like the opioid epidemic.

Be Socially Inclusive

SAMSHA is fighting hard to remove the stigma associated with drug addiction and abuse. For this year’s National Recovery Month, SAMSHA challenges communities to be socially inclusive in their efforts to educate residents on the dangers of drug use, as well as celebrate those who have made it to recovery.

SAMSHA takes the time to highlight individuals who may suffer from mental illness, urging communities to involve them in their fight against drug addiction. Providing support and education to individuals suffering from mental illness could help prevent them from reaching for drugs in the future, or encourage them to reach out if they already struggle with a drug addiction. Did you know: One study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that over 50% of individuals suffering from a mental illness also struggle with a substance abuse problem?

Being socially inclusive also includes supporting individuals who are currently struggling with a substance abuse issue, and celebrating with those who are in recovery. Instead of shielding children from the facts and faces of drug abuse, it is important to include everyone in educational efforts throughout the community. Even allowing an individual who has previously struggled with drug addiction to be a part of the education process can be immensely beneficial, both for that individual and for the community they are educating.

Getting Everyone Involved

It is important to put a face to addiction, especially in communities that think “that never happens here”. Often times residents are shocked to learn that it does happen here, and it happens to people just like you and I. Removing the stigma associated with drug addiction can help bring people forward to tell their stories share in their recovery success.

Community organizations can help too. Schools are a great place for drug education to begin, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Fire departments, police departments, local churches, food banks, homeless shelters, and even book clubs and country clubs can join in on the mission. Addiction affects everyone, not just the shadowy figures depicted in movies. Supporting drug education in your area means you are supporting the entire community, not just a select group of people. Everyone has a chance to get involved and make a difference!

Get Help Today

Have you suffered from an addiction in your past? Do you have a loved one that is suffering from addiction? We are here to support you, your loved ones, and your community, and want to answer any questions you may have about addiction or treatment. Our goal is to get clients set up with the professional help and support they need to treat their addiction.

Our addiction treatment specialists are specifically trained to help you find treatment that fits your needs or the needs of your loved one and their addiction. Our addiction treatment specialists are available around the clock, and your call is always confidential. Give us a call today and let us help you.

For More Information On “National Recovery Month” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• The Risk Factors For Substance Abuse – What You Need To Know
• How Do I Get My Loved One Into Rehab?
• Understanding A Heroin Use Disorder
• Is Addiction Genetic Or Environmental?
• Environmental Risk Factors for Developing an Addiction

Sources

American Psychiatric Association – Implementing Dual Diagnosis Services for Clients With Severe Mental Illness

Heroin withdrawals are painful and can feel like a bad case of the flu. Such withdrawals can be worse based on the amount of a drug that a person is using and how long they have been using the drug for. Drug withdrawals are a period of time when your body is not only craving a drug, but also trying to push the last of it out; this is also known as the detoxification period. Detoxing from heroin is serious and without help can lead to relapse and/or overdose.

If you abuse drugs, then you might have experienced withdrawals—the fact is, drug abuse and withdrawals pretty much go hand in hand. Some of the drugs well known for their withdrawal symptoms are alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. Withdrawals can be anything from a headache to nausea or diarrhea. Heroin can be dangerous; because people suffering from an addiction will sometimes do things, or commit crimes that seem out of character—just to get the drug.

It isn’t only dangerous in the way of addiction, but also because of the withdrawals that come with quitting, stopping, or running out of the “fix.” During a withdrawal period, a person might seem irritable, short tempered, and dangerously hostile—this is pretty normal behavior for a person experiencing withdrawal from a drug.

What Is Heroin And How Can It Be Used?

Heroin is an extremely potent and addictive drug made from Morphine which is gathered from the Asian opium plant. In its purest form, heroin is a white or brown chalky substance which can be snorted, smoked, or injected. Heroin also comes in the form of a black substance which is usually injected—after it has been diluted with water or another fluid. A couple of other lesser known ways to use heroin is by suppository, or transdermal patch.

Heroin abuse often leads to addiction, and sometimes overdose and death. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 13,000 people died from heroin in 2015—which was a 20.6 percent increase from the previous year. Before they even have a chance to reconsider or regret a decision, heroin has people hooked both mentally and physically.

How Does Heroin Affect The Brain?

Most drugs will affect the user more than just physically, but also mentally—mental disorders and other serious conditions can arise from prolonged use of drugs like heroin. How does heroin affect the brain? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Heroin enters the brain rapidly and changes back into morphine. It binds to opioid receptors on cells located in many areas of the brain, especially those involved in feelings of pain and pleasure. Opioid receptors are also located in the brainstem, which controls important processes, such as blood pressure, arousal, and breathing.”

Once a person’s brain has become used to having the substance around, they are more likely to get addicted to the drug, and then without it, they don’t feel like they can function normally. A heroin high can last for up to 4 to 6 hours, and a person might use heroin anywhere from 2 to 4 times per day in order to keep from experiencing withdrawals.

High From Heroin—Then Withdrawal

Once heroin has hijacked the opioid receptors in the brain, a person experiences the high from the drug—which is likely to be a numbing euphoria, and is often characterized at first by a tingling feeling. This feeling is followed by a clouded mental state, dry mouth, and feeling of heavy extremities. After the initial high, a person will normally slip or “nod” in and out of consciousness and partial consciousness.

As a person becomes more comfortable using heroin, the more of the drug they will need to use to achieve the same buzz as before. Then as heroin is removed or taken away, a person is likely to experience the withdrawals—which can be one of the largest factors as to why a person doesn’t seek help. They might fight it, or put off quitting drug use altogether. Heroin withdrawal “symptoms usually start within 12 hours of last usage and within 30 hours of last methadone exposure” (U.S. Library of Medicine).

Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms

The withdrawal symptoms from most drugs start out mild to moderate and even though they typically don’t start for an average of 8 hours, with heroin, they can feel sick even sooner. “With physical dependence, the body adapts to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced abruptly. Withdrawal may occur within a few hours after the last time the drug is taken” (National Institute on Drug Abuse).

There are different stages of opiate withdrawal, each can depend on how long a person used and how much they used as well as other factors. Heroin and other opioid withdrawals can feel like a bad case of the flu, and the short-term and long-term symptoms of heroin withdrawal can include:

Short-Term:

• Agitation
• Anxiety
• Muscle aches
• Increased tearing
• Insomnia
• Runny nose
• Sweating
• Yawning

Long-Term:

• Abdominal cramping
• Diarrhea
• Dilated pupils
• Goose bumps
• Nausea
• Vomiting
  (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

How Long Do Heroin Withdrawals Last?

The heroin withdrawal timeline will be longer or shorter based on the amount or length that a person repeatedly used the drug. Heroin is considered a short-acting opioid and the first withdrawal symptoms will show up 8 to 24 hours after last use and can last for 4 to10 days (this is frequently considered to be the worst of the withdrawal period). When a person tries to quit cold turkey, the symptoms can last up to like two weeks. Long-acting opioids like methadone begins 12 to 48 hours after use and can last for 10 to 20 days (National Center for Biotechnology Information – NCBI).

Though they last significantly longer, heroin withdrawals will peak (or be most intense) around 2 days since last use. This period of withdrawals is also known as detoxification.

Detoxification From Heroin

After a person decides to stop using heroin, the next step will be enduring the detoxification period. Detoxification is essentially the act of cleaning a drug out of the system. The withdrawal process is the body’s natural reaction to a system’s detox. It’s advised to take on a clean food regimen, along with lots of fluids and vitamins C and B.

As far as the professionals are concerned, “patients should drink at least 2-3 litres of water per day during withdrawal to replace fluids lost through perspiration and diarrhea.” (NCBI). Quitting heroin and facing withdrawals can be pretty terrifying and it’s not going to be easy. Let’s face it, withdrawals can be painful and unbearable, but the end result of recovery and sobriety will be worth it.

Managing Opiate And Heroin Withdrawal

Possibly one of the most important things to remember about detoxing is that professional treatment, therapy, or guidance is essential to a successful early stage of recovery. Trying to self medicate or manage your own opiate withdrawals can lead to neural damage, or even more intense withdrawals—which can lead to a relapse or substitution of another drug. Heroin withdrawals are serious and must be treated as such…

For instance, along with lots of fluids and a healthy diet, in some cases there was a need for medicine to help deal with the withdrawals from heroin; this is also known as a medication-assisted therapy. Some of the medications used for opiate treatment can include clonidine or opioid medications such as buprenorphine, methadone or codeine phosphate. There are also other over the counter medicines like ibuprofen, aspirin, pepto bismol (for nausea), and others that can be purchased at a reasonable price.

Sometimes, a person must go through a strict detoxification before starting a medication, or behavioral therapy, and these are by no means the end all for addiction—they are simply the beginning. Recovery can sometimes need daily maintenance to be successful.

Addictive Opioids Besides Heroin

Heroin is not the only opioid drug that can cause serious withdrawals. Even prescription opioid drugs can lead to an addiction and eventually painful withdrawals. “In 2014 in the US, about 435,000 people used heroin. In the same year, about 4.3 million people were nonmedical users of narcotic pain relievers. This means they were taking narcotics that were not prescribed to them. Narcotic pain relievers include:

• Codeine
• Heroin
• Hydrocodone (Vicodin)
• Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
• Methadone
• Meperidine (Demerol)
• Morphine
• Oxycodone (Percocet or Oxycontin)”
  (U.S. Library of Medicine)

How To Get Help For A Heroin And Other Opioid Addiction

Opiate addictions can come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and some are worse than others, but the fact of the matter is that all of them can cause serious withdrawals and can even lead to an untimely death. If you’re worried about a person you love and their drug use, or maybe your own drug use has gotten out of control; you might need help. We have a solution and can help you find the treatment you need—so don’t give up. Contact Us today to get the tools for a successful recovery. Heroin addiction kills thousands of people per year—you don’t have to be one of them.

For More Information Related to “What Helps With Heroin Withdrawal?” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• What is Heroin Cut With?
• Heroin Mixed With Fentanyl Causing Overdoses
• Common Street Names For Illegal Drugs
• How Do I Get My Loved One Into Rehab?
• Heroin and Opioid Addiction Statistics

Sources

National Highway Safety Administration – Drug and Human Performance Fact Sheets
National Institute on Drug Abuse – What are the long-term effects of heroin use?
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Heroin
National Center for Biotechnology Information – Clinical Guidelines for Withdrawal Management and Treatment of Drug Dependence in Closed Settings
U.S. National Library of Medicine – Opiate and Opioid Withdrawal

Illegal drugs sold on the street are often marketed or discussed under different names. These code names were devised to dissuade authorities (such as parents, police officers, or others) from evidence of drug abuse. Knowing the common street names for illegal drugs can be useful to those who suspect someone they know is abusing drugs. Treatment for illegal drug abuse or addiction requires comprehensive healing plans and professional support.

Have you ever heard a drug called by a name that’s unrelated to the drug itself? Or, maybe you suspect someone you know is abusing drugs, but aren’t sure and would like to find out.

Knowing the common street names for illegal drugs can help you learn how drugs are regarded on the street—sometimes the street name hints at the drug’s intended effects. An overview of street names for drugs can also help you identify them in conversation if someone close to you is at risk of abusing them.

The best recourse for abuse of drugs, and addiction to them, is treatment. DrugRehab.org can connect you with the resources necessary to find treatment that works for you or your loved one.

Why Street Names?

In simple terms, street names were developed for common use in conversation about illegal drugs. What do you do if you don’t want authorities, parents, teachers or others to know about drug abuse? You speak in a sort of code.

Some street names may have entered mainstream vernacular (everyday language). Others are used mostly by those abusing or trafficking drugs. Either way, if you suspect someone you know is abusing illegal drugs, it can be useful to know the everyday names for them.

Common Street Names

Cocaine:

• Aunt Nora
• Bernice
• Binge
• Blow
• Bump
• C
• Candy
• Charlie
• Coke
• Dust
• Flake
• Mojo
• Nose Candy
• Paradise
• Rock
• Sneeze
• Sniff
• Snow
• Toot
• White

Crack cocaine:

• 24-7
• Apple jacks
• Badrock
• Ball
• Base
• Beat
• Candy
• Chemical
• Cloud
• Cookies
• Crack
• Crumbs
• Crunch and munch
• Devil drug
• Dice
• Electric kool-aid
• Fat bags
• French fries
• Glo
• Gravel
• Grit
• Hail
• Hard ball
• Hard rock
• Hotcakes
• Ice cube
• Jelly beans
• Kryptonite
• Nuggets
• Paste
• Piece
• Prime time
• Product
• Raw
• Rock(s)
• Rockstar
• Roxanne
• Scrabble
• Sleet
• Snow coke
• Sugar block
• Topo (Spanish word)
• Tornado
• Troop

Depressants (prescription sedatives)

Barbiturates:

• Barbs
• Phennies
• Red birds
• Reds
• Tooies
• Yellow jackets
• Yellows

Benzodiazepines:

• Rohypnol (AKA Flunitrazepam):
  • Circles
  • Date rape drug
  • Forget pill
  • Forget-me pill
  • La Rocha
  • Lunch money
  • Mexican Valium
  • Mind eraser
  • Pingus
  • R2
  • Reynolds
  • Rib
  • Roach
  • Roach 2
  • Roaches
  • Roachies
  • Roapies
  • Rochas Dos
  • Roofies
  • Rope
  • Rophies
  • Row-shay
  • Ruffies
  • Trip-and-fall
  • Wolfies

• Other names for Benzodiazepines:
  • Benzos
  • Candy
  • Downers
  • Sleeping pills
  • Tranks

Sleep medications:

• Forget-me pills
• Mexican valium
• R2
• Roche
• Roofies
• Roofinol
• Rope
• Rophies

Hallucinogens

Ketamine:

• Cat Valium
• Green
• K
• Jet
• Special K
• Super acid
• Super C
• Vitamin K

LSD:

• Acid
• Battery acid
• Blotter
• Bloomers
• Blue heaven
• California Sunshine
• Cid
• Cubes
• Doses
• Dots
• Golden dragon
• Heavenly blue
• Hippie
• Loony toons
• Lucy in the sky with diamonds
• Microdot
• Pane
• Purple Heart
• Superman
• Tab
• Window pane
• Yellow sunshine
• Zen

Mescaline (AKA Peyote):

• Buttons
• Cactus
• Mesc

PCP:

• Angel dust
• Boat
• Hog
• Love boat
• Peace pill

Psilocybin:

• Little smoke
• Magic mushrooms
• Purple passion
• Shrooms

Ecstasy (aka MDMA):

• Adam
• Beans
• Cadillac
• California sunrise
• Clarity
• E
• Essence
• Elephants
• Eve
• Hug
• Hug drug
• Love drug
• Love pill
• Lover’s speed
• Molly
• Peace
• Roll
• Scooby snacks
• Snowball
• Uppers
• X
• XE
• XTC

Heroin

• Brown sugar
• China White
• Dope
• H
• Hell dust
• Horse
• Junk
• Nose drops
• Skag
• Skunk
• Smack
• Thunder
• White horse
• Cheese

Inhalants

• Air blast
• Ames
• Amys
• Aroma of men
• Bolt
• Boppers
• Bullet
• Bullet bolt
• Buzz bomb
• Discorama
• Hardware
• Heart-on
• Hiagra-in-a-bottle
• Highball
• Hippie crack
• Huff
• Laughing gas
• Locker room
• Medusa
• Moon gas
• Oz
• Pearls
• Poor man’s pot
• Poppers
• Quicksilver
• Rush snappers
• Satan’s secret
• Shoot the breeze
• Snappers
• Snotballs
• Spray
• Texas shoe shine
• Thrust
• Toilet water
• Toncho
• Whippets
• Whiteouts

Khat:

• Abyssinian tea
• African salad
• Catha
• Chat
• Kat
• Oat

Kratom:

• Biak-biak
• Herbal speedball
• Ketum
• Kahuam
• Ithang
• Thom

Marijuana:

• Astro Yurf
• Bhang
• Blunt
• Bud(s)
• Blaze
• Dagga
• Dope
• Dry high
• Ganja
• Grass
• Green
• Hemp
• Herb
• Home grown
• J
• Joint
• Mary Jane
• Pot
• Puff
• Reefer
• Roach
• Sinsemilla
• Skunk
• Smoke
• Texas tea
• Trees
• Weed
• White widow

Hashish:

• Boom, Chocolate, Gangster, Hash, Hemp

Methamphetamine

• Beanies
• Brown
• Crank
• Chalk
• Chicken feed
• Cinnamon
• Crink
• Crypto
• Crystal
• Fire
• Get go
• Glass
• Go fast
• Ice
• Meth
• Methlies quick
• Mexican crack
• Redneck cocaine
• Speed
• Tick tick
• Tweak
• Wash
• Yellow powder

Crystal meth:

• Batu, blade, cristy, crystal, crystal glass, glass, hot ice, ice, quartz, shabu, shards, stove top, Tina, ventana

Over-the-counter drugs

• CCC
• DXM
• Poor man’s PCP
• Robo
• Robotripping
• Skittles
• Triple C

Prescription opioids (AKA Painkillers)

Codeine:

• Captain Cody
• Cody
• Doors and fours
• Lean
• Loads
• Pancakes and syrup
• Purple drank
• Schoolboy
• Sizzurp

Fentanyl:

• Apache
• China girl
• China white
• Dance fever
• Friend
• Goodfella
• Jackpot
• Murder 8
• Tango and Cash
• TNT
• Hydrocodone or Dihydrocodeinone:
• Vike
• Watson 387

Hydromorphone:

• D
• Dillies
• Footballs
• Juice
• Smack

Meperidine:

• Demmies
• Pain Killer

Methadone:

• Amidone
• Fizzies
• (Mixed with MDMA) Chocolate chip cookies

Morphine:

• M
• Miss Emma
• Monkey
• White stuff

Oxycodone:

• O.C.
• Oxy 80
• Oxycat
• Oxycet
• Oxycotton
• Oxy
• Hillbilly heroin
• Percs
• Perks

Oxymorphone:

• Biscuits
• Blue heaven
• Blues
• Heavenly blues
• Mrs. O
• O bombs
• Octagons
• Stop signs

Prescription Stimulants

Amphetamine (Adderall, Benzedrine):

• Bennies
• Black beauties
• Crosses
• Hearts
• LA Turnaround
• Speed
• Truck drivers
• Uppers

Methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin):

• Diet coke
• JIF
• Kiddie cocaine
• Kiddie coke
• MPH
• Poor man’s cocaine
• R-ball
• Skippy
• Skittles
• Smarties
• The Smart Drug
• Vitamin R

Synthetic Drugs

Synthetic Marijuana:

• K2
• Spice

Synthetic stimulants (AKA Bath Salts):

• Arctic blasts
• Aura
• Avalance or Avalanche
• Bliss
• Blizzard
• Bloom
• Blue silk
• Bolivian bath
• Cloud nine
• Cotton cloud
• Drone
• Dynamite or Dynamite plus
• Euphoria
• Glow stick
• Hurricane Charlie
• Ivory snow
• Ivory wave or Ivory wave ultra
• Lunar wave
• Mexxy
• Mind change or Mino Charge
• Monkey dust
• Mystic
• Natural energy powder
• Ocean snow
• Purple wave
• Quicksilver
• Recharge
• Red dawn
• Red dove
• Rock on
• Rocky Mountain High
• Route 69
• Sandman Party Powder
• Scarface
• Sextasy
• Shock wave
• Snow day
• Snow leopard
• Speed freak miracle
• Stardust
• Super coke
• Tranquility
• UP energizing or UP Supercharged
• Vanilla Sky
• White burn
• White China
• White dove
• White lightning
• White rush
• White Sands
• Wicked X or XX
• Zoom

Treatment For Addiction To Drugs

Reading this list, you may feel a bit overwhelmed at the possibility of addiction in our nation and elsewhere. The important thing to remember is that treatment for illegal drug abuse and addiction is ever-growing.

In fact, treatment for addiction in recent decades has improved. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states, “most people who get into and remain in treatment stop using drugs, decrease their criminal activity, and improve their occupational, social, and psychological functioning.”

Treatment works, and getting to treatment could make a vast difference in your life. Methods of treatment are changing, focusing on healing a person as a whole—mind, body, and spirit—rather than just targeting symptoms of addiction.

How To Get Help With Addiction

If you or someone you know is addicted to illegal drugs, you may be uncertain about the next step. You can find help and the treatment you need with our help. Contact us today at DrugRehab.org, and we will help you find a rehab center that fits your needs with a treatment plan that suits your specific goals.

For More Information Related to “Common Street Names For Illegal Drugs” Be Sure To Check Out These Additional Resources From DrugRehab.org:

• What is “Freebase Cocaine”?
• Methamphetamine Withdrawal Symptoms
• How Long Does Methamphetamine Stay In Your System?
• Tranquilizer Abuse and Addiction
• The Psychological Effects Of Methadone

Sources

Drug Free World—The Drug Facts
National Institute On Drug Abuse—Commonly Abused Drug Charts
National Institute On Drug Abuse—DrugFacts: Heroin

Each year, millions of people are affected by drug abuse worldwide. Indeed, in the United States alone, approximately 20 million Americans age 12 or older reported use of illicit drugs in the past 30 days, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). As the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) explains, this represents eight percent of the population. Unfortunately, only about two million of those people are receiving the treatment they need to overcome substance abuse.

As people become more afflicted with addiction, their lifestyles may become more aligned with criminal activity. Abusing illicit drugs is illegal, but obtaining them is also illegal, and people affected by abuse may engage in illegal means to get their drugs. That is partly because the brain changes when people develop addiction—changes in a way that makes them nearly powerless to resist the urge to seek and abuse substances.

While people who abuse substances or engage in illegal activities to obtain them are committing crimes, imprisonment may not always be the best way to deal with them. Addiction to drugs or alcohol is now recognized as a disease, one which affects the brain in a way to cause much of the compulsive, drug-seeking behavior which characterizes it. Thus, addicted individuals may benefit most from treatment rather than jail or prison.

Why Is Drug Rehab A Good Alternative To Jail Or Prison?

First, and perhaps foremost, the Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) explains, “each offender and crime is unique, and prison or jail time may not always be the most effective response.” This is especially true for addicted individuals. Instead, going through a state drug court program or entering a drug rehab by court order may be a productive alternative. Drug courts work primarily to change criminal behavior in individuals affected by substance abuse. This effort is imperative, as many people who are imprisoned commit crime after being released. The FAMM states that “over 40% of all people leaving prison will reoffend and be back in prison within three years of their release.”

With this dire truth, finding a way to treat people who can benefit from it may be an effective alternative. Instead of locking up people who have committed crimes due to their substance abuse, ordering mandatory drug rehab may help those people build better lifestyle habits. This in turn could help integrate fully functioning individuals back into society, lessening the financial burden of funding prisons for the national economy. Further, the FAMM found that, “eight in ten (77%) adults believe that alternatives to incarceration (probation, restitution, community service, and/or rehabilitative services) are the most appropriate sentence for nonviolent, non-serious offenders and that prison or jail are appropriate only if these alternatives fail.”

How Does It Work?

If drug rehabs are an option for certain individuals, in lieu of prison, how can we be sure they won’t just blow off treatment? Many state drug courts order extensive monitoring of those individuals sentenced to drug rehab to ensure they have completed program goals. There are drug courts set up within all of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, but no drug courts within the federal system. As part of their programs, drug courts may require an individual to complete certain measures, be subjected to court monitorization, and meet certain eligibility requirements as part of the program sentencing. Once a person receives court-ordered treatment as a sentence, that person must complete all steps of the program, without incident, to complete the sentence. Some of the measures a person must take or things which make a person eligible are:

• Complete drug screens, such as urine tests, randomly
• Attend counseling, or support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) or Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
• Meet with a probation officer (if sentenced to probation)
• Regularly report to the court about progress of the program
• Be rewarded by or disciplined by the court for success or failure in the program
• Be a nonviolent offender afflicted with substance abuse, and meet other eligibility criteria, such as not having a history of crime or violence, and no other convictions
• Must be referred to drug court by the prosecutor or judge; a referral may require that the person first plead guilty to the offense

For some sentencings, a person who successfully completes a drug court program may be exempt from pleading guilty, may be able to avoid getting a conviction for the crime, may have a prison or jail sentenced reduced, may avoid a prison or jail sentence altogether, or may be allowed to have convictions removed from their record.

Other Ways People May Enter Drug Rehab In Lieu Of Jail Or Prison

While drug rehab must be ordered by a judge or suggested by a prosecutor, first time offenders may stand a fair chance of receiving drug rehab as a sentence. In particular, people who receive a first offense DUI (driving under the influence) charge may have an opportunity to change the court’s view of their future sentencing. For example, if a person receives a first offense DUI, he or she will then have a court date, typically about a month later. While waiting for that court date, if a person begins a form of treatment (i.e. entering support groups or outpatient counseling), this may help the person to demonstrate to the court that he or she is taking strides toward recovery. While it is not a guarantee that the person will be given drug rehab or other forms of treatment instead of jail time, having a start on treatment may signal to the court that the person is ready to recognize and seek treatment for his or her addiction.

Getting Help With Drug Rehab

If you know someone who could benefit from entering a drug rehab instead of jail or prison, you may want to get help before it is too late. Addiction is a disease which affects people’s decision-making. Before your loved one makes choice he or she may regret, help get them into the treatment they need. Contact us today at DrugRehab.org to learn more about treatment options and drug rehab centers.

Sources:

DrugWarFacts.org—Drug Courts & Treatment Alternatives To Incarceration
Families Against Mandatory Minimums—Alternatives To Incarceration In A Nutshell
Justice Policy Organization—Treatment Or Incarceration?
National Council On Alcoholism And Drug Dependence—Facts About Drugs
National Institute On Drug Abuse—Drug Addiction Treatment In The Criminal Justice System

Whether or not relapse is a “normal,” or even necessary, part of drug-addiction recovery is debatable. What’s not debatable, and where consensus is virtually unanimous, is that relapse occurs at a relatively high rate—40 percent to 60 percent, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association study cited by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). In order to determine if you should return to rehab, it is first important to fully understand relapse and the dangers it presents.

What Is Relapse?

Defining “relapse” also can be tricky, and depends on various factors, including the drug involved, specific patient criteria, and the treatment method employed. To understand relapse, one must first recognize successful treatment factors. The Office of National Drug Control Policy defines effective drug abuse treatment as:

• Reducing the use of the primary drug, drugs, or alcohol.
• Improving the employment status or prospects of the patient.
• Improving the patient’s educational situation, where appropriate.
• Improving relationships with family, friends, employers, and other associates.
• Improving the patient’s medical condition and overall health.
• Improving the person’s legal situation regarding prison, jail, probation, parole, driver’s license status, and arrests.
• Improving the patient’s mental health condition.
• Reducing the person’s noncriminal safety incidents, such as car accidents, injuries, and emergency room visits.

Simply defined, relapse is the return to a previous situation regarding drug or alcohol use. Regardless of how long someone’s been sober, a return to substance abuse is a relapse. According to the American Bar Association’s GPSolo magazine, “Relapse is the return to alcohol or drug use after an individual acknowledges the presence of addictive disease, recognizes the need for total abstinence, and makes a decision to maintain sobriety with the assistance of a recovery program. According to a survey of members of AA, 75 percent experience a relapse during their first year of recovery. For those who are sober five years, the rate drops to seven percent.”

Lapse Vs. Relapse

You may wonder if there is a difference between a slip, or a “lapse,” and a true relapse. A lapse is a temporary, often one-time, return to prior drug-use behavior, whereas a relapse is a “full-blown” return to drug or alcohol abuse after an attempt to quit. To better understand this concept, we’ll compare drug addiction lapse and relapse to a person trying to lose weight and maintain the weight loss. Eating a single piece of pizza, for instance, would be considered a lapse. Gaining 35 pounds during the course of dieting from a continued poor diet, would be considered a relapse.

Why Do People Relapse?

Many factors may contribute to a person relapsing. Primary causes of relapse include: medical problems, mental health issues, failure to follow through with aftercare conditions, over confidence in treatment progress or recovery, forgetting or ignoring painful lessons from the “good old days” of substance abuse, stress, a lack of support, issues with family members and friends, and job issues or lack of employment.

Lack of commitment to sobriety can also be a major factor in relapse. Here, we provide a thumbnail view of four stages of recovery used in many treatment programs, including, pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action. Often, during the pre-contemplation stage, and even into the contemplation phase, a person may not even consider his or her behavior a problem, however, he or she eventually realizes that the negative consequences are mounting. This can lead to the contemplation stage, although people may fluctuate between either or both of these phases for years before actually moving on to the preparation and action stages. Sometimes, a person may relapse back to one of these stages, as they struggle to maintain their recovery.

Outside pressures—from family members, friends, co-workers, or even via legal issues or court-ordered rehab mandates—can also put people at risk for post-rehab relapse. A person may enter rehab while still in the pre-contemplation stage and simply not be committed to the process, potentially increasing the risk of relapse.

This lack of commitment, among other factors, is often cited for the “revolving door syndrome,” or a cycle of treatment, relapse, and a return to treatment. A person might be ambivalent about recovery, seeking treatment not for themselves but for external reasons. Other people may fear the unknown, as they don’t know how to live outside addiction. Unrealistic expectations are another factor, including the belief that sobriety will cure all of life’s problems. Many people also fall into the trap of making changes only regarding drug or alcohol use, while ignoring other necessary lifestyle changes.

Relapse Myths

There are many myths surrounding relapse, some deeply ingrained and widely held. If not addressed thoroughly in rehab, these beliefs can lead to relapse after rehabilitation is complete.

Here are five such myths that can lead to relapse:

• All people who suffer from drug or alcohol abuse will relapse. This fallacy can lead to a “self-fulfilling prophecy” and relapse.
• People who relapse aren’t committed. Lack of motivation may, indeed, be a factor, however, many highly motivated people also relapse.
• Relapse only occurs by returning to your drug of choice. Choosing to abuse another drug may return you to an addictive and dysfunctional state.
• Relapse means that a person is back to square one. Again, a person doesn’t have to relapse, but it is important to remember that knowledge can be gained from this experience that may be useful within the next attempt at treatment and in avoiding future relapse.
• If a person relapses, it means that rehab treatment failed. A drug treatment regimen may need adjustments to be successful or another program may be beneficial.

Relapse Comparisons

While many critics point to low success rates of drug rehab programs as evidence of failure, the fact is that alcohol and drug treatment relapse rates compare to the relapse rates of treatment modalities for physical conditions—over which people have ostensibly less control. For example, where the relapse rate for drug addiction is 40 percent to 60 percent (according to NIDA), the relapse rate for Type I Diabetes is 30 percent to 50 percent, and 50 percent to 70 percent for both hypertension and asthma.

Dangers Of Relapse

Aside from problems typically associated with addiction, relapse can be especially dangerous for many people for several reasons. First, a person’s tolerance is reduced through abstinence, so a drug overdose is a distinct possibly—especially with opioids like heroin. This is due to physiological changes in an addicted individual’s body, according to Dr. James C. Garbutt, Professor of Psychiatry and addiction specialist at the University of North Carolina, as reported in a Huffington Post article.

In regards to this, Dr. Garbutt is quoted as saying “When you’re actively using opiates, that center can adapt to the exposure, allowing addicts to use more or in greater concentration without the respiratory system failing. But when people get sober, the receptors in their brain and the chemical mechanisms which process the drug become more sensitive, and the reaction to the opiate becomes more pronounced. The longer you’re sober, the more the brain will attempt to adapt back to its normal state.”

Huffington Post also quotes Dr. David Sack on this subject, who asserts “It’s (also) important to realize that many of the overdoses are in the first few doses, because by the time an addict re-establishes their addictions, they have tolerance again. This is someone who is deciding whether they are going to be sober or not. So craving is a big factor—being preoccupied with procuring drugs increases and escalates in the first days after treatment.”

In a NIDA article titled “America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse,” the high risk of overdose during relapse regarding opioids was further explained. “This tolerance contributes to the high risk of overdose during a relapse to opioid use after a period in recovery; users who do not realize they may have lost their tolerance during a period of abstinence may initially take the high dosage that they previously had used before quitting, a dosage that produces an overdose in the person who no longer has tolerance.”

Should I Go Back to Rehab?

Although each person must determine for himself or herself whether or not a relapse calls for further treatment, we highly recommend it. Here are a few guideposts to consider to help with this decision. The first probably is defining the “relapse” in question—is it a stumble, or “lapse,” or is it a fully realized backslide or true relapse? Ask questions. Did you have a single beer at a cookout before coming to your senses, or did you go on a week-long bender, black out, and begin compulsively using again?

If you determine that you have experienced a true relapse, reentering rehab may be your best option. However, practical matters must also be considered. Can you afford another stay in rehab? Does your insurance cover the cost? How long will you be in treatment? How does such a decision impact your job and finances? Are you truly committed or are you responding to external pressures from family or friends? Do you want to reenter a facility where you previously were treated or would it be better to research other options? Have you identified the reasons for your relapse?

If you’ve determined that you actually need to enter rehab, consult a professional, especially if issues like cost or insurance coverage are the main stumbling blocks. Assistance often is available.

Get Help If you Have Questions Or Concerns

If you’re considering reentering a rehabilitation facility for concerns related to relapse or entering for the first time, and you have any questions or concerns, contact us at DrugRehab.org, or call 1-833-473-4227.

Sources

National Institute on Drug Abuse — Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction
Office of National Drug Control Policy — Treatment Protocol Effectiveness Study
American Bar Association: GPSolo — Relapse After Long-Term Sobriety
Huffington Post — What Drug Relapse Has To Do With Accidental Overdose Risk

Drug use and abuse lends itself to a lifestyle that is plagued with behaviors, risks, dangers, and situations that can, in most cases, alter the course of a person’s life. Drug use not only brings a vast array of problems to a person’s physical and mental health, but presents challenges to the way in which one can function within his life and society as a greater whole.

Drug use and the repercussions that follow disrupts lives on many levels, including putting those who use at high risk for the legal ramifications that can result from this behavior.

Every year, countless individuals across the United States are arrested for drug possession. According to the FBI’s annual Crime in the United States report, in 2014 the highest number of arrests “were for drug abuse violations.” Out of the 11,205,833 arrests in that year, they attributed an estimated 1,561,231 to this, which is nearly 14 percent of the total arrests for that year. Of this latter amount, 83.1 percent were due to cases of drug possession, which translates to roughly 1,297,383 arrests.

How Drug Charges Can Negatively Impact Your Life

Being arrested for drug charges isn’t a one time thing; this singular moment is likely indicative of a greater problem that can upset your life in ways that influence your personal, financial, vocational, and even educational standing or endeavors. If you’re convicted of drug-related crimes, depending on the sentence, you may have to disclose that information in a manner that can jeopardize your ability to retain your home, employment, or educational opportunities.

Drug charges may disrupt your family life, going through court proceedings and dealing with the resultant sentencing can be very stressful on every member of a family. The financial loss attributed to a drug possession charge can rack up fast, draining money that you need to provide for your family. If you’re in the midst of, or may experience custody proceedings at a point in the future, these charges may come into play.

The good news is, rehabilitation can not only offer you an avenue towards hope and recovery, but it can help to decrease the effects that your drug use has on your life and that of your loved ones.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse asserts that “Treatment offers the best alternative for interrupting the drug use/criminal justice cycle for offenders with drug problems.” Though this statement also encompasses people who have committed other offenses in addition to possession, it sums up what countless research illustrates: rehabilitation helps to keep people out of jail, while continuing to curtail their abuse and addiction.

Drug Charges Are A Serious Offense

Even offenses on the lower end of the spectrum can carry serious consequences, these include financial hardship due to fines and court costs, possible jail time, probation, drug screens, and mandatory counseling or attendance to support groups. Though the latter two may be helping in getting you help, and providing you with a venue by which to illustrate your commitment to turning things around, there is yet more you can do.

The exact nature of your drug charge may vary state-to-state, however, drug charges may take the form of a felony charge or a misdemeanor, the former being the more serious of the two.

One thing that is important through all of this, at every step of the way, is your attitude. Managing your emotions, demeanor, and actions, prior to and during your time in court can be of great benefit. We do understand that this may likely be an overwhelming time—as your life, in a capacity great or small, may be changing as a result of your arrest.

Even if it is the most minor of drug possession offenses, if you find yourself facing these charges, you need to take the situation seriously. If in your head it feels that the offense was minor or not a big deal, remember that any illicit drug use, including use of prescription drugs for non-prescriptive purposes, is enough in the eyes our judicial system to warrant court proceedings and possible prosecution.

The circumstances behind the actual drug possession may vary—a person may have only had a small amount that they use recreationally, they may have had prescription drugs that were not in their name that they were using to self-medicate valid health concerns, or they may be a habitual user who is in the throes of drug abuse or addiction. Any of these factors, as well as others, may influence sentencing.

Regardless of the situation that transpired into the arrest and/or subsequent charges, rehabilitation can be a good choice on two levels—first, it can help a person receive the help they need, and second, enrollment in a treatment program may help to alleviate some or even all of the charges they are faced with.

Choosing Rehab Could Change Your Conviction

It is important to realize that the laws regarding drug possessions vary from state-to-state. For this reason it is best to understand and be familiar with those that would be specific to your state and situation. In some cases, entering into a treatment facility may change the course of your conviction and punishment.

Keep in mind, when you sit before the judge, he is going to look at the scope of the situation, which includes any past drug charges. Illustrating to the judge both your willingness to change and your acknowledgement that what you did was wrong, by seeking and/or completing treatment, can help in some cases to have a more favorable outcome. In optimal circumstances, it may even reduce or delay your jail or prison time.

One way you can do this is to seek treatment before you ever step foot in the courtroom. If you, or your lawyer, can present to the judge that you have evaluated your life and the behavior and patterns that got you here, and that you are actively trying to change, your sentencing may in some way be altered. Do consider though, depending on the charges, you may be required to seek more treatment. Consider the benefit against the cost of this, weighing if it’s best to go before or after court.

Keep in mind, depending on the schedule of the court proceedings, you may not be able to seek the length of treatment that is optimal prior to trial. However, even attending outpatient treatment or a shorter duration of inpatient treatment in the interim, can be great preparation for further treatment down the road. This is on top of the fact it illustrates that you are accepting responsibilities for your actions and seeking to alter your behaviors. Depending on the time frame of the legal proceedings, if you are able to present to the judge that you have not only entered into treatment, but that you have successfully completed it, you may fare even better.

Don’t worry, if you don’t have time to enter treatment before the proceedings, you may still have options. In the case where the court may offer you rehabilitation as an option, or requirement (this is something your lawyer might be able to anticipate and advise you on), it can be wise to be preemptive and tell your lawyer or counselor that you want help, and also the judge when opportunity permits, this will be a testament of your readiness towards change.

How Do You Have The Option Of Rehab After An Arrest?

When a person is faced with an arrest stemming from a drug possession, charges can vary—some people may have been arrested for small amounts of a controlled substance, whereas others may have been found in more severe circumstances, with larger amounts which in turn carry greater charges. Either situation could be indicative of a greater problem—in many cases the individual use is such that it would be considered abuse or addiction.

Generally, if your possession charge was considered a non-violent offense, you will have three options that may allow you to seek treatment instead of jail time, these include:

• In a criminal court setting, the judge may include addiction treatment as a portion of your sentence.
• Before you even appear in court, your lawyer may speak to the prosecutor and work out an agreement that would consider a specific amount of time spent in rehab to fulfill the full or partial requirements of your punishment.
• You may be able to have your case heard in drug court instead of a criminal court, which will involve rehab.

When you’re faced with charges surrounding possession of a controlled substance, you can be assured that in most every case you will face some level of legal repercussions, the question is to what extent.

The sentencing will vary on numerous factors, including, but not limited to, the absence or presence of an addiction, the nature of the situation surrounding your arrest (including your level of intoxication, if any, and the amount of drugs that were confiscated), any prior convictions or history of arrest or charges stemming from drug use or possession, and the dynamic and arguments that arise between the prosecution and defense during the trial.

If you’re seeking to divert your sentencing to include treatment in place of a possible incarceration, either in part or full, or do these things as part of the sentence, there are certain factors that might weigh in on the judge’s decision and improve your chances. They include:

• If you suffer from a documented drug addiction
• If you or your lawyer can illustrate that your addiction influenced the actions that led to the crime and/or if you were under the influence when you committed the crime
• Your level of willingness and adherence to proposed or mandatory treatments
• If you have no prior offenses, or in some instances if this is only your second offense
• If your offense was nonviolent
• If you have no history of either violent or sexual-related offenses or charges

Some of these things may also be considerations for eligibility for entry into a drug court.

What Are Drug Courts?

Drug courts are different than criminal courts in the fact that they focus on getting a person treatment for their drug problems versus punishment. If a person is eligible for this alternative, and their case is seen in a drug court, they may obtain a reduced sentence or even dismissed charges. Throughout the process, which typically lasts six-months to a year, the individual is in regular communication with the court and those that work within it.

As explained by a report published by the Sentencing Project that explains drug courts and their efficacy, there are two ways in which a person will progress through this system. The first, deferred prosecution programs do not require a not-guilty plea, and in fact, the person enters the program before the point of even entering a plea. If they successfully complete the program, they face no further prosecution.

The second, post-adjudication programs requires that the defendant plead guilty, at which point their sentencing is forestalled until they complete the programs required by the drug court, upon completion, they may obtain “a waived sentence and sometimes an expungement of the offense.” In either instance, if they do not fulfill what the court required, they will return to criminal court and proceed with sentencing there.

The National Association of Drug Court Professionals defines an adult drug court as “A specially designed court calendar or docket, the purposes of which are to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent substance abusing offenders and to increase the offender’s likelihood of successful habilitation through early, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, community supervision, and use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services.”

As reported by the the Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE), an initiative between the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and numerous groups of researchers that studied 23 adult drug courts against six comparison sites, “Drug Court participants were significantly less likely than the matched comparison offenders to relapse to drug use, and those who did relapse used drugs significantly less.” It also found a reduction in criminal activity and numerous psychosocial benefits. The most successful programs were found to be those that provided “A minimum of thirty-five days of formal drug-abuse treatment services.”

Despite the fact that they can be a good avenue for certain cases, they are unfortunately not an available option in every jurisdiction, however, the National Institute of Justice reported that in 2014, there were over 3,000 drug courts within the U.S, 1540 of which were for adults. If you think that this may be a good option for you, your attorney should be able to tell you if you are eligible, and if there is one in your area.
Does Mandatory Rehabilitation Work?

It is always good if a person chooses to seek rehabilitation on their own, this allows them the opportunity to walk into treatment with a mentality that is more open to change, however, research shows that individuals that are required to enter treatment still find success. UCLA published a study,
“The Effectiveness of Coerced Treatment for Drug-Abusing Offenders,” that reviewed 11 other published studies as a means to determine if mandatory, or coerced treatment is effective.

When reviewing one of the 11 studies, they found that “the study found that legally referred clients entered treatment earlier in their addiction career than would otherwise have been the case and that they stayed in treatment longer—both circumstances that are conducive to better outcome.”

Five of the studies illustrated benefits and success when the criminal justice system referred a person for treatment, four were neutral, and two were negative. Overall this study supported that notion that “legally referred clients do as well or better than voluntary clients in and after treatment” and that “In general, our review of 11 empirical studies of compulsory substance abuse treatment supports the use of the criminal justice system as an effective source of treatment referral, as well as a means for enhancing retention and compliance.”

Get Back On Track With Your Educational Goals

In addition to the benefit it might offer you during your sentencing, it can help you in other ways. We’ve discussed how a drug-related conviction can affect educational opportunities, one of the greatest is your ability to receive student loans.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Education issued a publication on FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) that spoke of this, stating that “In general, if you are convicted of a drug-related felony or misdemeanor that took place while you were receiving Federal student aid, you will become ineligible to receive further aid for a specified period of time upon conviction.”

The good news is that this fact sheet noted that you can “shorten this period of ineligibility” by “Successfully completing an approved drug rehabilitation program that includes passing two unannounced drug tests.”

Don’t Let Your Drug Use Derail Your Life

Being confronted with the possibility of a conviction due to drug possession can be a very terrifying time. It can also be something that opens your eyes up to the reality of the situation your living in, and the extent that your drug use is dictating your life. Don’t let this time pass you by without getting the help you need. Please, contact us—let us help you navigate these rough waters, our staff at DrugRehab.org is trained to answer any questions you might have about drug use and the dangers and damage it leaves in its wake.

Sources
Federal Bureau of Investigation – 2014 Crime in the United States: Persons Arrested
StoptheDrugWar.org – Feature: The Conviction That Keeps On Hurting — Drug Offenders and Federal Benefits
National Institute on Drug Abuse – Drug Addiction Treatment in the Criminal Justice System
Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender – Frequently Asked Questions
Office of Diversion Control – Controlled Substances By CSA Schedule
Federation of American Scientists – Congressional Research Service, Drug Offenses: Maximum Fines and Terms of Imprisonment for Violation of the Federal Controlled Substances Act and Related Laws
The Sentencing Project – Drug Courts: A Review of the Evidence
Research to Practice – The Multisite Adult Drug Court Evaluation
Whitehouse.gov – FAFSA Facts
National Criminal Justice Reference System – The Effectiveness of Coerced Treatment for Drug-Abusing Offenders
National Institute of Justice – Drug Courts
National Association of Drug Court Professionals – Types of Drug Courts

Having a family member who suffers from a drug or alcohol addiction can be a very trying situation, one that can oftentimes be mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. Watching someone you love fall prey to an addiction, especially when it is your child, can take a severe toll on you and your family. In many ways, this can be one of the hardest things you may ever contend with in your life. As the parent, you face a unique set of challenges and responsibilities as you determine how to best help your child find the care and support that they need.

Addiction Can Be An Emotional Roller Coaster

When a person is consumed with an addiction, their perspective and sense of reality is often clouded and a variety of very heady emotions—fear, loneliness, shame, self-hatred, or blame—can often be prevalent, which can further distort how they see and process the world around them.

These emotions are wrought deeply within the addiction itself; in fact, they can often be some of the very things that push a person towards drug and alcohol use in the first past. Not only this, but the drug and alcohol use and addiction may then further compound these emotions and increase their intensity, which continues to fuel this harmful cycle.

Not only does an addiction affect your son or daughter’s emotional state, but it also can be very draining on yours. Seeing someone you love essentially self-destruct can be very devastating and leave you feeling helpless, especially when they don’t see that they need help. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to help your son or daughter obtain the care they need to move forward and live a healthier, sober life.

Steps To Take When You’re Preparing To Get Your Child Help

As we’ve discussed above, emotions can have a tendency to run high within these circumstances. As much as you want to get your child help, you have to realize that jumping the gun and moving too quickly can actually be detrimental to their chance of recovery. Here are things that you should do to prepare yourself and improve your chances of obtaining a successful outcome for your child.

Communicate: It can be very hard to have an open and honest conversation with someone who is suffering from an addiction. A person who lives this way may have a tendency to lie or cover up their behaviors. It can be hard to trust them. Regardless, you need to take the time to listen to them and be patient. Hear what they have to say—what they’re afraid of, what they want, how they got here, and if and how they want help.

Don’t expect them to say what you want to hear. Things might not go smoothly, they might not open up as much as you would like, emotions might run high, or they might not say anything at all. Try to be patient and remain calm. Sitting down and talking opens the door to further communication and begins to forge an understanding between the two of you that can become a foundation for the other steps to come. Even if they don’t talk, you’ve made it evident that you care and that you are there for them—that is already making a difference, even if they don’t let you see it.

This is important to remember, because all of these aspects of support come together to form a situation that is unique to each person. Just as no two people are alike, no two addictions are alike. This stands regardless of your child’s age.

In order to address the problem head on and effectively, it is important that you keep this in mind. The more you learn about your child, the greater chances you’ll have of getting them care that is specific to their needs. This also gives you a chance to find out information that can be helpful to the individuals that will be providing care to your child once you are able to enroll them in treatment.

Remain Informed: Rehabilitation is not an easy process. Getting a person to the point of receiving this treatment is also not an easy thing. Taking the time to understand the process can help things to go more smoothly and increase your chances of succeeding in helping your loved one to get the care they need.

Look Into Finances: This can be the point in which many people refrain from moving forward. People often get intimidated by the prospect of paying for treatment. If your child isn’t covered by your insurance, look into getting them insurance. If they do have insurance through you, find out what it covers. Some facilities have different resources to help you with your financial planning. Contact them and let them direct you in how best to go about making treatment a reality.

Get Support: Talk to other people who have encountered situations that are similar to what your family is going through. Going to support groups, such as Al-Anon or Nar-Anon can help to grant you a better perspective and courage, while offering you encouragement and support.

Again, being the caregiver or family member of a person who suffers from an addiction can be daunting on many levels. If you’re feeling overwhelmed and off-balance, reaching out to someone can be a good idea for you too—talking to a therapist or counselor may help you to find greater balance and strength, so that you’ll be better prepared to face the road ahead of you. The stronger that you are, the stronger you can be for your loved one.

Reach out: Seek out other family members or friends who can help support you and your child both. An addiction can tear apart a person’s life, but it can also impact the lives of those around them. Having a network of people with the common goal of supporting a person in working towards their sobriety can put you steps ahead. This network can also come in handy if you need to stage an intervention.

Ask Questions: Reach out to facilities and therapists. Find out how they treat addictions and what the different therapies and approaches are that they utilize. Remember that DrugRehab.org is always there for those in need.

Like we said, every person is different—finding a facility that is the right fit for your loved one’s interests, temperament, situation, and addiction can make a vast difference in the measure of success that you’ll see.

Be Mindful Of How You Approach Your Child And The Situation

At a young age, a child is taught to value their parents and listen to their opinion and guidance. No matter what our age, many of us still cling to this in some respect. For many people, it does matter what our parents think about us. Keep this in mind when you speak to your child, adolescent or adult.

The manner in which you carry yourself and portray your thoughts and worries can greatly influence the outcome of the conversation. Remember, sometimes when a person, especially a parent, tells a child to do one thing, their reaction is to do the opposite. It is very important that you help them to maintain perspective, but be mindful of how your frame your observations and comments about their life.

At any age, try not to trivialize your child’s life. As a parent, with your experience and understanding of them, it can be easy to look from the outside in and see the error or simplicity of a situation. Even though it might seem that way to you, these same things can be very real and heavy to your child—they can be very important, overwhelming, or confusing. Try to be understanding of the things that influence their life and perspective.

Don’t give in. Your emotions are drained, and this situation has likely zapped you physically as well. Sometimes it can seem easier to cave and take the easy way out. Don’t compromise. Your child, at any age, needs you to stay strong and steadfast for them. Don’t bargain with or bribe them. This can be tempting, but is in fact very counterproductive and these are short-term solutions at best.

Consider An Intervention

Though many people may be familiar with the term, a lower percentage may actually be aware of what the process entails or how to go about it. When a person is so steeped in denial and refuses to either acknowledge that they have a problem or acknowledge that they need help, despite pleading or numerous overtures, an intervention might be an option you should consider.

Keep in mind, when a person is addicted, they are not always thinking the most clearly or rationally. In the majority of situations, a person who struggles with an addiction has let their health and responsibilities fall to the wayside. During an intervention, a person’s family and friends come together in an organized, patient, and compassionate setting to present them with the severity of the situation and options for changing their behavior and seeking help.

Planning: This is a situation where planning is essential. As we mentioned before, moving too quickly or being overly emotional can actually put both you and your child at a disadvantage. Even though you might be tempted to reach out in an impromptu manner, this can actually backfire on you and push the person farther away from both you and the help they desperately need.

Take the time to prepare yourself and anyone else involved in the intervention. Have a plan. Have a means of transportation ready. Consider that your child may become volatile or react in manner that is hard to deal with. If you’re fearful that your child may react in a way that you are not comfortable with or adept at handling, consider enlisting the support and guidance of a mental healthcare worker that specializes in intervention (an interventionist).

Keep Your Emotions In Check: An intervention can be a very tumultuous time. People’s opinions and emotions may get out of control—be mindful of keeping them in check. Strive to not be judgmental. There is a good likelihood that during the course of the addiction, your loved one may have done something to hurt you or mess their life up. It can be easy to point this out in a manner that is steeped in blame.

Be conscientious about how you phrase your communications and present ideas. Always try to speak and act out of love. When a person struggles with an addiction, they might feel alienated or even lonely. Being aware of your emotions, reactions, and responses helps to safeguard you, so that you don’t push them away and make them feel these things even more.

Is It A Good Idea To Force Someone To Go To Rehab?

Though it is always preferable that a person choose rehab on their own, it is not always a viable option. An addiction is devastating to your health, and in certain cases, it can actually put a person’s life in jeopardy. Here is when you need to consider what the repercussions will be if the person’s drug or alcohol use continues. When a person’s use is so severe, interceding on their behalf can not only prevent this damage, but it can save their life.

This is again a point where you need to remained informed on the subject and ask questions, especially in the case of an adult child. Laws vary from state to state, so take the time to find out what your options are. One option is a court-ordered treatment. Be prepared, as this route may potentially result in your child experiencing an extreme sense of betrayal, as you are essentially turning them into the authorities for their drug use.

This avenue oftentimes heavily impacts a person with the full reality of the situation—when they’re faced with this, they’re also faced with the reality that if they don’t change their behavior, they could incur legal repercussions. This might be tough love, but at least it forces your child to contemplate the toll their addiction is taking and pushes them towards thinking about change.

If you’re not comfortable doing this, or living with the results, there is yet another option: getting someone involuntarily committed for their addiction. An article published in Medscape referenced findings by the the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and quoted the lead author Debra A. Pinals, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Law and Psychiatry Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester as stating “We found that most states, about 38 jurisdictions, permit some form of involuntary substance abuse treatment separate from any kind of criminal issues under their civil statutes.”

At the end of the day, getting your child the help they need is the biggest priority. Research shows that even people who do not choose treatment on their own still have favorable and successful outcomes. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) refers to this, stating that “Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective. Sanctions or enticements from family, employment settings, and/or the criminal justice system can significantly increase treatment entry, retention rates, and the ultimate success of drug treatment interventions.”

In these cases, it might be natural to worry about the repercussions this will have on your relationship. You might question whether they will become angry at you for doing this, or if they will forgive you. In this circumstance, you need to be the stronger person and put them first. Eventually, in the best case scenario, when they get the help they need and obtain sobriety, having a new perspective and being able to look back with gratitude to realize what you did to help them.

Be Supportive After You’ve Succeeded In Getting Them Help

This can be the hardest part for some, because sometimes being supportive means letting go, albeit in most cases, temporarily. Once you get your child into a facility, you need to be respectful of both their needs and the facility’s policies. Some may have certain restrictions on family visits and interactions for a certain period of time. As much as this might be hard on you, you need to respect these boundaries with the understanding that it is in the best interest of your child.

Sometimes, your child may not want to see you. As a parent, your initial instinct and desire may be to rush in and protect them, or reach out to them with love and concern. Try to understand that your child is seeking to heal and gain strength and perspective to overcome their addiction. This can be very hard for you to understand, good facilities should involve the family in the treatment and establish an informed and open dialogue, even during the times you’re not able to interact with your family member.

Ask them questions, share your fears or hesitations—let them explain to you why the situation is the way it is, and most of all trust them—they’re the experts and they have your child’s best interests at heart.

Let Us Help You Look After Your Son Or Daughter

Watching your son or daughter struggle with an addiction can be devastating. Trying to get them the help they need can be a daunting process, and once you find a facility, letting go and letting someone else look after your child can be equally intimidating. This is why it is important to choose the right facility, so you have help and support every step of the way.

You don’t have to do this alone, that’s why we’re here. We can help you wade through the confusing emotions and countless options that surround a situation like this. Our staff at DrugRehab.org is not only highly trained, but they’re compassionate too—they understand the trying times that you’re going through and will be sensitive to your needs and those of your family. Contact us today, we are here to help you!

Making the decision to enter a rehab facility can be intimidating enough, but deciding to seek treatment as a pregnant victim of drug addiction is a completely different situation. Pregnant women often face harsh judgement and lack of options when seeking out help for drug use.

Drug use and abuse in pregnant women is not uncommon, but is often left untreated because of fear and intimidation. Women who are pregnant and mothers who have fallen victim to addiction face more obstacles when seeking treatment because of the heightened health risks. Seeking treatment may have consequences, but choosing not to seek the help you need may pose even greater consequences. It is important to know that there is help out there, even if it is more limited.

Risks Of Drug Abuse In Pregnant Women

The risks of using drugs while pregnant are greater because both lives, that of the mother and that of the unborn child, are in danger. It is important to be aware of the dangers that are presented when suffering from drug abuse while pregnant. These risks include miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects, and premature birth. In addition to these risks there is also a chance your baby could be born going through withdrawals or addicted to the substance that you have become addicted to. Because of these major risks, it is important to seek help as soon as possible. Although there may be risks to seeking treatment, you are putting your unborn child and your own life at greater risk by not seeking proper treatment.

Fears Of Seeking Treatment

Many pregnant women continue to suffer from drug abuse while pregnant because they are afraid of the consequences involved when treatment is sought. Every state has different policies and laws in place in regard to pregnant addicted women. In some states, laws have been passed that will put a pregnant woman in jail if the state finds out that she has been using drugs during her pregnancy. Some states require that healthcare providers that encounter pregnant women suffering from substance abuse report it to the state. Many women are afraid that if they are reported to the state, they will lose custody of their children.

Unfortunately, these harsh rules that are meant to scare women out of using drugs while pregnant, do not always work. Instead of being afraid to use drugs, pregnant women are often afraid to seek treatment and continue to use drugs or try to treat themselves for drug addiction. Pregnant women suffering from drug addiction have a tendency, therefore, to not seek out the treatment that they need.

Options Available For Treatment

While options are somewhat limited for pregnant women and mothers, they are still available. Many rehab facilities do not offer their services to pregnant women or mothers because they do not have the means to do so. This might mean they do not have a staff qualified to assist pregnant women, they do not have room to host a mother and her children, or they cannot offer the aftercare that is also necessary in treatment of a pregnant victim of addiction. Research and education is key in finding the right facility for your needs.

Of the options for drug treatment services for pregnant women, these are most common and provide the best care:

• Inpatient care for pregnant women with lodging for children
• On-staff maternity nurses, midwives, and obstetricians
• Facilities in proximity to hospitals
• Safe detox with care toward the unborn child
• Medication therapy safe during pregnancy
• Outpatient services with maternity resources
• Sober living facilities with medical staff
• Gender-specific therapies
• Transportation services
• Education on parenting
• Pediatric follow-up

Risks Of Not Seeking Treatment

While many women live in fear of losing their children to the state or landing in jail for their addiction, there may be more risks in not seeking treatment. Some women will try to do their own detox program without realizing how dangerous this is to the fetus. While it is dangerous for the mother to detox on her own, it can be fatal to the unborn child going through a detox without proper, professional help.

Potential effects to an unborn baby from drug abuse include:

• Low birthweight
• Malformation of organs
• Birth defects, potentially causing long-term issues
• Fetal addiction
• Problems within the central nervous system
• Miscarriage/stillbirth

Depending on the drug being abused, many doctors recommend using professionally administered methadone instead of going cold turkey off of drugs. Every victim of addiction is different and the same goes for every pregnant victim. Without professional help the risks of miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth are much greater. Doctors and rehab facilities trained and equipped to treat a baby born with addiction do exist and they are able to make the aftercare process much easier than a mother trying to face this problem without any help. While the risks to seeking treatment might seem terrifying, the risks in not seeking treatment are even scarier.

Contact Us

If you are a pregnant women or a mother who suffers from addiction and you need help, contact us. DrugRehab.org can help you find the treatment specific to your needs and the needs of your children. Remember that you are not alone in this. The more women who speak out and seek treatment, the better chance we have to create more programs and facilities for women like you.

Do not feel discouraged by others who may be quick to judge you. Do not live in fear of consequences. Seeking treatment is the best thing you can do for yourself and for your children. If you or your loved one is suffering from drug abuse while pregnant, know that we understand that you are a victim and that you need help. There is help out there for you and we will do whatever we can to help you find it.

As recently as 2012, officials in Pakistan were calling ephedrine the “poor man’s cocaine,” though other experts argued against such a distinction. Why has it earned this reputation? Probably because it can be abused and, sadly, has an addictive quality to it. This is unfortunate because it is a useful medicine in many circumstances. However, if you or someone you love is taking this medicine, it’s worth understanding your addiction risk. It may help you stop an addiction from developing or inspire you to get the help that you need.

What Is Ephedrine?

Ephedrine is a drug developed from the evergreen shrub ephedra. This plant has been used in Chinese medicines for over 60,000 years and eaphedrine is the active ingredient. WebMD defines it as being beneficial to those who struggle with breathing concerns caused by asthma and other problems. Currently, ephedrine can be purchased over the counter without a prescription.

Ephedrine is a stimulant and a decongestant that can also be used as a method of controlling weight loss, helping with quitting tobacco, boosting athletic performance, and helping promote menstruation in women. Its use can sometimes trigger false positives when testing for amphetamines, even if you aren’t abusing it. Overuse of it can cause a variety of serious health risks.

The New York Office Of Alcoholism And Substance Abuse Services defines the adverse effects of abusing ephedrine as including:

• Seizures
• Dizziness
• Memory loss
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Heart problems
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Psychosis
• Death

As a result, it’s important to regularly moderate your use of ephedrine. Even if you aren’t abusing it to get high, it is possible to overdose by taking more than the recommended amount. It’s also possible to develop a tolerance to the substance and, later on, an addiction.

Is It Addictive?

As mentioned above, ephedrine is definitely an addictive substance. However, it isn’t immediately addictive and addiction builds up slowly over time. People who abuse it are more likely to get addicted, but even regularly using it properly could lead to addiction over a prolonged period of months. This is why it is often phased out of many people’s treatments and replaced with other substances.

Though tolerance to ephedrine is slow-acting, it can still develop into a severe dependency. The person who becomes addicted will then need to take ephedrine regularly to feel normal. Stopping the medicine will result in severe withdrawal symptoms. AddictionLibrary.org defines these symptoms as including:

• Nausea
• Confusion
• Agitation
• Paranoia
• Seizures and tremors
• Loss of appetite
• Stomach irritation

Any substance that causes withdrawal symptoms is addictive. People coming off of ephedrine have claimed that it is nearly as difficult to beat as cocaine and that it causes symptoms similar to, but not quite as severe, as heroin addiction. As a result, you need to know how to avoid abusing this substance and why people do.

How And Why Is It Abused?

DrugAbuse.org defines addiction as “…a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain; they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long lasting and can lead to many harmful, often self-destructive, behaviors.”

However, abuse is not exactly the same thing as addiction. People who abuse ephedrine often do it for their own personal reasons, thinking that they are gaining something positive. For example, we already mentioned the way that it is used to boost athletic performance. As it isn’t yet tested for presence by many major sporting groups, it is often abused to give athletes an extra edge.

Truck drivers are perhaps the most common abuses of ephedrine, due to its stimulating factor. Reuters magazine reported that about 12 percent of all truck drivers used some form of stimulant on the job. They use it to stay awake during long drives in order to get to their destination more quickly. On a similar note, college students abuse ephedrine to get an energy boost to study for their finals.

Another group uses ephedrine to lose weight, without realizing it is addictive and potentially dangerous. The Daily Mail reported on a 46-year-old British woman who become addicted to ephedrine when using it to lose weight. Her four-year addiction so heavily impacted her health that it caused a severe heart condition that cut her life expectancy to a mere 10 additional years from diagnosis.

Beyond these groups of people lies those who use ephedrine simply to get high. Its stimulating effect is often overpowering and can cause a great deal of excitement. It can also trigger temporary psychosis, a condition many thrill seekers may crave. As a result, they are swallowing, snorting, and injecting ephedrine in order to get high, thinking it’s non-addictive because it can be purchased so easily. That is, most definitely, not the case.

What Symptoms Are There Of Addiction?

While abuse of ephedrine is often a symptom of addiction, addiction to the substance isn’t always the case with abuse. Addiction, as defined above, requires a mental and physical need for a substance. It meets a very specific set of circumstances. Of course, abuse of ephedrine is problematic and needs to be stopped.

If you or your loved one are abusing ephedrine, you can diagnose a true addiction by looking for any of the following behavioral and physical health symptoms: withdrawal; obsessive thoughts about the substance; depression, especially associated with an inability to get ephedrine; shaking hands; hypertension; anxiety; migraines; hallucinations; liver damage; and coma.

Spotting these symptoms can give you the inspiration to check into a treatment center today. Thankfully, a growing group of addiction treatment centers are beginning to understand ephedrine addiction and are learning how to treat it effectively. This means you don’t have to be alone in your fight to regain sobriety.

How Is It Treated?

Ephedrine addiction treatment is similar to other methods, but is complicated if the person who is addicted was using it for medical purposes. Simply taking somebody off of ephedrine may cause breathing problems to return (were this the original reason for use), which could trigger a dangerous attack. As a result, they must be weaned off of it and onto a different medicine.

This requires slowly decreasing dosage to avoid withdrawal and replacing it with another substance. As long as that medicine isn’t addictive, it should be safe to use. Once ephedrine has been carefully withdrawn from the body and its medical effects have taken over, the most difficult part of the whole process begins.

Addiction treatment for ephedrine typically takes over 30-60 days and focuses on educating people on the dangers of ephedrine and its effects on the body. This includes discussing the nature of addiction, showing pictures of the damage ephedrine causes, and discussing alternative coping methods. It also requires understanding trigger situations and how to avoid relapse.

Since ephedrine is rarely connected with mental health disorders, dual diagnosis treatment is usually not required. However, if ephedrine use caused a person to develop some form of mental health disorder, or if it exacerbated a preexisting condition, it may be necessary. Often, this goes hand-in-hand with physical health treatments that are designed to get the body back into shape after addiction.

Your Health Is Important

The dangerous addictive nature of ephedrine, combined with its easy-to-obtain state, makes for a particularly problematic addiction. The exact rate of addiction is unknown, but it’s safe to say that many unsuspecting people likely suffer from it. If you are one of them, please contact us at DrugRehab.org today to get the help you need to recover.