When you have been through a painful life, the truth is about the last thing you want to face. A drug addiction stemming from searing pain like this does just that. Only it also adds the life-wrecking consequences that go along with drug addiction like money problems, injury and death, family chaos, and health risks. What can help you when you think all is lost? The truth about your drug addiction can take you on another better path.

Getting Through The Addiction Thinking

The first and perhaps most challenging barrier between you and the truth is your addiction thinking. Your mind will come up with whatever excuse or justification you need to keep on going with your addiction.

Drug rehab suggested? No way, that doesn’t really work for anyone. Legal problems because of drugs? It’s all BS – you were set up. Relationship going down the tubes because you get mean when you’re drunk? Agh, she’s making a huge deal out of just a few drinks.

Unless you think you are losing something valuable, you may not clearly see that you are the one setting up your difficult life. Your choice to avoid drug rehab keep you from getting healthy and keeping a good job. Your choice to blow off responsibility for your drug arrest will make you likely to get arrested again. Your choice to dismiss your girlfriend’s complaint about your mean drunk personality will keep you from establishing a solid loving relationship.

Truth About Drug Addiction Is A Gift

The truth about your drug addiction is a gift, though it may look like a threat at first. It holds the key to helping you get sober and stay sober. Do you know why you started using drugs and alcohol in the first place? What’s your worst fear about not having the drugs and alcohol to help you cope?

When you uncover what you really needed back when your addiction began, you can figure out how to get it in a healthy sober way. Perhaps you grew up with mentally ill parents and had to fend for yourself. You needed parenting and a family connection but didn’t get either. When you are sober and you face these feelings, you know you need to put yourself around caring people who all help each other. You make the kinds of connections you didn’t have when you started your addiction.

When you know the truth about your drug addiction, you can take the damaging power away from your feelings by keeping them in the open. You can acknowledge them but they don’t have to rule your life. That kind of strength can only happen when you let the truth in.

Drug Rehab Take The First Step

Now that you really know the truth about your drug addiction, you can’t un-know it. It’s not hidden to you anymore, so acting like you don’t see the truth is doing damage on purpose. Do you really want to keep hurting yourself and others who love you when there is another choice? The truth can be ugly when it comes to drug addiction. Drug rehab can help you get more comfortable facing that truth. That’s how you learn to live a good life – with the truth instead of hiding from it.

The death of Michael Jackson brought a lot of attention to the responsibility that doctors have for their patients when it comes to how many and what kind of pills that they prescribe, especially when that prescription ends in death. Michael Jackson’s death was officially ruled a homicide, albeit unintentional, and his doctor was indicted because he was the one who actually pushed the drugs into his system via IV. Anna Nicole’s doctors and caregivers are still dealing with the legal issues surrounding their decision to keep her sedated, as both she and her son ended up dead as a result.

Here’s another case where a doc got caught providing questionable prescriptions, but in this case, the results were just as deadly as it was for the celebrities but the doctor didn’t go to prison. Instead, she got… suspended. It’s the case of Dr. Stephen Plotnick from Virginia Beach and the cases were brought, for the most part, by the families of those who were lost due to his over prescription of drugs, usually for fibromyalgia.

Patients Lost to Painkiller Overdose

• Teresa Parker – Died from “acute combined oxymorphone and amphetamine poisoning.” A $5 million lawsuit was filed by Parker’s widower.
• Harold McDuffie II – Died from an overdose of narcotics. Plotnick settled out of court when McDuffie’s widow filed suit.
• Taryn Holland – Overdosed on methadone and other drugs.
• Patient M – Overdosed on oxycodone when Plotnick doubled her prescription and didn’t give her any guidance.
• Patient O – Overdosed on narcotics prescribed to her a week earlier by Plotnick.

License Suspended

So after treating thousands of patients for chronic pain, is Plotnick liable for these five deaths that happened over a span of four years or so. The Board of Medicine has already suspended his license after these cases were filed in addition to six malpractice suits citing him as “a substantial danger to the public health or safety.”

The Argument for Revocation of Doc’s License

His specialty was the treatment of fibromyalgia, a disorder for which the diagnosis as well as treatment is often argued in medical circles, and he often treated it aggressively using narcotics. The problem alleged is that he would prescribe high doses of these narcotics, not monitor the patients’ intake and then pawn off their follow up care on other office personnel.

The Argument Against Revocation of Doc’s License

Licensed to practice medicine in 1993, Plotnick has a number of supporters. According to Bill Sizemore at The Virginian Pilot, he was named a “physician of choice” for fibromyalgia care by a local support group and selected by drugmaker Pfizer Inc. to help market Lyrica , the first drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating fibromyalgia. He has a ton of patients who stand by his treatment as well.

What Do You Think?

So what do you think? Do the failed treatments of a few preclude the successful treatments of many? Is this just another example of how celebrity cases are given more consideration than those of everyone else? And how does this case rate when compared to the cases of patients who are prescribed narcotics and give them to someone who ultimately overdoses on them? Why are they charged with manslaughter and doctors only get their license suspended or possibly revoked?

Alcohol may seem like an ideal sleep aid, but it does more harm than good. That’s probably why alcoholics seem to be run down. They are under the immediate slowing effects of the alcohol and they are almost certainly not getting quality sleep. You might be surprised to find out other things about sleep and alcohol.

Sleepless With Alcohol

Alcohol Appears To Help Sleep But Ruins It Later

Alcohol can make a person feel drowsy, even pass out in high enough quantities. But don’t mistake alcohol for a sleep aid. The sleepy relaxed feeling is a temporary effect. Alcohol dehydrates the body, has a depressive effect on the nervous system, and affects circulation.

Over time, alcohol processes through the body and the effects change. As the body bounces back, sleep patterns also become affected. A late afternoon nap from mid-day drinking can make going to sleep difficult at the usual bedtime. Also, late night drinking can cause wakefulness part way through the night. Even worse, when the person has woken up they often have difficulty falling back asleep.

Alcohol Robs People Of REM Sleep

REM sleep is the stage of sleep when people usually dream. They are sleeping much more lightly than in other stages. Scientists aren’t precisely sure how the REM stage benefits work. However, getting the proper amount and frequency of REM sleep seems to make the difference between a restful night and a non-restful night.

Yes, you guessed it – alcohol disrupts the REM cycles too. It decreases the amount of REM sleep and increases non-REM sleep. While the initial effects of alcohol make it seem like a good method for getting to sleep quickly, the withdrawal effects sabotage sleep for the rest of the night.

A person with alcoholism needs sobriety for so many reasons. Getting more restorative sleep at night is one of them. Alcohol rehab centers create restful calm atmospheres to help with disrupted sleep cycles. It can take some time for a person to establish good sleep patterns. A spa-like environment at alcohol rehab can make night time wakefulness more tolerable.

Alcohol Rehab Helps Improve Sleep Habits

Sleep disorders may not be an obvious side effect of alcoholism. Yet many alcoholics fail to realize just how much of a toll alcohol takes on their body. At alcohol rehab, a person can learn how a restful sleep environment looks and feels. This positive example can help them make changes in their own home as part of a healthy sober lifestyle.

If you have to stop taking prescription drugs for insomnia because the addiction is ruining your life, congratulations! As great a decision as that is, that now means that you’re back to square one as far as dealing with your original sleeping issue, except now you have addiction issues as well, which makes it all the more difficult.

Insomnia is a problem that is often cured by prescription painkillers and benzos. Lack of sleep may be enough to warrant the prescription but in most cases, difficulties sleeping begin when prescription drug use for another issue stops. One side effect of prescription painkillers and anti-anxiety medication is their ability to knock you out. When you stop taking the drug, you find that your body has forgotten how to fall asleep naturally. So how do you fix this problem?

The other day, we looked at non non-narcotic options for inducing sleep. Here are a few more:

Commercial Yet Non-Narcotic Options for Sleep

• Melatonin – These little pills will help you sleep if you take them right before you lay down. Available in slow release capsule. (about $7)
• Valerian Root – Don’t be put off by the stinky feet smell of these guys. They come in capsule form or you can buy the tea… or the herb to make the tea… or in tincture form. (about $7)
• Good Night Pills – A bunch of companies have created their own sleepy time formula and most combine melatonin and valerian with other calming herbs (about $15)
• Kava Kava – Best in tincture form, it’s also available in capsules and pretty much all it’s good for is helping you sleep. (about $7)
• Lavender – They say that lavender is soothing and you can find a range of sleep pillows, eye masks, lotions, bed linen scents, candles, aromatherapy oils and more that are scented with the stuff to help you sleep. (about $5 to $20 depending upon quality of herb and the item)
• Good Night Tea – There are a number of different brands that cater to getting you ready for bed but the best include a combination of chamomile, catnip, hops and passionflower (about $4 to $6).

Of course, if you’re hooked on 5 Oxys every night or take 8 Xanax just to calm down, chances are these little over the counter remedies won’t be much help. But every little bit counts and as your body adjusts to being without prescription drugs, these herbs and exercises will have a greater effect.

Anyone else have any suggestions about how to get to sleep when you’re trying to break your prescription drug addiction?

Bipolar symptoms and drug addiction symptoms can look very similar – mood swings, sleep disruption, extreme behavior, changes in relationships, social isolation, hopelessness, nervousness, and irritability. If you saw a loved on acting like this, would you really know what was wrong or where to start? In most cases, people with bipolar disorder use drugs or drink alcohol excessively to balance out their moods. They try to relax themselves when they are too manic, and they may try to get stimulation when they are depressed. As you could imagine, the combination of drug use and unmanaged mood swings can make for a very unsettled way of life.

Keep in mind that these folks are generally trying to manage their bipolar disorder with alcohol and drugs, not intentionally create other problems in their life. Unfortunately, both states of mania and depression can seriously distort a person’s sense of judgment. They might not want to believe that their problem is so severe, believing they can just keep it in check themselves. They may be too embarrassed to tell anyone about their symptoms, concerned no one would really believe them or want to help.

Drug Rehab For Bipolar and Drug Addiction

Suicide Major Risk With Bipolar And Drug Addiction

It should come as no surprise to learn that people with bipolar disorder have a higher suicide risk than the general population. The constant adjustments with the mood, the broken promises and ditched responsibilities, the burned bridges – all of it can get very hopeless if they aren’t getting treatment.

It’s not the depressive stage where they are most at risk for completing a suicide attempt – it’s the manic phase. After being mired down by the groggy weight of their depression, the manic phase finally provides the energy and impulsiveness to make it happen.

Everything discussed above is exactly why bipolar must be manged with a drug treatment program that includes treatment for bipolar disorder. The two cannot be divorced from each other during the treatment phase. Drug rehab that treats both mental illness and drug addiction simultaneously is known as dual diagnosis drug rehab. These drug treatment professionals understand the nature of both disorders and make both get proper attention.

Get started With Dual Diagnosis Drug Rehab

Bipolar disorder is nothing to mess around with or manage without a drug treatment professional. The risk of bad health, money trouble, poor choices, and suicide are far too great. If you know you are going down this path, please get started with a dual diagnosis program. It’s time to stop fighting it and get the right help.

Melanie Griffith, the actress who starred in Working Girl back in the ‘80s among other things, recently checked into a Utah rehab called the Cirque Lodge. A favorite drug and alcohol rehab among Hollywood celebrities, including Kirsten Dunst and Lindsay Lohan, the specific issues for which Griffith is seeking treatment at Cirque Lodge is at this time undisclosed.

Would you absolutely know an alcoholic if you saw one? Are you sure? Perhaps you would guess that they’d look ragged, have a crummy apartment, have an endless string of low-end jobs or no job, and be financially desolate. Although some fit this profile, as many as 20% of all alcoholics are high functioning.

High Functioning Alcoholic Suffers Emotionally

High Functioning Alcoholic Fools People

A high functioning alcoholic may look in many ways like they have a normal life. They may be married, have kids, have a good job, dress well, and so on. The more obvious signs of capable functioning run just well enough that they can fool people for longer that they don’t have a problem.

Where the high functioning alcoholic struggles is with their emotions. They may be married and be a parent, but they don’t give of themselves in the ways a healthy spouse or parent normally does. They keep their relationships more shallow because they can’t connect well emotionally. They stay more guarded and closed, and that can make a marriage feel one-sided. Their relationship with their kids stays at a surface level of
closeness.

Internal Consequences of Alcoholism Hurt The Most

So although they may “be there” in the family, they contribute little to the connectivity of the group. This can lead to divorce and disconnection from kids as they grow up and leave the home. This is a long slow leak of poison into the family unit. The external symptoms of alcoholism may be generally absent, making it difficult to pinpoint. Anyone trying to get them to go to alcohol rehab would probably have trouble convincing them. But the long-term effect of the emotional impairment often bleeds a family’s patience dry.

If you do have a high functioning alcoholic in your family that needs alcohol rehab, your would have to keep in mind how they look somewhat different from the stereotypical alcoholic. They need to see how the more subtle damage is being done to their relationships and to their body. They need to understand that just because they have a good job and are still married, that doesn’t mean it will stay that way.

Talk About Alcohol Rehab With Your Loved One

At some point, their body will deteriorate, their spouse will be done with them, their kids will have given up trying to have a relationship. At some point, some or all of those things are likely to happen. And by then, it may be too late to recover what has been lost. Starting an alcohol rehab program sooner rather than later gives the high functioning alcoholic a chance at life instead of waiting until it all falls apart.