The Canyon

When you are physically dependent upon any drug, including alcohol, detox can be an extremely difficult experience. More than just a physiological response to the lack of drugs in your system, drug detox is emotionally and psychologically exhausting as well.

If you are about to enter drug detox or if you are currently detoxing off of your drug of choice, here are a few safety tips to help you make sure you are detoxing healthfully and effectively.

Drug Detox Safety Tip #1: Medical Supervision

Of primary importance is your health as you go through drug detox. The only way to ensure this is to begin and end your drug detox under medical supervision. At inpatient drug detox or drug rehab facilities, you will have onsite medical supervision as you begin your drug detox all the way through until your withdrawal symptoms are gone. Should you experience any complications due to underlying or co-occurring medical disorders, you will be protected.

Drug Detox Safety Tip #2: Don’t Binge

Many are tempted to overindulge in their drug of choice right before entering a drug detox program. They view it as a “last hurrah” before getting clean and sober. Unfortunately, this will only make your detox experience worse. It also increases your chance of drug overdose, which may ultimately mean that you never make it to drug detox at all. It’s just not a good idea.

Drug Detox Safety Tip #3: Don’t Relapse

One of the biggest risks during drug detox is relapse, yet another reason why it is important that you enroll in a medically supervised drug detox program before you begin. The risk of relapse is highest during detox due to the intensity of withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, the largest percentage of drug overdoses occur after a period of sobriety and relapsing during detox is significantly more dangerous than regular drug use. The chances of death or coma due to overdose after abstinence is much higher.

Drug Detox Safety Tip #4: Positive Support

The support of people who love you and want the best for you as well as from people who have been through what you’re going through is invaluable. For many, this is the only thing that keeps them involved in the program and fighting through the hard parts of each day. If you feel like relapsing or if you find yourself wondering why you started this in the first place, if you can’t seem to remember what it is that you’re getting clean and sober for, then calling a supportive friend, counselor, a 1-800 hotline or a sponsor will help you get back on track.

Drug Detox

If you’re ready to get started on building a new life without drugs and alcohol, then The Canyon can help. Give us a call or contact us by email for more information about our drug detox program today.

NOTE: If you are concerned that you or someone you are with is experiencing an OxyContin overdose, call 911 immediately.

What is an OxyContin Overdose?

OxyContin overdose occurs when you take too much of OxyContin in a short period or combine OxyContin with other drugs of addiction. If you have difficulty breathing, feel a sudden overwhelming and extreme fatigue, and think that you have overdoses on OxyContin, call 911 immediately.

If you are with someone who appears to have passed out and can’t be woken up, they have a slow heartbeat and exhibit shallow breathing as well as a bluish tint to their nails and lips and you know that they took OxyContin recently, they may be experiencing an OxyContin overdose and you should call 911.

What Do I Do in the Event of an OxyContin Overdose?

If someone you are with has been taking OxyContin and shows signs of an overdose, call 911 as soon as possible. When your call is answered, stay calm and be prepared to furnish the following information if you can:

* The name, age and weight of the person
* How the victim appears to you and symptoms they are exhibiting
* The strength and the amount of OxyContin that was taken
* When and how it was ingested
* If the OxyContin was prescribed for the victim

In the event that you suspect an OxyContin overdose but are not convinced it is an emergency, contact the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. You should be ready to supply the operator the same information as you would a 911 agent. Poison Control is available 24 hours a day, 7days a week and is completely confidential.

How is an OxyContin Overdose Treated?

Most deaths occur during an OxyContin overdose because the patient stops breathing. When treating an OxyContin overdose, the main objective will be to open airways to allow the patient to breathe either on their own or with assistance. A medication such as naloxone is commonly administered to prevent respiratory depression. To prevent and manage circulatory shock and pulmonary edema resulting from an OxyContin overdose, it may be necessary to provide oxygen and vasopressors. If cardiac arrest or arrhythmias become apparent, cardiac massage or defibrillation will be required.

How Do I Avoid OxyContin Overdose?

The best way to avoid it is to choose never to take the drug unless prescribed by a doctor and to undergo treatment for OxyContin addiction as soon as you recognize the problem.

Who Needs OxyContin Detox and Treatment?

While anyone can become addicted to OxyContin, some people may be more susceptible to addiction, especially those who have had a drug abuse or addiction problem in the past or those with a genetic predisposition for addiction. Even if you have these issues, you may still be prescribed OxyContin, though your doctor should monitor you closely.

 If you find that you are preoccupied with taking the drug, take a higher dose than prescribed, go “doctor shopping” to get multiple prescriptions for OxyContin or other opioid-based prescription drugs or increase your dosing schedule without authorization from your doctor, then the person needing OxyContin detox and treatment is you. Call an OxyContin rehab like The Canyon today to break your addiction and avoid overdose.

If you’re addicted to an opiate like heroin or prescription painkillers like Vicodin, codeine, OxyContin and others, the only way to break free from that addiction is an opiate detox and addiction treatment at an opiate rehab.

Heroin addiction, especially, has proven a difficult disease to break free from, especially when the drug is used intravenously. The problem is so rampant in this country, that researchers and medical professionals continue to study different ways to treat the problem in hopes of finding one that is effective across the board. We’ve talked about heroin addiction treatment using methadone, Suboxone and heroin itself, but here’s another idea that’s being debated among researchers: heroin addiction treatment using Naltrexone implants.

How Naltrexone Can Treat Heroin Addiction

The claims for Naltrexone as an effective heroin addiction treatment measure include the following:

* An opiate antagonist
* Removes opiate cravings
* Reverses physiological addiction
* Repairs damaged opiate receptors over time to treat physiological addiction
* Future relapses on heroin provide no high

Problems With Naltrexone as a Heroin Addiction Treatment

If all that is true, then why haven’t people been using Naltrexone to kick heroin since all this was discovered in the ‘70s? Apparently, there are a number of problems with the drug as well. First of all, researchers say that it’s hard to make someone take the pill every day. For some reason, they haven’t considered or won’t consider distributing it the way they distribute methadone: at a clinic, under supervision on a daily basis. The other issue is that though it may block the effects of heroin when taken regularly and as prescribed, there are bad relapse issues when you take Naltrexone some of the time and heroin some of the time and try to mix the two haphazardly. The result can mean nasty withdrawal symptoms.

Naltrexone Implant Therapy: An Australian Solution to Heroin Addiction

So here’s the big idea, the one they’re testing in Australia as a possible way to take advantage of Naltrexone’s effect on heroin addiction and circumvent the issues that have come up in the past with the pill form: an implant. The guy who developed the idea and manufactures the Naltrexone implant is Dr. George O’Neil. The implant is put under the skin where it delivers a controlled dose of Naltrexone reliably and safely. The current implant works for up to six months but a longer lasting implant is in development.

Beware of imitators, however. Apparently, there are inferior versions floating around that are made more cheaply and can be deadly. The O’Neil implant is the only one that has been called 100 percent safe.

What Do You Think About Naltrexone for Heroin Addiction Treatment?

Is this a good idea? Should we try it in the United States? Do you foresee any possible issues? Is it worth the time and financial investment to explore a new heroin-specific addiction treatment when we have a number of medications available for heroin detox and rehab?