Opiates encompass a broad range of addictive substances either directly produced from the opium poppy plant or synthetically derived from opium. Most opiates have historically been prescribed by doctors to relieve pain by directly acting on the central nervous system, though some opiates, like heroin, moved from being a legally prescribed pain reliever to an illegal street drug in the early 20th century. Opiate addiction is on the rise in the United States, primarily due to the growing abuse of prescription pain killers like MS Contin, Oxycontin, Percocet, Dilaudid and the like.
Opiates are particularly conducive to developing an addiction since opiate medications often require ever higher dosages of the drug for the pain relieving effect to be achieved. When a person tolerance level to an opiate increases, they become physically dependent on the drug and will likely need opiate rehab to break free of their addiction.
How is Opiate Rehab different from a typical drug rehab?
Victims of opiate addiction often require additional therapies over what a traditional drug rehab facility may offer. Opiate rehab usually requires a medically supervised detox period before the rehabilitation part of your recovery can begin. Occasionally, drugs like Suboxone or Methadone may be used to ease the pain of opiate withdrawal symptoms. Because most people addicted to opiates began taking the opiate to relieve chronic pain, an opiate drug rehab should offer some type of physical therapy, like yoga, in addition to counseling to combat the physical and behavioral symptoms of addiction.
Suboxone for Opiate Rehab
Addiction treatment with Suboxone may be used under medical supervision to ease the pain of withdrawing from opiates, either rapidly over 2-4 days or over a longer period of time where the patient “steps down” the dosage of opiates. Only physicians may prescribe Suboxone and then only if the physician has been approved by the US government.
Taken sublingually, Suboxone is both a synthetic opiate and an opiate antagonist that blocks the opiate receptors in your brain. The synthetic opiate portion of Suboxone reduces the withdrawal symptoms during opiate detox, while the opiate antagonist reduces the ability of the opiate of addiction to reach your central nervous system.
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