Opioid Addiction | Advanced Spine & Rehab, P.C.

Opioid Addiction: A Deadly Condition That May Be Helped with Suboxone Treatment

Site Admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 03:16:05 +0000

Sometimes simply referred to as “narcotics,” opioids are a type of drug that includes the illegal drug known as heroin as well as a number of prescription pain relievers. Some of these include tramadol, fentanyl, oxycodone and hydrocodone. While some are made from the opium plant, others are man-made synthetic drugs.

Regardless of home the opioid is made or manufactured, this class of drugs can result in a number of side effects. Some of these include mental fog, drowsiness, constipation and nausea. Slowed breathing is also a side effect of opioids and, in some cases, this can lead to death.

Recognizing the signs of an opioid overdose is one of the keys to helping to save someone who is in this situation. Some of the signs of an opioid overdose include:

Body goes limp
Skin feels clammy to the touch
Inability to speak
Purple or blue coloring to the fingernails or lips
Extremely pale face
Vomiting or making gurgling sounds
Slowed or stopped breathing
Slowed or stopped heartbeat
Inability to be awakened

If you recognize these signs in someone, it is essential to call 911 immediately in order to get help.

Clearly, addiction to opioids is a serious condition that can lead to numerous health complications and even death. To avoid these issues, it is essential to get treatment right away. If you or someone you love is struggling with opioid addiction, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab today to learn more about our suboxone-based treatment program and how we can help.

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Opioids: A Worldwide Epidemic

Site Admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 16:16:52 +0000

Throughout the world, half a million deaths each year are attributed to drug use. Of these, more than 70 percent are related to opioid use. More than 30 percent of those deaths are caused by overdose. In 2017 alone, the World Health Organization estimates that 115,000 people died from opioid overdose. Yet, overdoses that do not lead to death are more common than those that do.

Symptoms of Opioid Overdose

A number of signs and symptoms are associated with opioid overdose. These include:

Difficulty breathing
Pinpoint pupils
Unconsciousness

Of course, an opioid overdose can also lead to death.

Risk Factors of Opioid Overdose

Several risk factors are associated with opioid overdose. These include:

Taking opioids by injection
Using opioids again after going for a period of time without (such as following a period of detoxification or being released from incarceration)
Using prescription opioids without medical supervision
Taking a high prescription of opioids of more than 100 mg of morphine or equivalent
Using opioids with alcohol or other substances or medicines that are known to suppress the respiratory function (i.e. barbiturates, anesthetics, benzodiazepines or certain pain medications)
Having other medical conditions such as liver disease, lung disease, HIV or a mental health condition
Having an opioid disorder

Unfortunately, the number of opioid overdoses has increased around the world in recent years. In the United States, the number of people dying from opioid overdose increased by 120 percent from 2010 to 2018. If you or someone you love is struggling with opioid addiction, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab to learn more about our suboxone treatment program.

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Opioids, Your Brain and Addiction

Site Admin — Wed, 19 May 2021 03:48:50 +0000

Naturally found in the opium poppy plant, opioids are a class of drugs that is frequently used as medicine to relax the body and alleviate pain. Due to their ability to make people feel relaxed and “high,” opioids are frequently abused for non-medical reasons. Since opioids are highly addictive, the risk for overdose is also very high. Common prescription opioids include hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, morphine, codeine and fentanyl, while heroin is the most common non-medical opioid.

Opioids and Your Brain

Prescription opioids help to alleviate pain by directly affecting your brain. By binding to and activating opioid receptors, opioids black pain signals that are sent from your brain to the body. They also get your body to release large amounts of dopamine, which strongly reinforces the desire to use the drug more.

While opioids do offer pain relief and help to create feelings of relaxation and happiness, they can have several harmful effects. This is particularly true if opioids or used over a longer period of time. Some of these harmful effects include confusion, drowsiness, constipation, nausea and slowed breathing. This slowed breathing can also lead to hypoxia, which can then lead to short- and long-term neurological and psychological effects.

Opioids and Addiction

Repeated misuse of prescription opioids can lead to addiction. For those who become addicted to opioids, going even a few hours without opioids can lead to withdrawal symptoms including muscle and bone pain, trouble with sleeping, uncontrolled leg movements, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes and severe cravings. If you or someone you love is addicted to opioids, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab to learn more about hour suboxone treatment program today!

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Opioid Overdose and Addiction: Find the Help You Need at Advanced Spine & Rehab

Site Admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 00:43:27 +0000

While opioids include a number of strong prescription pain relievers, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, the fact that they are often legally prescribed does not take away from the fact that opioids can be quite deadly. In fact, opioids – both those that are legally prescribed and illegal street drug varieties such as heroin – are highly addictive and can have a number of side effects.

Opioid Overdose Symptoms

Even when used properly, prescription opioids can cause side effects such as mental fog, drowsiness, constipation and nausea. In the case of overdose, you may also experience any of the following signs and symptoms:

Pale face
Skin feels clammy to the touch
Lips and/or fingernails turn purple or blue
Body goes limp
Making gurgling noises or vomiting
Slowed breathing or heartbeat
Inability to speak

When overdosing on opioids, it may also be impossible to awaken you and death may occur.

Opioid Addiction and Withdrawal

Of course, even if you do not overdose on opioids, you may also experience addiction or withdrawal if you try to stop using the drugs. With addiction, you experience a compulsive desire to seek out the drugs, even if you know they are causing you harm. This is considered a chronic brain disease and, therefore, requires special treatment to break the addiction. With the help of suboxone and a well-rounded treatment program such as that offered by Advanced Spine & Rehab, you can work toward full recovery from your addiction. Contact us today to learn more about our suboxone program and how we can help you.

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Recognizing Signs of Opioid Addiction

Site Admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 01:13:27 +0000

Are you concerned that you or a loved one may be suffering from opioid addiction? If so, you are not alone. In fact, opioid addiction is a serious problem in the United States, with around 50,000 people dying from opioid-related issues in 2019 alone.

What are Opioids?

Opioids are a classification of drugs that can include both illegal drugs, such as heroin, and prescription pain medications. When prescribed by a doctor as a pain medication, opioids are meant to treat persistent or severe pain, such as that which is associated with chronic pain disorders are caused by surgery or diseases such as cancer.

Opioids work by attaching to opioid receptors on the nerve cells in the brain, on the spinal cord and in other parts of the body. The opioid then blocks the pain messages that are sent from the body to the spinal cord and the brain, thereby effectively preventing your body from experiencing the pain.

Signs of Opioid Addiction

While it is possible for someone who is addicted to opioids to hide their addiction from their loved ones, there are a number of signs that are commonly associated with opioid addiction. Some of these include:

Changes in sleep habits
Changes in exercise habits
Decrease in libido
Drowsiness
Experiencing new financial difficulties
Frequently experiencing flu-like symptoms
Isolation from family or friends
Poor hygiene
Stealing from family, friends or the workplace
Weight loss

If you yourself are using opioids and you find that you are unable to control your opioid use or you have uncontrollable craving for opioids, you may be struggling with addiction.

If you or someone you care about is struggling with opioid addiction, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab today to learn more about our suboxone treatment program.

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Social Isolation and Opioid Addiction: Taking Care of Your Health

Site Admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:35:57 +0000

With the pandemic still going strong, many people continue to find themselves social distancing and otherwise staying at home. As a result of this isolation, a number of people are fighting feelings of depression. Unfortunately, for those who struggle with substance abuse, this sense of isolation can make the struggle even harder. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration includes social wellness as one of its eight dimensions of wellness.

What is Social Isolation?

It is important to differentiate between loneliness and social isolation when discussing the pandemic. To be considered socially isolated, you generally need to live alone and not participate in club or community activities. You must also have no or very little contact with friends and family.

Of course, even if you do not fit these criteria, you may still feel loneliness. This is because loneliness occurs any time you feel disconnected from others. This, in turn, can lead to feelings of anxiety and depression. Whether you are socially isolated or not, these feelings of loneliness can increase your risk of turning to drugs to help with coping with your feelings.

Coping with Feelings of Loneliness and Isolation

If you are feeling lonely or isolated, you can better cope with those feelings with the help of a few techniques. Some ideas that you might want to try include:

Keeping a Journal
Identifying Triggers
Managing Cravings

If you need assistance with these techniques or if you are in need of an opioid treatment program, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab to learn more about our suboxone treatment program.

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COVID-19 and Opioid Addiction

Site Admin — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 04:08:43 +0000

COVID-19 has been the source of great concern for Americans across the country, particularly those who are considered to be “high risk” for complications or death resulting from the virus. One high-risk category that has not received much attention, however, are those who are addicted to opioids.

While most immediately realize that smokers are at a higher risk of complications due to COVID-19, smoking is not the only drug that affects the respiratory system. In fact, people with an opioid use disorder are also at a higher risk of complications due to poor respiratory and pulmonary health. The fact that opioid abusers are also more likely to experience homelessness or to be incarcerated also increases their risk of contracting the virus.

The complications directly associated with COVID-19 are scary enough, but the situation is even worse for those who are addicted to opioids. If you suffer from addiction and you are ready to start working toward your recovery, the professionals are Advanced Spine & Rehab are here to help. By taking a holistic approach to improving your health and using suboxone to help counteract the physical aspects of addiction, we can help you begin to walk down the road to recovery.

If you have concerns about COVID-19 or if you are ready to start working toward recovering from your opioid addiction, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab today. We will be happy to answer any questions or concerns that you may have while also helping you to stay healthy and drug-free.

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Opioid Addiction: How Does One Become an Addict?

Site Admin — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:05:48 +0000

With more than 2 million Americans and around 15 million people worldwide misusing prescription opioids and heroin, it is clear that opioid abuse is a serious issue. In fact, more than 20,000 deaths in the United States were attributed to an overdose of prescription opioids in 2016 along with another 13,000 deaths resulting from heroin use. As such, drug overdose has become the leading cause of death among adults under the age of 50 in the United States, with opioids being responsible for about half of those deaths.

With so many deaths attributed to opioid abuse, it is only natural to wonder what causes this addiction. Unfortunately, there is not one simple “cause” that can be avoided in order to prevent abuse of opioids. Rather, opioid addiction is a complex issue that results from a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. Those genes thought to be involved with opioid addiction are found in the endogenous opioid system, which is the body’s system for regulating pain and reward. It involves those opioid substances that occur naturally in the body, but opioid medications and heroin are able to exert their effects on these same receptors. Current research indicates that differences in the structure of these receptors influence how the body responds to opioids.

Of course, understanding how addiction occurs is only one component toward recovery. At Advanced Spine and Rehab, we utilize Suboxone along with other behavioral methods to help treat opioid addiction in a multi-faceted way. Contact us today to learn more!

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Tips for Helping to Reduce the Risk of Opioid Addiction in Your Community

Site Admin — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:15:48 +0000

While it is no secret that opioid addiction is a serious problem, you may still be wondering how you can help to prevent opioid addiction from occurring. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof method to preventing others from becoming addicted to opioids, but there are a few steps that you can take to help reduce the risk.

One way to reduce the risk of opioid addiction within your household is to always store your prescription medication in a safe and secure place. Simply storing them in your medicine cabinet is not enough to prevent others from taking the drugs. In addition, you should never share your prescription with someone else. In fact, more than half of those who misuse prescribed opioids obtained them from a friend or relative.

If you have unused opioids, you should never throw them in the trash. When disposing of leftover or expired prescription medications, you should always follow these steps:

Remove the label containing your identifying information
Check with your refuse removal providers to learn more about approved disposal options in your community
Look for health care clinics or pharmacies with drop-off boxes or with drug disposal envelopes that you can seal and mail to an approved facility.
Flush medication down the toilet or mix it with things such as kitty litter, coffee grounds or dirt before throwing away in the garbage.

By following all of these steps, you reduce the risk of opioids getting into the hands of those who are already addicted or who are susceptible to addiction. If you or a loved one is suffering from opioid addiction, contact Advanced Spine & Rehab today to learn more about how we can treat the addiction with a suboxone treatment program.

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Taking Steps to Prevent Opioid Addiction

Site Admin — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 22:48:18 +0000

At Advanced Spine & Rehab, we specialize in treating individuals who are suffering from addiction to opioids. While our method of treatment involves using suboxone as a part of the treatment program, we are also major proponents of taking the necessary steps to prevent opioid addiction from developing in the first place.

One way to prevent opioid addiction is to address issues surrounding overprescribing pain medications. Furthermore, steps can be taken to further help reduce the flow of illegal opioids. Still, while these are obvious steps to take, a significant amount of research has also found that taking steps to reduce a risk factors in individuals is the key to preventing opioid abuse. This includes addressing risk factors through early childhood intervention, such as issues regarding aggression, poor self-regulation and insecure attachment to parents.

Family and school prevention interventions are also essential during the teen years. Risk factors associated with later drug use include a lack of parental supervision, exposure to drugs at either home or school and stresses associated with poverty, neglect and/or abuse. By taking steps to address these risk factors in the earlier stages of life, the likelihood of becoming addicted later declines.

Since these outside factors such as these are known to be a contributor to addiction to opioids and other drugs, Advanced Spine & Rehab takes a holistic approach. Through our approach, we work on addressing the factors that put you at risk for drug addiction while also addressing the physical side of addiction with the help of suboxone. Contact us today to learn more.

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