When Jenna Johnson* [not her real last name] — a mom, a singer, a professional cookie decorator — underwent blood work for hepatitis C treatment,… Read More »Feeling Judged for Opioid Addiction or Suboxone? How to Get Past the Double Dose of Stigma
Every year on Thanksgiving, Laney would drive through neighborhoods, glancing into windows to see families gather. Homeless, addicted to heroin, and estranged from her own… Read More »7 Tips to Guard Your Recovery This Holiday Season
Without medication such as Suboxone, almost everyone with opioid use disorder (OUD) will relapse. Suboxone cuts the relapse rate in half by suppressing the agonizing withdrawal symptoms — nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety, body aches, insomnia — and the intense cravings that fuel opioid addiction. Over the long run, Suboxone rewires brain chemistry, paring down the overabundance of opioid receptors until the brain returns to its normal state.
Here at Ideal Option, we have plenty to celebrate this year, despite all the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the consequences.
Isolation, boredom, financial stress, and endless jokes about “quarantinis”— for anyone struggling with alcohol use disorder, the coronavirus pandemic has only made matters worse. But there’s a silver lining: Thanks to new treatment guidelines, most patients can safely undergo alcohol withdrawal without checking into an inpatient facility. In other words, you can now safely “detox” at home.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, anxiety is sky high among folks in treatment for addiction. If you’re feeling vulnerable, here are 7 actions you can take, during these strange and uncertain times, to maintain your hard-earned recovery.
Here’s a rundown of common reasons for putting off treatment — explanations that sound reasonable for a while, until a crisis or spark of insight makes the case for treatment more convincing than the case for avoiding it.
Benton County Jail now offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to inmates who test positive for opioid use.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, has created a large population of what Jo calls “zombies” — folks who did not even know, at first, they were taking the drug yet quickly became addicted to the point of incapacitation. Or death.
The misery of withdrawal: It’s what fuels opioid addiction and what scares folks about taking Suboxone, the medication proven to dramatically increase the odds of recovery.