Opioids are highly addictive drugs. You need to seek opioid addiction treatment to get clean and proceed to opiate rehab. Opioid dependence treatment is best accomplished with the help of the trained medical staff at a certified opiate addiction rehab center. Your opiate addiction treatment may consist of withdrawal medications like methadone, as well as opioid treatment therapy and counseling.
Opioid drugs are among the most powerful medications known today for treating moderate to severe pain. Opioid drugs are a staple for pain management because they work so effectively to block the pain receptors in your brain. Doctors use this class of drugs extensively in cases of acute injury and surgical recovery.
Opioid drugs come with a host of possible side effects, however, some of which didn’t become apparent until the drugs were in widespread use. Today, these drugs require close supervision by a experienced pain management or your local Suboxone doctors. In addition, prolonged use can be problematic, resulting in a tolerance buildup that requires higher and higher doses of the drug to remain effective.
But perhaps the greatest concern is dependency. Opioid drugs — which include codeine, morphine, oxycodone, fentanyl and others — can become dangerously addictive. Opioids have always presented problems for those with addictive personalities and opiate addiction treatment options can best accommodate your or your loved one’s need to get off and stay off the drugs.
Beginning Opioid Addiction Treatment
Once you’re caught in the opiate dependency cycle, often the only way to regain control of your addiction and stop opiate use is through a local opioid addiction treatment center or local suboxone clinics. Opiate addiction treatment is a specialized area of medicine. Across the country and here, dedicated opiate addiction treatment centers now exist to provide the specialized care needed for opiate rehab.
Seek an accredited center, where a certified addiction team evaluates, diagnoses and treats people caught in the grips of addiction. The process of recovery from opioid addiction is medically supervised and highly individualized.
The most effective approach to opioid dependence treatment combines:
The use of opiate withdrawal medications, which often have their own addictive dangers, such as:
- Individual therapy, useful for dealing with the original causes for seeking the drug
- Group addiction counseling
- Introductions to community services and 12-step programs
What You Can Expect in Opioid Treatment
Once you’re admitted to an opiate addiction rehab center, a team consisting of a physician and an addiction counselor perform the initial assessment of your psychological and physical condition. At that point, program physicians determine best course of medical treatment, including medication dosage and frequency, and your counseling schedule.
This medical model of opioid dependence treatment is typically a two-part process:
- Medications to manage the physical symptoms of withdrawal
- Counseling to address the emotional and psychological side of opioid dependence
Opiate rehab is typically an outpatient drug rehab that includes regular visits under the continued supervision of physicians and support from addiction counselors. As a patient, you report to the opioid treatment center, where a professional trained in treating opioid addiction determines your dosage of methadone or suboxone treatment medication. This is accompanied by individual or group counseling designed to help you develop the behaviors, skills and resources necessary to maintain control.
The Goals of Opioid Treatment
The initial goal of opiate rehab is to stabilize your condition, a process that can take 10 to 30 days. Your medical team uses a dose of methadone maintenance treatment or suboxone medication as part of that process.
In this early stage of treatment, the goal is to:
- Relieve the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms as you progress
- Reduce your opioid cravings to lower the chances of relapse
- Bring about a biochemical balance in your body so it can normalize
By reducing the symptoms of withdrawal, the team makes your experience more tolerable. By eliminating the highs and euphoria of the opiate drugs, the stage is set for you to engage in other areas of opioid dependence treatment. Over time, the combination of medication and counseling significantly improves your health, which eventually allows you to regain a normal life.
What Successful Opioid Treatment Looks Like
The ideal outcomes for you when you’re in treatment at an opiate addiction rehab center include:
- Reducing your need to use opiates
- Eliminating any dangerous drug use practices, such as sharing needles
- Improving your life so you can function day to day without drugs
- Showing you how your criminal behaviors are counter-productive
If you’re serious and willing to work hard to get back control of your life, you can succeed in getting and staying clean. Opioid addiction rehab centers can be one of the most effective means to end the opioid abuse cycle. But your graduation day isn’t the end of your addiction; it’s merely the beginning of a new life for you.