Month: February 2024

The Many Triggers that Precede Relapse

If you’re moving into recovery, you know that relapse is an ongoing threat to your health and your progress. Unfortunately, the risk of that will always be a problem, which is why many people in recovery continue to get help, go to aftercare, and continue to seek out both nonprofessional (self-help) and professional (counseling, therapy, sober homes, etc.) help. While it’s important to ensure that you have ongoing care and resources to reach out to in case something goes wrong, it’s also important to understand what can cause a relapse, how to recognize an impending relapse, and how to reach out for help.

That often starts out with understanding your triggers. Here, it’s important to keep in mind that triggers are unique and personal. Yours might be very different from what’s on this list. Therefore, managing yourself and your recovery will almost always include some amount of self-awareness, logging when you feel cravings, and figuring out what makes you crave drugs or alcohol. You can work on that with a counselor or therapist. However, many people experience some variation of the following triggers, which may help you to recognize and react to your own.

What Are Triggers?

Triggers are incidents which push your brain into a response to use drugs or alcohol. In some cases, the trigger is to directly drink or use. In other cases, the trigger is something that sets off a chain reaction that eventually results in relapse.

Triggers are things that most people think of as negative. For example, we’re all used to hearing about triggers for PTSD, where traffic jams can cause someone to relive the experience of a car accident or how fireworks may cause a veteran to relive an experience of gunfire or bombing. Yet, triggers can also come from positive events. A promotion may trigger you into feeling like you should get to celebrate and have a break and that might end up in a relapse.

It’s also important to keep in mind that triggers don’t have to kick off an immediate reaction. You could experience something that sets things in motion, resulting in a relapse in 2 months. However, the trigger remains the thing that kicked it off. Learning to recognize those triggers and cope with them in healthy fashions will help you prevent the relapse.

Triggers can be anything. They also vary per person. The things that cause you to drink or use won’t be the things that cause your peers to drink or use. However, there will be overlaps.

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What Are Some Common Relapse Triggers?

There are hundreds of things that can count as “triggers”. In fact, there’s no real limit on them. However, the following items include some of the most common triggers that precede a relapse.

1. Stress

Stress is the most common relapse trigger. It’s also one of the most common triggers for addiction. This means that stress management should be your number one priority in recovery. If you feel like you have to escape from life, you’re setting yourself up for a relapse. Learning stress management strategies, taking stress to directly reduce stress in your life, and proactively learning how to handle situations and incidents in a manner that mitigates stress will all help you to stay clean and sober. Taking steps might mean stepping to a less stressful job, trying to reduce commute, hiring a babysitter, working to live in a quieter area, getting rid of tasks that cause you a lot of stress, learning mindfulness or meditation techniques, improving how you dela with situations, and much more. The important thing is that you take active steps to reduce stress so that you don’t find yourself triggered into drinking or using. Here, talking to your doctor will be an important step.

2. Feeling Bad

Feelings of negatively such as anger, grief, sadness, loneliness, and boredom are all triggers for substance abuse. In fact, if it makes you feel like you want to get away from it, it’s probably a trigger for you. That’s especially true while you’re in recovery, because you’ve already trained your brain that drinking or drugs is a way out of whatever you’re feeling. If you feel bad for example because of a breakup, difficulties at work, a traumatic event, or even just feel lonely and sad, you’ll probably feel a lot of internal pressure to use. And, that can mean that you will be triggered to relapse because you’ll have pushed the buttons that lead to drinking or using again – providing you don’t find healthier coping mechanisms in the meantime. The bad news is that negative emotions are an unavoidable part of life. You’re going to want to start working on healthy ways to manage and cope with negative emotions, and the sooner you do it, the easier staying in recovery will be.

3. Feeling Good

It’s unfair that feeling good can also be a trigger, but it can be. Here, many of us associate good times with substance abuse. That can mean you are triggered into using by good times. For example, you get married, you get a promotion, a new car. What do you want to do? You want to celebrate. And, what do you associate with celebrating? Substance abuse. Being aware that this is a risk can help you to mitigate it. However, you’ll also want to make sure you have people to talk to, that you have a good idea of how to have fun without relapsing, and that you can figure out how to feel like you’ve had a party and an outlet without substance abuse.

4. Re-exposure

The most common trigger that most people run into is exposure. However, that can be very multifaceted. For example, re-exposure can mean:

To Substances – If you’re not used to being around a substance you might find that even being able to smell it is a trigger. People with alcohol problems can relapse after smelling old beer in a cup. For this reason, most people eventually want to try to expose themselves to substances to ensure they can stay in control and that they learn to cope with cravings under the supervision of a therapist or counselor. If you do that, it should be after discussion and agreement with your therapist. However, sudden exposure to a substance can mean you end up facing unexpectedly strong cravings, don’t even think before using the substance, or otherwise just react and end up relapsing. Habit can take over but so can strong cravings.
Locations – You might be surprised to walk into a room where you used to get high or drunk and find that you’re experiencing cravings or worse just reacting without thinking but it’s a common experience. It’s important to watch yourself around places you used to abuse substances in, places you used to buy substances in, and places where you used to hide substances. For example, most people are aware that a liquor store is going to be a problem if they have an issue with alcohol. Most people don’t realize that taking the route home from work past the liquor store can trigger an automatic reaction to park their car in the lot and get out. Those kinds of automatic reactions can be surprising, and they can result in relapse because you’re just following habits without thinking.
People – People can be triggering in multiple ways. For example, if you used to abuse substances with them. Or, if they resulted in you using to begin with. People who caused trauma that resulted in escapism, people who were around a lot when you were using, and people who cause a lot of stress can all result in a triggering experience. Here, you’re typically better off working towards exposure therapy and learning to cope with these triggers, because you can’t always avoid people.

In every case, re-exposure can put you at risk of a relapse.

Getting Help

Moving into recovery means dealing with yourself, your cravings, and your triggers. It means working to understand yourself, what makes you tick, and what makes you want to escape. It means talking to addiction treatment professionals and trying to work towards finding healthy coping mechanisms. And, it means having accountability so you can check in, have people help you when things are starting to go badly, and get support. Recovery is often not a straightforward path, you may have setbacks, you may need additional treatment, and you might slip up. It’s important that you have the support system in place to ensure you can get that help when you need it.

If you or your loved-one struggles from alcoholism or other substance abuse please contact us today and speak with one of our experienced and professional intake advisors about our alcohol rehab, detox, partial hospitalization, and residential treatment programs. 10 Acre Ranch also has specialty tracks like our pet friendly drug rehab and couples substance abuse treatment programs. We’re here to help you recover.

7 Traits of an Addictive Personality

7 Traits of an Addictive Personality

If you’re struggling with a substance use disorder then you’ve heard the term “addictive personality” in the past. For many of us, that can lead to immediate clicks, that sounds like me. But, what is an addictive personality disorder? What does it look like in actuality? And is there a difference between an addict and someone with an addictive personality disorder?

In short, an addictive personality is boiled down into “someone who is prone to substance abuse”, because they are very likely to very quickly become hooked on a behavioral stimulation like gaming, internet, a new crush, a substance, or anything else that makes them feel good. It’s also important to keep in mind that addictive personalities are hypothetical, they haven’t been proven to exist. Instead, we use the term as a convenient way to refer to a collection of traits that are likely to increase the risk of addiction. In medical terminology, these traits are referred to as “vulnerabilities” and never as “an addictive personality”. Therefore, you’ll have to switch language when talking to your therapist or counselor. However, for yourself and for your friends, the “addictive personality” name can be an extremely useful way to talk about personality traits that can increase your vulnerability to addictions of almost any kind.

1. Impulsivity

Impulsive people are more likely to use and abuse substances. That’s one reason why many people who self-define as having an addictive personality actually have attention disorders like ADD or ADHD. If you’re impulsive, you’re more likely to do things without thinking. You’re more likely to do stuff for fun. You’re more likely to chase sensations and feelings without thinking about their repercussions or long-term impacts. The less you are able to control your attention span, the more likely you are to lose track of how much time you spend with that thing, which also leads to reckless and heavy use.

So, if you’re impulsive, you’re more likely to take risks. That can be easy to see risks like running across the highway. It can also be risks like taking drugs, drinking before getting in a car, or to use substances to cope with stress. It doesn’t mean you will become an addict. However, it does mean that your chance of exposure to risk factors, like using drugs and alcohol, realizing how much you’re using, and how much you seek out chemical pleasure will be increased.

2. Seeking Behavior

People who exhibit seeking behavior, especially sensation seeking, are more likely to struggle with substance abuse and substance use problems. You can also see sensation seeking in parts of life that don’t involve substances. For example, people who need outlets like going out, who like to smash things when angry, who love food or soda, who like sleeping in but staying up late, who engross themselves in games, etc. The more you are the type to seek out fast and instant gratification, the more you are at risk of substance abuse. That sounds like a lot of people right? That’s because most people fall into this category, although some more than others. Instead, finding slower gratification is a learned trait and often one you’ll want to work on even if you think you have an addictive personality.

3. Trouble Fitting In

The more trouble you have fitting in, the more you’ll likely fall under the “addictive personality” umbrella. This means people who don’t easily communicate with others, who don’t make friends easily, who don’t fit in with the popular crowd, who aren’t like everyone else. That can mean a lot of things but often means that people with mental health disorders, people on the LGTQI++ spectrum, and people with behavioral problems are significantly more likely to have an addictive personality. For example, some traits that point to likelihood of addictive personality include:

Social alienation or not being part of a group
Feelings of loneliness even in a group
Few or no close friends
Trouble with the law
Poor relationships with parents
Poor relationships with social morals and values

Each of these contributes to the need to find pleasure and satisfaction in things outside of normal social contact and relationships. It also means you’re less likely to respect social norms that say you shouldn’t use drugs or alcohol. And, it means you’re more likely to want or need a release or an escape because nothing else is making you feel good. In its earliest form that often results in internet and video game abuse but may also result in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and addiction.

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4. Stress

Everyone experiences stress but we all manage it in different ways. For some of us, how we manage stress puts us at risk of addiction. Healthy coping mechanisms for stress mean finding a way to ground, to find positive things, and to let go of stress. Unhealthy coping mechanisms for stress often mean finding ways to distract yourself and escape. That often results in over consumption of media, using substances to relax, and otherwise ignoring the issues. If you fall into the latter category, it is one of the traits of an “addictive personality”. However, everyone does suffer from stress. Learning how to manage and cope with stress in a healthy fashion should be a normal and healthy part of being an adult. It’s important that you look into getting help and learning how to do so, because otherwise it will always be a risk factor for addiction.

5. Mental Health Disorders

Having a mental health disorder can now significantly increase your risk of behavioral addiction. People with disorders ranging from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to depression and PTSD will all exhibit similar symptoms of relying on sensation seeking and escapism to cope with problems. That’s often because you are sick and it means that you are using your resources on other things. Reaching out and getting therapy and help to learn healthy coping mechanisms will improve how you’re able to cope with and manage your disorder so that it’s less likely to put you at risk of an addiction. However, having a mental health disorder increases your vulnerability to substance use disorder and other behavioral addictions by over 200%. It’s a significant and impactful part of your life and can contribute to what is known as “addictive personality disorder”.

6. Chronic Illness

If you suffer from chronic or long-term pain, you’re more likely to want to rely on sensation seeking and escapism to feel better. You’re also less able to have the willpower and self-control to do otherwise, because like with mental health problems, chronic illness typically means that you are spending your energy elsewhere. Therefore, chronic illness will significantly increase your vulnerability to addiction. Chronic illness can also be majorly isolating in that it prevents you from doing a lot of things with friends and peers and reduces your energy levels. At the same time, it will make you more lonely and less self-sufficient, because you’ll be less able to do things on your own and therefore cut out of doing things on your own as well. That can greatly increase your vulnerability to substance use disorders – meaning that it’s important to seek out professional help and learn management techniques and get support if you want to stay as healthy as possible.

7. Mood Issues

If you frequently find that your mood is low, that you don’t feel good, that you crash, or that you’re exhausted, you’re probably more at risk to addiction and substance abuse than the general population. Here it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not normal to experience sudden mood swings, sudden strong emotions, or to go from one emotion to the next. Learning healthy coping mechanisms and emotional regulation will help you to improve your life. However, having these kinds of mood issues will increase your risk of substance use disorder and are one of the key traits of what people call “addictive personality”.

Eventually, addictive personality is a term that is used to refer to a series of traits that increase your vulnerability to sensation seeking and substance abuse. Both of those increase your risk of substance use disorder. In any case, it’s important to work towards healthy coping mechanisms and towards improving your life. The danger of calling something part of your personality is that you may decide you can’t do anything about it when often you can take steps to learn healthy ways to deal with your emotions, your impulses, your mood, and your social life. Eventually, that will help you to stay clean and sober, while improving your quality of life.

Fentanyl Withdrawal: Symptoms, Dangers, Treatment

Hand with pen drawing the chemical formula of fentanyl

Fentanyl Withdrawal: Symptoms, Dangers, Treatment

Fentanyl is rapidly becoming one of the most common recreational opioid drugs on the market. That’s both because it’s commonly sold as a strong and cheap alternative to opioid painkillers and because it’s used in counterfeit and cut versions of other drugs. Fentanyl is found in everything from heroin that’s cut to reduce costs to faux Xanax pills – meaning that millions of people are using fentanyl even when they aren’t aware of it. It’s also used as a prescription painkiller after surgery, where you might have a patch or a slow-release pill or even fast-acting pills after significant surgery and advanced-stage cancer treatment. In any case, fi you’ve been using fentanyl more often, it will have a withdrawal phase, and that withdrawal phase can be significant and even dangerous.

Fentanyl is currently considered to be one of the most dangerous opioids on the market. It’s responsible for about 70% of all opioid-involved overdose deaths. And, at up to 100 times the strength of morphine, it’s easy to overdose on because even a tiny amount is too much. This means that withdrawing from it and getting clean can be critical to ensuring your safety. However, getting clean can be dangerous in and of itself and it is important to approach fentanyl withdrawal and detox carefully.

What Happens When You Withdraw from Fentanyl?

Fentanyl withdrawal starts within 6-12 hours after your final dose of the drug, or about 24-48 hours if you have a slow-release formula. Here, symptoms largely map to those of regular opioid withdrawal, but can be somewhat more severe as fentanyl is one of the strongest opioids you can take.

Here, you might not notice a difference between fentanyl withdrawal and a severe case of the flu. All of your symptoms will typically start out light and then will increase in severity. In addition, they may come with symptoms of anxiety, panic, and distress, which don’t come with a normal cold or flu. Here, you can expect symptoms of:

Sweating
Shaking or tremors
Nausea
Diarrhea and vomiting
Cravings for more fentanyl
Abdominal cramping and stomach problems
General malaise/muscle pain
Agitation
Irritability and mood swings
Fatigue and lethargy

These symptoms start out light and can increase to be very severe over the 1-2 weeks of symptoms. It’s also important to manage side-effects, as leaving them alone can result in increased risks of dehydration, choking, and even seizures. This means ensuring that you drink enough, putting in effort to sleep on your side, and ensuring that you’re investing in health at the same time.

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How Long Does Fentanyl Withdrawal Take

Withdrawing from fentanyl typically takes anywhere from 14-20 days. However, if you are taking a slow-release version of the drug, it can take much longer. In addition, many of the mental side effects and symptoms can take significantly longer to go away. This means you’ll have to manage your mental health and treatment over the longer term.

If you’re withdrawing from fentanyl in a treatment center, you’ll typically receive medication to speed up this process and to reduce the symptoms and the severity of the symptoms.

3-24 Hours – Early onset withdrawal means that withdrawal symptoms kick in. This normally happens in 3-6 hours with normal fentanyl. However, if you have a slow-release version of the drug it can take much longer. Therefore, you’ll have to adjust your timeline based on what kind of fentanyl you’re using. Early withdrawal typically starts out with anxiety, cravings for more of the drug, and the start of early cold and flu feelings. Here, you’ll most likely want to invest in self-care and either go back to bed, ivnest in light exercise, and ensure that you drink enough water.

Day 1-4 – Withdrawal symptoms normally kick in fully after the first 24 hours although it can be as long as 48 hours if you have a slow-release version of the drug. Fentanyl withdrawal symptoms normally start with sweating, chills, runny nose, and sometimes a cough. Most people will also start to experience nausea and potentially diarrhea or vomiting right away as well. Your mood will drop and you’ll feel anxious, low, and cravings will intensify. For most people, this means you’ll want to ensure that you have good social and emotional support in place. You’ll also want to ensure that you are taking care of yourself, drinking enough water, eating well, and getting light exercise. After the first few days, you’ll also be at risk of respiratory problems and breathing difficulties, you might have muscle shaking and spasming, and tremors. Most people do need medical attention here and having a nurse or a doctor to monitor your condition is important.

Day 5-22 – In most cases, your symptoms will plateau and then start to balance out after the first 5 days. If you’re on a slow-release version of fentanyl, it may take up to 14 days to reach this phase. From there, you’ll need another 10-15 days for symptoms to gradually go away. Here, your existing symptoms should stay the same but should gradually fade over time, meaning you will feel physically better every day. However, mental symptoms may not fade and you may require therapy and counseling to deal with those symptoms before they actually fade.

In most cases, fentanyl withdrawal will take about 15-24 days total no matter what kind of fentanyl you are using. This means you can expect symptoms to last about 2 weeks on average.

Dangers of Fentanyl Withdrawal

Fentanyl is one of the strongest opioid drugs on the market. Often, this means that you’ll face two major risks when withdrawing from the drug. The first is that side-effects can be dangerous. Here, you might face tremors, potential seizures, and muscle shaking which can cause medically significant risks. You might also experience risks of dehydration and the significant danger to your organs and your health that go with. People can also risk choking when vomiting, nutritional deficiencies, and other potentially severe side-effects of normal flu symptoms. Anyone who withdraws from fentanyl also faces the significant risk of relapse, where you are at risk of giving in to cravings. This puts you at increased risk of overdose, because your tolerance can drop significantly even in a very short amount of time. This means that the same dose you used before withdrawing can result in an overdose after withdrawing. Therefore, you might be putting yourself at risk just by using your normal dose.

Getting Treatment

If you or a loved one is struggling with fentanyl use, it’s important to get help. Here, you can get treatment and assistance during the detox and withdrawal phase. This very often means that you’ll receive a medication assisted treatment program, where you get methadone or suboxone to help you manage withdrawal symptoms and reduce their severity. These drugs also reduce the risk of relapse, which significantly reduces the risks associated with withdrawing from fentanyl. Professional treatment for fentanyl addiction also means getting behavioral health support, counseling, and group therapy for drug addiction, all of which will work to give you the tools to manage life without fentanyl so you can stay clean over the longer term.

Fentanyl is one of the most dangerous opioids on the market. If you or a loved one is using it, you’re putting yourself at risk. At the same time, withdrawing from fentanyl without medical support is also dangerous, because symptoms and side-effects can be severe and because the risk of relapse can be significant. It’s important that you get treatment and support to ensure you stay safe. Good luck with getting clean from fentanyl.

How to Successfully Detox from Alcohol

two clients during counseling for an alcohol detox program

How to Successfully Detox from Alcohol

If you’re struggling with alcohol, you’re not alone. Today, 29.5 million Americans have an alcohol use disorder. That often means you have tolerance, chemical dependence, and difficulty quitting or cutting back when you do try to stop. For many of us, alcoholism doesn’t take the form of constant drinking. Instead, we binge drink on weekends and do so uncontrollably. Then, withdrawal symptoms might be so bad the next few days that it feels like being sick. Others drink nearly constantly, and often to the point of using alcohol to function. Wherever you are in that, quitting can improve every part of your life, your health, and your mental health. It can give you the tools to rebuild your life, to have mental stability, and to invest in the relationships that add value to your life. And, it means you’ll be investing into yourself and your future.

At the same time, detoxing from alcohol isn’t easy. It’s not just about deciding you want to do it and going for it. Alcohol detox can be difficult and dangerous. For many people, it has setbacks and those include health complications, high risk of relapse, and emotional and mental trauma while detoxing. It’s important that you treat alcohol detox as a serious and medically important thing. For most people, that means medical supervision and potentially medication.

Talk to Your Doctor

The first step to quitting alcohol is to have a plan in place so that you can do so safely. Here, it’s generally a good idea to talk to your doctor to go over your options and potential scenarios. For example, you might move into a detox clinic to get the help you need to quit without putting yourself at physical risk. Here your options are:

Cold turkey / social detox – This means that you quit right away with no crutches or aids. It’s the thing that most people do when trying to quit alcohol on their own. It’s also the highest risk option, as about 1 in 10 people getting off alcohol in this way experience long-term complications like delirium tremens.
Tapering – If you’re drinking too much your doctor may ask you to taper off of alcohol before going cold turkey. That can make it possible to safely cut back from alcohol on your own. However, most people asking for help to quit alcohol are too sick to taper off of it, so this isn’t always an option.
Medically supported detox – Here you detox in the same style as going cold turkey, but in a clinic, with people to monitor your symptoms and how you’re doing. If you start to develop more symptoms or complications, you’ll receive medication to reduce risks and to ensure you recover more quickly. This means you can get treatment right away if you’re facing delirium tremens or other complications.
Medical detox – Here you receive a prescription medication such as disulfiram, acamprosate, or naltrexone. These prevent a withdrawal phase and mean that you can immediately move into focusing on recovery and therapy and learning the skills to stay sober. In some cases, you might be on a maintenance dose for as long as months after detox. However, you’ll often begin to taper off of prescription medication when you leave rehab.

Here it’s also important to keep in mind that detox is just the first step of getting sober. It doesn’t matter how many times you quit drinking if you don’t deal with the behavioral addiction and the underlying problems that drive you to drink in the first place.

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Choose an Approach to Quit

Once you know the options you can make an informed decision about your treatment. Your doctor can help you to reach that decision. They may also want to involve an alcohol detox specialist to help you come to a decision based on your specific history, alcohol use, and drinking patterns. The more often you drink, the harder detox will be. That often means creating a detox plan around your lifestyle and your habits, so you can figure out a way to quit alcohol that is safe for you.

That will likely also involve evaluating your risk of relapse, assessing how many times you’ve tried to quit before, and then building a custom detox plan around your specific needs.

Take the Time You Need

Detoxing from alcohol is going to take time. That’s true if you’re doing it at home or in a clinic. The actually physical withdrawal will typically take about 1-2 weeks. However, if you end up with complications, you might need up to three months to fully physically recover. That’s without considering the time needed for behavioral treatment, counseling, and recovering from the underlying causes as well as the traumas of addiction.

Alcohol withdrawal can be severe. You’ll probably feel like you have the worst case of flu you’ve ever had in your life.

That normally means taking at least 2 weeks off work. You may want more especially if you’re going into a rehab program afterwards. Luckily, you can also do so even if you have a full-time job. You’re legally allowed to take up to 90 days (unpaid) off work for family and medical reasons without disclosing why or losing your job. However, your boss may want to have a note from your doctor that you need it. Just keep in mind that they aren’t even legally allowed to ask what your medical problems are, let alone force you to disclose them.

Make Sure You Have Accountability

Quitting alcohol is about more than putting it down once. It’s about consciously choosing, every single day, to not pick it up. That means building routines, finding accountability, and finding social accountability to stay clean and sober. If you’re detoxing at home, you need accountability to stick with it at home. If you’re detoxing in a clinic, you need accountability there and accountability for when you leave treatment. That often means:

Finding personal motivation and realizing how much you want to be sober. Then, checking in with yourself, reaffirming this is still what you want and why, and putting in the work to hold yourself accountable.
Keeping track of yourself so that you have a visual milestone of progress. For example, marking off days in a calendar so you always know when you had your last drink and exactly how well you’re doing.
Finding social motivation of people to hold you accountable. For example, friends and family to check up on you, a self-help or support group, or regular visits to a counselor or a treatment center.

Any of those steps can help you to find accountability, to hold yourself to staying on track, and to ensuring that you have someone to check up on you, including yourself. That will help you to stay in detox and, over the long term, in recovery.

Eventually, an alcohol use disorder is a lot to deal with on your own. You shouldn’t have to. It’s important that you take steps to ensure you can detox safely and without endangering your physical or mental wellbeing. Often, that will mean getting detox support and medical treatment to ensure you can withdraw from alcohol safely and in comfort. Here, you should also start counseling and therapy, to ensure you have the emotional support you need to get through treatment as well. Good luck detoxing from alcohol.