Prescription Opioids: Reducing Pain Patient Use

Bottles of prescription medicine opioids

As long as doctors continue to prescribe opioids, certain patients will be in need of addiction treatment. That is a fact. Prescription opioids, or opioids of any kind for that matter, are addictive. While not everyone who takes opioids will fall into the cycle of addiction, the odds are extremely high. Millions of Americans have found that out the hard way, just by going to a doctor and complaining of pain.

Scientists and researchers continue to work hard to find opioid alternatives. Or find ways to make opioids less addictive. But, in the meantime opioids will continue to be prescribed to most people experiencing moderate to severe pain. Which is why it is so important that physicians and medical practices do everything in their power to mitigate the risks of patient addiction. Such as:

  • Only prescribing opioids when it is absolutely necessary.
  • Screening patients for a history of addiction and utilizing prescription drug monitoring programs.
  • Prescribing in low doses and mild strengths.
  • Limiting the number of refills.
  • Drug testing patients to ensure the drugs are actually being taken, and not diverted.

Everything listed above may seem like common sense. But, as a matter fact, many doctors have been resistant to being told how to prescribe. Or being instructed on how to care for their patients. This is the case, even though most physicians lack training in addiction, or spotting the signs of it. Hubris, perhaps. With so many patients succumbing to overdose, the aforementioned suggestions can’t be ignored. And fortunately, some doctors have been receptive to prescribing guidelines that could save lives. Managing to reduce the amount of opioids their patients are taking, potentially saving lives.

TOPCARE Model for Opioids

A study conducted by researchers at Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine showed that reducing prescription opioid use among patients significantly was possible. Using the Transforming Opioid Prescribing in Primary Care model, doctors were able to reduce patient opioid use by 40 percent, according to the research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The TOPCARE model involves a nurse care manager who oversees chronic pain patients’ treatment plans. Ensuring that patient monitoring occurs, assisting prescribers and coordinating opioid educational sessions for doctors.

“The TOPCARE model was so effective in lowering opioid use that two of the study sites hired nurse care managers to continue the intervention and expand services to their primary care providers. Future research should look at data from state prescription drug monitoring programs and data on other substance use to get a more comprehensive view of how patients are using opioids,” said Karen E Lasser, MD, MPH, co-principal investigator of the study.

Opioid Addiction Treatment

While TOPCARE monitoring may help to limit the number of new opioid addicts, it does little to reverse patient addiction. Primary care physicians and nurse care managers must do everything in their power to spot signs of addiction in their patients. By doing so, they can intervene and refer patients to addiction treatment services in their area.

Getting addicted to opioids is easy, breaking the cycle of addiction usually requires help. If you have become addicted to your pain medication, please contact 10 Acre Ranch. We specialize in the treatment of opioid use disorders. The longer one puts off treatment, the worse the condition will get. Along with an increased risk of overdose.

MDMA, Trauma and Addiction Recovery

MDMA Ecstasy

There is a common theme among addicts and alcoholics, most of us have experienced some type of trauma in our lives. That is not to say that trauma caused the addiction, but rather that addressing trauma could help treat the disease. However, there is a wide variety of opinions on how to treat such trauma to ensure the best outcomes.

It is no secret that some people living with addiction have a hard time working a program of recovery. There could be a number of reasons for this, but one of the more common factors involves an untreated co-occurring disorder. Conditions which can include: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research supports the belief that people attempting to recover from addiction fare best when co-occurring disorders are treated simultaneously. Addiction treatment centers that focus on the whole patient typically have the best track-records. But, there are cases when clients do not respond well to practices that work well for others. In turn, researchers are constantly on the lookout for novel approaches.

Alcohol and MDMA

Around the world, people abuse alcohol more than any other mind-altering substance. It makes sense. Think about it, alcohol is legal for adult consumption in the western world. The substance is pervasive and can be found with little effort and be purchased on the cheap. More people die from alcohol-related illnesses than any other drug. The longer one imbibes in unhealthy ways, the greater the risk of health complications. Increasing the effectiveness of accepted treatment methods can go a long way. And addressing trauma may be the answer.

A new clinical study is about to kick off in the United Kingdom involving heavy alcohol users and 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, The Guardian reports. The latter of which you may know as MDMA, the main ingredient in the club drug ecstasy. All the study participants have not responded well to the more common form of addiction treatment, being chronic relapsers. The patients will be given nearly pure MDMA in conjunction with psychotherapy.

“We know that MDMA works really well in helping people who have suffered trauma and it helps to build empathy, said Ben Sessa, a clinical psychiatrist on the trial and senior research fellow at Imperial College London. “Many of my patients who are alcoholics have suffered some sort of trauma in their past and this plays a role in their addiction.” Sessa adds: “After 100 years of modern psychiatry our treatments are really poor. The chances of relapse for these patients are really high—90% at three years. No one has ever given MDMA to treat alcoholism before.”

Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment

We will continue to follow this important story and the outcomes of the clinical study. There is much that is not understood about drugs with hallucinogenic properties. It’s possible that this study will shed some light on the subject.

At this juncture, however, the best opportunity of achieving long-term addiction recovery is go to a treatment facility that focuses on dual-diagnosis. Treating co-occurring disorders is possible. At 10 Acre Ranch, we are fully equipped to address your addiction and other mental health disorders. Please contact us today.

Heroin Vaccine Shows Promise for Addiction

heroin spoon syringe

Alcohol and substance use disorders have no known cure. There is not a pill you can take that will rid you of addiction. There are programs that you can work that will enable you to abstain from use for long periods of time without the need of relapse. And if such programs are worked with vigilance and honesty, people can refrain from use for the rest of their lives.

There are, however, drugs that people can take to assist in abstaining from drug and alcohol use. Such as Antabuse, Acamprosate, Naltrexone and Buprenorphine. However, they will only mitigate the risk of a relapse. Antabuse will make alcoholics sick when they drink. Regarding buprenorphine, more commonly known as Suboxone, users are still taking a partial agonist opioid receptor modulator. Which causes euphoria. The point is that these drugs are not intended to cure addiction. They are meant to help people get on the road to recovery. And stay the course.

In the field of addiction medicine, we could easily argue that at no other time in our history has a vaccine for addiction been more needed. People are dying in scores every day of the week from opioid overdoses. Those who seek treatment for opioid use disorder have especially high relapse rates. And there is no indication that the reality we all find ourselves living in today is going to change. At least not anytime soon. Nevertheless, addiction researchers continue to search in earnest for one.

Heroin Vaccine On The Horizon

As we mentioned earlier, relapse rates among opioid addicts are particularly high. Thus, and so, the need to mitigate the risk of relapse without the use of other opioids like Methadone and Suboxone is great. Fortunately, researchers have been working on a vaccine that would block the euphoric feelings caused by opioid use, Live Science reports. By blocking the high, the vaccine will reduce people’s chance of becoming addicted in the first place and prevent those already addicted from relapsing.

“The vaccine sequesters the psychoactive molecules that heroin produces and prevents distribution to the brain,” said study first-author, Paul Bremer, a graduate student at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).”It essentially uses your body’s own natural defense to neutralize the drug.”

Rather than cure addiction, the vaccine mimics part of the heroin molecule, according to the article. Conditioning the immune system to treat heroin molecules as foreign bodies. Disabling heroin’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and thus preventing the high. Trials on monkeys have proven successful, the next step is clinical trials. If the vaccine works on humans, it could have huge implications for the future of opioid addiction in America. The researchers at TSRI are talking with biotech companies to develop a human clinical trial.

“I hope the vaccine will be useful in conjunction with other drugs,” said study leader Kim Janda, a chemistry professor at TSRI. “While there are treatments out there already, I think we need to look at other ways of fighting this problem. This could be another piece of the puzzle.”

Opioid Addiction Treatment

It will be some time before opioid users can rely on any vaccine. In the meantime, addiction treatment is the only real course of action for those whose lives have been turned upside down from opioid use. If you are an adult male who’s addicted to opioids, please contact 10 Acre Ranch today. Our center has helped a significant number of people with opioid use disorder break the cycle of addiction, and begin the life-saving journey of recovery.

Addiction Recovery: A Social Model

photo of a group during therapy session addiction recovery

If you are new to addiction recovery there is a good chance that you have been scratching your head about many things. Which is more than common. You may be trying to understand how the program works. when nothing else that you tried in the past helped. Looking around the rooms you see scores of people, many of whom with smiles on their face—when you can hardly find anything to be happy about. Our hope is that you do not become discouraged, how you are feeling will in time pass and before you know it early recovery will be long behind you.

It is of the utmost importance that you try your hardest to not overthink the program, to not harp on things that seem to make little sense. Or in some cases, illogical. We assure you that everything you see and hear is part of the formula which has been used to save lives for nearly a century. The keystone of the entire program is spirituality, which manifests itself via the group’s connection. You speak and are heard. Others speak and you listen. And together, we work the problem of “self.”

People often say that Albert Einstein would not have been able to recover from addiction by way of programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, et al. They also say that you can’t be too unintelligent to recover, but you can be too smart. Given the fact that most addicts and alcoholics are above average intelligence, the former platitude presents some problems if you let it. The point is; however, that if your best thinking brought you to your knees and in need of the rooms of recovery, then it might be a good time to take suggestions and follow directions.

Hit the Ground of Recovery, Running

On the onset of your introduction to the program it is likely that you will still be a bit foggy. Years of substance use and abuse takes its toll on cognitive function and how you respond to new surroundings. For the first couple weeks, whether in treatment or at a 12-Step meeting, it is vital that one gives their body and mind time to flush the lingering chemicals from their system. After a couple weeks, you may still feel a little down about the loss of your good friend Jim Beam, but you will be in a much better position to be an active participant in the community of recovery.

At such time, you will have probably heard a multitude of people share their story, you may have even shared some of yours. There is a good chance that someone has shared some things about recovery that resonated with you. That may be the first person that you want to approach to discuss sponsorship. Working with another alcoholic or addict is paramount to achieving long-term sobriety. A sponsor is someone who has worked all the steps, and can in turn help you work them. They are essentially, among other things, a guide.

Sponsors also have a role in calling you on you. They will see when you may be slipping or are in a place that seems unhealthy. Giving you a chance to correct course before something bad happens, specifically relapse. Just as someone else calls them out when they appear to be risking their recovery. Together, we provide support for others, just as they provide it to you. When times are hard, and they will be, you always have someone to talk to about your feelings. Without fear of judgment. We implore you to not put off finding a sponsor. We know that you can find a million reasons to not ask someone to sponsor you, and that’s OK. But all you need to do is find one good reason, and the journey of working the steps begins and the gifts that come along with it will surely follow.

The Social Model of Addiction Recovery

Just as 12-Step programs rely heavily on community, so too does effective addiction treatment. At 10 Acre Ranch, our male clients not only go to groups and meetings together, they share a living space. As a result, our clients always have someone they can turn to for a hand, if they are feeling anxious or depressed about their life. Just like what members of AA or NA do for each other in their day to day lives.

The social model of recovery puts people in the ideal position to never leave anything in their program to chance. There is always the fail safe known as the fellowship. Whenever you find yourself in doubt about something, or going to make a life-changing decision, the hand of recovery will always be there.

If you are still out there in active addiction, please contact us today. The longer you put recovery off—the worse it gets.

Depression Advocate Michael Phelps

young man with depression sitting near a river during sunset silhouette

At the end of last month and at the beginning of June, we focused heavily on post-traumatic stress disorder. Which makes sense. Considering the passing of Memorial Day and that many people suffering from the symptoms of PTSD also have a co-occurring mental health disorder, such as addiction. What’s more, June is National PTSD Awareness Month, a time for everyone to have an active role in encouraging people to talk about and seek help for the debilitating mental illness; which, left untreated, is a sure path to both substance use and suicide.

PTSD, without a doubt, is a serious problem in America and abroad. But, it cannot be stressed enough how pervasive other forms of mental health disorders that often accompany addiction are, such as depression. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 300 million people worldwide are living with depression. Calling the condition the number one cause of poor health on the planet.

With that in mind, our hope at 10 Acre Ranch is that more Americans will realize the importance of destigmatizing mental health conditions. Only by doing so can we encourage people who need help to get help. It is a fact, the majority of people living with a mental illness of any form have never been diagnosed. Without screening and treatment, people cope with their symptoms by any means necessary, often with drugs and alcohol. When those substances stop having the desired effect (as they always do at some point), suicide often follows.

Screening for Depression

Helping people get screened for mental illness has become the mission of Michael Phelps, who hopes to make waves outside the pool. Phelps was named the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) honorary chairperson of National Mental Health Awareness Day 2017, The Baltimore Sun reports. And now the Olympian, with more gold medals than anyone else in history, is on the board of directors of Medibio, an Australian-based medical technology company that’s developed a comprehensive test to help accurately diagnose depression and other forms of mental illness.

“I have personally experienced Medibio’s technology and believe it can help make a profound impact in diagnosing mental health and empowering people to seek the help and support they may need,” Phelps said in the company’s news release. “In sports, there is so much focus on the physical aspects of performance, and athletes are analyzed from head to toe. But for many athletes, mental health has not been a topic of focus, and the data analysis aspect of it has been missing up until now.”

The Digital Mental Health Platform is the world’s first FDA approved diagnostic test for mental illnesses like depression. The technology is non-intrusive, quick, objective, decisive and will (according to the Medibio) revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of mental health. The company believes that Phelps will be an important asset to the company, and the mental health community.

“His lifelong dedication to excellence in the pool, his advocacy for mental health, and his understanding of data-driven solutions will provide a great addition to our board,” Cosentino said in the release. “Michael’s significant public profile will raise substantial awareness of mental health challenges and the real, tangible solutions that Medibio’s diagnostics can provide.”

Depression and Addiction Treatment

It is quite common for people living with the debilitating symptoms of depression to also have an alcohol or substance use disorder. If you, or a loved one, are struggling with co-occurring mental health disorders, please contact 10 Acre Ranch today.

Binge Drinking Among Young Adults Increases

Binge Drinking Among Young Adults

It is probably fair to say that drinking alcohol socially is an American pastime. Or, at the very least, involved in many activities that Americans take part in. Teenagers and young adults across America congregate every weekend to imbibe at parties and sporting events. For a lot of people, a ball game would not be a the same without a cold beer. While in many cases, drinking alcohol can be a benign, or relatively harmless, experience there is a significant number of young adults who consume alcohol in far from healthy ways.

Alcohol and the use of the substance is pervasive in the United States. It can be purchased at grocery stores, restaurants, sporting events and concerts. Just to name a few vendors. It can become easy to forget that liquor can severely disrupt the course of one’s life, wreaking havoc on people’s health. For a substance that is so addictive, with an impact on the body which kills far more people every year than any other substance, (including the deadly opioid narcotics which have been in the spotlight for nearly two decades)—it is hard to understand why prevention and treatment efforts are not emphasized more.

Sadly, and because young people are not generally given all the facts about the dangers of alcohol consumption, unhealthy relationships with liquor often develop. It is quite common for young men and women to “binge drink” alcohol on regular basis. That is, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks—over a 2-hour period.

Binge Drinking Among Young Adults

The National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) funded a study that looked at binge drinking and high-intensity (10+, 15+ drinks per occasion) drinking among U.S.12th graders and young adults from 2005 to 2015, Newswise reports. The findings indicated that binge and high-intensity drinking was highest for young adults aged 21/22 to 25/26, increasing the highest among people in their late twenties. The research was published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Both binge drinking and high-intensity alcohol consumption can cause serious harm to one’s health, and is a sure path to dependence and/or addiction. It is absolutely vital that these trends are acknowledged and that prevention experts and addiction treatment professionals respond accordingly with efforts to educate young people about the inherent risks of these methods of consumption. Setting the long-term health effects aside for the moment, people who engage in binge drinking are at greater risk of traumatic accidents and alcohol poisoning—which are often deadly.

Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment

Young adults are often unaware of the potential harm of the aforementioned manners of drinking alcohol. They are usually drinking that way among their peers, and justify the behavior as something that everyone is doing. Sure, some people binge drink socially in the early twenties and don’t progress to alcoholism, but that is not the case for others.

When such people seek help by way of addiction treatment, one that utilizes the social model, much emphasis is placed on adopting healthy ways of living surrounded by peers working towards the same goal. Recovery is a process, but over time one learns how to have fun with others without the social lubricant that is alcohol.

If you are young adult male, or have a loved one who is, and has formed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, please contact 10 Acre Ranch today. We connect young men together in a safe environment and teach them how to live a life in recovery, and form healthy relationships with their peers, without alcohol or any other mind-altering substances.