Medication-assisted addiction recovery treatment programs are created to be used for those suffering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. The drug afflicting these patients is usually an opioid such as heroin or some other form of opioid. Addicts who are afflicted by an opioid addiction are under the influence of some of the most pernicious substances around.
It is these folks who often end up getting treatment through a medication-assisted program that uses medications like naltrexone, along with behavioral therapies to treat alcohol or illicit drug-addicted individuals. While medications like buprenorphine and methadone, two other medications that are often used for medication-assisted recovery, do indeed leave the possibility that a user who has been dealing with addiction to opioids may become addicted to them, naltrexone is a drug that is a non-narcotic.
What are Opiates?
The name opiate refers to a kind of drug derived from a natural opium poppy plant. Opiates are simply the purest form of opioids.
Some forms of opiates:
- Opium
- Heroin
- Codeine
- Thebaine
- Morphine
What are Opioids: Opioid, however, is a label that covers both the natural and synthetic types of this family of narcotics. Narcotics are different drugs that change the user’s brain function. Synthetic opioids are designed to create the same type of experience for the user as if they had used a natural opiate.
Some forms of synthetic opioids:
- Hydrocodone
- Oxycodone, OxyContin, Percocet, or Percodan
- Hydromorphone, or Dilaudid
- Duragesic, or fentanyl
Taking Naltrexone at Discovery Institute’s Rehab New Jersey Detox Facilities
Naltrexone is a drug designed to help those who are struggling with some type of substance addiction, whether it be alcohol or drug-related, though opioids are this drug’s most specific target. Throughout their detox and rehab recovery, the addict will find that naltrexone reduces their cravings and makes it easier to feel hopeful. This drug is specifically made to assist those suffering from opioid or alcohol addiction.
Naltrexone helps those suffering from opioid and alcohol addiction to have a higher chance of getting through a treatment program successfully and to reenter the world with their cravings and triggers in check. A big pro for naltrexone in the lengthy pros and cons list that any addict may make about different treatment programs is that naltrexone, unlike other drugs such as buprenorphine and methadone, is a not an addictive substance.
This non-narcotic that attaches itself to the brain’s reward and pain centers of the brain completely blocks other drugs from accessing these regions of the brain and therefore naltrexone has become opioids’ worst nightmare. This drug is used more and more in treatment centers across the United States and throughout the world because naltrexone is an invaluable resource in treatment programs. Naltrexone helps through each stage in recovery.
As a patient gets sober from their addictive substance of choice, like heroin, alcohol, or Vicodin, they will experience serious withdrawal symptoms, and those symptoms can frequently scare people right out of their treatment plan and right into what they feel like is the safety of intoxication, or in other words right into relapse. Relapse is the furthest thing from safe. Most people who relapse forget that they have been sober from their medication and therefore cannot take the same dosage of the drug that they used to.
This far too often ends in a fatal overdose. Naltrexone, however, blocks that substance, removing the urge to take a drug that will not actually offer the user the effect they are looking for. New Jersey rehab clinics and detox facilities suggest naltrexone to their patients when they are suffering from an opioid or alcohol addiction in hopes of helping the user through the difficulties of detox and rehab with such a potent addiction and giving them a good foundation for future sustained sobriety. Naltrexone helps not only on the basic biological level and with withdrawal symptoms, but also psychologically.
As people are going through rehab for opioids, they usually go through some kind of therapy. They often have a dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder, or perhaps unaddressed trauma that they need to spend this time working on. Naltrexone offers patients the mental space to be able to focus on working through the shame and self-loathing that so often comes along with addiction, and can offer them a firmer foundation for sobriety.
Naltrexone is the generic version of the following brand names:
- Vivitrol
- Depade
- Revia
Treatment For Opioid Addiction in New Jersey
There is help out there for those suffering from alcohol or opioid addiction. Alcohol and opioid addictions are daunting afflictions for anyone to suffer from and they are not the kind of thing you just walk away from. Addiction is a chronic illness that is not always fully curable. However, it is totally possible to live a normal life with symptoms in remission if proper treatment is found and a recovery program is successfully completed.
It is vital that therapy is continually pursued throughout the addict’s life to keep their addiction in remission. No one can beat back their addiction on their own and at Discovery Institute we believe that everyone deserves support in their efforts to get sober.
Our licensed medical staff and therapists are here for you. Call us to learn more about how you can get help.
Dr. Joseph Ranieri D.O. earned his BS in Pharmacy at Temple University School of Pharmacy in 1981 and His Doctorate Degree in Osteopathic Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1991. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Board of Preventive Medicine Addiction Certification. Dr. Ranieri has lectured extensively to physicians, nurses, counselors and laypeople about the Disease of Addiction throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 2012.
