Opioids are medications that act on opiate receptors in the brain. Doctors prescribe these drugs to treat pain. Unfortunately, people also use them on the street to get high or become dependent on them and often need increasing doses to satisfy their opioid cravings. Examples of opioids include hydrocodone (Vicodin), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), meperidine (Demerol), and oxycodone (Percocet/Oxycontin).

Heroin is also considered an opioid, but using it isn’t legal in the United States. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, nearly 950,000 people in the United States reported past-year use of heroin, while 11.5 million people reported using painkillers for non-medical purposes. 

The FDA has approved medications that help to treat opioid withdrawals. Some medicines may also help to reduce opioid detox symptoms. These include clonidine, anti-nausea medications (such as Zofran), and anti-anxiety medications. 

Our opioid detox program is not just about the medications we can administer to you, although those can help very much. Instead, having a knowledgeable staff available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to tell you that your symptoms are typical, that you can make it through this, and that you are nearing your detox’s end can be extremely encouraging. Knowing you have a safe place to detox with medical experts close at hand can help as well. 

Opioid rehabilitation starts with medical detox, but that’s not where it ends. Once you have broken the physical connection you have with opioids, you can begin the actual work of starting to learn how to break free from your mental attachment to opioids.

Counseling is an essential component of opioid rehab. A common approach is a cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. This therapy approach involves helping a person recognize the thoughts and behaviors that keep them in a cycle of addiction. Examples include using opioids to mask anxiety or depression. You can also learn to identify your triggers or the factors in your life that cause you to crave or misuse opioids. Examples include a lack of rest and high-stress situations.

The behavioral portion of CBT involves learning behaviors that help you resist the urges to return to opioid abuse. You can learn to identify when your thoughts may be leading you toward relapse. You can also learn to adopt healthy behaviors, such as stress-relieving techniques, getting enough rest, and healthy eating. These habits can give you the energy you need to resist returning to opioid abuse.

Other vital components of our opioid rehabilitation program include participation in support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous. Early involvement in groups such as these can give you the strength you need to prevent relapse in the future.

Medically assisted treatment or MAT is an addiction treatment approach where you take safe prescribed medications to reduce cravings for the drugs that you were previously using. At WhiteSands Treatment in Titusville, we are proud to offer MAT via our Suboxone Clinic. These are available by prescription and may help with the detox process. Examples include Methadone, Buprenorphine, and Suboxone, which is an alternative to methadone treatment.

Suboxone is a medication that contains buprenorphine and naltrexone. Buprenorphine is a medication that acts on opioid receptors, reducing opioid withdrawal symptoms while also preventing other opioids from binding to the receptor sites. The drug naltrexone is also present in Suboxone to reduce the likelihood that other opioids would attach to opioid receptors in the brain and create a “high” feeling. As a result, Suboxone can minimize opioid withdrawal symptoms while reducing cravings. Unlike many other opioid-containing medications, Suboxone also has a low risk for overdose. Ideally, you can reduce your Suboxone dosage over time until you are no longer using any opioids at all.

Opioid abuse is not the only substance that we can administer medication-assisted therapies. For example, we also offer medication-assisted treatments for alcohol use disorders. Examples of these medications include Acamprosate and Naltrexone. These medications can help reduce alcohol cravings, which can prevent relapse. Another drug used to treat alcohol abuse includes disulfiram (Antabuse). Taking this medication will cause you to feel ill if you drink alcohol again. The medicine acts as a deterrent, so you’re less likely to drink again.