All you need to know about Opioid Addiction

The other name for opioid addiction is opioid use disorder. It is a relapsing and chronic disease that can trap anyone. There are millions of folks who are suffering from this disease each day. Individuals suffering from opioid addiction face negative health impacts on their physical and emotional well-being.

Like most diseases, even opioid addiction is treatable under certain circumstances. If you notice that your loved ones are suffering from this disease, you must seek professional treatment and help. Along with a proper treatment plan, counseling is also helpful.

It is also good to note that the patient must be equally willing to receive the treatment. Recovering from opioid addiction requires strong willpower. It is also a long-term process, and both the patients of the individuals supporting them through it must also be equally patient.

1.     Detox Process

For an individual who is already deep into the clutches of opioids, it can seem extremely difficult to get past the addiction at first; however, it is not exactly impossible. Patients suffering from opioid addiction experience changes in certain parts of their brains.

If you are adamant, and the patient moves forward with the detox process, they experience several withdrawal symptoms such as:

·      Large pupils

·      Craving for drugs

·      Yawning

·      Diarrhea

·      Belly pain

·      Body aches

·      Chills and goosebumps (the origin of the phrase "cold turkey")

·      Agitation and severe bad moods

·      Nausea and Vomiting

They experience symptoms of withdrawal ranging from a few days to weeks. It also depends on the kind of drug you were using and for how long you have been consuming it.

These symptoms are just some hurdles on the path to the glorious reward.

2.     Medication for Addiction

When an addict goes through opioid withdrawal, the withdrawal symptoms are significant. Therefore to curb this, most health professionals usually prescribe the addicts an alternative drug to lessen the symptom.

·      Methadone:

Methadone is a drug that acts quite the same as opioids. It affects the part in the individual's braid, just like opioids. However, Methadone does give the individual high. With the correct dose of Methadone, an addict can successfully withdraw the symptoms of opioids and also, at the same time, ease the cravings for the drug.

·      Buprenorphine:

Buprenorphine is another drug that treats opioid dependence. This medication affects a similar part of the individual's brain. But Buprenorphine is not as strong as an opioid. Buprenorphine also has a lesser chance of leading to a lethal overdose; therefore, most medical professionals favor this medicine.

·      Counseling Treatment

There is a great and successful chance of relieving oneself from the clutches of opioid addiction by committing to long-term maintenance therapy. Medication, along with counseling therapy, has been seen as a successful treatment for most opioid addicts. This kind of treatment is also known as medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

Counseling sessions that are assisted by qualified health professionals help the patients to deal with any personal or social issues that they might be facing. These issues among addicts are all the major reasons for their addiction. A few of the most common problems that most addicts deal with are:

·      Their self-worth

·      Personal problems at home

·      Work-related problems

·      People surrounding them that promote drug use

The counseling that will be carried out to help the patient are:

·      Motivational interviewing

This therapy treatment helps the patient identify why they might not be willing to change their behavior.

·      Contingency management

This kind of treatment helps the patient collect different rewards or incentives to help them meet their daily goals, such as taking their medications and correctly meeting their treatment requirement.

·      Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

This treatment helps the patient to see deep into themselves and question why they might be using opioids. This treatment helps to make the minds of the addicts believe that they are strong enough to address the situation and get rid of their opioid addiction.

This form of treatment helps addicts to cope with all their struggles related to opioid addiction.

·      12-step groups

This treatment involves defining the goals of the treatment by the addict and then attending addiction meetings and finding a reliable sponsor.

·      Family therapy

In this kind of therapy, the patient's family and loved ones are brought in to strengthen the treatment's ability.

·      Support groups

This kind of treatment was introduced to familiarize the patient with individuals going through similar problems.

To Conclude

Are you aware of someone in your family suffering from opioid addiction? Are you worried about them and looking for different treatment procedures? Counseling treatment for opioid addiction is very beneficial for addicts in the long term. NuLease is one of the best treatment centers to treat opioid addiction effectively.