Prescription Drug Abuse in Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Encinitas and Carlsbad

Prescription drug addiction continues to be a growing problem that many people don't take as seriously as they should.  Join Together, reported today that according to research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) about 70 percent of 12-17 year olds see great risk in smoking a pack of cigarettes or more daily compared to 40 percent who saw great risk in binge drinking and about 34 percent who perceived great risk in smoking marijuana monthly.

Back in July of 09, after years of focusing primarily on marijuana use, there was news  from CBS News that the more urgent growing problem is prescription-drug misuse  antidrug campaigns from both the private and public sector have turned their attention to what's seen as a more urgent problem: prescription-drug misuse. 
Authorities say marijuana by comparison to prescription drug use, is 'benign'.  
        Prescription drugs that create physical dependency and addiction belong in two classes of pills; opiates and benzodiazepines.  opiates include drug such as codeine, vicodin, norco, oxycodone and benzodiazepines/tranquillizer drugs including xanax, valium, ambian and others.


Many people feel that since the medications were originally prescribed by a doctor that their prescription drug abuse is different. Getting high on an FDA approved drug, traps people into the illusion that they are safely manufactured and will not become a problem.

Yet in October 2009,  a local website in San Diego reported on the growing problems of teens and prescription drug abuse:  the county medical examiner when discussing teen deaths from drugs reported 54 oxycodone-related deaths between 2008 and 2009, up from 17 deaths between 2004 and 2006,  He also stated that adding the death rate from alcohol and heroin brings death rate for 16 - 25 year old alcohol and drug users, even higher.


The Signs of Addiction to Prescription Drugs:

          --A preoccupation with symptoms of pain or sleeplessness in order to justify the request for more medication.
          --Lack of interest in doing other activities unrelated to the drug using experience.
          --Good, drug induced feelings preoccupy the mind.
          --Mood swings.
          --Borrowing from friends and/or purchasing from drug dealers.
          --Purchasing drugs on the internet or from pharmacies in Mexico.
          --Past history of drug addiction.
          --On and off relief from anxiety.
          --Using more than the recommended amount of the medication.
          --Taking medications from family, friends or strangers medicine cabinets.
          --Hiding medications or lying about taking them.
Medication changes the brain chemistry,making it less effective at producing chemicals like dopamine or endorphin. Since the brain has stopped producing these chemicals itself, they must be introduced through another source.  At this point, the prescription drug addict has become physically dependent on the medication. 


Effects of Excessive Use of Prescription Pills:
A person who is addicted to prescription drugs may experience the following:
          --Anxiety
          --Depression
          --Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much
          --Loss of interest in relationships with friends or family members
          --Withdrawal symptoms when they try to stop using the medications on their own

Important:    Consumption with or without alcohol can effect the central nervous system causing respiratory distress,  failure or even death. 

Lasting Recovery provides Detoxification Services and Intensive Outpatient Treatment for Prescription medication addiction.  Recovery is possible --- we can help.   



Judy Saalinger, Ph.D., MFT, CAS
Co-Founder and Clinical Director


 





 

Treatment of Opiate Dependency in Young Adults in Sorrento Valley

I have something to celebrate this month - 32 years free from an opiate addiction.

Given opiates for a pain problem that became chronic, I was hooked for 10 years on codeine.  As I write this, I recall how grateful I am to be free of the destructive power opiates had over my thoughts, emotions and quality of life.

Drug addiction to opiates in San Diego County continues to be a growing problem.  The first time users are usually young men and women, who like myself, are emotionally sensitive and who find reducing emotional and physical pain with opiates quite intoxicating.  The euphoria and increased sense of well-being by using the drugs, draw the user back into the illusion that all their emotional and relationship problems related to fear, anxiety and anger, will magically disappear...forever.  We are chemically lulled into sleep, thinking that life is, indeed, very good.

However, young women and men, living in all areas of San Diego, including La Jolla, Del Mar or Encinitas, who use opiates begin to realize after a short time that they want more of the drug (the craving has begun, and it is hoped that taking more will make the drug experience better, just like the first use) only this time the drugs do not bring the same positive effects.  Instead they feel drowsiness, disorientation and dulled senses.  The  motor coordination in these young users  is effected, and they may prefer to just lay around. Life starts to become depressing.   It is not unusual that people begin to use different drugs and perhaps alcohol to try and get the chemical high through mixing substances.

Judgment about important decisions related to work, school money, relationships or family are impaired. People lose jobs, relationships, money and family.  By this time, which could be 3-4 months or a couple of years, the positive effects of the drug are no long present, the negative effects of the opiates are dominating the person's life and living revolves around obtaining the drug to avoid the physical withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms include feeling sick, vomiting diarrhea, poor appetite, stomach cramps, dry mouth, restlessness, headache, fainting attacks, stiffness, muscles twitching, fatigue, or tiredness, muscular tension, aches and pains, weakness and insomnia.

Feeling these same withdrawal symptoms for about 6 months, I'm glad I chose to withdraw from the opiates anyway,  breaking  my dependency on this drug.   For 10 years I carried those little white pills in the brown plastic bottle, day and night.  I couldn't remember what it felt like without them, and I was willing to give it a try. It had to be better than what I was feeling and the way I was living.

Today, 32 years later, I still know it was the best decision I ever made.  I feel great most days and have the opportunity to help others who suffer from addictions.

Our medical director, Michael Markopoulos, MD can help you detox from the opiate/withdrawal wheel with the use of Suboxone. It isn't a long term answer, and it will help you reduce the early symptoms.  You don't need to suffer withdrawal for 6 months.  After a detox from the opiates you will benefit from entering an outpatient treatment program where you will learn how to stay clean and discover healthy way to meet life's opportunities.

Get the help you need today.  Call us at 858-453-4315.

Judy Saalinger, Ph.D., MFT, CAS

Prescription Drug Addiction in San Diego County

Men and women of all ages, from San Diego County, including  Coronado, La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Carmel Valley contact us for information on what to do when they are afraid of stopping the use of these prescription drugs, including opiates and tranquillizer medications. Some attempts to stop use of the drugs, fail because of the severity of the withdrawal symptom.  They report being extremely sick from opiates or experiencing severe anxiety from the tranquillizer or sedative medications including Xanax and Ambian.  We often see people taking the opiates and tranquillizers or sedatives in a dangerous combination.

What is considered prescription drug abuse?  Although most people take prescription medications responsibly, Nora Volkow, MD, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse stated recently that the nonmedical use or abuse of prescription drugs is a serious and growing public health problem in the country.

OPIATE ABUSE/DEPENDENCE
Research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse monitoring survey of grades 8 through 12, found that 9.3 percent  of 12 graders reported using Vicodin without a prescription in the past year and 5.0 percent reported using OxyContin - making these medications among the most commonly abused prescription drugs by adolescents.

We have seen young adults who were introduced to opiates by being prescribed Vicodin or even OxyContin for sports injuries in high school, then abusing the drugs for recreation.  They like the high they get and want increased doses as they gradually become addicted to the opiates and begin to buy them from local drug dealers.  We see many young people from 18-26 whose lives have never gotten started on a solid drug free foundation and others whose work and academic careers are failing because of the physical, emotional, social and financial problems crated by addiction.

OxyContin is classified as a synthetic opiate and will give these young abusers a feeling similar to high grade heroin, but the physical withdrawal symptoms last longer.  Symptoms of withdrawal include: perpetually being tired, hot/cold sweats, vomiting, nausea, heart palpitations, joints and muscles in constant pain, uncontrollable coughing, diarrhea, insomnia, restlessness, involuntary leg movements, watery eyes, excessive yawning, depression and cold flashes with goose bumps, hence the name cold turkey.

Symptoms can be reduced by using buprenorphine, sold as Suboxone.  This medication is prescribed by certified physicians and through some treatment centers on a short term basis to help those with opioid addiction to recover from their dependence. At Lasting Recovery, the Director of Medical Services, Michael Markopoulos, MD is able to help those suffering from opioid addiction to detox with Suboxone.

If you or a family member is abusing these highly addicting opioid medications, reach out and get help. No one thinks it will happen to them. There is no shame in being addicted.  The switch from pharmaceutical grade drugs to smoking, snorting or injecting heroin is the next step and sometimes a fatal one.

Lasting Recovery Outpatient Alcohol and Drug Addiction, located in San Diego, just north of Miramar Marine base, and University Town Center, in the Sorrento Mesa area, offers outpatient detoxification services for freedom from opioid, tranquillizer, sedative or alcohol dependence.
Don't put your life on hold any longer.

Judy Saalinger, Ph.D., MFT, CAS

Suboxone Treatment for Opioid-Addicted Youth in San Diego County

Short-term detoxification coupled with individual and/or group therapy in either a residential or outpatient facility for a few weeks or months is the current treatment as usual for opioid-addicted youth. Except for treating withdrawal during detoxification the typical program does not use agonist medications like suboxone on young addicts. Relapse rates for the current treatment as usual is quite high.

In a recent study in JAMA, Woody and his colleagues reported the results of a randomized trial that compared a 14-day outpatient detoxification using suboxone (detox) vs 12 weeks of outpatient treatment with suboxone (extended treatment). The study was open to young people between the ages of 14 and 21 years but less than 18% of the participants were below the age of 18; no 14 year-old and only one 15 year-old was enrolled in the study. The typical participant was about 19 years old. In addition to receiving suboxone, participants were scheduled for one individual and one group therapy session per week for 12 weeks.

The participants in the detox group had poorer outcomes than the participants in the extended treatment group. Less than 20% of the detox participants completed the study vs 70% of the participants in the extended treatment group. The detox participant on average attended 5 counseling sessions while the extended treatment participants attended 12 counseling sessions. The detox participants also had poorer post treatment outcomes at 6, 9 and 12 month follow-up. Among the detox participants between 17 and 28% produced negative urine tests for opioids, while 29 to 52% of the extended treatment participants produced negative tests.

Woody and colleagues noted that the small study size and the short study duration made it impossible to estimate the number of participants who actually recovered, which they defined as a "voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship." Their study suggests that higher rates of true recovery may be possible with longer use of effective medications coupled with longer and more intensive psychosocial treatment.

Reference: Woody GE, Poole SA, Subramaniam G, et al. Extended vs Short-term Buprenorphine-Naloxone for Treatment of Opioid-Addicted Youth: A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2008;300(17):2003-2011.