Today is International Drug Overdose Awareness Day

There is a nice trend in growing activism and awareness of the dangers of overdose.

We like to focus on the threat that prescription drugs in particular have brought about but the Salvation Army has created this day for awareness about the dangers of all drug overdoses.

For a tribute, you might want to visit this website and leave a comment if you know someone in particular who you want to recognize that their life has been negatively impacted by a drug overdose.

Painkillers Like Percocet Can Lead to Addiction

An article written by Carolyn Butler describes the alarming trend of people slipping from prescribed (and legal) use of painkillers into addictive (and illegal) abuse.

We’ve written before about this sinister phenomenon (and we also recommend you visit StopOxy.com to learn about the OxyContin epidemic)  This article  reiterates how the numbers of people addicted to prescriptions is growing rapidly.

Many people are unfamiliar with the potential dangers  of prescription drugs such as Percocet or Vicodin.  Those who take them recreationally are enticed by someone who has a leftover stash of a narcotic painkiller.    Studies have shown that 20.8 percent of Americans 12 and older (or nearly 52 million people)  have taken prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons (according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, from 2008).

These drugs  are widely viewed as safer than street drugs such as meth or cocaine because a person can obtain them legally from a doctor.  There is a distorted perception that they are not as dangerous as other illicit substances.  Despite what people think, these drugs are just as harmful.  Prescription drugs are now

more available than ever before.  Their easy accessibility is contributing to the growing numbers in prescription drug addiction.

Raising Awareness

It is important to raise awareness about the risk for addiction to prescription drugs.  Everyone, it seems, is at an equal risk.  “We’re not really talking about drug use that hits one group or another, because . . . there were increases across the board, with growth cutting across age, gender, region, race, education and employment status,” said Peter Delany, director of the Office of Applied Studies for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which published this latest research.

There needs to be a happy medium between the needs of pain patients and the concern of the growing abuse problem.  Better training for doctors and more education for patients will certainly help reduce the risks.  Perhaps the most important is reminding patients of their responsibility to properly dispose of leftover pills, which means unused pills should be flushed down the toilet, per FDA recommendations for certain painkillers.

If you are concerned about your prescription drug use or that of someone you care for, contact our drug rehabilitation center by calling 877-235-6134.

Don’t Pass Your Alcohol Addiction onto Your Kids: Get Help

You may think your alcohol addiction is only harming yourself – but you’re wrong. Your addiction to alcohol may be increasing the risk that your children will develop their own alcohol addiction as adults.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, children of alcoholics (COAs) are between four and 10 times more likely to become alcoholics than children who have no close relatives who are addicted to alcohol. COAs are also at higher risk for developing drinking problems more quickly and starting drinking at a young age.

An increased risk of alcohol addiction isn’t the only effect your alcoholism may have on your children. COAs often experience many of the following when they have one or more parents who are alcoholics:

• Compulsive disorders, such as gambling addictions
• Behavioral problems
• Abuse or neglect
• Domestic violence
• Increased risk of drug use
• Higher risk of accidents and injuries
• Problems in school
• Anxiety and depression
• Higher levels of stress

The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) claims that nearly 11 percent of children in the United States live with at least one parent who needs treatment for an alcohol or drug addiction. One quarter of children younger than 18 live in homes where they deal with alcohol abuse or alcoholism on a daily basis, according to SAMHSA.

As a result, COAs may grow up feeling angry, confused and insecure. They may believe they are the reason for their parent’s drinking and try to control or withdraw from the situation to make it more tolerable.

But you know your drinking problem isn’t your child’s fault, and that there is something you can do to reduce the risk of your children battling the same addiction as you.

Getting Treatment for Alcohol Addiction

It’s never easy admitting you have a problem, or that your actions are negatively impact the people you care most about. Once you come to the realization that you need to end your addiction for your children as much as for yourself, it may be easier for you to seek needed treatment.

There are many types of alcohol addiction treatment available. You just need to find the one that works best for you and your family. Your options include outpatient addiction treatment, which allows you to live at home, and residential addiction treatment, which requires you to live at a residential treatment center for addiction for several months. Support groups and online support is also available, depending on your treatment plan.

Because you have children, it will be important to get your family involved in your recovery. Find a program that includes family therapy so your entire family can be involved in the healing process and support your recovery in the long term. Most treatment centers offer family group therapy or weekend seminars.

It is normal to feel some guilt about how your alcohol addiction has affected your children. But your addiction is treatable, and you can learn to create a happy and healthy environment for your children that allows them to grow up without alcohol abuse.

Part 5 Opioids: Managing the Medical Complications of Addictive Drugs

In our final segment about managing the medical complications of addictive drugs we are going to discuss the drug that has displaced methamphetamine as the biggest development in drug addiction in the last decade – opioids.

If this article were written at any other time in the last 100 years, opiate based content would be relevant because of heroin and a variety of medications that have been abused (for literally as long as our country has been in existence).

However, the recent epidemic of opiate drug abuse can be traced to the prevalence of OxyContin  – a highly potent painkiller that basically creates the same sensation as shooting or snorting heroin.  This phenomenon has exploded across the country into a tidal wave of heroin addiction and overdose.

Methadone and Suboxone

Methadone has been historically prescribed to manage cravings but it is also addictive and carries with it the risk of overdose.  Clinicians in recent years are gravitating toward using drugs like Suboxone instead to manage cravings that can overwhelm the early recovery process.

The Connection Between OxyContin and Heroin

Abusers of prescription drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, and others will often graduate to heroin when the prescription medication becomes too difficult and expensive to obtain.  A $5-10 bag of heroin will supply the same level of high as a $40 -$80 (street value) OxyContin pill.  Such  a drastic change from pills to street heroin seems like a major leap to the average person.  But if you factor in the unbearable torture of opioid withdrawals the switch becomes a more logical progression.  There are numerous OxyContin Watchdog Websites that chronicle the drug’s toll on our society.

Opioids can be taken:

• Orally
• Intravenously
• Intranasally (snorting powder)
• Inhaling the smoke (when a the drug is heated and burned)

The Dangers of Intravenous Heroin Injection

Obviously some risks in IV heroin use have been well chronicled.  The AIDS epidemic highlighted the danger of heroin needle sharing in the 1980s and 1990s.

Beyond the risk HIV, injecting heroin can lead to a whole host of other blood borne infections like septicemia and cellulitis.

Symptoms of HIV use include vein sclerosis (track marks) and occasionally thromboembolic events.  Patients in treatmet for IV heroin use will be carefully screened for:

• Skin abscesses
• Botulism
• Bacterial endocarditis
• Septicemia
• Ceullitis

Relapse Warning

The danger of overdose during an episode of opioid abuse is everpresent and the respiration and heartbeat should be monitored as well as ensuring airways are kept clear.

Neurological Side Effects of Opioid Abuse:

• Drowsiness
• Lightheaded Sensation
• Confusion
• Myoclouns
• Miosis
• Hyperalgesia

Pulmonary SideEffects:

• Respiratory suppression

Gastrointestinal Side Effecdts

• Hepatitis C Infection
• Hepatotocixity
• Nausea
• Constipation

Other Side Effects

• Urniary Retention
• Pruritus

Part 4 Methamphetamine: Managing the Medical Complications of Addictive Drugs

Part 4 Methamphetamine: Managing the Medical Complications of Addictive Drugs

Methamphetamine is easy to manufacture and highly addictive.  This drug was one that we only had limited exposure to for the early years of our treatment center (in the mid 1980s) but throughout the 1990s and new millennium this drug has become an incredible destroyer of lives.
Methamphetamine’s appeal is really widespread across society. The drug is popular with bikers and in poor rural areas, and also abused in high schools and colleges in the upper middle class parts of society.  Also, we see a lot of older meth users as well as teenagers who experiment with it.

Methamphetamine in recent years has really become commonly ingested as crystal methamphetamine or “crystal meth”(pictured).  But in past years there was a wider variety of forms including pills (like “black bennies”), and “crank” – a whitish-yellow version of the home made drug.

Poisonous and Dangerous

The mental effects of recovering from a speed addiction are extremely numerous and warrant an entire article unto itself.  Treating patients who are dependent on stimulant drugs often requires psychiatric medication and close supervision to manage their moods which can be extremely low due to the unbelievable surge of dopamine that the patient is accustomed to experiencing.

This article will focus on the physical damage and symptoms that we look for in meth addicted clients. There are plenty of dangers and this is only a partial list.  The drug is utterly destructive to the human body.  Every part of the body it touches it destroys.  Since the drug is often snorted intranasally, the nasal membranes (and the brain) are corroded by it.  Speed can also be “shot” intravenously and smoked (causing tons of damage to the lungs and heart).

Stimulant Side Effects

Our previous article about cocaine outlines many of the side effects and medical complications of stimulant drug.  Effects include:

• Hypertension
• Tachyucardia
• Arrhythmias
• Stroke
• Cardiac valve sclerosis
• Pulmonary hypertension

Dental Complications

The phenomenon of “meth mouth” is caused by the decreased production of saliva while the user is on the drug.  This is a result of sympathetic activity, lack of food intake, and increased caraving for sugary drinks and snacks (and poor oral hygiene).

Neurological Damage

Methamphetamine users end up suffering from poor cognitive functioning and emotions such as paranoia and depression.  These symptoms are believed to be caused by neuropathologic changes in the brain.

List of Symptoms Screened for in Methamphetamine Patients:

Cardiovascular Symptoms:

• Cardiomyopathy
• TachyCardia
• Arrhytmias
• Hypertensive crisis
• Myocardial infarction

Pulmonary Symptoms:

• Respitory Failure
• Pneumonia

Gastrointestinal Symptoms:

• Tooth decay (meth mouth)
• Hepatotoxicity
• Bruxism
• Xerostomia
• Hepatitis infection
• Neurologic
• Cerebral infarct
• Seizures
• Blurred vision
• Obtundation

Other Symptoms of Meth Addiction:

• Jaw Clenching
• Aplastic anemia
• Hyperthermia
• Excessive Sweating
• Muscle cramping

Suppressing Anger Can Result in Violence

Violence and excessive drinking are often thought to go hand-in-hand. A new study shows that a person’s tendency to become violent while drunk is more likely when the person makes a habit of suppressing their anger.

“Only a tiny fraction of all drinking events involve violence and whether intoxicated aggression is likely to occur seems to depend on the drinker’s propensity to withhold angry feelings when sober,” said the study’s authors. The study was published in the journal Addiction.

The study found that, among people most likely to suppress their anger, a 10 percent increase in drunkenness was associated with a 5 percent increase in violence. This same association did not appear in people who released or expressed their feelings of anger.

Ways to Release Anger

If you are someone who tends to keep your angry feelings bottled in, you may do so at the risk of harm to others or yourself, especially if you have been drinking. Learning to let go of your anger and deal with it in healthy ways can help to reduce the risk of you engaging in violence. Here are some things you can do to release your anger:

• Learn Calming Techniques. Many times, anger is about reacting in the moment. If you take time to calm down and take some deep breaths, your feelings of anger may pass through you and allow you to look at the situation with a different perspective. Find ways to calm yourself in a moment of anger. Take deep breaths, meditate, count to 10 or visualize something soothing.
• Redirect Your Anger. Instead of taking out your anger in an aggressive or violent way, channel your anger into something productive. If you find yourself worked up, go for a jog, do jumping jacks, cook some food or start singing a song. Doing something else will either tire you out or distract you enough that you don’t feel like being angry anymore.
• Talk About It. The best way to work through any emotion is to talk it out. Discuss whatever is making you angry with the person who is causing it. If you can’t verbalize what you need to say, write a letter and give it to the person. If it is a situation rather than a person that is angering you, talk to people you trust who can help you address the situation and find ways to remedy what it is making you angry. Talking about things can give you difference perspectives, make you feel calmer and give you needed support.
• Just Let It Go. There are some things (and people) you’ll never be able to change, no matter how much they make you angry. Rather than constantly getting upset, learn to let it go and accept these situations and people for what they are. This will free you up to concentrate on more positive emotions.

If anger has taken over and you can’t seem to control it, you should consider an anger management class or group that can help you learn more effective ways to manage your anger.  Our staff at The Landing is trained in helping men who are struggling with addiction and also have issues acting out while angry.

Part 3 Cocaine: Managing the Medical Complications of Addictive Drugs

Substance 3: Cocaine

Cocaine is the drug that skyrocketed in popularity during the 1980s due to the prevalence of crack cocaine.  The smokable “crack” form of cocaine was inexpensive and easily available.  The irony of crack’s inexpensive price tag is that it costed so many tens of thousands of people everything they had. This substance is incredibly addictive and some would say that for some certain percentage of people who have the right genetic makeup for crack addiction – once they try it they have absolutely no choice but to pursue the sensation of being high on cocaine until they’ve completely destroyed  their lives.

Our parent facility Sober Living by the Sea became very accustomed to detoxing men and women off of crack cocaine and getting them into a long term treatment program that helped them live a meaningful life without cocaine.

Surprisingly, because of cocaine’s popularity and availability, it is still the most frequent cause of drug-related death, particularly when combined with alcohol.

Medical Complications of Cocaine

Cocaine users that routinely snort (inhale through the nasal passage) cocaine will eventually experience some or all of these symptoms:

• nosebleeds
• difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia)
• Irritation of the nasal septum
• chronic mucosal inflammation
• hoarseness
• runny nose (rhinorrhea)

Intravenous users (who “shoot” the cocaine into their veins with a needle), will have puncture marks or “tracks” on the arms (and other parts of the body).  Needle using cocaine users will often be unsanitary with their needles and are prone to suffer from infections diseases including AIDS.

Cardiac Complications of Cocaine Use

Cocaine can have unpredictable effects on the body with tragic results as evidenced by Len Bias’ famed overdose (“upon first use” supposedly) in June of 1986.

Recent cocaine use is a common cause of chest pain. Although cocaine can lead to ventricular fibrillation, tachycardia, and increased blood pressure, its main mechanism for inducing chest pain and myocardial infarction (MI) is coronary vasospasm, especially of diseased vessels. The risk of heart attack is increased by a factor of 24 in the first 60 minutes after cocaine use.

Chronic use of cocaine can induce   thrombus formation, leading to atherosclerotic disease.  Recurrent chest pain in a young, otherwise healthy individual could indicate cocaine abuse.

Neurologic Complications

Headaches are very common among cocaine users.  Although usually associated with intoxication or withdrawal, headaches can be experienced frequently even during the cocaine “high.”  Cocaine inhibits the body’s ability to prevent seizures, and first time cocaine users are prone to experiencing (potentially fatal) seizures.

Getting Help

This list of medical complications is but a partial list of the dangers of cocaine use. It also doesn’t include the damage psychologically on the individual user or the user’s family as that person often pursues the cocaine high to the point of destroying their own lives and often the lives of others. The Landing has special educational and therapeutic components in its treatment program that make the treatment of cocaine addiction possible and provide the best possible chance at long term recovery.  Please contact us today for more information.

Part 2 Marijuana: Managing Medical Complications of 5 Addictive Drugs

Managing Medical Complications of 5 Commonly Abused Substances:

Part 2: Marijuana

In our last blog entry, we discussed the side effects of heavy drinking and how it made our job in treating men for alcoholism all the more difficult.

If we’ve learned anything in this recent era of progressive marijuana legalization we’ve learned that marijuana is here to stay. Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug worldwide, and the recent prevalence of marijuana dispensaries in California is making the use of marijuana somewhat of an epidemic.  New ways to ingest marijuana are now available, including edible marijuana and even drinkable marijuana mixtures (like tincture).

Here are some of the side effects of chronic marijuana use.

Pulmonary Complications

The vast majority of marijuana users use it by smoking it.  Of course, smoking leads to pulmonary issues. Even infrequent marijuana use can possibly lead to burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, possibly accompanied by a heavy cough. Regular users may develop complications similar to chronic tobacco use: daily cough, chronic phlegm production, susceptibility to lung infections (such as acute bronchitis), and potential for airway obstruction.

Smoking marijuana can triple the likelihood that the user will develop cancer of the respiratory tract or lungs.

Cardiac Complications

Frequent marijuana use decreases blood pressure.  The resulting symptoms may include:

• Dizziness
• Syncope
• Falls
• Injuries

Increased cardiac output and cardiac work—coupled with a decreased capacity to carry oxygen—can lead to angina or acute coronary syndrome.  These developments are much more common in mature adults than younger users.  Angina and acute coronary syndrome are even more likely in older adults with preexisting cardiovascular disease.  Marijuana use has also been linked to cardiac arrhythmias.

Long-term heavy users of marijuana seem to develop tolerance to some cardiovascular effects, but blood volume overall increases, heart rate slows, and circulatory responses to exercise are diminished.

Cognitive Impairment.

Marijuana has been proven to reduce short term memory, but beyond that, there is a lot of debate about the severity of marijuana’s effects on the mind. Chronic marijuana users have demonstrated cognitive impairment—particularly on memory of word lists and attention tasks – but there is debate as to whether these effects are permanent or reversible.  Some studies show persistent cognitive impairments in longer-term cannabis users, even after 2 years of abstinence. However, most studies suggest that marijuana-associated cognitive deficits are reversible and related to recent exposure.

Marijuana Addiction and Treatment

Most of the men who come to treatment at our facility are being treated for addiction to other substances (like cocaine, opiates, or alcohol).  Still, many of them are marijuana users as well to the point of being psychologically addicted to marijuana.  If you are concerned about your own marijuana use or the marijuana use of someone you love, please contact our team of intake specialists who will be able to answer questions about the use of the drug.

Part 1 Alcohol: Managing Medical Complications of 5 Addictive Drugs

Treating men for addiction to drugs and alcohol is complicated and difficult. 

Men (and women) who use drugs in an abusive way often also exhibit a dual diagnosis (like trauma, depression, anxiety disorder, etc.).   80% of alcoholics exhibit another axis I disorders.

The price that the body pays for the abuse of alcohol is high as well and complicates the treatment we provide even further.

Heavy drinking (more than 5 drinks a day for men) causes problems with the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems.

Gastrointestinal Complications

Chronic heavy alcohol consumption can lead to fatty liver (steatosis), alcoholic heptatits, and cirrhosis.  Steatosis- the first stage of alcoholic liver disease-can occur from heavy drinking for just a few edays but can be reversed with abstincence from alcohol. Prolonged use can lead to alcoholic hepatitis.

Symptoms of Steatosis include:

• Abdominal pain and tenderness
• Nausea
• Lack of appetite
• Vomiting
• Fatigue
• Spider-like blood vessels
• Increased bleeding

Cirrhosis of the Liver

Liver damage that occurs from alcoholically drinking is not necessarily reversible by abstinence and cirrhosis can develop.  Cirrhosis is a potentially fatal liver disease and is contracted by about 70% of patients who have developed alcoholic hepatitis.

Some of the common physical manifestations of cirrhosis include:

• Generalized weakness
• Fatifue
• Malaise
• Anorexia (with signs of malnutrition)
• Increased bleeding

Acute Pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is the most common cause of hospitalization from alcohol related GI complications.  Is seen more often than liver disease, although it is not as closely associated with alcoholism in the public eye.  The severity of acute pancratitis can vary but it can be very difficult to treat and is often fatal.  The treatment of pancreatitis is very unpleasant and there can be nothing taken orally – not any water. The sad fact for many alcoholics that develop pancreatitis is that they end up in the hospital with the sensation that they would like nothing more than a drop of water but cannot even have that – due to years of imbibing liquor.

Cardiovascular Effects

Recently news stories that have trumpeted the potential “benefits” of light drinking on the cardiovascular system have probably done more harm to people than good.

Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk of hypertension and ischemic heart disease.  Incidence of hypertension is two-fold greater in individuals who have more than two alcoholic drinks per day and highest in the demographic who has more than 5 per day.

Prolonged excessive alcohol consumption is the leading cause of nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Symptoms of alcoholic cardiomyopathy include:

• Fatigue
• Dyspnea
• Orthopnea
• Loss of appetite
• Irregular pulse
• Producticve cough (with pink/frothy material)
• Lower extremity edema
• Nocturia

Cardiac function CAN recover with early diagnosis and alcohol abstinence.

Cognitive Decline

The effects of moderate or light drinking on cognitive function have been the controversial subject of many studies.  One thing that is known for certain is that heavy drinking (over 30 drinks per week) is known to cause cognitive decline and serious impairment to the ability of the user to think and react to normal life situations.

Alcohol dependent individuals have a hard time with verbal enunciation, short term memory problems, and exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Getting Help

It is heartbreaking when someone comes to our treatment center with some of the symptoms or diseases above and has to face the reality that their drinking has caused them issues that can permanently change their ability to function and may end their lives.

People who are in the throes of alcoholism often also exhibit a strong sense of denial and it can be extremely difficult to get men to agree to alcoholism treatment.    Contact our treatment center because we can help connect you with a professional who is trained to confront family members who lives are threatened by their drug or alcohol use.

Helping Your Parents Enter Substance Abuse Treatment

A recent study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that admissions to substance abuse treatment by adults older than 50 nearly doubled between 1992 and 2008. That points to a growing trend among older adults to both admitting they have a problem with drug or alcohol abuse and a willingness to seek necessary treatment.
These may be reassuring facts to know if you are watching a parent struggle with drug or alcohol abuse. Getting a parent to admit they have a problem and enter treatment may not be easy, but it is worth trying to help them have a successful recovery. Here are some things you can do to help your parent enter substance abuse treatment:
Know Your Facts. Before you try and convince your parents that they should enter treatment, make sure they do actually have a problem with substance abuse. Watch their behaviors for signs of drug or alcohol abuse and take stock of how quickly they go through their prescription medication.
Have a Discussion. Talk to them about your concerns and why you think a problem exists. When you do this, make sure not to take an accusatory tone, but to instead be understanding and supportive. If your parent feels like you are on their side, they may be more willing to get help.

Get Confirmation. If you can’t get your parent to admit there is a problem, you’re not going to be able to get them into treatment. Don’t press them into admitting to a substance abuse problem but give them the time needed to make the realization. If they don’t, even after a reasonable amount of time, you may want to consider an intervention or having them speak with a treatment professional.

Research Treatment Options. When you talk to your parents about entering substance abuse treatment, it’s a good idea to have some options available to them. Take time to research residential addiction treatment and outpatient treatment facilities in your area to determine what would work best for them. You can make a confidential call to a treatment facility to get more information about what would work best for your parents.
Be Supportive. Let your parent know that you understand how difficult this is for them, and that you are willing to do whatever it takes to help them recover from their disorder. Most treatment facilities have some type of family component to them, so be sure to let them know you will get involved so that you are on the same wavelength when it comes to their treatment.
Get Help. Approaching a parent with a substance abuse problem can be difficult. Get the help you need to do it by enrolling the help of a sibling, spouse, friend of your parent, another family member or your other parent so that you have some support too. It may also be easier for your parent to make a decision about entering treatment if they know there is a group of people around them who are caring and supportive.  Feel free to contact the specialists at The Landing who have years of experience helping families get  a loved  one into treatment.