Author: The Fix

John Goodman Dishes on Sobriety, Roseanne Barr & Showbiz

The 66-year old-character actor gave up alcohol in 2007 and still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings almost every day.

John Goodman, 66-year-old character actor and Roseanne star, shared details about his life, including his struggles with alcohol, in an interview with The Sunday Times.

Goodman now lives in New Orleans with his wife, Annabeth. Despite an earlier prediction that his career would have dried up by now, he has roles on HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones and BBC2’s Black Earth Rising.

However, his life may not be as idyllic if he had not gotten his alcoholism under control, he revealed.

“I was an alcoholic parent. If I saw a bottle of vodka I had to have it, it was a compulsion,” he told The Times. “My wife had given up on me, I sometimes wondered if she was just waiting for me to die. She’d had enough.”

Goodman gave up alcohol in 2007 and has been sober since then. He says he still goes to Alcoholics Anonymous almost every day. “You never beat it, it’s a daily thing,” he said.

When the interviewer suggested that beating alcoholism must have taken a lot of willpower, Goodman declined to take credit.

“It didn’t have anything to do with will. It just grew old,” he admitted. “I was unhealthy and I was hurting people and I tired of it.”

Giving up alcohol also gave way to healthier living for Goodman. He began to eat less and exercise more, and despite two knee replacements is feeling the best he’s felt in years.

“I do about 40 minutes on an elliptical machine every day. And I don’t eat as much as I used to. I was eating alcoholically—with both hands,” he said, adding that he does not follow any special diet plans. “I just eat smaller portions.”

His career, and happiness, recently took a hit with the cancellation of the Roseanne revival due to a racist tweet by the show’s titular star, Roseanne Barr.

“I was broken-hearted, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s just show business, I’m going to let it go.’ But I went through a period, about a month, where I was very depressed,” he revealed. “I’m a depressive anyway, so any excuse that I can get to lower myself, I will. But that had a great deal to do with it, more than I wanted to admit.”

He did not expect the network, ABC, to react the way it did.

“I was surprised. I’ll put it this way, I was surprised at the response. And that’s probably all I should say about it,” he said, pausing. “I know, I know, for a fact that she’s not a racist.”

View the original article at thefix.com

4 September 2018
Should You Breastfeed Your Baby If You're on Methadone?

My daughter was born with neonatal abstinence syndrome but I was not allowed to nurse or have her in the room with me; the hospital staff said the methadone in my breast milk could be dangerous. They were wrong.

Earlier this summer several news outlets reported on the death of an 11-week-old infant in Philadelphia by what appeared to be a drug overdose. The mother, who has been charged with criminal homicide, blamed the drug exposure on her breast milk. Although an autopsy revealed that the infant’s drug exposure also included amphetamine and methamphetamine, many news outlets chose to focus on the fact that the mother was a methadone patient. The death of an infant by drug exposure is unquestionably terrible; unfortunately, misleading articles make what is already a tragedy even worse by insinuating or directly stating that the methadone content in the breast milk was involved in the infant’s death.

Stigma around methadone use in the United States has a long shadow. Prescribed primarily to treat opioid use disorder (but also sometimes for pain management), methadone is a long acting opioid that builds in the patient’s bloodstream to create a stable, non-euphoric equilibrium when used correctly. It is a highly effective form of both addiction treatment and harm reduction, shown to reduce overdose deaths by 50% or more. Unlike short acting opioids like heroin or morphine, methadone prevents patients from experiencing the physical chaos of sedation and withdrawal, and can help re-balance neurochemical changes that take place during active addiction. For decades, methadone has been considered the gold standard of treatment for opioid use disorder, including during and after pregnancy.

But in spite of the demonstrated benefits of methadone and its pharmacological differences from commonly misused opioids, it has, for many years, acquired a popular status as “legal heroin.” Social media is flooded with memes mocking methadone patients or complaining that they don’t deserve “free methadone” when other drugs cost money (in fact, methadone has a price tag like any other medication). Even other people in recovery or the throes of active addiction disparage methadone, sometimes referring to it as “liquid handcuffs” because of the stringent regulations requiring daily trips to a clinic during the first several months of treatment.

This stigma leaks into every aspect of patient care. For me, it prevented me from seeking treatment for years. I was terrified to get on methadone. Who would volunteer to be “handcuffed” by a treatment system? But when I learned I was pregnant, my doctors urged me to get on methadone. They said that attempting to withdraw from heroin would be dangerous for my developing baby, and continuing to use would be even riskier.

I was reluctant, but I enrolled in a methadone maintenance program as my doctors advised. Because of that, I had a healthy, full-term pregnancy. But at the Florida-based hospital where my daughter was taken after a speedy, unplanned home birth, I was not allowed to breastfeed. My daughter suffered neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a condition caused by opioid withdrawal that occurs in some babies whose mothers used methadone or other opioids while pregnant; she was dosed with morphine to wean her down from the methadone she received in utero, and the hospital staff told me that adding my methadone dose via breast milk could be dangerous. Because of that, my milk production dwindled, and my daughter—who stayed in the hospital over a month—never learned to properly latch. After she came home, she suffered colic, constipation, and sleep disturbances as we worked through various formulas trying to find one that was gentle on her stomach.

But these negative ideas about methadone distribution in breast milk are flat out wrong. We know that methadone is a highly potent, long-acting opioid that is extremely dangerous if given to infants and children directly. No amount of methadone syrup should be administered to an infant or child by a parent or caregiver without physician approval. But studies have demonstrated that the amount of methadone that gets passed into breast milk is negligible, and will not harm an infant, even a newborn. A 2007 study of methadone-maintained mothers in addiction recovery found that methadone concentrations in breast milk remained minimal in the first four days postpartum, regardless of maternal dose, time of day after dosing, and type of breast milk being expressed. The daily amount of methadone ingestible by the infants did not rise above .09 mg per day. To help prevent even that slight fluctuation, John McCarthy, a practicing and teaching psychiatrist who has treated opioid-dependent pregnant and postpartum women for over 40 years, suggests splitting nursing mothers’ methadone doses in two—a measure that should have begun during pregnancy to help minimize the risk of NAS. “It’s not dangerous to nurse on a once a day dose, but it’s not the best way to give the medication. The baby should be given a smooth level of methadone.”

Some people believe that breastfeeding an infant with NAS while on methadone will help decrease withdrawal symptoms by providing a minute amount of the same drug from which the infant is withdrawing. According to experts like Jana Burson, a doctor specializing in the treatment of opioid addiction, this belief is also false: “some mothers erroneously think their babies won’t withdraw if they breastfeed—that’s wrong. There’s not enough methadone in the breast milk to treat NAS.” Of course, breastfeeding a child who experiences NAS is beneficial, both because of the health benefits of breast milk, and because maternal contact is important for babies in distress. “Breastfeeding will help in the general sense that babies like to breastfeed and it’s calming, but not because babies are getting methadone in the breast milk.”

Sandi C., a methadone-maintained mother based out of Massachusetts, breastfed her son for two and a half years, and plans on breastfeeding the baby she is currently expecting. Like me, Sandi was addicted to heroin when she learned she was pregnant. She began on buprenorphine, a partial-opioid agonist used similarly to methadone, and switched to methadone partway through her pregnancy. But her postnatal experience was different than mine.

“I’m really fortunate that my area is really encouraging of breastfeeding,” says Sandi. “Actually, I wasn’t sure if I could breastfeed and [my doctor] said ‘definitely breastfeed, we encourage it.’” Like my daughter, Sandi’s son was diagnosed with NAS. But instead of being sent to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), her son was allowed to be in the hospital room with her, where Sandi could hold and breastfeed him as much as he needed. Her son was released after just two weeks, less than half the time my daughter spent in the NICU at our hospital in Florida. She continued to breastfeed at home until he was over two years old.

“He never got sedated,” she recalls. “Everything was fine.”

Just because methadone is safe for breastfeeding moms doesn’t mean the same is true for other drugs. If the Philadelphia baby’s death was in fact caused by what many outlets have called “drug-laced breast milk,” it would have been due to the amphetamines, not the methadone. Methamphetamine breast milk exposure has not been studied as extensively as methadone, but current recommendations are that lactating women should wait 48 hours after their last use of methamphetamine before resuming breastfeeding. Experts like Burson and McCarthy agree that mothers on methadone maintenance who are not using other substances can safely breastfeed. “All of the major medical groups recommend it,” Burson said, adding, “even on higher doses they all recommend that mothers on methadone breastfeed.”

View the original article at thefix.com

4 September 2018
What Sets Suboxone Apart From Other Medication-Assisted Treatments?

When taken as prescribed by an opiate addict, Suboxone doesn’t allow me to avoid or escape reality. This is one way it differs form other MATs.

I’ve used the same pharmacy for over a decade. The tech filling my prescription this morning was the same one that had filled my Vicodin prescription for four years, on the first of the month every 30 days, like clockwork.

Today, I smiled at her as she stuffed a different prescription into a small white bag: 28 individually wrapped, “lime” flavored, orange-tinted filmstrips.

“You’re still on Suboxone?” she questioned.

“Yep.” I answered. “I don’t see weaning off anytime soon. My recovery is strong and life is good.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Aren’t you just trading one for another? Wouldn’t it be better to never get on it? Nobody gets off of this stuff… It just seems like a waste…no different than any other drug addict.”

My body deflated with a sigh, but I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t expecting these questions from a woman whose career relies on understanding complicated medical pharmacokinetics, but I get it. She doesn’t grasp the complexities of addiction.

I simply explained to her the differences in lifestyle, motivation and integrity between using illegal substances to get high, and using a medication as prescribed as one of many tools in a recovery program.

She’s not alone in her misunderstanding. Suboxone and other forms of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) are confusing and controversial, for addicts and “normies” alike. MAT isn’t the only thing that’s hotly debated. We argue whether addiction is a disease or a choice, what labels we should use, and how anonymous we should be. We quarrel about jargon, literature, sponsors and steps.

One thing most addicts and alcoholics can agree on is this: We don’t like to be uncomfortable. The inability to tolerate emotional or physical pain is often what sets us hurling down the spiral of addiction.

An injury, illness, stress, loss, or combination of all of them (in my case migraines, divorce, job burnout) led us to drink or use to dull the pain. Whether its numbing out, sleeping it off, or chemically re-energizing, we’re professionals at self-medicating.

Going to extreme measures to either chase pleasure or run from pain, we drink, use, pop, dose, snort, shoot and eat our way to an alternate reality.

Could the pharmacy tech be right? Am I just trading one negative habit for another in an attempt to evade my problems? Like other opiates, Suboxone causes physical dependence and withdrawal if you stop taking it. How is taking it daily any better than taking Vicodin, Percocet, or heroin? I’ve often heard: “You might as well get in a managed cannabis program and smoke weed every day – isn’t that better than taking an opiate? “

My answer?

“No.”

But that answer hasn’t always come easily. Even as a grateful patient of this medication, I’ve grappled with the decision. Sobriety means getting honest with myself, taking into consideration anything that might be used as a “crutch” or negate recovery.

I have to ask myself: Why am I OK with taking Suboxone? Why don’t I feel like a shady addict, living in the shadows and sneaking drugs, even though I am officially still taking an opiate?

The answer came to me during a particularly stressful day when all I wanted to do was get high, get wasted and go to sleep. That’s impossible to do in sobriety. I’ve had to learn to cope with emotions, to accept reality, and to tolerate discomfort.

A light bulb came on: Suboxone is different because it doesn’t change me or my circumstances. It doesn’t get me high.

Suboxone doesn’t do what other opiates did for me; I can’t numb physical or emotional pain. On Vicodin and alcohol, I was irritable, suffered memory loss, was incapable of personal growth and spirituality. I spent my time and energy chasing drugs, chasing a high, running from withdrawal. I cannot avoid or escape reality by taking Suboxone. At all.

When taken as prescribed by an opiate addict, it differs from other harm reduction and medication-assisted treatment such as methadone or marijuana by that fact.

The form of Suboxone I currently use can’t do anything to enhance my mood even if I take it other than prescribed. I can’t dissolve it in liquid and shoot it, because the Narcan in it (the ingredient that prevents overdose) will put me into immediate withdrawal.

I can attempt to get high by taking more than prescribed, but once my brain’s receptors are filled, Suboxone ceases to give any more effect. That undeniably sets it apart from other drugs — over-the-counter and otherwise.

Methadone, on the other hand, can easily be abused. I’ve done it myself. Taking three times the amount of methadone I should have, I went to a meeting to “work on recovery.” I couldn’t tell you what happened at that meeting, or how I got home.

If I take three times my Suboxone dose, I’ll likely not notice much enhanced effect, and I’ll screw myself over, since I’ll be short three doses and will somehow have to explain to my doctor why I ran out early. I’ll potentially be kicked out of the program as well, without ever even getting high! For an addict like myself, it’s not worth it.

Marijuana as harm reduction has become popular, and is considered safe because there’s no lethal dose. However, for daily users and first-time experimenters alike, marijuana impairs judgment, driving, and learning. Smoking weed and then showing up to meditate or work on the 12 steps is counterproductive.

Treatment centers that prescribe cannabis generally give participants their dose at night, to make sure that they’re not high during meetings and counseling sessions in the daytime. This isn’t necessary with Suboxone – there’s no roller coaster effect of “high” vs “sober.” I feel no different after taking my daily dose than I do when I wake up in the morning prior to taking it.

I experience every range of emotion, the same as I would without medication. If life is hard and painful and sad, I can’t go to my Suboxone box and take a big dose to make it all go away. But methadone, marijuana, Vicodin, heroin?…..Escaping life and avoiding pain is exactly what they’re good for.

Suboxone isn’t a perfect fix by any stretch. Prescriptions can be diverted and sold on the street. Active heroin addicts will sometimes buy it to avoid withdrawal, if they can’t get their drug of choice. That’s an unfortunate fact. But is it the worst- case scenario? Every time a person injects heroin, they’re risking death by overdose or a systemic infection. There’s no guarantee that the substance is what the dealer says it is.

When an addict buys street Suboxone, they’re taking a safer opiate. They’re protected against agonizing, incapacitating withdrawal, which leaves them helpless for their family or employer. They could even have a few days feeling like their “normal” self; maybe even well enough to join a meeting and consider recovery. I don’t condone or encourage the sale of Suboxone on the street.

There are increasing safeguards set up by prescribing clinics and pharmacies that make it really difficult for someone to get their hands on another person’s medications. I’m just suggesting that Suboxone on the street isn’t the most dangerous or dreadful thing that can happen.

Suboxone does have side effects, and it’s important to mention that not all Suboxone is created equally. Addicts are the ultimate manipulators. Certain pill forms can be crushed and used inappropriately (the safest from is widely considered the film strip which is part buprenorphine/part narcan).

If an opiate-naïve person (one who has not been abusing either heroin or prescription meds) takes Suboxone, s/he will very likely experience an initial sense of euphoria or sleepiness. But the same can be said for Benadryl, Nyquil, or prescription nerve pain meds such as Gabapentin. The list of drugs that have potential for abuse is extensive. Recreational use is a separate situation altogether; misusing any medication is completely out of line with recovery.

Abuse is dependent on motives and intention, not the side effects themselves. Nicotine and caffeine are two highly addictive substances that can be mood altering and cause withdrawal if stopped cold turkey. They’re not only acceptable in recovery, they’re plentiful; Coffee is supplied at meetings in unlimited doses. The use of these doesn’t negate one’s sobriety.

Self-improvement, spirituality, and community connection are now my daily foundation. Suboxone doesn’t impede this. It doesn’t change my perception of reality or my ability to be mindfully present. I no longer look for any means to avoid discomfort (ok sometimes I eat brownies or surf social media– we’re all a work in progress!!)

Using tools I’ve gained from mindfulness and my recovery community, and maintained on a low dose of Suboxone to help keep cravings at bay, I work though challenges with balance and compassion. If I were still getting high, this wouldn’t be possible.

Suboxone’s not a magical cure. But it is a safe alternative to other opiates. It’s a solid tool that helps many of us maintain sobriety and the presence of mind to progress in recovery and personal growth.

Tiffany Swedeen, RN, BSN, CPC/CPRC is a certified life and recovery coach, She Recovers Designated Coach, and a registered nurse in recovery herself from opioids and alcohol. Tiffany lives “sober out loud,” proudly sharing her story through advocacy and blogging and is passionate about helping others do the same. Her goal is to eradicate shame and empower all to live a life of radical self-love. You can contact Tiffany through her website Recover and Rise, read her blog www.scrubbedcleanrn.com and follow her @scrubbedcleanrn.

View the original article at thefix.com

3 September 2018
Rosebud Baker: A Stand-Up Career Started by Sobriety
“As much as it sucks to be fully sentient through every failure, I think it’s helped me in the long run.”

You may not have heard of Rosebud Baker, yet, but you will. As a stand-up comic, actress, and writer, she’s been rising through the ranks of the NY comedy scene faster than anyone I’ve ever seen. What is her secret, I wondered. Well, one of them is a decade in sobriety. Recently I was at a big comedy show full of successful comedians, the exact kind of environment where if I hang too long, the thought of drinking or using increases exponentially by the hour and sometimes wins. Marijuana perfumed the streets as I hit my Juul and attempted to shoot the shit with others outside the venue. I looked to my left and saw Bobby (Kelly), and thought phew, sober. To my right Rich (Vos) phew, sober. And talking to both of them? Rosebud Baker. Not only does she regularly work at every prestigious club in the city—including a hosting gig this August 21st at inarguably the greatest club on earth: the Comedy Cellar—she was chosen as one of 2018’s New Faces in the most coveted and career-changing comedy festival, Montreal’s Just For Laughs.

On a more personal level, the last time I relapsed on the road I came to in a strange Chicago suburb on a day I had multiple Laugh Factory shows in the evening. I called a friend in a panic, who, being new to sobriety, was not equipped to handle the situation. But she knew someone who could. She gave me Rosebud’s number. Despite her busy schedule, she stopped and took the time to listen to the insane fear ranting of a post-coke and -booze binge stranger. I am forever grateful for that talk, for the compassion I was shown, for how someone can treat you better than you know how to treat yourself. I calmed down enough to nap before my shows, to perform well that night, and to go to a meeting the next morning. It’s what got me to fight another day. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the only thing that matters is getting up one more time than you fall. But that’s my story. Here’s Rosebud’s:

The Fix: What is the hardest thing about being sober in comedy?

Rosebud Baker: There’s nothing I can think of. You’re in bars a lot but as long as your focus is on your comedy, on what you came there to do, it’s simple. When it’s a really important audition set and the nerves are killing me sometimes I feel like drinking, but I just don’t – or I haven’t yet. I had six years of sobriety under my belt before I started in comedy and I had been through a lot of shit, so it’s like, I’m not gonna drink over a showcase.

What’s the best thing about being sober in comedy?
The clarity you have. There’s an advantage to being honest with yourself in life, and especially in comedy. I remember someone asking me once after they got offstage, “Did I bomb?” …and I was like, “you were THERE, weren’t you?! Don’t make me say it.”

After a few drinks, it can be hard to decipher the truth of what’s happening. That false confidence can really slow your progress as a comic. People just stay at this embarrassing level of skill for YEARS because in their mind, things are going a lot better than they are. So as much as it sucks to be fully sentient through every failure, I think it’s helped me in the long run.

How did you deal with the early days?

With being sober? I put my own well-being first. I still do.

What do you think it is about comedy that attracts so many addicts?

The lifestyle of a comic creates the perfect disguise for an alcoholic/addict. They get to go out every night, get hammered, maybe fuck a stranger, and tell themselves “I’m just at work!”

What advice would you give someone who struggles with chronic relapse and is a comic?

All I can say is what I did when I got sober: Take a year off. Get a day job you think you’re too good for. Humble yourself in a real way, and focus on getting sober. Put all your energy into spiritual growth. Be willing to accept that everything you think you know about yourself is probably false. Stay away from big announcements and proclamations about the changes you’re making in your life and just make them. Get off social media and buy a diary.

***
It’s inspiring to interview sober comics at the pinnacles of their career, and it’s differently inspiring to interview a sober comic rising at breakneck speed. The humility cultivated in the first year has served Rosebud well, as has her fearless self-examination and tireless work ethic built on a foundation of spiritual well-being. The idea of putting sobriety first has long evaded me because I thought that to do so one must forsake everything else. Stories like Rosebud’s help drive home the truth: on drugs and alcohol, your world quickly shrinks until all you are left with are your chemicals and delusions. On the other side of that? The whole rest of life. What is using anyway but a (usually false) shortcut to the feelings that we seek from spiritual well-being and external accomplishments? May there come a time when every performer puts down the drink ticket and picks up the whole rest of life.

Check out Rosebud Baker’s new podcast Two Less Lonely Girls, and writing on Elite Daily as well as comedy all over NYC.

View the original article at thefix.com

Related Content
3 September 2018
Can Ketamine Use Trigger Opioid-Like Dependency?

Researchers investigated whether ketamine works on depression by acting like an opioid in the brain.

Though ketamine has gained the support of some mental health professionals as a possible therapy for depression, a new study suggests that the drug’s anti-depressive qualities may also have a hidden and potentially dangerous side effect: ketamine may offer relief from depressive symptoms by activating the body’s opioid system, which in turn may make some users dependent upon it, like an opioid.

In an editorial that accompanied the study, Dr. Mark George, professor of psychiatry, radiology and neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina, wrote, “We would hate to treat the depression and suicide epidemics by overusing ketamine, which might unintentionally grow the third head of opioid dependence.”

The study, conducted by researchers from Stanford University and published in the August 2018 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry, was comprised of a double-blind crossover of 30 adults with treatment-resistant depression, which was defined as having tried at least four antidepressants and receiving no benefit from them.

The authors looked at 14 of the patients—of which 12 had received, in randomized order, two doses of 0.5 mg of ketamine—once after receiving 50 mg of naltrexone (or Vivitrol) which blocks the brain’s opiate receptors and diminishes cravings for opioids; and once after receiving a placebo instead of the naltrexone—with the injections occurring about a month apart.

The goal of the study was to determine whether the naltrexone and ketamine combination would reduce the latter drug’s antidepressant qualities, or its dissociative or opioid-like response.

The authors’ analysis found that when patients received the placebo/ketamine combination, they experienced what Live Science called a “dramatic reduction” of their depressive symptoms. But the naltrexone/ketamine combination appeared to have no effect on their symptoms.

Additionally, those participants who received naltrexone experienced the dissociative effects of ketamine, which include hallucinations, which prompted the authors to cut the study short to avoid exposing more participants to a “clearly ineffective and noxious combination treatment,” as the study noted.

The scope of the study was small, and as George (who was not involved in the study) noted, additional research is required in order to determine if the ketamine’s antidepressant qualities are caused by its impact on opioid receptors or another receptor. He ultimately expressed caution in regard to using ketamine for the treatment of depression.

“Ketamine clinics that do not focus on accurate diagnosis, use proper symptom rating instruments and discuss long-term treatment options are likely not in patients’ best interests,” he wrote in the editorial. “We need to better understand ketamine’s mode of action and how it should be used and administered.”

View the original article at thefix.com

1 September 2018
Inside California's Massive Addiction Treatment Overhaul

Medi-Cal recipients will now have expanded access to addiction treatment.

The California Health Care Foundation released a report on August 3 this year outlining the state’s new approach for residents using Medi-Cal and seeking substance abuse treatment options.

California is the first state in the United States to use the new health care system structure, in a five-year pilot program authorized by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Medi-Cal is California’s low-income health insurance, and previously covered very few addiction treatment services. In addition, patients had no database to explore what treatment plan would be best for their needs.

A new system, called Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery, ensures that counties who participate can offer many more services to people struggling with addiction, as well as coordinate, manage and evaluate quality of care in those services.

A huge leap forward is the increase in payment to treatment providers, allowing more access to various types of treatment. In California there are over 10 million people using Medi-Cal health insurance.

“It’s been an enormous change,” William Harris, assistant regional manager of Riverside County’s substance abuse treatment program, told California Health Report. “We’re operating under an entirely new paradigm and are able to expand services and be more inclusive and better meet the needs of the population of our county.”

Nineteen California counties have adopted the program with 21 more scheduled to do so in upcoming months. These counties represent 97% of the state’s Medi-Cal population.

The California Health Care Foundation study looked at the four 2017 adopters of the new Medi-Cal system, including Riverside, Los Angeles, Marin and Santa Clara counties. Co-author Molly Brassil told California Health Report that the Medi-Cal program report was a way to access the strengths and weaknesses of the system.

“This report sort of tells the story to other counties that, yes, (the implementation) is not without challenges and it isn’t easy, but it’s doable,” she affirmed. “I was taken aback by how positive all the counties were given the tremendous lift it is for all of them.”

The newly offered services have induced a flood of user demand. In Riverside there was a large volume of calls after launching a hotline to screen members for substance use disorders and refer them for possible treatment. Since the inception of the program in 2017, Riverside has had to triple its staff to meet growing demand.

The new system takes current research and implements it into their model, by treating substance use disorder like any other medical illness.

Brassil noted to California Health Report that the goal is for substance abuse screening and treatment to become a mainstream part of all health care.

The Medi-Cal program is working, and Brassil would like to see it put in place for good. “We’ve heard from folks overall that this is the right thing to do. It’s hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 August 2018
Stop Illegally Selling Opioids Online, FDA Warns

Over the summer, the FDA has issued similar warnings to 70 websites.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning this week to the operators of 21 websites that the administration says sell mislabeled and illegal opioids to Americans.

The websites, which are run by four companies, have been “illegally marketing potentially dangerous, unapproved, and misbranded versions of opioid medications, including tramadol,” according to a press release issued by the FDA on Tuesday (August 28).

“The illegal online sale of opioids represents a serious risk to Americans and is helping to fuel the opioid crisis. Cutting off this flow of illicit internet traffic in opioids is critical, and we’ll continue to pursue all means of enforcement to hinder online drug dealers and curb this dangerous practice,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in the news release.

Over the summer, the FDA has issued similar warnings to 70 websites.

“The FDA remains resolute in our promise to continue cracking down on these networks to protect the public health,” Gottlieb said. “We have more operations underway, and additional actions planned. We are also working closely with legitimate Internet stakeholders, including leading social media sites, in these public health efforts.”

People who buy their opioids online can often wind up with expired, counterfeit or contaminated pills, according to the FDA. Some of the pills are marketed under one name, but are really just pressed fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid. On CNBC’s Squawk Box, Gottlieb said that online sales are making the ongoing opioid crisis worse.

“As we see doctors prescribe fewer opioids, we’re fearful that more and more of the new addiction is going to shift to illicit sources, and a lot of those illicit sales are taking place online,” he said on Tuesday.

The four companies that received warnings on Tuesday were CoinRX, MedInc.biz, PharmacyAffiliates.org and PharmaMedics. They have 10 days to respond to the FDA’s letter, outlining the specific actions that they will take to avoid selling illegal opioids to Americans. If the companies do not respond they may face legal action.

On Wednesday, Gottlieb said that the FDA will continue to aggressively pursue companies and practices that make opioids too easily available.

“The reason that we find ourselves with a crisis of such proportion is that as a medical profession, we’ve been one step behind its sinister advance,” he said in a press release.

“Collectively, we didn’t take all the steps we could, when we could, to stop the advance of this crisis. We shunned hard decisions. As a profession, providers were too liberal in our use of these drugs well past the point where there were signs of trouble, and the beginning of a crisis of addiction. I’m committed to making sure that we don’t perpetuate these mistakes of the past. And so, when we see this crisis taking new twists and turns, we’ve acted swiftly.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 August 2018
Singer JoJo On Mental Health: I Named My Depression Burlinda

In a recent Instagram post, the pop star described the self-destructive habits that fueled her depression and anxiety.

Depression and anxiety affects millions of Americans—and celebrities are not immune. Recently Noah Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande and Emma Stone were among a slew of young artists who’ve been public about their inner struggles.

Now, singer JoJo (born Joanna Levesque) expanded on her experience with depression—which she nicknamed “Burlinda”—in a recent Instagram post.

In the caption accompanying a candid photo of herself, the “Too Little Too Late” singer announced that she will log off of Instagram “for the week to see how it impacts my mental/emotional state.”

“There’s no peace inside the anxious mind. Sporadically, for years, depression and anxiety have convinced me I’m unworthy of love, patience, (real) self-care, and forgiveness. Made me question if I’m ‘good enough’ to do anything consistently. Made it hard to follow through and to have healthy long-lasting romantic relationships without sabotaging them,” the 27-year-old singer wrote.

Levesque described the self-destructive habits that fueled her depression/void, named Burlinda. “In so many ways I’ve invited [Burlinda] to stick around… feeding her instantly gratifying treats that keep her growing… late night food binges, mind-altering substances, gossip, sex, comparing my life to what I see my peers doing on social media, etc.”

JoJo’s next steps include “changing habits that no longer serve me, reclaiming my time, re-evaluating the relationships in my life.”

“I love to sing and perform more than anything I’ve ever loved and I’ve always wanted to be the soundtrack to your lives,” she wrote. “But sometimes I feel paralyzed. Time for a reset. I deserve me at my best. So do you.”

In past interviews, JoJo addressed her parents’ history of alcoholism and addiction, as well as her own struggles with drinking.

“(My 2015 single) ‘Save My Soul’ is a song about addiction, and I grew up seeing addiction very close to me: Both my parents have struggled with it. So as a kid, you don’t kinda know when the bottom is going to fall through or what’s gonna happen next,” she said.

The song is “about feeling powerless, and I’ve struggled with addiction in different forms, whether it’s addiction to love, to a person who’s not good for you, to food, to negative feelings,” she said.

She, too, has been down dark paths. “I’ve definitely abused alcohol; I’ve been depressed. You can just kind of go down a black hole and find yourself addicted to almost anything,” she said.

“For a while, I coped by drinking too much. I wanted to get out of my mind. I wanted to stop picking myself apart. I just wanted to feel good, to chase that high. I wanted to stop worrying about my career.”

View the original article at thefix.com

31 August 2018
Moby, Steel Panther To Appear At Rock To Recovery Concert In September

Funds from the September 15th event will go to Rock to Recovery’s nonprofit branch, which provides treatment to people in need.

The third-annual Rock to Recovery benefit concert will take place on Saturday, September 15, at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, raising money for treatment and celebrating sober living.

“By having an event where we can all share not only our darkness, but our strength and solution, and celebrate through live music and dancing and even mosh pits, is quite a healing form of expression,” said former Korn guitarist Wes Geer, who founded Rock to Recovery, which aims to harness the healing power of music.

Photo courtesy of Rock to Recovery

The concert brings together people who are newly in recovery and rock stars who have been open about their sobriety journey. Funds from the event go to Rock to Recovery’s nonprofit branch, which provides treatment to people in need.

“I heard recently that the opposite of addiction is connection,” Geer said. “For all the people this event supports: wounded warriors, mental health, addiction, to at-risk youth—these are all issues of feeling lost and disconnected and not having a place in the world.”

Corey Taylor from Stone Sour receiving the Rock to Recovery award in 2017.

At the concert, people who have felt disconnected can come together and celebrate their new lives. This is particularly important for people in early recovery, Geer said. About half of the people attending the concert will still be in treatment, he noted.

“Imagine being in treatment and getting to experience a sober concert with known musicians, many of whom are also in recovery,” he said. “I go back to what my mindset was when I was newly in recovery, which is once you get sober life is over and boring. These concerts prove that mindset wrong. When you come see such an elaborate event supported by so many amazing humans, that is 100% sober and 100% rad, it is absolutely magical.”

Photo courtesy of Rock in Recovery

The concert will be hosted by Bryan Fogel and Steel Panther will headline the event. This year Moby will receive the Rock to Recovery award.

“Moby is an iconic megastar, who has been open about the struggles he’s faced in his own addiction and how dark and humiliating they can be,” Geer said. “When we can honor somebody like him we let people in attendance redefine what their belief of a rock star is. It can be a sober person who’s iconic, an incredible artist in an industry rife with challenges. This helps others have hope not only for a muted version of recovery life, but an absolutely stellar one!”

Tickets for the concert on sale now.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 August 2018
International Overdose Awareness Day Is August 31st

The global event helps erase stigma about drug-related deaths while spreading the word about overdose prevention.

This year’s International Overdose Awareness Day is Friday, August 31. It’s not only a day to remember the lives lost, but to remind each other that overdose deaths are preventable.

Since 2001, people around the world have recognized Overdose Awareness Day by holding candlelight vigils, free naloxone trainings, and more. These are opportunities for people who have been affected by a drug overdose to come together, remember their loved ones, and empower each other to prevent more deaths.

Fatal drug overdoses are most prevalent in North America, but it’s a global phenomenon. According to 2017 figures from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), there were an estimated 190,000 premature deaths caused by drugs.

Opioids accounted for the majority of these drug-related deaths, and were preventable “in most cases,” according to the report.

North America has the highest drug-related mortality in the world, accounting for 1-in-4 drug-related deaths globally.

Opioids (which include prescription painkillers and heroin) may be the most prominent cause of a drug overdose currently—but alcohol, stimulants, and other prescription medication can also cause a person to overdose.

When taking prescription medication, it is important to know the correct dose and time to take the medication. Certain drugs do not react well with each other—it’s important to know this when taking prescription medication as well.

With regular drug use, one will develop a tolerance to the drug. Thus, the body may be more vulnerable to an overdose after a period of abstinence, when one’s tolerance has had a chance to go down. This is why, for example, one is at a higher risk of overdose after a period of detox or prison.

The official website of International Overdose Awareness Day advises one to “always” call for emergency help if they believe a person is overdosing. Symptoms that indicate that a person is in need of emergency help are not limited to being unconscious.

A person may also be in trouble and need emergency care if they are having a seizure; are extremely paranoid, agitated and/or confused; or experiencing severe headache, chest pain, or breathing difficulties. Showing one or two of these symptoms is a cause for concern.

Snoring or gurgling are also potentially dangerous symptoms, as they could be a sign that a person is having trouble breathing. Bystanders are advised to try and wake up the individual immediately. And if they do not wake up, paramedics should be called.

Naloxone is a common tool for reversing opioid overdose. Events all across the US for this year’s Overdose Awareness Day include free naloxone trainings, to equip people with the skills to save a life.

Harm reduction organizations across the country have worked to equip as many people with naloxone and the training to go with it.

In San Francisco, the DOPE Project (which is affiliated with the Harm Reduction Coalition) and its partners have trained 11,667 people to administer naloxone.

The organization reported that between the fall of 2003 and June 2018, 5,149 overdoses were reversed.

View the original article at thefix.com

31 August 2018