Answer Addiction

Author: The Fix

  • Couple’s Meth Recovery Before-And-After Photos Go Viral

    Couple’s Meth Recovery Before-And-After Photos Go Viral

    The Tennessee couple have been sober for over two years. 

    When Brent Walker of Cleveland, Tennessee made a Facebook post on July 26 with the hashtag #CleanChallenge, he wanted to showcase the transformation that he and his wife, Ashley, had made since they quit using methamphetamine more then two-and-a-half years ago. 

    He never expected that the Facebook post would go viral, but when it did he was glad to share the couple’s story of addiction and recovery in hopes of helping others. 

    “Don’t give up, it gets easier. It’s really hard. We had a really hard time, just because we didn’t have nobody to talk to,” Walker told Knox News. “But if you don’t give up… the grass is greener on the other side. It’s been a blessing. It really has.”

    In the post, Walker shared two photos of himself and Ashley: one when they were actively using, and a more recent photo from when they were well-established in recovery.

    Celebrating Sobriety 

    “This is my wife and I in active meth addiction the first photo was taken around December 2016 the second one was taken in July of 2019,” Walker wrote. “This December 31st will be 3 years we have been clean and sober and living for God. I hope that my transformation can encourage a addict somewhere! It is possible to recover!!”

    Walker said that just before the first photo, he had been in jail for two years on meth-related charges. At first he continued to get high once he was out, but he realized that a positive drug test while on probation could send him back to jail. He decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Then, he asked Ashley, who was his girlfriend at the time, if she was willing to get sober with him. 

    “I asked her if she’d quit with me and she said ‘yes, I go wherever you go,’” he recalled. 

    Early Recovery & Nuptials

    One month into sobriety, the pair got married. After two months they were able to get their own place, and after four months they bought a car. Along the way they changed their phone numbers and cut ties with anyone who they used to do meth with. 

    Today, Walker has obtained his GED and works two jobs, one in steelwork and one in HVAC. Ashley is a patient care technician. Walker said that he never expected to be one of the success stories of sobriety. 

    “I’ve done drugs my entire life,” he said. “I remember telling people all the time that I could literally never be sober. It would be a boring lifestyle.”

    Today, however, he is happy that he and Ashley made the change together. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Daniel Baldwin's New Documentary Spotlights Loved Ones Of Overdose Victims

    Daniel Baldwin's New Documentary Spotlights Loved Ones Of Overdose Victims

    The idea for the documentary came to Baldwin after he learned about the overdose death of his friend PJ Raynor.

    An upcoming documentary will focus on an area of the drug epidemic that isn’t often talked about: the experiences of friends and family members who are left behind when someone overdoses. 

    The documentary, called My Promise To PJ is being produced by Daniel Baldwin, the brother of Alec, Stephen and William Baldwin. 

    Losing PJ

    The idea for the documentary came after Baldwin, who is in recovery, learned about the overdose of P.J. Raynor. Baldwin had helped Raynor get sober, but after more than three years in recovery, Raynor relapsed and died on June 28, 2017.

    “I felt robbed,” Baldwin told WECT News about Raynor’s death. “I felt this is not the way the script was written by me. He finally got it, he had three and a half years sober and then I got a phone call that the first time he went back out and used heroin again it was laced with fentanyl and he overdosed.”

    Raynor’s parents, Patrick and Barbara Raynor, will participate in the film, and share how their lives have been changed since their son’s death. 

    “I’m a different person now,” said Patrick Raynor. “Not always a good thing when you’re changed by something like this. Never a good thing actually.” 

    Long-Term Sobriety

    Baldwin hopes that the film project will help other people with substance use disorder and their families.

    He said that it is healing for him to work on the project. “The service portion of my sobriety in my program is imperative for my staying sober,” he said. “So, another reason I’m doing this film is because unlike the one kid I’m going to take to coffee and take to a meeting and try to help him, I might reach five million people by doing this movie, and that’s part of what keeps me sober.”

    Baldwin pointed out that long-term sobriety is a challenge, especially in communities that have been heavily-impacted by the opioid epidemic. 

    “You have such a concentrated problem, when they come back from rehab, they’re thrust with the same people, places, and things that they were around and they don’t have long-term sobriety,” he said. 

    It’s a problem that Baldwin knows firsthand. He did nine stints in rehab before he successfully got sober in 2006. Since then, he has used his celebrity status to work on projects about addiction. 

    “By my taking those actions and being of service, it keeps my disease right in front of me and allows me to give away what was so freely given to me when I was in need,” he told The Fix in 2016. “It’s the cycle of life.”

    Filming of My Promise to PJ recently began, but a release date hasn’t yet been set for the film. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Jeff Goldblum Details Past Drug Use: I Had Interesting Trips

    Jeff Goldblum Details Past Drug Use: I Had Interesting Trips

    “I took mescaline three times with people from the Playhouse…That same year I took acid, and it was the last time I did anything like that,” Goldbum revealed.

    The ever quirky and wonderful Jeff Goldblum smoked “grass” and dabbled in psychedelics back in the day, but these days, he does not even indulge in so much as caffeine.

    The 66-year-old actor—who appeared in Jurassic Park, The Fly, Independence Day and many more—described his early drug experimentation as a young thespian in a recent conversation with Vice.

    Jazz Cigarettes

    While discussing his film The Mountain—in which Goldblum plays Wally, a traveling salesman type trying to prove the legitimacy of the transorbital lobotomy—he was asked if he has ever smoked a “jazz cigarette.”

    Goldblum’s candid response revealed that he was no stranger to “grass” even at an early age. “My mom kind of had a left-out feeling of youth culture as the kids came into the late 60s, wherein things started to happen,” said Goldblum. “So she not only tried starting to smoke grass herself, but started to grow it in our backyard in Pittsburgh and would give it to us and everything.”

    While he did not “smoke with her much,” Goldblum was introduced to hash by his older brother. “The first thing I ever smoked was hash and a pipe. He was going to college and had this funky apartment, and I went over. He put on The Beatles… and we smoked the stuff. It was just fantastic.”

    After moving to New York at the age of 17, Goldblum smoked grass “here and there” starting in his first year at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. That summer, he got his first professional job in the theatre at Shakespeare in the Park.

    “I took mescaline three times with people from the Playhouse… That same year I took acid, and it was the last time I did anything like that. But I had interesting trips all of those times.”

    This was the extent of the actor’s drug experimentation. “Never did cocaine, ecstasy or mushrooms.”

    He had a brief relationship with alcohol, but gave that up along with caffeine and any other “enhancement,” as he called it.

    Straight As An Arrow

    “Since then, I just experimented with drinking as a kind of freedom enhancer here and there, but it quickly ran out of steam,” he said. “In my life and in my work, I’ve gone straight as an arrow. I used to drink coffee in the last decade or two to kinda, you know, get ready for a thing like this even. But about five years ago, I gave that up entirely and religiously and don’t have any caffeine or anything. All my steam you see now is from my own imagination and my own having gotten a night’s sleep. I like to have a nice night’s sleep and a nice breakfast. And then I figure out how to put some attention on the challenge and opportunity at hand and see if I can solve it that way. I don’t do it with any enhancement.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • 5 Tips for Staying Sober at Events Where Everyone Else Is Drinking

    5 Tips for Staying Sober at Events Where Everyone Else Is Drinking

    You don’t have to miss out on all the fun, just the part you thought was fun but always ended in trouble.

    Summer is well under way! Everyone wants to be a part of grilling out, parties, concerts, and outings with friends. Often these events include alcohol use. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a real feeling people struggle with in sobriety. What will I do with my free time? Will I have to find new activities? Will my friends abandon me on weekends? You won’t lose this fear when you first make the choice to go sober; you might not ever lose it.

    Imagine any of the following scenarios: 

    – A friend invites you to an open bar bash.

    – Your favorite band is playing as part of a daylong music festival where folks start drinking in the morning.

    – All of your relatives are coming to the traditional drink-till-you-puke Memorial Day pool party. 

    What can you do? I don’t advocate putting yourself in a position where you might compromise your sobriety, such as attending an event like Beerfest, where the focus is solely on drinking. But you can enjoy events that include alcohol while staying sober. You need to prepare appropriately and know your limits during the event to set yourself up for success.

    You can easily fill your calendar with sober events and dry venues. There are various recovery groups and organizations that throw “sober” parties. I’ve been to many and they are as good as the effort you put into having a good time. You can check meetup.com or google sober events in your city to find them.

    I spent the first year of my sobriety quietly healing and feeling bitter that I couldn’t participate in the drunken stupidity I had always been a part of. But I haven’t shied away from events since then. I’ve learned it’s important to do some thinking and planning ahead of the event. Arm yourself and have a strategy – think about who you’ll be with, how you will respond if asked to drink, what you’ll do if you start feeling an urge, and most importantly, how you’ll have your own special fun at the event.

    I recently attended a weekend-long music festival. The venue had alcohol and many people started drinking when they arrived and kept going. I felt urges at times, but they weren’t unexpected. Since I had prepared myself, I knew how to handle them. 

    Here are some specific ways I approached the weekend and similar events since becoming sober five years ago.

    1. Get a Support Person

    Attend the event with someone you trust to look out for you. Perhaps this person is also sober, or perhaps you will be their designated driver. I’ve had many people play this role over the past five years. The common thread is that each person knew I wanted to avoid drinking. I felt accountable to them and they felt accountable to check in with me.

    I had my 17-year-old daughter as my support person for the music festival weekend. She’s aware that I’m sober and have struggled with alcohol abuse. While I didn’t explicitly ask her to support me, I knew I was accountable to her and responsible for her safety. Attending the festival was my gift to her, so her presence was required. Her age restricted her from purchasing alcohol so we were already on the same page on alcohol consumption. 

    2. Have a Line Ready: “I Don’t Drink.”

    There’s nothing actually complicated about telling people you don’t drink, but it might feel complicated. I understand the turmoil you might feel when someone either offers you a drink or asks what you’re drinking. That moment feels like you have a spotlight shining on you while the crowd breathlessly awaits your answer. You need an automatic way you can refuse the offer, a canned response you can use without thinking. My response is always “I don’t drink.” Nothing complicated, nothing hedging, nothing apologetic. You aren’t wracking your brain for an excuse. You don’t need one. I assure you, anyone worth your time doesn’t care that you aren’t drinking alcohol.

    I stood in the same line to get my seltzer at the festival as the people getting their beer and liquor. Plenty of already lubricated people offered to buy me a beer. “No thanks, I don’t drink.” That’s all it took.

    3. Get a Drink – Something Without Alcohol

    I love ice cold club soda or seltzer water. I slam these back as fast as the bartender can make them. Add a twist of lime or some grapefruit juice and I’m sipping on something sweet along with everyone else guzzling Long Islands or Gin and Tonics. I don’t feel left out, and you shouldn’t either. I’ve never encountered a judgmental bartender, although I made that a barrier in my mind before I started attending events sober. I was sure the bartender would laugh at me; probably ignore me for future drink requests. Never happened. I still get to tip for service. I still get to relax and sip. 

    You can start with making some mocktails or non-alcoholic drinks at home so you know what you’d like to order. Perhaps you’re a simple cola or lemon-lime soda drinker. That’s fine. I personally don’t recommend non-alcohol beer – I found it makes me crave the real thing, which is dangerous when it’s available. Experimenting at home will give you a feel for the taste and action of drinking various non-alcoholic options, but in a safer setting.

    Sometimes sipping club soda or coke without rum leads to stressful conversations with drunk people as the night wears on. I’ve had countless conversations with people about why I’m drinking “Perry Air (Perrier)” and why I don’t choose something alcoholic. I do my best to not act offended on the outside even though I am offended on the inside. No one needs to know what the fuck I’m drinking. But it’s not the time or place to set the person straight. I look at this as a misery loves company situation: Someone gets drunk enough and realizes how miserable they are, so they want to spread the cheer. Fuck them and walk away. (See the next suggestion.)

    I was pleased that I didn’t encounter anyone trashed at the music festival. I drank my seltzers and relaxed. I’d prepared for the worst, considering the heat and length of the event. I was ready to leave if anything felt too uncomfortable or anyone became confrontational. I avoid trouble when I’m sober.

    4. Remove Yourself from the Situation When Necessary

    You are responsible for your sobriety and the choices you make and you need to be aware of your limits. You will learn which situations intensify your cravings to drink. In the beginning, you might try setting time limits: spend one hour at a bar and then check in with yourself to see if you think you’re okay to stay longer. If you begin feeling overwhelmed, you need to have a plan in place. Your support person should be aware that you will leave an event as soon as you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable.

    I knew I’d have several cravings over the course of the music festival weekend. I had one as soon as I parked and saw people pre-gaming with 24-ounce cans of swill in the parking lot. As badly as I wanted to join them, I knew I couldn’t. I had my daughter next to me. We walked to the nearest gas station and bought a coffee, which helped. I followed that up with some texts to a supportive friend who replied that I was certainly not going to let a temporary craving prevent me from hitting my fifth full year of sobriety. She was right, I wasn’t. The cravings went away and the music played on. The weekend went well.

    5. Treat Yourself

    Here’s a fun one. Focus on giving yourself the best time you can without alcohol. If you’re at a sporting event or concert in the U.S., you are saving at least $8 for each drink you don’t have. Reward yourself. Repurpose some of that money for other tasty treats. Most venues have plenty of tempting snack and meal options, easy replacements for drinks, hangover not included.

    Another strategy is to track what you don’t spend. For example, you went to a concert and didn’t drink five beers. That’s a $40 savings so spend $40 on something to spoil yourself or a gift for someone else. Or spend $20 and save $20. You’ll quickly reach high numbers, while realizing you wasted a terrible amount of money on alcohol.

    I used the money I saved from not purchasing alcohol at the weekend festival to justify buying my daughter additional memorabilia during our trip. Win-win.

    Enjoy Yourself

    I’ve struggled to have fun on more than one occasion. You can lose track of the point of going out when you focus on what you can’t do. I used to imagine there was a spotlight focused on me when I’d order my seltzer with lime, cue sound of record scratching, and then I was done for. I can’t promise you’ll have a great time not drinking while others are, or focusing on staying sober while alcohol is around. But I do know that you can still attend events with alcohol if you come prepared. You don’t have to miss out on all the fun, just the part you thought was fun but always ended in trouble.

    You deserve to be with your friends. You deserve to listen to live music. You deserve to be at family gatherings, and you deserve the respect of yourself and others. You’ve likely overcome mountain-sized challenges already. With some planning and structure in place, you can have the social life you deserve.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Woman Gives Back To Recovery Community With Chicken Lunches 

    Woman Gives Back To Recovery Community With Chicken Lunches 

    The lunches are served at the “recovery cafe,” which houses a memorial book with the names of those lost to addiction, including the woman’s husband. 

    Elaine Bradley, a 61-year-old English woman in recovery, chooses to help others walking the same path—but not through traditional means. 

    Instead, Bradley serves up chicken. 

    According to The Guardian, Bradley lost her husband to alcohol use disorder 11 years ago and battled it herself before getting sober six years ago. 

    She now volunteers at a local recovery center, where she runs a Thursday chicken lunch club which provides a space for those in recovery or who are seeking recovery to discuss what they are experiencing. She also heads up the peer-mentoring group meetings. 

    “You’ve got to talk to each other,” Bradley tells the Guardian. “They all sit and chat about this, that and the other and they open up a bit more.”

    The Recovery Cafe

    The space where Bradley serves her well-loved chicken is referred to as the “recovery cafe.” It houses a memorial book with the names of those lost to substance use disorder, including Bradley’s husband. 

    For Bradley, the space is a homey one. “It’s a nice feel when you walk in here, although it’s blooming hot,” Bradley said. “You know everyone by first names and they all know us. They know that they can trust us.”

    The need for such services in Essex is greater now than ever, as there were recently six fatalities in three days due to suspected drug use. Additionally, Public Health England statistics indicate that the area sees higher-than-average death rates from illicit substances.

    “It’s sad, but what can you do? The help is here if they want it,” Bradley said. 

    Dr. Ahmad Muhamed, an addiction psychiatry specialist, tells the Guardian that he treats patients struggling with a variety of substances. Often, he says, they’re prescribed medications like methadone to help them taper off the drugs. 

    “It varies from one patient to another because you have to take into account a lot of factors: their physical health, their mental health, their socioeconomic status,” he said. “Even if they have been on it for years, the end goal is for them to come off it.”

    According to Bradley, the area could benefit from spaces like the recovery cafe. 

    “To be honest, I think Southend needs a lot more of these places because the work we do here, I think, is amazing,” she said. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Do Body Cameras Force Police To Make More Drug Arrests?

    Do Body Cameras Force Police To Make More Drug Arrests?

    Officers who do not make arrests in possession cases may face disciplinary action for not carrying out the requirements of their jobs.

    An editorial on Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy blog examined the possibility of a causal relationship between the use of body-worn cameras (BWC) by law enforcement officers and arrests for drug possession.

    The editorial’s authors noted that while BWCs have been employed across the country to serve as monitors for police behavior, they may also have an unintended secondary effect in drug cases: officers who do not make arrests in possession cases may face disciplinary action for not carrying out the requirements of their jobs.

    The authors suggest that more extensive research is required to determine exactly how BWCs affect police behavior, as well as more immediate fixes to departmental policy that could assist in their proper use.

    More Body Cameras, Fewer Incidents

    As the New York Times and other data sources have noted, the use of BWCs by police departments in the United States has increased over the past decade as a means of garnering greater public trust in the wake of shooting incidents involving law enforcement and unarmed individuals, primarily people of color.

    A national survey in 2015 found that 95% of larger-sized police departments had either adopted their use or had committed to doing so in the immediate future.

    But studies offer conflicting evidence as to whether their use has a positive effect on both police officers and the public. The Times cited a 2012 experiment in Rialto, California, which found that officers using cameras reported half as many incidents in which force was used while interacting with individuals, and the number of complaints against officers dropped by 90%.

    But the experiment was also referenced within the context of a larger article about 2017 research, conducted on a much larger scale in Washington, D.C., which found that officers with BWCs appeared to use the same amount of force and yielded the same number of complaints as those that did not wear them.

    According to the editorial’s authors, no studies currently exist which look at whether officers with BWCs make more drug arrests than those without the devices. They instead rely on conversations with officers, some of whom reportedly stated that the cameras—and the knowledge that their superiors would review the footage—made them feel pressured to conduct arrests on cases like drug possession, which they said would have been overlooked with a warning and disposal of the drugs in question.

    Feeling Pressured

    The presence of the cameras, however, reportedly made some officers feel that their jobs were on the line if department policy was not followed and arrests not carried out.

    As one officer told the authors, “You make a traffic stop, and maybe someone has some crack on them that you see in the car but they aren’t under the influence. Maybe you let that person go. But now, if the crack is seen on the body cam, then you have to make that arrest because you could be disciplined or even lose your job if you don’t.”

    To alleviate officers’ concerns, the authors suggested that police departments grant officers the discretion to decline arrests in low-level drug possession cases, and cited diversion programs that allow officers to direct offenders towards treatment and other community programs.

    The editorial concludes with the authors’ request for additional research on body cameras’ influence on officer responses, which police departments could use to make more informed decisions on policy. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • States Fight For Control Over Opioid Master Settlement

    States Fight For Control Over Opioid Master Settlement

    A coalition of 39 state attorneys general signed a letter stating that the negotiations should be left up to the states, not local governments.

    With billions in payouts at stake, a national settlement between companies that manufacture and distribute opioid medication and municipalities across the United States that have sued for the companies’ alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis is being negotiated—but not without a fair share of hurdles to overcome.

    On Tuesday (Aug. 6), Judge Dan Polster, the federal judge overseeing the lawsuits, expressed his support for an “ambitious” proposal to reach a resolution at a hearing in Cleveland. 

    Inside The Proposal

    The proposal, suggested by the plaintiffs’ lawyers, would allow “all 34,000 towns, cities and counties… to vote on settlement offers,” the New York Times reported. Whatever they vote on—if the offer is approved—will be the final outcome. After that, plaintiffs “will be bound by the outcome and can bring no further suits.”

    The proposal would stop additional lawsuits and give each voting community a portion of the damages.

    However, as the Times reported, state attorneys general have criticized the plan, arguing that the lawsuits filed by towns, cities and counties undermine the states’ efforts to reach a settlement with the drug companies. By contrast, the municipalities have hired private lawyers to handle the lawsuits.

    A coalition of 39 state attorneys general signed a letter stating that the negotiations should be left up to the states, not local governments—i.e. it should be resolved “from the top down, not bottom up.”

    “In my view, it’s the plaintiffs’ lawyers using local governments to hijack the sovereignty of the states and create ‘city states.’ But this is not the United City-States of America,” said Dave Yost, Ohio’s attorney general.

    Local Municipalities Push Back

    There’s a reason for the local municipalities’ decision to pursue a settlement on their own, the Times explained. With the 1998 Master Tobacco Settlement reached by cigarette manufacturers and 46 states, a bulk of the $250 billion payout went to discretionary state spending rather than efforts to fix the damage inflicted by tobacco products like prevention and treatment programs.

    “Still bitter about those outcomes, communities whose coffers had been depleted by the opioid crisis decided to sign with private lawyers, circumventing the states,” the Times reported.

    In a recent op-ed, Mark A. Gottlieb, executive director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University School of Law, emphasized the importance of securing a portion of the settlement that will go to future safeguards against similar public health crises. 

    “We must ensure that we do not squander the opportunity to address the opioid crisis through a coordinated public health approach in the next settlement,” he wrote.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Drug Trafficker Who Tried To Flee Prison Disguised As Daughter Found Dead

    Drug Trafficker Who Tried To Flee Prison Disguised As Daughter Found Dead

    Clauvino da Silva was a leader of the Red Command, one of the most powerful crime syndicates in Rio de Janeiro. 

    A known Brazilian drug trafficker caught trying to escape prison disguised as his 19-year-old daughter has died. A video of the 42-year-old inmate’s strange disguise went viral after he was found out by prison guards on Saturday (Aug. 3). 

    The video shows the creepy reveal as the disguise is removed, piece by piece, to reveal not a woman underneath, but Clauvino da Silva (known as “Baixinho” or “Shorty”).

    On Tuesday (Aug. 6) authorities reported that da Silva was found dead in his cell. His death is being investigated.

    The Red Command

    Da Silva was a leader of the Red Command, described by the Associated Press as “one of the most powerful criminal groups in Brazil that controlled drug trafficking in a large part of Rio [de Janeiro].”

    Da Silva—who was serving a sentence of 73 years and 10 months in Bangu 3, a prison outside of Rio—tried making the switch while his daughter visited him in prison. The plan was the leave her in his place, NPR reported, though it is unclear how much she knew about the scheme.

    His daughter and seven others who also paid da Silva a visit at the prison are being questioned. Authorities suspect that the visitors may have smuggled in different elements of the disguise. The BBC reported that one of them, “a pregnant woman who was not searched by the guards, had hidden the wig and the glasses used by da Silva on herself.”

    The Disguise

    Authorities at the prison filmed da Silva in the full disguise before he was ordered to remove it. At first glance, you see a girl of average size, with long black hair and glasses. Then the glasses are removed and the cheap wig is lifted cleanly off, revealing a perfectly bald head beneath it. At this point it’s more apparent that the person is wearing a silicon or rubber mask covering the head and neck. Da Silva is ordered to remove his outerwear, a t-shirt with a cute pink graphic and a black bra underneath. Finally, the mask is removed, revealing da Silva in the flesh.

    The BBC reported that da Silva was scheduled to be transferred to a maximum security prison to prevent future escape attempts.

    Da Silva was among at least 30 prisoners who escaped the Instituto Penal Vicente Piragibe, a prison in Rio, in 2013 through the sewer system. He was eventually caught.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Everything You Need to Know About Oxymorphone Hydrochloride Addiction Treatment

    Everything You Need to Know About Oxymorphone Hydrochloride Addiction Treatment

    Read our treatment guide to find help for oxymorphone hydrochloride addiction.

    Table of Contents

    1. What Is Oxymorphone Hydrochloride and How is it Used?
    2. Development of Opana Dependence
    3. The First Step Back From Addiction
    4. Outpatient Vs. Inpatient Care
    5. Effective Opana Care Plans
    6. Identify the Best Oxymorphone Programs

    Suffering from the addicted use of oxymorphone hydrochloride? Let this article serve as the beginning of your journey toward a sustainable recovery. With the right information in hand, you can wade through a sea of rehab treatment choices and find something that fits your unique circumstances. In this way, you can increase your odds for success. And you can increase those odds even further by finding a rehab that excels in all areas and provides the most effective care possible.

    What Is Oxymorphone Hydrochloride and How is it Used?

    Oxymorphone hydrochloride (oxymorphone HCL) is the generic name of a prescription opioid (or opiate) painkiller called Opana. The same opiate also goes by names that include oxymorphone and 14-hydroxydihydroymorphinone. The manufacturer of Opana also once sold a related product called Opana ER. However, Opana ER and similar ER oxymorphone products are no longer on the market in the U.S. In the 2010s, the use of oxymorphone hydrochloride has become increasingly widespread.

    Opana comes in the form of a tablet and is available in a range of dose strengths. Doctors use it to treat moderate to severe pain symptoms. However, to receive it, you must have failed to gain adequate relief from other, less powerful medications. Like oxycodone (OxyContin), morphine and other opioid medications, oxymorphone hydrochloride produces its pain-relieving benefits by altering normal function in your brain and spinal cord (i.e., your CNS or central nervous system). Specifically, opiates change the way signals from your body’s pain receptors are interpreted by your CNS.

    Oxymorphone, morphine, oxycodone and other opiates also have additional effects. First, they reduce the speed of communication between your nerve cells and slow your system down. Any substance capable of having this effect is known as a CNS depressant. The slowdown in your nervous system creates a sense of sedation. At the same time, it decreases normal function in your respiratory and cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) systems. In addition, opioids trigger a large increase in your brain’s output of its pleasure-producing chemicals.

    Opioids are more formally known as opioid or opiate agonists. Opana, OxyContin, morphine and a variety of other powerful opioid agonists belong to a group of controlled substances that the federal government designates as Schedule II. All substances in this category have a legitimate medical purpose. However, they also carry a major potential for harm in the form of substance abuse and addictive patterns of intake.

    Schedule II medications also share the ability to depress your CNS so far that it can fail to keep up an adequate level of activity. This kind of problem usually happens in people who consume excessive amounts of medication.

    Even when used in prescribed amounts, oxymorphone hydrochloride can produce notable side effects. Some of these side effects are only serious when they impact you severely or linger instead of disappearing. Others are always viewed as serious and call for immediate notification of your doctor.

    Symptoms/side effects that only raise concern when severe or lingering include skin flushing, heavy sweating, headaches, a rapid heartbeat, confusion, anxiety, gas and swelling or pain in your stomach. Symptoms/side effects always classified as serious include an irregular heartbeat, fainting, intense sleepiness, changes in your normal sexual performance and any indication of an allergic reaction (e.g., hives, rash or facial swelling). Women who take the medication on a regular basis during pregnancy may give birth to children who develop severe symptoms of opioid withdrawal.

    Besides Opana and discontinued Opana ER, no brand-name medications on the U.S. market contain oxymorphone hydrochloride as their active ingredient. However, generic forms of the opiate are readily available. Whether generic or branded, oxymorphone has a number of known slang terms or street names among illicit users. Examples of these names include:

    • Mrs. O
    • Blues
    • New Blues
    • Pink
    • Pink O
    • The O Bomb
    • Pink Lady
    • Pink Heaven
    • Blue Heaven
    • OM
    • Oranges
    • Octagons
    • Stop Signs

    The Potential for Overdose

    Like other Schedule II opioid agonists, oxymorphone can easily serve as the source of an unintentional or intentional prescription drug overdose. Slowed heart rate and slowed or labored breathing (i.e. respiratory depression) are two of the most common indicators of this serious medical emergency. Other symptoms you may experience include:

    • Complete loss of normal muscle tone
    • Changes in your normal pupil size (too wide or too narrow)
    • Significant blood pressure decreases
    • Extreme sleepiness that eventually leaves you in an unresponsive stupor
    • Unusually clammy skin
    • Unusually cold skin
    • Fingernails, lips or skin with a bluish tint
    • Loss of consciousness that may or may not lead to a coma
    • Cardiac arrest (full shutdown of your heart function)
    • Respiratory arrest (full shutdown of your lung function)

    An overdose can potentially be triggered by even physician-approved use of oxymorphone. However, you stand a much higher chance of experiencing this life-threatening problem if you don’t follow your doctor’s orders or take the medication without a doctor’s knowledge. You can fail to follow the terms of your prescription by taking too much Opana in single doses or taking it too often. Some people increase their risks even further by combining these two types of medication misuse.

    If you’re 66 years or older, you have higher overdose risks regardless of any other factors. The same fact holds true if you mix Opana with another CNS depressant like benzodiazepine or alcohol. The presence of specific health issues may also make and overdose scenario more likely to occur.

    Development of Opana Dependence

    If you take oxymorphone hydrochloride or any other opioid painkiller for more than a few days or weeks, you can develop a case of physical and psychological dependence. This is the term used to describe a chemical and physical change in your brain that makes you feel reliant on your medication to feel functional or “normal.”

    The main indicator of a dependent state is the appearance of Opana withdrawal symptoms if your blood levels of the medication drop below your brain’s expectations. Think of these symptoms as an alarm bell sent by your brain to warn you that you haven’t fulfilled its now-established need for opioids.

    Regardless of the medication or drug responsible for dependence, opiate withdrawal follows the same general course. When oxymorphone consumption first falls below expected levels, you can develop symptoms such as muscle aches, frequent or excessive yawning, sleeplessness, anxiousness and runny nose. When blood levels of the medication fall even further, additional symptoms begin to make themselves known. 

    In addition to nausea and vomiting, potential problems at this stage include goose flesh, pupil dilation, diarrhea and cramps that affect your stomach or abdomen.

    Because people addicted to opioids can also go through withdrawal, dependence on these substances is sometimes confused with addiction. However, there are clear differences between the two states. First, dependence is a medically manageable condition that affects a large percentage of people who take Opana and other opiates long-term. With proper oversight, it does not lead to notable life disruptions. In contrast, no one can “manage” the profound life dysfunction that tends to characterize addiction. The brain effects of opiate dependence and addiction also apparently differ. Specifically, dependence alters brain regions other than those altered by addiction.

    Development of Opana Addiction

    If not well-managed by a doctor, oxymorphone dependence can set the stage for addiction, even if you don’t abuse your medication. Despite this fact, most cases of oxymorphone addiction develop as a result of some type of abuse. The abuse category includes any form of excessive intake that occurs among people who hold legitimate Opana prescriptions. It also includes any level of intake by someone who hasn’t received official permission from a doctor.

    Possible Problems in Affected Users

    Serious, non-addicted oxymorphone abuse and oxymorphone addiction are not treated as separate issues by doctors and public health experts. Instead, they’re viewed as connected — and often overlapping — problems. Together, these problems fall under the common framework of a single disease called opioid use disorder (OUD). If you’re not addicted, but still abuse Opana, your OUD symptoms may include:

    • Keeping up a pattern of Opana abuse or oxymorphone abuse even if you realize that it damages or interferes with your main relationships
    • Keeping up a level of Opana abuse or oxymorphone abuse that degrades your ability to meet commitments in any key area of your daily life
    • Consuming Opana repeatedly in situations where its effects can lead to injuries in others or in yourself

    If you’re addicted to oxymorphone HCL, your OUD symptoms may include:

    • Intense urges for the medication when you’re not actively using it
    • A habitual tendency to abuse Opana
    • Rising tolerance that leads to increasing levels of consumption in order to feel the medication’s expected effects
    • A repeated inability to set limits on the amount of medication that you habitually consume
    • A pattern of intake that you can’t change despite knowing that it causes you to suffer mentally or physically
    • Opana withdrawal symptoms like those associated with dependent, non-addicted oxymorphone consumption
    • The establishment of a lifestyle that’s geared toward supporting your Opana abuse (including the need for recovery time after bouts of excessive intake)

    As the definition of OUD indicates, you may experience a mixture of problems related to both Opana addiction and non-addicted oxymorphone abuse. On the other hand, you may experience problems that only fall into one of these two areas.

    When assessing you for OUD, a doctor or addiction specialist will want to determine just how seriously you’ve been affected. The disease is considered mild if it only produces two or three symptoms in 12 months’ time. Four or five symptoms in the same timespan will result in a diagnosis of moderate opioid use disorder, while severe cases involve six or more symptoms.

    The First Step Back From Addiction

    No one can recover from an Opana addiction without going through an initial stage commonly known as detox. Detox gets its name because it’s a period of detoxification that allows the levels of an abused substance in your bloodstream to drop steadily over time. Simultaneously, the process serves as an endpoint for your addictive pattern of substance intake.

    While you can go through detox without any professional assistance or oversight, no addiction specialist would ever recommend that you do so. Instead, all experts in the field ask you to seek help in the form of a supervised detoxification program. There are several underlying explanations for this strong, universal recommendation.

    One of the biggest arguments in favor of seeking professional help is avoidance of the “cold turkey” approach to detox. This is a common nickname for the decision to bring your Opana/opioid consumption to a complete, abrupt halt. You should avoid going cold turkey for one simple reason: When you rapidly cut off your medication intake, you can go into withdrawal in just a few hours. Depending on the extent of your Opana addiction, this action may lead to overpowering withdrawal symptoms that push you beyond your ability to cope. And if this occurs, a relapse may be waiting right around the corner.

    Depending on how far you progress in detox before abandoning your efforts, you may then have to deal with perhaps a greater threat to your health: an overdose. In fact, relapses are a notorious overdose risk for all people in opioid recovery. That’s true because detox will make you less tolerant to the effects of oxymorphone HCL and other related substances. In what is unfortunately a common scenario, your reduced tolerance can bring about a life-threatening toxic reaction if you try to consume the same amount of medication as you did before entering detox.

    In a supervised and monitored medical environment, you can sidestep every one of these serious problems. Doctors and other support staff will not only provide protection by frequently assessing your condition; they will also be on-hand to tackle any unexpected health issues you may develop. And if you experience any severe Opana withdrawal symptoms, doctors can use a new medication, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to lower their intensity to a tolerable level. In case of a relapse, this same level of focused medical attention will help you reestablish your recovery and keep your overdose risks as low as possible.

    In addition to strongly recommending that you enroll in supervised detox, all addiction 

    experts recommend that all participants continue onward to enrollment in a substance treatment program. In this area, participation in supervised detoxification is also superior to any attempts to detox on your own. That’s true because supervised detoxification prepares you for follow-up treatment. Instead of entering a strange and unknown environment, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect as you take your next steps toward sobriety.

    Outpatient Vs. Inpatient Care

    The vast majority of people who enter rehab after stabilizing their condition in medical detox go straight to enrollment in an outpatient or inpatient treatment program. (People with severe health issues and/or severe Opana addiction symptoms may instead start this phase of recovery with a temporary hospitalization.) Since it’s a stay-at-home approach, outpatient care only requires you to make regular visits to the main facility. During those visits, you’ll get treated, undergo progress checks and receive any necessary updates to your existing care plan. Intended for certain mild cases of oxymorphone-related OUD, outpatient treatment maximizes your personal flexibility and scheduling.

    Despite the conveniences provided by outpatient care, the most effective model for oxymorphone addiction treatment is generally inpatient care. Designed mainly for moderate and severe cases of OUD, inpatient rehab programs require you to begin living at a residential facility and remain there while you receive help. This increased level of oversight makes it easier to stay the course and avoid any setbacks in your developing recovery. It also makes it easier to get your rehab care plan updated when you make progress or your circumstances otherwise change.

    If you’re affected by a major, concurrent (i.e., simultaneous) mental illness such as depression or a schizophrenic disorder, you may need to enroll in inpatient treatment even if you only have mild OUD symptoms. This recommendation is common, since mental illness complicates the steps needed to provide you with appropriate care. In addition, mildly affected individuals may choose inpatient care for a range of other reasons.

    Effective Opana Care Plans

    In the 21st century, there’s major consensus on the best methods of treating opioid use disorder. The proven model of treatment includes two, mutually supporting approaches: behavioral psychotherapy and medication. Each of these approaches delivers its own specific benefits to rehab program participants.

    Behavioral therapy is the umbrella term for a diverse range of non-medication-based options that help you change how you think and act both during and after addiction treatment. In turn, these changes will help you establish and maintain a lifestyle built around long-term sobriety. Therapies known to produce results in Opana addiction recovery include:

    • 12-step facilitation
    • Motivational interviewing
    • Contingency management
    • Community reinforcement approach (CRA) plus vouchers
    • Family behavior therapy

    When combined with other forms of treatment, 12-step facilitation increases the odds you will add enrollment in a self-help group to your recovery agenda. In turn, participation in this kind of group gives you a sobriety-promoting peer group and helps you steer clear of relapses. When used early on in treatment, motivational interviewing helps you resolve any internal conflicts that hold you back from full participation.

    Contingency management and CRA plus vouchers have similar objectives. By giving you some kind of reward when you remain sober and meet other rehab program goals, they make it more likely you will make progress while undergoing treatment. Conducted with close family members in attendance, family behavior therapy helps you get at the roots of any issue in your home life that makes you more likely to abuse oxymorphone HCL.

    Used separately, buprenorphine and methadone are the primary medication options for people with OUD. Like Opana itself, both of these medications are opioid agonists. However, in a structured treatment program, their use is both beneficial and proven not to get you “high” or support any further involvement in medication abuse. Methadone is more powerful than buprenorphine. Still, either option provides the same basic advantages, whether used short-term or as part of a long-term program of opioid maintenance.

    Unlike the opioid agonists methadone and buprenorphine, the third medication option — naltrexone — is an opioid antagonist. This means that it fights against the presence of opiates in your body and brain, and stops you from experiencing the effects that often support oxymorphone hydrochloride addiction. As a rule, you won’t receive this medication unless no opioids remain in your system. This is a safety precaution that prevents the possibility of naltrexone triggering immediate Opana withdrawal symptoms.

    Identify the Best Oxymorphone Programs

    Given the extent of the opioid crisis taking place across America, it’s not surprising that a seemingly endless variety of rehab facilities offer treatment for people affected by OUD. On one level, this wide selection offers you plenty of choice, no matter the severity of your symptoms. However, on another level, the sheer abundance of rehab programs can make it difficult to find something that suits your specific needs.

    You can cut through all of the clutter and find what you need if you focus on a few core points. First, any rehab program worth even minimal consideration must offer services that uphold the standard of care established by the nation’s leading experts. Whatever the precise details of your treatment, that standard always includes some mixture of therapy and medication. Be aware that not all rehab programs will meet even this basic requirement. In addition, many programs fail to hire licensed, accredited personnel who have first-hand expertise in administering appropriate care.

    If you place a call to any of the rehab facilities on your short list of likely options, you should receive help in the form of clear information and prompt answers to your questions. Look for the same clarity and level of helpfulness on any websites that you examine. Whether you call or check on the web, you should hear or see some mention of a detailed intake assessment for all new patients enrolling in treatment. Such an assessment is vital to determining next steps in your care, and cannot be skipped or omitted.

    If your personal circumstances permit, you can boost your odds at rehab treatment success by focusing on the top tier of opiate recovery programs. At this level of care, you can expect more than standard plans administered by skilled, experienced professionals. In addition to these essentials, look for holistic options that round out the main rehab program and help make sure you receive personalized, customized attention. Specific options available to you may include things such as advanced addiction therapies and art or movement therapy courses.

    Wherever you decide to go for rehab treatment, just remember that the goal — freedom from a damaging, addictive lifestyle — never changes. With wise choices and hard work, recovery is surely within your grasp.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Vanderpump Rules" Star James Kennedy Gets Sober

    "Vanderpump Rules" Star James Kennedy Gets Sober

    Kennedy took to Instagram to reveal that he is four weeks sober and loving it. 

    James Kennedy, who became famous for his drunken antics on the Bravo reality show Vanderpump Rules, is celebrating four weeks of sobriety. 

    Kennedy shared about his sobriety in an Instagram post that pictured him with a new BMW. 

    “#beamerselfie…. the #WhiteKanye is in sicko mode. seriously though when I came to the U.S and saw sunset blvd for the first I made it my mission to be one of those guys in a gangsta car driving like some ‘entourage’ shit,” he wrote. “And wow I’ve already exceeded my expectations. Im so thankful and my work to becoming the best human I can be continues. Also I’m 4weeks sober tomorrow feeling fre$h! Thank you all so much.”

    On the show, Kennedy lost his job because he was drinking too much. He also damaged his relationships with several of the other cast members, including co-star Lala Kent, who opened up about her own sobriety in March. 

    “Five months ago, I came to the realization that I am an alcoholic, and I am now a friend of Bill W., which you will never know how much this program means to me [and] has given me new life,” Kent said in an Instagram post, according to People. 

    “I always say if you don’t have to be sober, I wouldn’t recommend it, but me—as someone who does need to be sober—being in my right frame of mind every single day is truly incredible. When I’m having the roughest day that I could possibly have, I—for once in a very, very long time—see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that tomorrow I’m gonna be okay,” Kent said. 

    Kent recently posted an Instagram picture with Kennedy. Although the two had a strained relationship on the most recent season of Vanderpump Rules, there was speculation that Kennedy’s sobriety has allowed them to be friends again. 

    Before Kent spoke out alluding to Alcoholics Anonymous, she shared that she and her partner were exploring sobriety together. 

    “We’re just kind of taking a different turn with our life,” she told People in December. “I have been open about suffering from anxiety, and [I’m] not saying that I don’t anymore, but it has gone down tremendously since I gave up drinking. I don’t smoke weed anymore. I’m a clean baby, and I feel like I glow a little bit… I’m ready to be a healthy person.”

    View the original article at thefix.com