Questions about Liquicet addiction? Find your answers by using this helpful guide.
1. What is This Medication and How is it Used?
2. Development of Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen Addiction
3. Potential Indicators of Opioid Problems in Hydrocodone/ Acetaminophen Users
4. Detox as Preparation for Active Addiction Treatment
5. Program Settings for Treatment
6. Types of Effective Treatments for Opioid or Opiate Addiction
7. Picking the Best Prescription Drug Addiction Program for Your Needs
Are you or your loved one dealing with the damaging effects of Liquicet addiction? You can recover if you seek help in an effective treatment program for prescription drug addiction. Effective programs can be easy to find if you know what you’re looking for. With the information provided in this article, you can begin your recovery efforts from a position of knowledge and understanding.
What is This Medication and How is it Used?
Liquicet is a prescription drug that contains a combination of two medications: hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen. Hydrocodone is a powerful painkiller belonging to the opioid or opiate family of substances. Acetaminophen is a less powerful, non-opioid pain reliever. The medication comes in the form of an oral liquid. Doctors prescribe it as a treatment for back pain and other forms of pain with a moderate or moderately severe level of intensity.
Liquicet belongs to a larger group of hydrocodone/acetaminophen products that includes Lorcet, Xodol, Hycet, Vicodin, Lortab and Zolvit. It has no generic equivalent, although other medications of this type do come in generic form. Common street names for hydrocodone and medications like Lorcet that combine hydrocodone with other pain relievers include:
- Watson-387
- Vikes
Development of Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen Addiction
Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter medication. However, hydrocodone belongs to a group of opiate or opioid substances categorized as Schedule II prescription drugs. All Schedule II drugs have proven themselves useful in some form of medical treatment. Unfortunately, along with this usefulness comes the ability to alter your mind in ways that lead to a state of dependence. (You’re dependent on a medication if you need to keep using it in order to feel “normal” or maintain daily function.) And any Schedule II drug that can trigger substance dependence can also trigger substance addiction, especially in people who take part in medication abuse.
You can abuse hydrocodone/acetaminophen or any other prescription drug in more ways than one. For example, abuse occurs whenever a current prescription holder takes the part-opioid pain reliever without waiting the appropriate length of time between doses. A prescription holder can also abuse the medication by taking too much of it at once. Given these facts, it’s obvious that you also abuse hydrocodone/acetaminophen if you take too much of it and use it too often. A fourth category of prescription drug abuse includes people who take the medication without the current consent of a doctor.
Serious abuse of any hydrocodone/acetaminophen product can qualify you for a diagnosis of an officially defined illness called OUD or opioid use disorder. Addiction to one of these products is also diagnosed as part of the same condition. At its milder end, OUD produces two or three symptoms of abuse and/or addiction. In its moderate form, the disorder produces four or five symptoms. In its severe form, opioid use disorder can leave you with six to 11 abuse/addiction symptoms.
Potential Indicators of Opioid Problems in Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen Users
- The existence of a habitual pattern of hydrocodone/acetaminophen abuse
- Lack of success in keeping your prescription drug intake under control, even when you try your best
- The presence of an intense urge to consume more hydrocodone/acetaminophen
- The formation of a daily routine that makes support of your ongoing medication abuse a top priority
- Habitual consumption of hydrocodone/acetaminophen at a level that leaves you unable to meet reasonable performance expectations at work, at school or at home
- Rising tolerance to the prescription drug (marked by recurring increases in the amount you normally consume)
- Withdrawal symptoms that arise if you make rapid decreases in your level of hydrocodone/acetaminophen consumption or halt your consumption completely
- A pattern of prescription drug abuse that you insist on maintaining despite knowing that it harms your health
- A pattern of abuse that you insist on maintaining despite knowing how it negatively influences your most important social or personal ties to other people
- Establishment of hydrocodone/acetaminophen abuse as a go-to form of recreation
- A recurring tendency to abuse hydrocodone/acetaminophen in dangerous or high-risk settings or environments
Detox as Preparation for Active Addiction Treatment
To create a foundation for progress in Liquicet addiction treatment, you must start with a period of time dedicated to detoxification or detox. Detox makes further progress possible in two ways. First, during this preliminary phase of your recovery, you bring an end to your current habit of hydrocodone/acetaminophen abuse. Along with this change in your intake habits comes a necessary drop in the amount of opioid or opiate circulating in your body.
During detox, anyone with a hydrocodone addiction will go through an unpleasant phase of chemical adjustment known as withdrawal. Withdrawal is basically the same, no matter which specific substance acts as the source of your opiate addiction. Its early effects on your mind and body can include tender muscles, abnormal yawning, abnormal sweating and abnormal feelings of anxiety. Additional possible effects at this stage include changes in your normal sleep habits and a runny nose.
New and different symptoms of withdrawal will appear as detox continues. Late-stage effects can include such things as loose stools and nausea with or without bouts of vomiting. They can also include unusually wide or dilated pupils, cramps in your abdomen and goosebumps that linger instead of fading away.
When detox comes to an end, it’s time for enrollment in a rehab program for prescription drug addiction. You cannot skip this follow-up treatment if you hope to maximize your chances of recovering from your opiate problems. That’s true because failure to enroll in an appropriate program increases the odds that you will relapse and return to your prior pattern of hydrocodone abuse. And in a not-uncommon scenario, your return to opioid abuse can lead to a fatal or non-fatal overdose. Overdoses in these circumstances are often caused by the reduction in your opioid tolerance that occurs during detox.
You may feel capable of going through detox and withdrawal on your own. However, instead of recommending this go-it-alone approach, addiction specialists universally recommend that you seek help in a supervised medical detox program. This type of program is your best bet for making it safely through withdrawal while limiting your potential exposure to a relapse. Since you’re under a doctor’s care, you can also receive help whenever you need it if any serious detox-related problems arise. In addition, your doctor has the opportunity to check you for other potential issues, including alcohol problems or mental illness.
Program Settings for Treatment
If you’re like the vast majority of people, you can go directly from supervised detox to active addiction treatment in an outpatient or inpatient opioid/opiate program. Outpatient treatment provides the help needed for your recovery while allowing you to keep living at home. As a rule, it’s only a recommended option for people who have a mild form of opioid use disorder. If you fall into this category, outpatient programs can make it simpler to meet your treatment needs without making major alterations to your daily routine.
Despite the scheduling convenience of outpatient treatment for opiate addiction, experts in the field still view residential treatment in an inpatient program as the primary model for effective care. That’s because residential programs provide you with complete access to medical support while you follow your personalized recovery plan. They also allow you to put other daily demands out of mind as you focus your efforts on participating in your treatment.
Inpatient care is the standard for just about everyone with moderate or severe symptoms of opioid use disorder. However, it’s also sometimes indicated for people with mild OUD symptoms. For example, you may prefer this option if you don’t think your personal support network is strong enough to help you stay sober while receiving outpatient care. In addition, your doctor may ask you to enroll in an inpatient program if you have mild OUD symptoms combined with any type of major mental illness.
Types of Effective Treatments for Opioid or Opiate Addiction
Today, Liquicet addiction and all other serious opioid problems are addressed by combining medication-based treatment with therapy designed to alter your addiction-related thoughts and behaviors. The most widely used medications reserved for this purpose are the Schedule II opioid methadone and the weaker opioid buprenorphine.
Some people have the mistaken perception that use of these substances is inappropriate for the treatment of opioid addiction. However, both methadone and buprenorphine have proven themselves as effective and safe when used as intended. Either option can help you control your risks for a relapse while limiting the severity of your withdrawal symptoms.
If you undergo complete detox and no longer have any opiates in your system, your medication treatment plan may also include naltrexone. When circulating in your system, naltrexone essentially functions as a shutdown switch for any opiates trying to reach your brain. Since you can’t get “high” while taking this medication, it helps you avoid the urge to relapse.
The therapy used to help people with OUD is classified as behavioral psychotherapy. In one way or another, all forms of behavioral therapy help you establish ways of thinking and acting that steer you away from any future substance abuse. The list of possible options in any given treatment program include:
- Motivational incentive therapy or motivational interviewing
- Contingency management
- Community reinforcement approach (CRA) plus vouchers
You may also take part in something called 12-step facilitation. This therapy option is intended to help you recognize the benefits of enrolling in opioid-oriented self-help groups modeled after similar groups for alcohol problems. A fifth helpful approach is family behavior therapy. This technique gives you and your loved ones the chance to identify and change family-based issues that help create an environment favoring substance abuse.
Picking the Best Prescription Drug Addiction Program for Your Needs
When picking a program to help you recover from opiate addiction, you must first understand what separates sub-par rehabilitation facilities from facilities that produce positive results. The quickest way to identify options that you want to explore further is to look for programs that offer the types of medication and therapy recommended by experts. Any addiction center that doesn’t meet this minimum standard just isn’t worth your time.
Assessment of your OUD symptoms and all other mental and physical health issues should be one of the first steps in any reputable program’s enrollment process. Be aware that only an experienced addiction specialist can conduct this kind of assessment with the proper level of insight and accuracy. Specialists and well-trained support personnel should also be used in every other area of the program.
You may be able to clarify all of these issues by reviewing information on each program’s website. If not, your should get everything you need by contacting facilities on your short list and asking them questions. If you’re uncertain about anything, the conversations you have should clear them up.
To boost your chances of recovering from hydrocodone addiction, you probably want to consider programs that do more than provide you with the basic elements of sound, effective treatment. You can identify options in this category by looking for a few key indicators. One of the biggest signs of quality is a clear emphasis on holistic care that treats your whole person, rather than just targeting your specific addiction symptoms. This kind of personalized support can make all the difference in your short- and long-term recovery.
Top programs also tend to do additional things to help make your enrollment as beneficial as possible. For instance, they may feature luxurious facilities or desirable locations. In addition, they may offer secondary treatment options that reinforce the goals of your primary care plan.
No matter what choice you make for your treatment facility, bear in mind that your own personal commitment plays a key role in your recovery. Your patience and focused effort will help you make a life of stable sobriety a realistic possibility.
