Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction is a painful and difficult situation to overcome. Opiates such as heroin and prescription painkillers are highly addictive and can cause severe dependence and intense withdrawal symptoms. If you or someone you love is suffering from opiate addiction, Casa Palmera can help.

What is Opiate Addiction?

Opiate addiction occurs after long-term use of opiates cause nerve cells in the brain to stop functioning normally. The nerve cells stop producing endorphins (naturally occurring feel-good chemicals) on their own, and become physically dependent on externally supplied opiates in order to make you feel good.

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Opiate addiction encompasses a wide range drugs, some illegal — like heroin — and some legal — like prescription painkillers. Sometimes opiate addiction occurs after legal use of prescription drugs slips into abuse, and sometimes it occurs as a way to experiment or escape the stress of life or childhood trauma. Whatever the case may be, opiate treatment programs will help you wean yourself off of opiates, overcome your physical and mental dependence on opiates, and address the core issues behind your substance abuse.

How Do You Treat Opiate Addiction?

The first step of opiate addiction treatment is to enter a detoxification program. The primary objective of opiate detoxification is to relieve withdrawal symptoms while the patient adjusts to a drug-free state. Opiate withdrawal can be a painful and sometimes dangerous process, which is why the detox period will be supervised by trained medical personnel who will monitor your withdrawal and make sure you are safe and as comfortable as possible. Opiate withdrawal symptoms can include extreme fatigue, flu-like symptoms, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and severe drug craving. It’s important to understand that detoxification alone is not a treatment for addiction. It is merely a useful first step to address the physical dependence to opiates so that long-term treatment can address the behaviors that have led to addiction.

Studies show that pharmacologic treatments combined with behavioral treatments are the most effective approach to enabling patients to stop using opiates and return to a more stable and productive life.

There are many effective behavioral treatments available for opiate addiction, including residential programs and behavioral therapies such as contingency management therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Residential treatment provides round-the-clock care and support in a structured environment that’s free of temptations and distractions. Contingency management therapy uses a voucher-based system where patients can earn points based on negative drug tests and use these points to earn items that encourage healthy living. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is designed to help modify the patient’s thinking and behaviors to increase their skills in coping with stress without turning to drugs.

Opiate Addiction Treatment at Casa Palmera

At Casa Palmera, we understand that opiate addiction is not just a physical problem, but a mental and emotional problem as well. Our holistic opiate treatment program will treat your entire physical, mental and spiritual health and help you identify and cope with the real reasons behind your opiate abuse.

In addition to traditional methods of opiate addiction treatment, we also offer a variety of holistic methods such as acupuncture, massage and yoga to help reduce withdrawal symptoms and return the person to a balanced state of well-being. We also offer a Pain Management Program to help those with chronic pain learn to manage their pain without the use of opiate-based painkillers.

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