Helpful Articles

Ways I Stay Sober Without AABy Beth Leipholtz 04/12/17There are many ways to recover from alcoholism without 12-step programs. Here’s how it’s worked for me.Four years ago, I got sober through an outpatient treatment program. The rehabilitation facility I went to followed the 12-step format and stressed the importance of AA meetings and a sponsor. In a way, I owe my sobriety to this form of treatment. I’m so grateful for it. For the first […]

Serving All Your Heroin NeedsBy SAM QUINONES APRIL 17, 2015FATAL heroin overdoses in America have almost tripled in three years. More than 8,250 people a year now die from heroin. At the same time, roughly double that number are dying from prescription opioid painkillers, which are molecularly similar. Heroin has become the fallback dope when an addict can’t afford, or find, pills. Total overdose deaths, most often from pills and heroin, now surpass traffic fatalities.If […]

Along with sharp reductions in the reimbursement for methadone maintenance treatment, which may be the lowest in the nation, reduced assess to prescription opiates and increased availability of high-quality inexpensive heroin correlates to a four hundred percent increase in heroin overdose deaths from 2011 to 2012.  To make matters even worse, Maine has refused to accept Federal funding related to the affordable care act, according to this article in the January 15, 2014 edition of […]

This Governor gets it right… the War on Drugs is an abysmal failure in regard to heroin and opiates.  The lack of access and inadequate funding for medication-assisted treatment (methadone and others) has resulted in an escalation of heroin overdoses and untreated addiction.  These increases are associated with ever-increasing financial and human costs related to death, suffering, prosecution, and incarceration of the addicted.  PBS Newshour posted an interview of Gov. Shumlin of Vermont explaining his […]

Hepatitis C is described as a “silent killer” estimated to have infected three to four million people in America and 150 million worldwide. This staggering number is three to five times greater than those infected with H.I.V. It’s called the silent killer because most people who are infected with the disease don’t know it since it can take many decades for it to show symptoms of silently destroying the liver. Many drugs have been created […]

Where does methadone come from?Methadone was created by chemists in Germany in WWII. Its intention was to take the place of the scarcely available morphine to work as a painkiller. It was offered as a pain medication for surgical and cancer patients in the U.S. in 1947. It was known as Dolophine at the time. In 1950, it was first used for short-term use to minimize withdrawal symptoms by addicts of heroin and morphine.How is […]

As of January 2013, the FDA is pushing to reschedule hydrocodone combination products from Schedule III to Schedule II, and this month plan to submit its formal recommendation package to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. The FDA is confident that the National Institute on Drug Abuse will stand alongside them on this recommendation, which will in turn help the HHS submit its recommendation to the DEA to make […]

How does a patient get increases or decreases in their dosage?After intake, the nurse will assess the patient for two weeks to determine if increases or decreases are needed and then will get the order from the MD signed on what is the best course of action. Nurse/patient interaction continues daily to see how the patient feels. The methadone dosage should last 24 hours and be stable with no signs of cravings or withdrawals. Patients […]

Opioid overdose deaths are on the rise. So much in fact that it is now the second-leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., behind motor vehicle accidents. Shocking? Yes. Can something be done to change this? Absolutely, but the treatment being used now, detoxification, is not working. More access is needed to methadone treatment to drastically reduce overall deaths caused by overdosing on opioids.The Medical News reported in their August 2013 issue that experts […]

We’re bringing attention to a project that has been instrumental in fighting for respectful, science-based, and effective treatment for addiction to heroin and other opiates – The Medication Assisted Recovery Services (MARS) program.  Since 2005, MARS (a peer-initiated and peer-based recovery support project) has worked to inspire the transformation of medication-assisted treatment into medication-assisted recovery. The project was initiated by a group of methadone maintenance patients, as well as other individuals who play an essential […]

Last month, the U.S. Department of Defense ruled the authorization of Tricare (the U.S. Military’s insurance program) to cover drug maintenance programs. This important ruling will allow the military’s active duty members, veterans, and their families to participate in methadone maintenance programs, which have shown to greatly improve the likeliness that an individual will fully recover from drug addiction.Often, military members return from service with both physical ailments as well as psychological issues that must […]

Narcan, also known as the generic drug Naloxone, is an antidote to opiates like heroin and prescription pain medications like codeine, Oxycodone, Oxycontin, Methadone, and Vicodin. When an individual overdoses on an opiate, his or her breathing will begin to slow down and can even stop, making it nearly impossible for an observer to wake them. Narcan is an injectable prescription medication that can work to reverse an overdose by blocking the effects of opioids. […]

A number of misconceptions surrounding methadone maintenance treatment exist, both among patients as well as practitioners.  Here we’ll discuss seven of the most commonly mistaken beliefs regarding the use of methadone to treat opioid addiction.1.  True or False: By using the methadone maintenance method to treat opioid dependence, aren’t I just trading one addiction for another?False.  Prescription methadone is given to patients as maintenance therapy, as it works to normalize their systems as opposed to […]

When making the decision to end the addiction to opioids like heroin, oxycontin, Vicodin, and other prescription drugs, the individual must consider a variety of options and select the option best suited for him or her. Currently, the two main treatment options are:Maintenance of the addiction through methadone or other prescription drugs such as buprenorphineAbstinence treatment which entails quitting opioids cold turkeyContrary to wishful thinking and what most people who have not read the scientific […]