Buprenorphine

There’s A Treatment For Heroin Addiction That Actually Works. Why Aren’t We Using It?

http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/dying-to-be-free-heroin-treatmentDying To Be FreeThere’s A Treatment For Heroin Addiction That Actually Works. Why Aren’t We Using It?By Jason CherkisJanuary 28, 2015The last image we have of Patrick Cagey is of his first moments as a free man. He has just walked out of a 30-day drug treatment center in Georgetown, Kentucky, dressed in gym clothes and carrying a Nike duffel bag. The moment reminds his father of Patrick’s graduation from college, and he takes a picture of his son with his cell phone. Patrick is 25. His face bright, he sticks his tongue out in embarrassment. Four days later, he will be dead from a heroin overdose.That day, in August 2013, Patrick got in the car and put the duffel bag on a seat. Inside was a talisman he’d been given by the treatment facility: a hardcover fourth edition of the Alcoholics Anonymous bible known as “The Big Book.” Patrick […]

Treatment of co-occurring disorders: Medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction in opioid treatment programs

When patients with heroin and opioid addiction also have co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, failure to identify and treat them as early as possible interferes with recovery.If you or a loved one is prescribed methadone or buprenorphine for help with their addiction and suspect that treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD or other psychiatric conditions might be of benefit, request assistance from the treatment provider. If that fails, obtaining it independently might be necessary.Research publications by Dr. Marc Shinderman, a past director at our Illinois clinics, and hundreds of others demonstrate the benefits of concurrent treatment of addiction and psychiatric disorders for methadone maintenance patients.Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction in Opioid Treatment Programs. Chapter 12. Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders<target=”_blank”></target=”_blank”>In This Chapter …Prevalence of Co-Occurring DisordersMotivation for Treatment and Co-Occurring DisordersEtiology of Co-Occurring DisordersScreening for Co-Occurring DisordersMaking and Confirming a Psychiatric DiagnosisPrognosis for Patients With Co-Occurring DisordersTreatment IssuesMany people who are opioid addicted have […]

Would opiate addicts like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cory Monteith be alive today if they had been in maintenance therapy with buprenorphine or methadone instead of focusing on abstinence-based philosophies?

Could Drug-Replacement Therapy Have Saved Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Life?BY SACHA Z. SCOBLICPhilip Seymour Hoffman was an artistic icon and, for me, a sober icon. According to The New York Times, Hoffman had spoken of having 23 years of sobriety under his belt before he relapsed on prescription drugs and then, ultimately, on heroin. From that moment of relapse on, one of the greatest actors of our generation was in mortal danger: Years of sobriety had reduced Hoffman’s tolerance, but his brain craved the drug as much as ever—and he had given that brain another taste. In May of 2013—perhaps realizing the disease was back in force—Hoffman checked himself into a detox facility for ten days, once again resetting his tolerance to zero. His brain was at war with itself: his healthy sobriety brain versus his voraciously hungry opiate receptors. It’s why, unfortunately, overdosing is tragically common for once-sober heroin addicts […]