An estimated 15 percent of drug treatment provided in Washington is attributed to the abuse of opiate addiction with consists of prescription pain medication such as Hydocodone, Vicodin, Lortab, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Percocet, Norco, Codine, Morphine, Fentanyl, Methadone, etc.

Several options are available for effective opiate treatment. These options are drawn from experience and research regarding the treatment of opiate addiction. They include medications, such as methadone and LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol), Buprenorphrine, ultra rapid detox (Waismann Detox)and then followed by long term behavioral counseling opiate treatment approaches.

A useful precursor to long-term treatment of opioid addiction is opiate detoxification. Opiate detoxification in itself is not a treatment for opioid addiction. Rather, its primary objective is to relieve withdrawal symptoms while the patient adjusts to being drug free. To be effective, detoxification must precede long-term opiate treatment that requires complete abstinence and incorperates behavioral life skills and coping skills counseling.

There are many types of opiate treatment and choosing the correct opiate treatment option is vital to your recovery. Types of opiate treatment include; out-patient opiate treatment, inpatient opiate treatment, opiate counseling, opiate detox, short term opiate treatment or long term opiate treatment.

Our professional addiction counselors have tremendous knowlege and experience in assessing your specific treatment needs and we utilize an extensive Drug Treatment Database containing Washington opiate treatment options and nationwide drug treatment programs.

.To find out if there are any Opiate rehabs serving people in Washington that are suitable for your needs, please call1-877-404-9362

opiate Information

Opiates are analgesic, or pain-relieving, medications. Studies have shown that properly managed medical use (taken exactly as prescribed) of opioid analgesics is safe and can manage pain effectively, however, addiction is a large risk factor.

Among the compounds that fall within this class are hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin—an oral, controlled-release form of the drug), morphine, fentanyl, codeine, and related medications. Morphine and fentanyl are often used to alleviate severe pain, while codeine is used for milder pain. Other examples of opiates prescribed to relieve pain include propoxyphene (Darvon); hydromorphone (Dilaudid); and meperidine (Demerol), which is used less often because of its side effects. In addition to their effective pain-relieving properties, some of these medications can be used to relieve severe diarrhea (for example, Lomotil, also known as diphenoxylate) or severe coughs (codeine).

How Are Opiates Abused?

Opiates can be taken orally, or the pills may be crushed and the powder snorted or injected. A number of overdose deaths have resulted from the latter routes of administration, particularly with the drug OxyContin, which was designed to be a slow-release formulation. Snorting or injecting opiates results in the rapid release of the drug into the bloodstream, exposing the person to high doses and causing many of the reported overdose reactions.

How Do Opiates Affect the Brain?

Opiates act by attaching to specific proteins called opioid receptors, which are found in the brain, spinal cord, and gastrointestinal tract. When these compounds attach to certain opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, they can effectively change the way a person experiences pain.

In addition, opiate medications can affect regions of the brain that mediate what one perceives as pleasure, resulting in the initial euphoria or sense of well-being that many opiates produce. Repeated abuse of opiates can lead to addiction—a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful consequences.

What Adverse Effects Can Be Associated With Opiates?

Opiates can produce drowsiness, cause constipation, and, depending upon the amount taken, depress breathing. Taking a large single dose could cause severe respiratory depression or death.

These medications are only safe to use with other substances under a physician’s supervision. Typically, they should not be used with alcohol, antihistamines, barbiturates, or benzodiazepines. Because these other substances slow breathing, their effects in combination with opioids could lead to life-threatening respiratory depression.

What Happens When You Stop Taking Opiates?

Patients who are prescribed opiates for a period of time may develop a physical dependence on them. Repeated exposure to opiates causes the body to adapt, sometimes resulting in tolerance (that is, more of the drug is needed to achieve the desired effect compared with when it was first prescribed) and in withdrawal symptoms upon abrupt cessation of drug use. Thus, individuals taking prescribed opiate medications should not only be given these medications under appropriate medical supervision, but they should also be medically supervised when stopping use in order to reduce or avoid withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms of withdrawal can include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (“cold turkey”), and involuntary leg movements.

Are There Treatments for Opiate Addiction?

Individuals who abuse or are addicted to prescription opiate medications can be treated. Initially, they may need to undergo medically supervised detoxification to help reduce withdrawal symptoms; however, that is just the first step. Options for effectively treating addiction to prescription opiates are drawn from research on treating heroin addiction. Behavioral treatments, usually combined with medications, have also been proven effective. Currently used medications are—

• Methadone has been used for more than 30 years to reduce harm from heroin addiction. It is a synthetic opiate medication that when taken orally, it has a gradual onset of action and sustained effects, reducing the desire for other opiate drugs while preventing withdrawal symptoms.
  
• Buprenorphine, another synthetic opiate, is a more recently approved medication for treating addiction to heroin and other opiates. It can be prescribed in a physician’s office.
  
• Naltrexone is a long-acting opiate receptor blocker that can be employed to help prevent relapse. It is not widely used, however, because of poor compliance, except by highly motivated individuals (e.g., physicians at risk of losing their medical license). It should be noted that this medication can only be used for someone who has already been detoxified, since it can produce severe withdrawal symptoms in a person continuing to abuse opiates.
  
• Naloxone is a short-acting opiate receptor blocker that counteracts the effects of opiates and can be used to treat overdoses.

To find out if there are any Opiate treatment facilities serving people in Washington that are suitable for your needs, please call1-877-404-9362.