Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Opioid Addiction

Hello. My name is Kelly Vaughn, sober 11 yrs at the time of this writing.  I own and operate Wilmington Recovery, LLC, an addiction treatment program located in Wilmington, NC. wilmingtonrecovery.com

The goal of this blog is to help anyone who comes across the Wilmington Recovery website with my personal advice on different aspects of addiction recovery. It will also serve as a resource for members of Wilmington Recovery. As the organization grows, I have less personal time to spend with individual members. Hopefully, the advice provided here will help anyone, members and non-members alike, face the daunting task of sobriety. 

Our first topic is opioid addiction, as it's a prevalent problem in the Cape Fear region. I've had many years experience in the face of opioid addiction. I have found very little to be effective in the battle against opiate use. I've seen many addicts try the maintenance plans (Suboxone & Subutex) only to set themselves up for failure later. In my experience, maintenance plans are not a recipe for success with those who really want to stay clean/sober long term.

However, there is one treatment thus far that I've seen have great results. This drug is called "Vivitrol" (shot) or "Naltrexone" (pill). If you struggle with opiate abuse (or have a loved one that does), this may be the bridge to recovery that you've been searching for. The injection can last up to 30 days, thereby making null the effects of an opiate. A pill may be administered during the last few days of half-life of the injection to prevent the addict from having a window of opportunity. At this point, the illicit drug has lost it's physical hold over the individual. This is where recovery must come into play. To read more about Vivitrol, go here:
www.vivitrol.com/

Most addicts will look for ways to fill the void left in the wake of using opioids. They substitute other drugs, other highs, in an effort to find something else to change their mood. Once the drug has been eliminated from their body, the main problem will center in the mind. Anyone who has come out of with-drawl will know what a high level of anxiety reality can cause an addict. Healthy coping mechanisms, such as attending AA meetings, exercise, meditating, speaking to a sponsor, or journaling/blogging (heh heh) must be employed, otherwise it's back to square one in short-order.

I haven't been paid to endorse one method over the other. This is just a personal observation. However one chooses to get sober, the issue of staying sober remains the same. If an addict stays away from drugs  for any period of time they start to act much like normal people. Having the desire to stay sober must be paramount as it will take quite a bit of will power and effort. Feel free to call me and make a start on your road to permanent recovery.

Best,

Kelly 9104097564