MAT (Medication Assisted Therapy) for Addiction, West Palm Beach
What Is MAT for Addiction?
When you are preparing to enter into an addiction treatment program, you know that your body will need time to detox from your substance of choice. At the same time, we know that detox is a necessary piece of addiction recovery. Many patients will still have reservations about it due to the stories they have heard and seen regarding drug or alcohol detox. Detox is a time when your body’s working overtime to try and readjust to functioning using alcohol or drugs. The longer time you engage in drug or alcohol use, the more your body has become accustomed to these harmful, addictive substances to complete daily activities and normal body functioning. While some patients may experience mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, nausea, tremors, or flu-like symptoms, others can experience more severe withdrawal symptoms. Powerful drug or alcohol withdrawal symptoms have the potential of becoming life-threatening if not treated by a medical professional, while some severe symptoms can cause extreme discomfort. The good news is that when you are in a medically supervised detox program, you will have access to nurses and doctors that will provide you with medical care that will keep you safe and comfortable throughout your detox process.
For patients experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms or intense drug cravings, you can be offered to participate in a medication assisted therapy (MAT) program. A MAT program offers patients medications that can help reduce the severity of their withdrawal symptoms. The detox process is often the most challenging for patients and is the time patients are most at risk for leaving treatment due to the unpleasant and uncomfortable side effects you are experiencing. Taking medications will help target these problematic symptoms and keep you focused on your ultimate goal of sobriety. Patients often express concern about having to use medications for withdrawal management and if it is switching one addiction to another. A MAT program uses medications that are not addictive and have the sole purpose of helping you have a safe detox process. In fact, the use of medications will actually increase your chance of having long-lasting success in sobriety.
Alcohol Detox
Alcohol rehab in Fort Lauderdale is the process of getting all of the alcohol out of your system; at a detox facility, this process is made easier and faster with the supervision of our medical professionals here in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Drug Detox
Drug detoxification, commonly referred to as detox, is the process of allowing your body to clear all of the drugs out of your system.
Residential Treatment
Residential treatment at The Healing Place near Fort Lauderdale, FL can provide you with the time and space you need to build a solid foundation for recovery.
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How Medication Assisted Treatment Helps With Withdrawal
Withdrawal symptoms are characterized by side effects experienced after stopping your use of drugs or alcohol. Due to addiction being a chronic, progressive disease, your use of substances most likely developed and increased over time. When you take mood-altering substances such as drugs or alcohol, your brain’s chemistry will change, and the power of addiction will take over your ability to feel good on your own. Your brain’s chemical makeup will begin to shift, and you will lose the ability to have joy or pleasure from life’s daily occurrences and will need the influences of substances to feel good again.
Your body also develops a reliance on these substances to perform daily tasks. For some, your use of drugs or alcohol is a means for you to mask the emotional pain that previously prevented you from doing everyday tasks in life, such as getting out of bed or doing chores around the house. Others may have experienced pain from other chronic illnesses, and the use of drugs or alcohol was a way to alleviate the pain you are feeling and be able to function throughout the day. When you attempt to quit using substances, your body will be pushing back and resisting this change as it fights to function normally as it would. This readjustment period is often when you begin to feel withdrawal symptoms.
When medications are introduced into your withdrawal process, you will get some relief in the areas of resistance from your body and ease the mental pressure you may feel from withdrawal. Medications work to target areas that are causing you physical discomfort or pain by alleviating the severity of discomfort you are feeling. Medications can target receptors in the brain responsible for drug cravings and receptors that produce “feel good” connections. As the medication blocks the receptors that drugs would fill, your body will feel like it is getting the same endorphins and dopamine levels that you would with drug use making it easy to stay on track with your detox process.
Opioid Detox Medications
Detoxing from opioids is known to produce uncomfortable and unpleasant symptoms. While most symptoms will not pose a risk to your overall safety, the thought of going through the extreme side effects can often act as a deterrent for individuals to get clean from opioid use. For many patients, knowing that there can be a medication used to assist in getting you clean and avoiding the uncomfortable or painful symptoms provides relief and comfort in knowing that your detox process will go smoothly.
Common symptoms that opioid medications will assist in treating are:
- Anxiety
- Muscle and body aches or cramps
- Chills
- Restlessness
- Inability to sleep or insomnia
- Increased blood pressure
- Tremors
- Nausea or vomiting
- Severe drug cravings
Methadone
Methadone is one of the most well-known opioid withdrawal management medications on the market. It works as a synthetic opioid that works by tricking your brain into thinking that it is getting high by binding the opioid receptors in the brain without producing a feeling of getting high. Methadone is a highly effective method of getting off opioids safely but can run the risk of the user becoming addicted to it. This is why users will be gradually weaned off methadone as their cravings begin to dissipate to prevent developing a dependency on it. Methadone is considered a safe, effective means to get off of opioids and has had remarkable success within its users.
Buprenorphine
Buprenorphine, otherwise known as Suboxone, is another well-known medication that has shown substantial improvement and success for individuals wanting to remove opioid use from their life. Buprenorphine works similar to methadone as it helps to deceive your brain into thinking it is still receiving opioids without producing a feeling of getting high. Buprenorphine is less potent than morphine and only lasts 24 hours, reducing the risk of patients becoming addicted to it. However, prolonged use of buprenorphine will require patients to slowly wean themselves off once they have begun to have a reduction in their cravings. West Palm Beach residents have had remarkable success with combating their opioid addiction using buprenorphine.
Naltrexone
Naltrexone is another beneficial medication to eliminate opioid use as it works to block the opioid receptors in the brain. Patients have had long-term success using this medication as it prevents you from getting high if you were to consume opioids and will also significantly reduce any intense drug cravings that you are having.
Alcohol Detox Medications
Detoxing from alcohol will produce physical symptoms and have unpleasant mental and emotional side effects. That is why your alcohol detox medication will need to target both your physical and mental symptoms. Medications offered for alcohol addiction will have the ability to improve cognitive functioning and keep your physical state safe from the potentially life-threatening symptoms that alcohol withdrawal can produce.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines (Benzos) are commonly prescribed during alcohol detox to treat the alcohol detox’s emotional side effects. Many patients will feel high levels of anxiety and severe depression when removing alcohol from their life. Benzos work to regulate your emotions and keep you feeling calm and relaxed. If patients feel like they want to leave detox, it is often due to an inability to manage the feelings occurring for them. Benzos provide patients with an opportunity for stable, emotional functioning and stay focused on their overarching goal of sobriety. Additionally, benzos can help eliminate the potential for seizures, therefore, maintaining your physical safety.
Stimulant Detox Medications
Stimulant drugs require a different approach to detox as they affect your body differently than opioids or alcohol. The withdrawal symptoms from stimulants mainly affect your emotional and mental functioning and produce few physical side effects. Patients going through stimulant detox are often prescribed antidepressants, anti-anxiety, and muscle relaxers to help ease the intensity of the emotions felt and keep you feeling calm and relaxed while you go through detox.
Why Choose The Healing Place
Residents of West Palm Beach choose The Healing Place for the high level of care and compassion placed on each individual’s recovery journey. Our team of medical professionals and counselors is here to provide you with the support you need to get through the complex detox process and help bring you through to the other side where you can see the light of a life in recovery. Our patients are not alone when they detox, as we will be alongside you every step of the way as you make this courageous step towards sobriety. Call us today to learn more about effective medication assisted treatment for West Palm Beach residents.