Not too long ago, four local elementary school children ended up on respirators in the ICU after they each took 20 Coricidin tablets to get high. It was a good 36 hours before they were out of the woods. What started out to be an afternoon of fun, turned out to be a life-and-death struggle for the children and their parents.
So, if you think that people (including kids) do not abuse over-the-counter drugs, think again. In my practice, I’m seeing this kind of abuse more and more. Hey, it’s cheap and it’s accessible (and, therefore a real problem).
The Number One problem is Dextromethorphan. It’s found in cold medications that you can buy right off the pharmacy shelf – Coricidin HBP, Vick’s 44, Children’s Tylenol, Robitussin, Triaminic DM, Nicol, Theraflu, Dimetapp. Right now, this is one of the most abused compounds around, and the level of sophistication with the 8-to-12-year-old children using them is intense. The kids are the ones who’ve given this drug its street names: Triple C, Orange Crush, Dex, Skittles and Robo. They say they are “Robo-tripping.”
This drug can achieve the sedative or hypnotic effects of Oxycontin, Roxycodone, and Xanax, but, it actually produces a delirium – not a high – and a state of confusion. What actually happens is that the drug blocks one of the neurotransmitters, which causes the brain to stop functioning. After taking it, breathing problems may develop and blood pressure can fluctuate. It can cause hallucinations, dizziness, muscle twitches, nausea, vomiting, convulsion and death. (more…)
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I want to share two stories to help those with drug problems — or those with loved ones who have drug problems — see how addiction works and how it can be overcome.
My clients, Belle and Bob, were both addicts. Belle managed to dig herself out. Bob did not. At the most basic level, these two people had bad relationships with themselves. It really all comes down to that. Improve your relationship with yourself and you can get better. Continue to hate yourself, and the ending can be very bad.
Belle’s Story
Belle, a 23-year-old woman working as an actress in Manhattan, was using Oxycontin and Adderall. She had gotten to the point where she was staying up all night, going to bed at 6 a.m. and waking up at noon. She had been very attractive, but her drug use had given her acne, a sickly skin tone and damaged her hair.
She looked like a drug addict and her life had become totally disorganized. Thankfully, her family recognized that Belle was in trouble. They brought her to a treatment center in Florida where I work and had an intervention with her.
Belle’s Family Intervenes
Belle did not come into treatment because she wanted to. Her family, who had been supporting her, had threatened her that they would cut her off if she didn’t.
Belle would tell you that she had a successful acting career, but she was actually making no money. Her mother was sending her a check for $6,000 every month. (more…)
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It’s the Holy Grail in the world of addiction to find drugs that will block the craving for alcohol. There are three medications on the market that have been studied and show some benefits.
Pros and Cons of Drug Used for Alcohol Dependency or to Block Craving
Campral, also known as Acamprosate, is used to block craving. Studies have found a reduced incidence of relapse with veterans in Philadelphia who took this drug.
The daily dosage is two 333mg tablets, three times a day, and in my practice dealing with addiction and alcoholism, that has a limited benefit.
Topamax, or Toprimamate, an anti-seizure drug used to prevent migraines, is sometimes used to treat alcohol dependency and prevent alcohol cravings, but I’ve have had minimal success with it, and have found it to produce complications. It may cause mental slowing, cognitive slowing, and may effect the kidneys. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what are Subutex and Suboxone. He explains the other common names for Subutex and Suboxone. Learn how Subutex and Suboxone are used to help aid in drug detox.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
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http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what are Subutex and Suboxone. He explains the other common names for Subutex and Suboxone. Learn how Subutex and Suboxone are used to help aid in drug detox.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
Learn More
http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what are Subutex and Suboxone. He explains the other common names for Subutex and Suboxone. Learn how Subutex and Suboxone are used to help aid in drug detox.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
Learn More
http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains what are Subutex and Suboxone. He explains the other common names for Subutex and Suboxone. Learn how Subutex and Suboxone are used to help aid in drug detox.
Call Dr. Agresti today to get help with Drug & Alcohol Addiction.
Learn More
Initially the attraction is euphoria taking a mini vacation. Someone once told me getting high is like God putting a warm blanket around you and rubbing your temples telling you everything will be alright. This is a powerful draw. The mini vacation to escape life’s hardships becomes more frequent and all encompassing. Physically the body comes addicted. Psychologically the individual needs the drug to maintain emotional stability and to cope with life’s stress. Individuals with addicted family members are at an unfair disadvantage. Once they get a taste of euphoria from a drug, their bodies crave more drugs. Something is different with this group, they are genetically built to use excessively. Their bodies experience powerful cravings to use addicting drugs and keep using them. Their favorite word is more. Genetic predisposition is one unlucky factor. Another unlucky factor in making someone drug dependent, is being raised and living around drug dependent people. So, there are two forces at work, one is a genetic predisposition to use, another is a learned behavior.
That’s just the start. Once the psyche experiences the high, the escape, and a free ride from life’s problems; new forces take over. The individual goes undercover and must now conceal their activities. They have to make some time to get drugs and to do the drugs. They have to start explaining to others lost blocks of time, money, energy, and different thoughts and behaviors surface. By thoughts I mean all the using and getting drugs takes a lot of planning, manipulating and lying. They need to form a group of people who each contribute something to getting drugs, a place to use them and help with the cover story to disguise what’s really going on. (more…)
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Let’s look at the opiates first. An opiate is a narcotic pain killer like Roxycodone, Oxycodone, Loratabs, Loracet, Methadone, Vicodin, Actiq, and Stadol. The action of these drugs may last varying amounts of time and has varying doses. For example, some people can be on 100mg a day of oxycontin while others may take 1000mg a day of oxycontin.
When a person goes through the detox process, problems begin soon after the initial part of the detox at and around five days. Mood problems are the most common with depression and anxiety. Occurring frequently people become lethargic, sad, anhedonia (unable to enjoy anything), unable to concentrate, feeling hopeless, helpless, worthless, despair, negative thinking, worrying, having tension, unable to relax, fearful.
Another thing that happens in recovering opiate addict is they can’t wait for anything. Everything needs to be immediate. They don’t like plans, tend to be impulsive and they just like to do it now. It’s called instant gratification. Problems with sleep last for months if not years. People may develop cravings for sugar and increased sexual drive may occur. Difficulty thinking develops; they may have apathy towards everything which is a lack of interest in all activities. They don’t want to do leisure activities or work. They have difficulty setting goals, finding motivation and have difficulty following through on tasks. They become preoccupied with using opiates. (more…)
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They are medications used to detox people from opiates like Roxycodone, Oxycodone and Loretab. These medications can also be used over long periods of time like months or years to continually block the cravings for opiates.
This is extremely important valuable. You can take someone who is addicted to Roxycodone also known by the street name “blues”, and detox them painlessly with Subutex /Suboxone. In days past the treatment would end at that point. The individual would detox and then be sent home, but what happen was a post acute withdrawal syndrome. The individual would crave opiates and these craving periods have been described as unbearable which would lead people to relapse. Individuals become irritable, anxious, insomniac, fatigued, and obsessed with getting and using drugs. The street term for this is called “jonesing”.
The advantage of Subutex/Suboxone is the drug Buprenorphine. These pills stimulate the brain into thinking it has an opiate on board. The difference is the individual does not get high, drowsy, have any risks of overdose, and does not engage in drug seeking behaviors. They no longer obsess about drugs, the desire and wanting to use them is diminished. They remove themselves from the drug world. Their lives can normalize and their thinking clears so they can make better decisions. This medication has changed many lives in which other people thought those individuals were hopeless. The Subutex/Suboxone can be tapered and stopped when the individual is confident of his/her sobriety. This medication itself is habit forming but much less so. Most people come off it easily. Twenty to thirty percent have problems coming off. This is nothing like the problems of coming off an opiate like Roxicodone, Oxycodone, Lorcet, and Loretab. (more…)
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Marijuana has been used by so many people and is so immersed in our culture that people don’t respect it dangers. Working with adolescents with mental illness, marijuana is the biggest problem, I face as a psychiatrist.
Every adolescent tells me the same thing: “It’s natural”, “They are going to make it legal”, “Marijuana helps me sleep”, “Marijuana relaxes me”, Marijuana is harmless”, “Nobody gets in trouble on marijuana”, “It’s not as bad as alcohol” and “Nothing is fun without marijuana”.
Then there is always the arguments what it’s not: “Marijuana is not addicting”, “People can stop anytime they want”, “Marijuana doesn’t make you violent or aggressive”, “You cant over dose on marijuana”, “You can smoke all the marijuana you want and nothing happens”, “Nobody steals to get a marijuana fix”, “Marijuana is not a hard drug”, and “No one gets rushed to the hospital because they used marijuana”.
Groups of people are organized around using marijuana. The glue that holds these people together is smoking marijuana and listening to musical groups like Dave Matthews, Phish and Grateful Dead. Those things are maybe true but that’s not the whole truth. Marijuana is subtle and effective in addicting people. The addiction is psychological in nature but powerful. Marijuana users usually become regular users. People tell me, “I use once a week, maybe every ten days.” That means you have marijuana in your blood stream most of the time. Marijuana may take 7-10 days to leave the body. Chronic smokers may have marijuana in their system for up to six week, so even infrequent use results in marijuana/THC in your system all the time. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains how, as a family member, you can help your loved one with drug & alcohol addiction. He explains how to stop enabling drug and alcohol addicts. Learn how to cut off the drug & alcohol detox from being enabled to stay in their addiction.
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The first question most people ask when visiting a doctor is “What’s wrong with me?” As a psychiatrist I usually beat them to the punch by asking them, “Why are you here?” That question itself is diagnostic in nature. It speaks volumes of an individual’s perception and self assessment of their problem. If the patient is presenting with an addiction issue, invariably there are several assumptions they have already made. Most of the time they assume that they have a disease. That it is chronic. That it is incurable. And that after a period of detoxification their disease will be managed by daily doses of 12-step activity. This in spite of overwhelming statistic that traditional 28 day treatment programs have about a 16% success rate.
This has always been a great curiosity to me. If one in six patients who attend these conventional treatment programs remain abstinent for one year post discharge, why would anybody waste the time, money and psychic investment required by these programs. I would not buy a car that started one out of six times. More importantly, I would not buy a car that stopped one out of six times I applied the brakes.
What if we were treating a disease that does not exist? In my profession that is called a misdiagnosis. What if we spent our time, energy and money trying to stop “addiction” rather than trying to understand addiction? An entire industry has developed around causation rather than cessation. If you had a choice of either understanding why you drink or stopping your drinking the decision would be obvious. Even if you are a comprehension junky for whom the process trumps the product, at some point all growth starts with stopping. (more…)
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, discusses why people it is beneficial and best to work with a psychiatrist when detoxing from drugs. Many times drug abuse and drug use come to help with mental illness. If you don’t work on the symptoms of what causes the use of addictive drugs (i.e. depression), you’ll find it difficult to detox completely from addictive drugs.
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http://206.189.200.158 ~ (561) 444-7044
Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, discusses why people use drugs and alcohol. He explains three different reasons that people use drugs and alcohol. Drugs & Alcohol can be used by people due to learned behavior, genetics or mental illness.
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains normal steps of how a person becomes an Opiate Addict. He explains the beginning stages of receiving a prescription opiate drug and how the person feels taking them. Opiates bring a state of euphoria and the tolerance level of the pill builds, meaning more pills to reach the initial state of euphoria are required. Dr. Agresti discusses the symptoms of physical symptoms of withdrawal for an opiate addict.
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Dr. Mark Agresti, West Palm Beach Drug & Alcohol Detox Specialist – Psychiatrist, explains how to tell if a family member or friend is suffering from alcohol or drug addiction. He explains the signs, symptoms of behavioral, social and physical changes of someone with Drug & Alcohol Addictions. Alcohol & Drug Addiction should be treated with help. Learn how to approach your loved ones with drug and alcohol addictions.
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Dr. Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Health Specialist – Psychiatrist, talks about drug addiction rehab options. If you or a loved one has a problem with drug or alcohol addictions, you should know the options for addiction detox rehab. Not all drug addictions require in-patient treatment. Many drug addictions can be treated in outpatient care. Dr. Agresti, in this video, shares the time periods to expect for drug addiction rehab.
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Dr. Agresti, West Palm Beach Mental Health Specialist – Psychiatrist, talks about Benzodiazepines Detox. Though benzodiazepines detox can have some serious problems, such as seizures, it is possible. There are medications that can help during benzodiazepines detox. If you or a loved one is addicted to benzodiazepines, do not stop abruptly or at home. Get professional help and benzodiazepines detox safely.
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