Helping your friends who use drugs

July 12, 2014

Helping your friends who use drugs-Being your friend keeper

We can all be drug free if we choose to help one another fight their addictions

Have you ever asked yourself what the kind of society we will have if drugs are not a bused and no one is addicted to drugs? Try visualizing that in your mind and imagine seeing yourself being the reason behind that atmosphere where drugs and addiction is never heard of, this is the society we are advocating for and you can be very instrumental in making it happen. We have been posting very informative articles on this link relating to addiction among other life changing topic and just recently we posted one detailing the consequences of drugs abuse and drug addiction which I will encourage you to look at even as you continue learning more about your role in helping those of your friends who may be struggling with drug addiction.

The problem of addiction in our societies today must not be left for the medical doctors and health professionals only to tackle. This problem must be fought from all directions, since it can affect anyone without discriminating on who to affect so everybody should be involved and you are part of that group of everybody. The question you are likely to ask is “how or what can I do to help?” in this article we will be discussing some of the things you can and should do to contribute in the fight against drug addiction and the following are just some of the things you can do:

Treatment
You owe your fiend the duty of care in all dimensions and especially that friend using drugs. People using drugs often find it difficult to consent seeking treatment, if your friend is one you can take the advantage of being their friend to prevail upon them to accept treatment because this will help them stop abusing the substances they abuse. There are many ways of administering treatment which may include talk therapy, medicine or even both. Receiving treatment will help them resist the urges or desire to use drugs again and also helps them be in control of their lives. The objective of treatment is to have the addict recover from their addiction and start living life without drugs. Your condition does not matter treatment is there for everyone whether you are a new drug user, heavy user or an addict you can be treated and get better. Take that bold step and be a hero by convincing you friend to seek help (treatment) and that will be a positive contribution on your part.

Understand the dangers
It is important to note that you can only help someone if you know and understand the dangers of the problem at hand. We have in our previous article discussed some of the consequences of addiction you can make reference to. On your part you must have clear understanding of how destructive drugs can be to you physically, psychologically, emotionally and economically. Having the clear knowledge will help you avoid drugs and be sober even as you look forward to helping those in drugs already.

Helping yourself and someone you love

Remember drugs addiction can affect anyone and you are not excluded and so let us start with you before you can go helping somebody. If you have ever tried using drugs before and felt bad about it, it is important that you share this with someone trusted immediately preferably your parents. This must not wait any longer because it may graduate to other serious problems your parents or any trusted adult will know what to do and they will ensure that you helped before things go from bad to worse.

However if it is your friend or any of your family members who has or is beginning to start using drugs or is associating with bad company, you must not keep quiet because you can help in the following ways:

Talk to an adult -bring this to the attention of somebody senior it could be your teachers, school counselors or social workers these people will have ideas that can help you talk to your friend about their drug use. Seek for useful information and ideas to help them if you do not want to name anyone. They are specially trained to deal with teens and drug use.
Take a risk -sometimes it may be necessary that you take some manageable risk because talking to your friend about his drug use may not be an easy thing to do, as this can make him angry. Nonetheless try and spending some quiet time with him (not in quiet, hide outs that will put you in trouble), and let remind him of the dangers and potential problems he is getting into. Ensure that you speak to him only when he is sober but if he is angry, you may have to stay away from his company. But continue to care for him and share ideas with him.
Remind them that help is available -Sometimes people want confidential help, because they do not want anyone to know about their situation. This is OK. Try and research and find them a counseling service around. You can always ask adults (teachers or parents) about places for teen counseling, and give your friend the information to seek the confidential help.
Be careful yourself -You can also be tempted into drugs one day. Knowing the facts like what you are doing now is a great way to stay away and say NO! Be careful and keep distance with bad company. Do not even entertain them. If your good friends have fallen to drugs, be careful they do not drag you into it and to be safe drop them from your list of friends fourth with.

Finally having been a good a ambassador of fighting drug addiction by helping others through vital information it is important that your friends get to know that when addiction hits hard treatment from addiction professionals will be very helpful and Dr. Dalal Akoury who founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is an expert in addiction and together with her team of experts will help you get well in real time while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Helping your friends who use drugs-Being your friend keeper

Beating Addiction Naturally

July 5, 2014

Natural Ways to Beat Addiction

Detoxifying the body is usually the first step of recovering from addiction but this is just a small part of how such addicts can manage sobriety for a long time if not for life. Patients can get both traditional and western therapies as part of treatment for their addiction. Natural therapies like acupuncture, hypnosis, yoga and guided meditation can help in addressing the whole body difficulties of addiction. Mind, body and spirit are all connected to addiction recovery considering the immense positive response to natural therapies of some patients. These natural therapies needs to start with the mind, body and the spirit where addicts will be taught natural ways to control their own health and they will also be taught how to focus on their habits in a natural way.

The said physical treatment will offer the affected people an opening to direct their feelings connected with addictions. Almost all addictions can be treated naturally but most people are oblivious to these facts. However, the common human being will try and approach it in different ways. Take for example the case of opiate addiction or addiction to pain killers. Many people believe that it is almost impossible to get rid of this addiction but this should not be hard if you are in the right path and know what you are doing.

Regrettably, most people don’t usually know about all these alternatives when trying to detox for these drugs or tablets. Treatment of addiction to pain killers can be done in three phases which is commonly known as detox (PAWS) post-acute withdrawal syndrome and recovery. For pain killer addiction natural therapy detox, ordinary wisdom says one has 6 choices (medicated home detox, cold turkey detox, rehab, in patient detox, ultra rapid detox and opiate replacement detox). Take an example of cold turkey therapy where the addict unexpectedly or suddenly stops all the opiates. These detox is mostly done at home devoid of medical involvement or drug prescription.

Patients who opt for cold turkey detox usually do so because they have no choice mostly because they will either have no money to buy the opiates, luck the opiates or both. This is mostly because they don’t have other options due to lack of money to buy the opiates. The detox is easy and quite comfortable because it will only last for about a week. This detox is usually not recommended because it is difficult and does not work long term, the relapse rate with this method is very high to consider it a practical method.

However since statistics show that many people will not complete home detox and even if they do a big percentage will relapse. Below are some of the proven ways that have worked overtime.

Acupuncture: this will help manage the addiction behavior by arousing the brain and it will also help overcome cravings and unnecessary urges. Acupuncture has also been proven to help patients stay in addiction treatment for a longer time than those who don’t embrace it as a way of treatment.
Exercise: This therapy is another way of teaching addicts to control their unhealthy cravings to a great health. Exercise has also been known to aid in the management of stress and even weight that is always gained after quitting various addictions like hard drugs or even smoking. It has even gone further to make them feel confident of themselves.
Hypnosis: this will help patients reject or eliminate the behavior and will adopt a new way of thinking about their addiction.

natural addiction recovery All these channels when applied should be used alongside other remedies but not as an only way of intrusion. These remedies should be considered by patients as another potential means to address their infirmity. A combination of intrusions will give the best results when it comes to combating addictions.

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Natural Ways to Beat Addiction

Detoxification for Addiction Treatment

July 4, 2014

Detoxification for Addiction treatment-Drug Addiction

Detoxification is a proper way of removing toxins from the body of addicts. We can be free from drug addiction

Having seen people suffering from addiction and addiction related problems for several years I took it upon myself and made it to be a burden on my shoulder to offer help through written articles that are very informative and educative to the suffering societies. Drug addiction has been a thorn in many peoples flesh and the sooner we get the corrective measures the better for everyone. This is going to be one of the many articles of this nature I will be posting to help us live in an addiction free environment. We will concentrate on detoxification as a method of addiction treatment in this article and staying on the link to read more will be worth it. Detoxification or just detox is a method of addiction treatment which removes the physical effects of drug addiction from the body.

This word detox is normally very popular moments after Christmas when everyone is rushing to undo the effects of excess consumption of alcohol. This usually involves abstaining or following a very strict diet in order to cleanse the body of toxins. The detox of drug or alcohol is done in the same way to flush out toxins present in the body as a result of addiction. Toxins are responsible for the cravings experienced by many addicts and must be removed before the process of recovery begins.

Detoxification for Addiction treatment-Alcohol detox

During alcohol detox the alcoholics will receive medication only when they have stop drinking and are relatively sober this is done purposely to prevent or bring the possible side effects to manageable levels. The medications are prescribed by the GP who have a duty to help the patient go through the entire process of treatment and detox period. However in the absence of the GP’s then prescription may be done by a practicing nurse. The whole treatment process may involve the following;

The prescription of medication is only done once you have stopped drinking. This medication will be a chlordiazepoxide. The patient is advised to take a high dose the first day they stop drinking and then gradually reduce this dose over the next 7 days. This will help to ease any withdrawal symptoms.
The patient must NOT drink any alcohol at all during this process. They may be required to undertake a breathalyzer test to confirm this.
The patient is then put under observation of either the GP or practice nurse during this time. He/she will also prescribe vitamins to boost the patient’s health as many alcoholics tend to follow a poor diet or not eat at all which can cause a vitamin deficiency.
Further prescribed may be necessary for further medication after the detox to prevent a relapse. This is very important because quite often some people do go back to drinking after a detox and so medication can prevent this from happening.

During this period of detoxification it is important that the patient get all the support they need from their family members, friends and relatives. In addition to this the patient should enroll in a support group or a self-help group like AA and also be attending counseling sessions consistently.

It must be noted that detoxification is not a ‘magic bullet’ and does not mean that with this the addict will stop you drinking automatically. Much as we may want this it is not always the case and so the individual patient must take the lead role in deciding to stop. They must have greater determination and willpower as they will still experience some cravings even after this period.

A detox removes the toxins which have accumulated in your body as a result of your drinking. This enables your body to become used to not having alcohol which will improve your health and well-being.

Detoxification for Addiction treatment-Drug detox

The process of drug detox is the same to that one of alcohol as has been discussed above in that the addict is given medication to control withdrawal symptoms, e.g. methadone, once they stop taking drugs. The idea is that body will flush out the toxins which have built up over time as a result of drug use. During this time they will be offered counseling and other forms of support.

There are residential centers which offer treatment for drug addiction which includes detox, counseling and group meetings. They may also offer complimentary therapies such as massages or acupuncture, or advice on diet and exercise.

A detox can form part of your treatment plan. Once it has been completed you will still experience a few cravings so you will need to remain focused upon your goal of beating your addiction. That is why a support network is important as they will be able to help you go through this and prevent you from relapsing once the detox is over.

Cravings and withdrawal symptoms are an unpleasant but inevitable side effect of the addiction recovery process. These can be dealt with via medication but it is important for you to recognize what they are and what triggers them so that you can deal with them when this arises.

Detoxification for Addiction treatment-Cravings

These are strong urges for something, for example a cup of coffee or a cigarette which come on suddenly. They are extremely powerful emotions which can affect the way someone thinks or feels but they are also short lived.

A craving only lasts for a few minutes and then passes. If you can adopt a mindset in which you will not give in to the urge then this will get easier as time passes.

Once you know what to expect then you can prepare yourself for when a craving arises and deal with this. This can mean occupying yourself so that it takes your mind off it, telling yourself that it will pass and repeating this or using relaxation exercises.

Whatever strategy you use, you will find that your cravings reduce over time and will become less important in your life. If you do give in then don’t beat yourself up over this. Recognize that it has happened, make a note of how and why and carry on with your treatment plan. Proceeding may be an uphill task on your own and so you need help to move, you can and will always get this with Dr. Dalal Akoury the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. Together with her team of experts you will get treatment tailored just for you, and the focus will be exclusively Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE

Detoxification for Addiction treatment-Drug Addiction

Rehabilitation

July 3, 2014

Rehabilitation-Drug Addiction

It take great effort to stop drug addiction. you can do it before it brings you down by enrolling in a rehabilitation ‘rehab’ center for treatment

Addiction to substances has adverse effects to human life and the need to have the problem contain or brought to a manageable level is very necessary. Because of the magnitude of the problem we have various ways of solving the problem among them being the rehabilitation which we are going to be discussing in this article for a better understanding of how best we can model it to offer the best. This article is in a solution finding mission of lasting remedies to the addiction and addiction related problems. Rehabilitation is therefore the process or means through which the general target is to ensure addicts to halt their addiction and live a free and normal life. Different methods are used in rehabilitation to inspire the victims to halt their cycle of dependency and cope with normal life devoid of self-destructive behaviors like drinking disorderly that may lead into addiction.

We must eradicate the perception that rehabilitation or ‘rehab’ is only for who is who in the society booking themselves into posh clinic to receive treatment for their addiction. Just like addiction does not respect anybody and can affect all so is the doors of rehabs centers being open for all irrespective of their background. These centers are not just located in the urban places but are also accessible through local community and in both set up they are well furnished with trained personnel to attend to all patients.

The common practice in rehab is to inspire patients (addicts) to appreciate and take full control of their addiction by adopting various treatment methods like:

Detoxification
Counseling
Psychotherapy

When at the rehab addicts are taught about relapses and how to cope, they are also taught about the negative effects of their addiction and are ushered to new healthy and productive ways of living. It must be noted that different clinic or team of expert may take different approach in administering addiction treatment (i.e. either giving a holistic approach or a more direct approach) because there is no single method that works better than others and the type of rehab will depend upon your addiction and your circumstances.

Residential rehabilitation

This is common and it is design to offer full boarding facilities to the addicts during the treatment period. The patients are taken through a course of treatment designed to help them regain control over their lives. Opting for this then you will be required to stay at the facility and undergo a collection of forms of treatment until one is able to cope on a daily basis without their addiction. When the patient is coping well does not mean that they are through with treatment, they will still be required to attend as out-patients counseling sessions, a drop-in clinic or support groups and meetings where necessary.

Besides treatment at the rehab there are also other factors which are involved in the process like the cost element, treatment available, staffing cost, environment and units of courses. Often rehab centers encourage family members to become involved in the treatment process and help the addicts see this as vital to their recovery though this will only be applied once they have gone through detox and are able to cope without experiencing any withdrawal symptoms. The duration of rehabilitation varies and may last from days or even several months. On admission there will be an evaluation and assessment before one is advised of the kind of treatment that will be suitable for them.

How rehabilitation work?

It is important that patients being admitted at the rehab centers get to know the following:

Patients should not be under any influence of alcohol or any other drugs on arrival at the center.
All prescription medicines being taken by any patient must be surrendered to the centre authorities. This may look harsh and intimidating but it is done for the good of the patient. Eliminating all forms of temptation will ensure that you are not at risk from a relapse.
The centre will request the patient to sign a contract which is a statement to the effect that you will refrain from substance abuse whilst you are there. It also means that you fully agree to the treatment.
Someone at the centre will be assigned to your case. They will act as a point of contact and as a liaison officer during your stay.
The will have diverse personnel with experience in different discipline like nurses, psychotherapists, counselors etc. Their role will be to prescribe medication to deal with withdrawal and to monitor progress.
However some centers may go for an ‘organic’ approach in which they only use natural remedies and products.
You will be offered counseling, detoxification, group sessions, psychotherapy and family orientated sessions. You may also be offered skills/learning sessions, complimentary remedies for example acupuncture.
Some centers may have a gym which they encourage addicts to use as well as offering advice on healthy eating.

Rehabilitation-Day treatment

Alternatively the patient may choose the option of structured day program which will include at time schedule of activities for a given duration which normally runs into several days in a week. The content of the time schedule may include among other needs as counseling and the other forms of treatment. Besides the rehab you will also have the services of your local community drug/ alcohol team who will provide services like residential and non-residential detox program, counseling, valuable advice and support and group therapy.

The Aims of rehab

Like we said in the introduction that addiction does not discriminate on who to affect and so the following are some of the ultimate objectives of any rehab centre:

To wean the addicts off their addiction to enable them recognize the cause of their addiction problem and how to deal with it in the future.

Adopting plans for dealing with negative events in the patient’s life which in the past may have resulted in self-destructive behaviors like drug taking. Once the patients are aware of how this happened and why, they are better placed to cope with the unexpected or negative events in their lives. The motivation is that the patients will choose more positive ways of dealing with problems rather than substance addiction. And as long as they are willing and determined to kick their habit off then rehab will be an ideal way of treating their addiction and recover completely to live a normal life.

Finally it is important to appreciate that most of these rehab centers are privately owned and would attract payments for the services the offer. the cost will vary from centre to centre and so the patients who may not be able to meet the cost can source for funds from elsewhere like from their local authority, this is very crucial because each patient financial situation will be assessed before a decision is arrived at about funding. These are the general practices in most of the rehabs and with this information you will be better placed if you make enquiries for yourself from various experts on how to be safe from addiction and I will be of help to you by suggesting AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility founded by Doctor Akoury who is an expert in addiction treatment for several decades. A visit to AWAREmed will be an eye opener to you and you will be attended to by a team of experts who will care for you professionally while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE.

Rehabilitation-Drug Addiction

Managing Cancer Naturally

July 1, 2014

Natural treatment of cancer is a better alternative

Cancer Cancer is a disease that has caused pain to its victims as well as their loved ones and it has affected the world’s economy just as much as it has depopulated the world greatly. It has become an unfortunate avenue through which the young and the old alike get to the cemetery. But does it have a cure? Yes, it has its only that the most effective cancer doctor that you have spent years searching for is just within your reach: you are your cancer doctor, believe it or not.

The most known cancer treatments are not as effective as they ought to be in fact they leave patients with lots of life threatening side effects. Chemotherapy is one of the most known cancer treatments that works in such a way that it kills the cancerous cells, however in the process of killing the cancer cells the healthy cell are also killed and the patient will suffer the consequences which includes loss of hair, nausea, loss of appetite and loss of weight among other dangers associated with chemotherapy.

Embracing natural ways of cancer treatment will not only help the patients to evade the life threatening side effects associated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and even surgery but will also heal the world’s economy. Currently cancer has disabled many people who would rather be working towards achievement of various national goals reducing them to dependent individuals who cannot survive without family support. A cancer patient spends about $ 50000 fighting the disease. Chemotherapy drugs are not cheap either and cancer patients spend between $3000 and $7000 to maintain a steady supply of chemotherapy drugs a month.

The best way to treat cancer is to starve the cancer cells, that is, to restrict supply of needed nutrients for their survival. When this is achieved the cancer cells will be eradicated without injury to the healthy cells hence the patient will go through the whole process without having to through the agonizing pain associated with chemotherapy when both the healthy cells and the cancer cells are killed by the chemotherapy drugs.

Eat anticancer foods

The basic rule to treating cancer naturally is by watching what you eat. There are lots of foods that are anticancer that will help you a great deal in your fight for health and freedom from the disease.

Colleen Doyle, the director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society says that whatever you eat and the quantity you eat will have a long term impact in your fight for cancer. He advises that you should reduce the amount of sweets and unhealthy fats and increase the amounts of healthy foods that can help you in fighting cancer. Here are some of the foods that will help you in fighting cancer.

Berries

Berries are highly concentrated in antioxidants that help in limiting cell damage and helps in repairing damaged cells that may become cancerous. Freshly picked berries are healthy choice but if you can get the frozen berries you can still use them.

Garlic

Garlic is very good for cancer patients as they have antioxidants that help greatly in fighting colon cancer. It is rich in compounds that block tumor formation and growth in the colon.

Flaxseed

Flaxseeds are rich in lignans which are compounds that have antioxidant properties. They help in reducing the growth of cancer cells and are good for breast cancer patients. The seeds should be ground for easier absorption in the bloodstream

Grapes

Grapes are rich in resveratrol which is helpful in slowing the rate of growth in cancer cells as well as inhibit tumor formation in the liver breast and colon. They also contain lycopene which helps in fighting cancer.

The Gerson’s therapy

The Gerson’s therapy is also another powerful alternative treatment to cancer that has got known worldwide for its effectiveness. It endorses use of vegetable as well as fruit juices over a period of time. The foods featured in the Gerson’s therapy are rich in anticancer properties and are good for cancer treatment without severe side effects.

Detoxify Your System

As known we get cancer from our interaction with the environment. The air we breathe and even the foods we eat put at as risk of getting the disease. Genetically modified organism like commercial poultry are a major source of cancer and so it calls for detoxification to remove all these toxins from our system

Effective cancer treatment calls for detoxification to remove toxins from the cells. This process is vital and you can find foods that can help you detoxify naturally.

Gerson's therapy Use of coffee enemas in detoxification is known as the most effective way to get rid of toxins that may put you at risk of getting cancer.

Other products that can also be used in this process include green tea, Artichokes, grapes among other fruits and vegetables.

Eat to starve cancer cells

Doctor William Li while at TED talked of Anti-angiogenetic therapy which can be used to deny cancer cells supply of blood and other needed nutrients. Angiogenesis is the process by which the body creates blood capillaries. He says that too many blood capillaries ensure the cancer cells of steady supply of blood and nutrients. So the body needs to have optimum capillaries to reduce the risk of cancer. He advised that eating anti-angiogenetic foods such as kales, turmeric, garlic, Artichokes, tomato, berries and cherries can help reduce cancer deaths.

Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) has a passion for creating a healthier world by empowering you to stay safe from cancer. Be a regular visitor on her website and learn how to treat and take care of yourself.

Natural treatment of cancer is a better alternative

Tag Archives: Detoxification