Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy

May 14, 2015

Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy: Parents Love to their addicted children

Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy and the sooner treatment is sought the better for you

We have been following up on a story about the rough road of quitting heroin addiction in the previous article and for sure life as an addict is not everyone cup of tea. There is no peace in drug addiction and even during treatment you will still experience very strange things as has been the case with this recovering patient whose story forms the basis of our discussion. In more than two decades of her medical practice in the line of addiction, doctor Dalal Akoury met this client and who recovered from heroin addiction the hard way. In her introduction in the previous article we show how she become homeless from time to time, running out of cash and wasting her life in less valuable activities. We want to further the discussion with a view of using this story to impact positively in the lives of many young people and also to seek for lasting solutions.

Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy: Being Homeless

At one point during the stay with my friend, I got word that my parents were coming for a vacation in the neighboring country and this trip could not have come at the right time. After being accommodated all this while, my friend had just given me notice that her roommate needed the couch for her guests who were visiting with her soon. This would have meant that I was going to be homeless again. The good news to me is that my parents were not just coming for me to have a roof over my head, but also at a time when the addiction healing process was picking up well. And so to play safe, I told my parents that I will be joining them for the vacation but am down with a very bad flu and needed a place to crush for sometimes.

Even though I was making this lie, my parents actually knew the truth because they had seen me go through it several times in the past even though they never commented about it. And with the assurance of getting accommodation and the love of my parents, I threw away all my bags and needles and headed to joining them. I spent the next few weeks there shacked up in their bedroom, sleeping on an air mattress and refusing to leave the room. By and by the physical pain started to recede paving the way for mental anguish to hit like a train and this time I couldn’t move. I cried a lot struggling to hide the real thing from my parents but it was pointless and I just didn’t care.

Realizing that I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar, I figured what is the difference between this and a depressive episode, anyway? So I rode it out like anyone else. So many things crossed my mind including suicide but I just didn’t have the strength to follow through with any of my half assed plans. I thought about trying to find dope in this city however hard could it be but I was so depressed that the idea of trying to get out of bed was exhausting enough, let alone getting dressed and leaving the house. Besides, I had no money and I knew my parents didn’t trust me so what was I going to do? Steal money? Forget it. I didn’t have the strength.

Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy: Struggling with relapse

The next thing that came in my mind now that am that weak is to go online hoping to connect with people who might be able to help but no luck there. I ended up reaching out to the guy whom I had dated shortly for like a week before I move to another town. As fate would have it, he had also been kicked out of his house around the same time and had left the state. But he missed me a lot and wanted to come back. Because I needed company of a friend, I requested my mother if my “boyfriend” could stay with us for a while and like a loving mother to her only daughter she agreed. So he hopped the first plane over here. And that’s how my real life started, I suppose.

I ended up marrying that guy and having a child and then divorcing him almost immediately and now we are working things out or whatever. But the most important thing is that we don’t do heroin any more. And we don’t use needles. We are both well aware of the pain and the consequences of the drug. Still we seem to have different views. I feel like there is a junkie living in my head and she will never go away. For this reason, I think of myself as forever an addict and I don’t trust that I will turn down a shot if offered. He claims to feel no desire for the drug at all but he was not as hard into it as I was. He didn’t even know how to shoot up on his own; I remember at some point I had shot him up a few times and clearly he wasn’t as much an addict as I was. That may be good for him but I will never rid myself of that voice in my head, my inner junkie. She is locked away in the back of my mind but she is always screaming and begging to be let out. There’s always that suggestion of just one time. Just one hit for fun this time. I’m in control because I have chosen to.

Finally, if you ask me what cold turkey heroin withdrawal does to a person, I will tell you that it searches deep within the reaches of your mind for any shred of hope and joy or anything resembling such and destroys it completely, killing it brutally and mercilessly. It leaves you as just a shadow of your former self. And for some, it never ends. In some form or another, it stays with you for life. That is why doctor Dalal Akoury founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center to help you cope with all these withdrawal challenges. You can call doctor Akoury today to book for an appointment with her for a more professional recovery treatment process.

Drug Addiction Recovery process is never easy: Parents Love to their addicted children

How does heroin work in the brain

May 12, 2015

How does heroin work in the brain: The truth about Heroin Addiction?

How does heroin work in the brain? the brain must function normally at all cost and effects of heroin to it must be corrected timely

When you ask me this question how does heroin work in the brain? I will respond to help you not get confused as to whether heroin is good for your health or otherwise. You cannot gamble with your life and most importantly your health. For your information, this I the most valuable asset one can ever possess in life. When experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center say that your health is your health, it is not a gimmick. It is a confirmed fact and you can attest to it even as a layman. Heroin as a drug has nothing to offer in the protection to this most valuable yet priceless asset called health. And just to erase the confusion from your mind if any, doctor Dalal Akoury the MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center explains that, under normal circumstance the human body will naturally produce its own opiate-like substances and uses them as neurotransmitters. Allow me to repeat that in a different way, I have not said heroin but substances like opiate. Now listen and get some of the substances am alluding to. These substances may include endorphins, enkephalins and dynorphin and collectively they are commonly known as endogenous opioids. Endogenous opioids modulate our reactions to painful stimuli and this is where many go wrong and are attempting to associate heroin with proper functionality of the brain. That aside these endogenous also regulate vital functions such as hunger and thirst and are involved in mood control, immune response, and other processes.

And now as to the reason why opiates like heroin and morphine are affecting us so powerfully is that, these exogenous substances bind to the same receptors as our endogenous opioids. There are three kinds of receptors widely distributed throughout the brain including the mu, delta, and kappa receptors.
These receptors through the second messengers, influences the likelihood that ion channels will open, which in certain cases reduces the excitability of neurons. This reduced excitability is the likely source of the euphoric effect of opiates and appears to be mediated by the mu and delta receptors.

This euphoric effect also appears to involve another mechanism in which the GABA-inhibitory interneurons of the ventral tegmental area come into play. By attaching to their mu receptors, exogenous opioids reduce the amount of GABA released. Remember that in under normal circumstances, GABA reduces the amount of dopamine released in the nucleus accumbens. By inhibiting this inhibitor, the opiates ultimately increase the amount of dopamine produced and the amount of pleasure felt. Besides that doctor Akoury says that the chronic consumption of opiates inhibits the production of cAMP. However this inhibition will be offset in the long run by other cAMP production mechanisms. When no opiates are available, this increased cAMP production capacity comes to the fore and results in neural hyperactivity and the sensation of craving the drug.

How does heroin work in the brain: Heroin Effects on the Brain?

This is one great concern that many people are yearning to understand and for sure most people have realize that addictive drugs affect the body, but they always fail to realize that the effects of heroin on the brain can be very powerful and devastating. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center this will all starts when the heroin users takes their first dose of heroin. This will put the roller coaster in motion and sets them up for long term addiction to heroin. Remember that the initial rush of euphoria is produced by a flood of powerful opiates being sent to the brain eventually becomes the new bar for feeling good. Over time, the brain comes to demand the same level of extra opiates in order to pass that communication to the body that everything is fine. Without the extra boost of opiates, the brain shifts into panic mode, and alerts the body that more opiates are needed in order to feel normal. Thus the addiction is propagated from the level of starving opiate receptors in the brain.

How does heroin work in the brain: How does Heroin Addiction Change the Brain?

It is very sad that we all want to live well yet we often don’t do what will make us live the life we all desire. Like for instance, the brain is one of the pillar organs of good health. When the brain is healthy the whole body is too however most addicts do not realize that consistent abuse of heroin figuratively changes the brain over time. This is one of the most profound effects heroin has on the brain, because it is essentially permanent if the heroin addict has abused the drug for several years. For a better understanding, doctor Akoury explains what will happen. She says that a normal person has a certain level of dopamine that is produced on a regular basis that is trickled out to their brain so that they can simply feel normal as they go about their business. For example, after and during vigorous exercise, the body is slowly releasing small bits of this natural dopamine to the brain, so that the person can feel a bit better in spite of their hard work which is also a basic, biological survival mechanism.

How does heroin work in the brain: The Dangers of Heroin Use on the Brain?

When an addict starts using heroin every single day, what that person’s brain is basically saying is that “hey just a minute here, and then the body communicates that it is being constantly flooded with extra opiates and dopamine, so there is no need for it to produce any more naturally by itself as it should normally. I am getting all that I need and more.” And so over time, if the heroin addict continues doing heroin for years and decades, they slowly train their own body to stop all natural dopamine production. Because heroin addiction is so dangerous and has so many risks involved with long term use, most heroin addicts never make it to this end stage where their body has ceased making natural dopamine. But those who do are stuck in a predicament where their body is always going to be a bit starved for natural opiates, just so that they can feel normal. In such cases, drug maintenance therapy with a synthetic opiate is usually recommended.

Finally this phenomenon should demonstrate the power that heroin use can have, as it is actually one of the physical effects of heroin on the brain. Other effects may also include craving and the fact that heroin can literally change the chemistry of the brain over time, and grip the addict ever deeper into the clutches of heroin drug addiction thereby necessitating the need for you to seek for help with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center.

How does heroin work in the brain: The truth about Heroin Addiction?

The truth about withdrawal from Heroin Addiction

May 12, 2015

The truth about withdrawal from Heroin Addiction: Quitting Heroin Addiction is Possible

The truth about withdrawal from Heroin Addiction is very essential if we are to defeat this problem of addiction

If there is anything users should have done like yesterday, is to stop their habit of substance abuse. The little euphoric moments are just for a moment but the repercussions are for a life time if one does not quit. If you were to be given an opportunity to choose between life and death in your sober state of life and at your very best moments in your life calendar, what would you go for? Would you opt for life or death? You have the liberty to make that choice but I strongly believe that you will settle for life like I will too. Therefore in this article, we want to look at some of the truth about withdrawal from heroin addiction to help you be ready to face any challenges that may come with your noble choice of quitting. To help us get the facts right, we are going to be talking to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a heath facility formulated by doctor Dalal Akoury primarily to offer lasting solutions to all drug addicts across the globe among other health complication matters.

Actually there is no secrete concerning the truth about withdrawal from heroin addiction because much has been written about “cold turkey” and the huge trauma of getting a heroin addict off the drug. Doctor Akoury acknowledges that withdrawal can be very difficult, but she is also very quick to register strongly that it is only difficult but not impossible. It therefore means that when there is the willingness and determination, freedom from drug addiction can be realized with a very short time. She says that at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center up on scheduling for an appointment, her team of experience experts will in the most professional way help you to first come to terms with this disturbing condition. They will also work very closely with your loved ones because in this journey everyone is a victim with just small differences in the intensity. Elements like “Clucking” or “cold turkey” is characterized by unpleasant symptoms such as sold sweats, nausea, confusion and intense craving and those are some of the areas that we will help you cope with. Nonetheless it is also very important to note that some of these symptoms are not necessarily physically dangerous.

The truth about withdrawal from Heroin Addiction: The genesis of Effects of Withdrawal

When you have enrolled for treatment our team of experts will evaluate your individual conditions to determine the degree or the magnitude of the problem before commencement of a tailored treatment designed specifically to address the root cause of your individual addiction problem. This will help significantly in fast trucking the recovery process. We are determined to getting you back on your feet and pick up the pieces of your life back and live it to the fullest. And as this treatment process gain momentum, it is equally important to appreciate that the withdrawal effects are likely to start around eight to twenty four hours after the last dose. This will be accompanied with some symptoms similar to flu aches, chills and sweating, sneezing, yawning and muscular spasms. These effects take a week or two to subside but feeling of weakness and loss of well-being can last months. Psychological dependence can be even harder to overcome than physical dependence. As a possible candidate for treatment, it is very important that you are well informed of these challenges and contain with them because they form part of the withdrawal process. If you are not adequately informed, these can lead you into losing the treatment momentum.

The truth about withdrawal from Heroin Addiction: Real treatment obstacles

Despite all this treatment side shows, very many patients have successfully come off high doses of heroin without medication or massive withdrawal symptoms like for instance this has been particularly common in some rehab units run as Christian foundations across the globe. Many factors are involved, not least of all mental state. For example, a heroin user who injects regularly may experience a “hit” even if he or she is injecting medical saline (salty water) so long as the person believes it to be heroin. This so-called placebo effect can be very powerful.

When dealing with heroin addiction, a lot more is involved besides the real object and target the heroin. Many users have gotten so much into the habit that they tend to be so much attached or let me say that they have fallen in love with the needle and the act of injecting themselves. When an addict gets to the position where they take this habit as a hobby, withdrawal is quite a challenge. I know of one patient whom I will name Mr. H, he is such a thin man in his late thirties and a father of three very handsome boys. For a couple of years he lived alone in a government flat and he has used heroin for very many years besides injecting so many other drugs including crush tablets and anything that comes his way. His love for the syringe causes him to sleeps at night cuddling his syringe, holding it in his hand on the pillow by his head. To him, the needle is a symbol of comfort and a source of happiness and hope. That is a serious problem and he is not alone. This gives us even greater challenge to pool together, educate the world on the truth about withdrawal from heroin addiction and all other drugs. The society is grieving and you and I must step up the spirit of defeating this menace. And even as Mr. H is changing the game in that manner, for many others the ritual of passing the needle has a meaning, they see it as a sign of belonging, of being a part of the club something that unite them, can you see the danger? The syringe being used as a bonding factor! Oh what a life? That aside the good news is that much of that is changing in this post-AIDS world. And even though a lot more still needs to be done, most injectors are now using their own equipment, replenished from government funded needle exchanges a practice that is being appreciated by many both as individuals and institutions.

Finally the luck of knowledge is a very bad disease, if you are reading this right now, be an ambassador of change and share what you now know with a friend and better still schedule for an appointment with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and get the best treatment that will restore your life back for prosperity.

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