Hope for Alcoholism Treatment
Many families have learned the frustration of trying to help an alcoholic family member when they did… [more]
Crack Cocaine Recovery
The devastation that crack cocaine wreaked on America in the late 1980s was about as destructive of families… [more]
Teen Alcohol and Prescription Drug Use May Create Need for Rehab
It may come as no surprise to parents of teenagers that there is often a hidden world among teens that… [more]
Should Parents Use Drug Tests if More than Half of All High School Students are Abusing Drugs?
In light of recent study results that show that more than fifty percent of schoolchildren have abused… [more]
How Pain Killers Can Lead to Addiction
How Pain Killers Can Lead to Addiction It can often happen that one inadvertently gets hooked on pain… [more]
The Benefits to Your Community of Effective Drug Rehab
If one looks at the costs of drug treatment, law enforcement, the judicial system and welfare costs due… [more]
Withdrawal from OxyContin: How Bad is it?
How bad is it when an addict tries to stop taking OxyContin? If you do an internet search for “OxyContin withdrawal symptoms,” you’ll find a list like this: Muscle aches, yawning, sweating, insomnia, agitation, anxiety, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea and vomiting.
- http://www.drexelmed.edu/home/HealthEncyclopediaArticles/DiseasesandConditions/Opiatewithdrawal.html
None of them are pleasant but it doesn’t sound that bad. But does that represent the real picture? And if it doesn’t, how can you find out what it’s really like?
A little-known secret is that support groups and chat rooms for people going through the same illness or drug problem are places where you can get the dirty secrets of what an illness, addiction withdrawal or medical treatment is REALLY like. The people writing comments on those boards are the ones living the problems, not the doctors who want to sell their medical treatments or drug rehab programs.
So what kinds of withdrawal experiences are OxyContin addicts describing on these sites? They are graphic and utterly miserable. Here are a few excerpts from their stories.
“I stopped taking them and got extremely nauseated. I was sweating heavily then going through hot and then cold flashes. I could not control the coughing or yawning. I couldn’t sleep, my heart was beating fast and I was so depressed, I seriously contemplated suicide just so I would not feel so awful.”
“My withdrawal was hot and cold sweats, leg cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. It was pure hell. It lasted for two or three weeks of no sleep.”
“There was no sleep for me for almost ten full days. All my bones ached severely. I couldn’t ever sit still. I had a lot of back pain and headaches. I would have done just about anything to get the medication back.”
“It’s like the worst flu ever. You sweat and vomit, can’t control your bowels. You shake and just wish you would die.”
- Statements adapted from the postings on www.oxyabusekills.com/stories.html.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that withdrawal from OxyContin and other opiates can be far better than this, if the withdrawal is done at a Narconon drug and and alcohol rehabilitation center.
Every drug rehabilitation starts with withdrawal, but the Narconon staff go to great lengths and have unique procedures for making the process as comfortable as possible. Because most addicts have been neglecting their health, the Narconon drug withdrawal step starts with getting lots of good food, vitamins designed specifically for drug detoxification, and calcium-magnesium drinks into the recovering person.
The nutrition is followed by one-on-one walks with staff and “assists,” gentle physical and mental re-orientation and relaxation processes that help calm the mind and the body of the recovering addict.
The effect of all these steps, repeated over and over again throughout the day, is that the severe discomfort of opiate and opioid withdrawal is toned down to a tolerable process for most people.
“The difference is so great for some people,” stated Bobby Wiggins, spokesperson for the international offices of Narconon, “that some addicts think they may have somehow skipped withdrawal entirely. But they didn’t. It’s just that this process is effective in making withdrawal something that can be faced. It no longer has to be a barrier to recovery for someone who is desperate to get clean and sober again.
“Some people realize that if they can get through withdrawal this successfully, that there is something special about the Narconon drug rehabilitation program, and that they truly have a shot at lasting sobriety by graduating from this program,” Wiggins added. “A person who wants their life back can have it by doing the Narconon drug recovery program.” There are more than 120 Narconon centers around the world, dedicated to eliminating substance abuse and drug addiction through effective rehabilitation and drug education.
Give us a call if you need help with drug addiction or to get more information about the Narconon drug rehabilitation program. Our counselors are here to assist youl.
Addictive Prescription Drugs Constitute a “Growth Industry,” Warns Narconon Spokesperson
As prescription drug abuse and overdoses hit new highs among Americans, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has just announced its new strategy to bring these numbers down. While some illicit drugs like cocaine have lessened in popularity, prescription drug abuse has been increasing. In evidence of the growing popularity of these drugs to abusers, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that nearly one third of the people who abused drugs for the first time in 2009 chose prescription drugs to abuse. Overdoses have increased five-fold since 1990. And for the first time, deaths from prescription drug misuse have exceeded deaths from gunshot wounds and, in many states, deaths from traffic accidents.
- http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/rx_abuse_plan.pdf
- http://ofsubstance.gov/blogs/pushing_back/archive/2011/02/22/51827.aspx
“While this kind of drug abuse is a ‘growth industry’ so to speak, it’s not the kind of growth that benefits your citizens,” commented Bobby Wiggins, the director of Narconon for drug education. Narconon is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of substance abuse and addiction through effective drug rehabilitation and drug education. “We commend the ONDCP and the Food and Drug Administration for taking action to increase awareness of the problems resulting from reckless prescribing or from just letting unused drugs sit in the family medicine chest.”
As Drug czar Gil Kerlikowske announced the strategy on April 19, 2011, he said that by and large, Americans are ignorant of the fact “that what’s inside the medicine cabinet can kill.” In particular, teenagers are susceptible to abuse and addiction because they may consider medications prescribed by the family doctor safer to abuse than street drugs. And when the family fails to safely dispose of old prescriptions, it can be easy for a young person to get the drugs he wants out of the medicine chest.
Part of the strategy included requiring manufacturers of extended-release and long-acting opioid medications to help mitigate the inherent risks of these drugs by financing education for doctors on proper pain management, patient screening and to ensure that patients use the drug as prescribed.
Some opioid addicts started out using these drugs for a legitimate medical need. As the body builds tolerance, patients feel they need more of the drug to keep the aches and pains away so they may abuse the drug and finish their prescription. After the patient finishes the prescribed dosage, the Dr. may simply cut the person off, sending this now-addicted person into illicit use. An addict may get desperate enough to harm someone to get the drugs he feels he needs. Also, he or she may resort to illicit drugs as a substitute. Doctor-shopping, prescription fraud or theft may provide the addicted person with the prescription medications they feel they need to be able to function normally.
The medications frequently abused by opioid addicts are: hydromorphone (marketed as Dilaudid, among other names), oxycodone (ingredient of OxyContin), morphine, oxymorphone (brand named Opana and others), methadone, and fentanyl (a synthetic opioid 50 to 80 times stronger than heroin).
“It’s vital to plan for drug prevention through education and drug recovery through effective drug rehabilitation at the same time that you get these prescription drugs off the street. People who are already addicted must have somewhere to turn,” Wiggins concluded.
Admissions at Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers across the U.S. have been seeing increasing numbers of admissions to treatment due to prescription drug abuse. In some centers, half of the addicts entering treatment are recovering from prescription drug addiction. But no matter what the substance of abuse is when a person enters rehab, the Narconon program still results in seven out of ten graduates remaining sober after they return home.
Narconon Drug Recovery Centers Work Tirelessly to Counter Efforts of Drug Cartels
In the early morning hours on the 17th of October, federal police in Tijuana decided to stop a convoy of three tractor-trailers and one smaller truck traveling through Centenario, a district in Western Tijuana. The inspection turned up a marijuana shipment. The shippers opened fire on the federal police. When the dust settled and two more raids had been carried out, 150 tons of marijuana had been seized. It is the biggest haul ever of illicit drugs, most certainly destined for transfer into the U.S.
That’s enough marijuana to roll more than 190 million joints, worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $400 million. The marijuana was burned in a public ceremony three days later.
Marijuana is still a very big business. A good, money-making business for the likes of the three cartels operating in the northern Baja California peninsula, said to have recently formed an alliance instead of fighting over turf.
“This huge quantity of drugs headed into our country makes it all too obvious that the problem must be fought from both the supply side and the demand side,” stated Clark Carr, president Narconon International. “The government can fight supply all it wants, but those in this country who are addicted to drugs will find a way to get their next fix of heroin, cocaine or marijuana. And yes, based on the number of people who come to Narconon to overcome a marijuana addiction, marijuana is addictive.”
Across the nation, millions of people live productive, sober lifestyles until they come in contact with the drug pusher that works at the desk next to them, who just moved into their neighborhood, or who is in their class at school. Those small, supposedly inconsequential “deals” amount eventually to sums of money that are subverting whole countries. Thoughtless of the lives being ruined, the cartels and their representatives on the street rake in their profits and condemn millions to the loss and pain of addiction and even death due to overdoses.
In Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers across the country, those addicted to alcohol, methamphetamine, prescription or other drugs use the eight-step Narconon drug treatment program to claim their lives back from the cartels. With seven out of ten Narconon program graduates remaining clean and sober and with more than 30,000 graduates from the 140 Narconon drug treatment or education centers around the world, that’s a lot of people who are no longer customers of the cartels.
“Every person deserves a chance to grow up and live drug-free,” added Mr. Carr. “But the cartels do their best to take this chance away. We help give life back to people every day, in every Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.”
For more information on Narconon drug recovery centers around the world, visit www.narconon-news.org.
Narconon News Press Release Report
Narconon press releases and news report. Narconon drug rehab and drug prevention activities around the U.S.A.:
- Drug Rehab Experts Prepare for Holidays: Narconon Arrowhead news — Danna Sue Pruitt, CADC (Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor) and supervisor over a national drug information hotline managed by Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation and education centers says that ….
- Family Referral Best Way to Find the Right Drug Rehab: Thanks to her husband who called local government officials as well as licensing groups to reinforce their decision, the family sent their daughter to the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.
Family Finds Son Who Was Missing for Three Years and Brings Him to Narconon Drug Rehab: But Michael’s parents continued to email. His mother told counselors at Narconon Drug Rehab of Georgia: “We did not know if he was getting the emails but told him how much we loved him and gave news about the family. We begged him to let us know if he was alive.” But there was no word.- Narconon New Life Detoxification Program Backed By Independent Studies: The Narconon New Life Detoxification Program used as a part of the overall Narconon program produces similar startling results when applied to drug rehabilitation.
- History of Narconon Freedom Center’s Drug Rehab Program: Narconon first originated in 1966 when William Benitez, an inmate of Arizona State Prison, came upon a book in the prison library written by American author and Humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.
- Narconon Sauna Detoxification Proven to Release Drug Residues: The study shows the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program mobilizes and eliminates foreign compounds, especially those stored in the fat, the result being positive changes in a person’s health and elimination of drug cravings.
Narconon Gulf Coast, Drug Treatment is the Answer, Not Jail: According to Debbie Ross executive director of Narconon Gulf Coast, a world-class residential drug treatment facility, “People with drug addiction problems need help, not jail.”
Narconon-News.org
Narconon International at the HOPE 2008 Conference
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“Yusuf was wise to expand the scope,” said Clark Carr, president of Narconon International. “Drug abuse affects AIDS, AIDS affects population and human rights, and everything interacts with environment.” Carr delivered a paper on the ‘biochemical personality,’ outlining Narconon® drug rehab case histories which demonstrate a promising pattern of positive personality changes when recovering addicts cleanse toxic drug residuals from their bodies.
With its more than 145 centers delivering drug rehab or prevention services in 45 countries, Narconon was perhaps the most international organization present. “I’ve been fortunate to work with Yusuf on several occasions,” said Carr. “Several years ago we collaborated delivering drug education lectures to half a dozen Mumbai colleges.” The only permanent Narconon installation in India so far is a drug education unit in New Delhi, although Carr said they hope to open a residential drug treatment center in India in 2009. Dr. Rosy Chhabra, another colleague of Merchant and DAIRRC, reported on a study funded by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of DAIRRC’s successful alcohol and HIV education project. “It was totally collaborative with schools and communities,” she said. “It was because the community took charge that it was successful.” |
The conference had a long name – HOPE 2008 International Conference on Alcohol/Drug Abuse, HIV/AIDS, Environment, Population, and Human Rights. Over 100 persons from 11 countries attended the conference held in October in Mumbai, organized by Dr. Yusuf Merchant, president of DAIRRC (Drug Abuse Information Rehabilitation & Research Centre).
It’s not just drug toxins that are depressing us, of course. Speakers from Switzerland to South Africa discussed the dwindling spiral of environmental damage and population growth. Flying in from New Delhi to address the attendees was also keynote speaker, the Honorable Mrs. Meira Kumar, Minister of the Dept of Social Justice and Empowerment, a co-sponsor along with the National Institute of Social Defense. “There are two root causes of all five targets of the conference,” she said, “human greed and human deprivation.” She gave a blistering critique of those who “look down on the deprived.” “Our caste system is a human rights violation, a social injustice,” she continued, “but non-violence and education are our hopes and greatest tools.” The Minister said she preferred NGOs to tackle these problems, endemic not just to India but the whole world. “Government can’t do it. The NGOs are so passionate and dedicated.”