Heroin Withdrawals and New Medicines that are being studied may soon come to the market. Many young school children are becoming addicted to heroin with alarming amounts of overdoses and deaths. This may be the reason for an ever increasing interest in drug companies to study medications that can remove the withdrawl effects of the heroin so these young kids can get off of the “Dope”. Until recently there have not been too many options for those who were “Hooked” on heroin. Mainly, Methadone Treatment has been the preferred way to treat heroin withdrawls. However, over the past few years there have been new treatments and medications that have shown great promise and hope for those hooked on heroin with more studies still in trials. One such study shows one Promising New Treatment where the patient receives one injection that lasts 6 weeks and will experience no heroin withdrawls.

Heroin addiction suboxone treatment, another promising new treatment, which contains Buprenorphine and Naloxone has been a very popular new medicine used for the treatment of heroin withdrawls. It has proven to be very effective and patients can be off of heroin within a few weeks without the withdrawl effects associated with stopping heroin abuse. Some highlights of Suboxone are: it does not need to be dispensed at a facility approved by the government such as Methadone, it is not as tightly regulated like methadone, it can be prescribed by a physician, it has little abuse potential, and does not cause overdose if it is abused. Naloxone is the ingredient that prevents a patient from trying to abuse the medicine by causing heavy withdrawl effects if the drug is injected. Buprenorphine is the ingredient that is a partial opiate used as a painkiller but can also remove any withdrawls caused by heroin. Because it is a partial opiate if too much is taken it cannot cause overdose. This leads to less stringent regulation of the medicine and can be taken home by the patient, unlike methadone which must be dispensed daily at the methadone clinic. Because of less stringent regulations patients who do not have access to methadone clinics, or have to travel very far to get to a clinic daily, can now simply go to a physician and take the Suboxone home.

Other studies are showing promise in the treatment of heroin withdrawls such as one study where the patient receives one injection of Buprenorphine which lasts up to six weeks. Once the injection is given the patient experiences no withdrawls and becomes free of the heroin. Researchers at Johns Hopkins published the study where five opiate dependent volunteers received a single injection of 58 mg of Buprenorphine and were assessed for four weeks for any signs of opiate withdrawal. This was done first residentially then as outpatient. None of the patients required any additional medication for withdrawal relief. Heroin withdrawal has definitely some very promising new treatments coming in the near future.

See also:

Heroin Addiction Aftercare Programs

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Heroin addiction and the choice of using residential inpatient treatment is probably going to be the best choice an addict can make to ensure they do not relapse. Studies show that inpatient treatment of more than three months has the best results (DATOS – Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies ) interestingly the study shows that heroin addicts who were still in OMT after1 year (outpatient methadone treatment) were using far less heroin than those who left the program after a year. “Client sub samples with longer retention in long-term residential programs and in outpatient methadone treatment had significantly better outcomes than those with shorter lengths of stay (results were inconclusive for outpatient drug-free programs because of sample limitations).“

Types of Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Programs and Length of Stay

There are a variety of Residential Inpatient Treatment programs to choose from. There are mainly two types of treatment; short term and long term. Short term residential inpatient substance abuse treatment programs generally are from 28 days to 90 days. Insurances can dictate the length of stay for a patient which the facility usually will work around to benefit the patient as best as they can should their insurance allow a stay of only 2 weeks. Long term residential inpatient substance abuse treatment programs can be anywhere from 90 days on up to 2 years. The approach between the two treatments can be quite different.

Other Types of Residential Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Programs

Other types of residential inpatient substance abuse residential treatment programs are available as well but are not as popular or are only partially inpatient. One that is not as popular is religious residential substance abuse programs that base the recovery more on religion. Another more popular type of residential inpatient residential substance abuse treatment program is called a “Half Way House”. This type of treatment involves treatment in the facility and out of the facility. Residents usually are working and can go home on weekends and Holidays. Longer term residential inpatient substance abuse treatment programs use this approach for patients who are nearing their term at the facility to slowly introduce them back into the communities.

Long Term Residential Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Approach

The approach the Long term residential inpatient substance abuse treatment programs take can vary. There are Biophysical, behavioral modification, religious, and those that focus on AA (Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve Step Recovery).

Long Term Behavioral Modification Programs

Behavioral modification programs focus on breaking the addicted patient’s character down by humiliation and various forms of ridicule, once the patient is broken down they then try to build the patient back up. Shaving patient’s heads, wearing diapers, and wringing out mops by hand all day are not uncommon practices at these facilities. This type of treatment is based on the Pavlovian idea that man can change his actions based upon stimulus and response. Many patients do not make it through this type of program and end up leaving to hold their dignity together. The success rate is very low and this type of program does not work well. They are becoming less popular. These programs can be up to two years in length and some use a slow integration back into the community allowing them to attend AA meetings and work on the outside as well as visits back home near the end of the patients treatment.

Long Term Religious Programs

These types of programs usually have a long waiting list and are difficult to get into. They are based mostly on religious beliefs and try to fill the addictive void of spiritual belief. This approach again has very low results as with many approaches.

Long Term 12 Step Programs

This type of program is most popular and has only slightly higher results than other approaches. It is based on AA (Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step Recovery). It usually will incorporate after treatment plans such as counseling.

Long Term Biophysical Programs

This is a newer type of treatment that is springing up everywhere. The claim is it has very high results. There are many parts of the body that is damaged when taking drugs and this incorporates many of the other approaches but brings the body back to health quicker through vitamins and other ways of removing toxins from the body enabling the addict to think a bit clearer. Sometimes addicts suffer many psychological issues that do not enable them to get the full benefit of what they are learning when stopping heroin use or other drugs.

Heroin Treatment Residential Inpatient Treatments are definitely better than outpatient treatments and provide better results.

For more info on various treatments see the links below.

Heroin Detoxification and Other Types of Treatments

Rapid Detox Treatment Dangers

Heroin Treatment Methadone

Heroin Addiction Suboxone

Heroin Addiction History

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