Do you or a loved one need treatment for a heroin or opiate addiction? If so, this blog post will provide you with valuable information.Heroin addiction and opiate addiction is currently an epidemic among young adults. Roughly 80% of the clients we serve at NorthStar Transitions have struggled with a heroin or opiate addiction. Many young adults begin their opiate addiction by using prescribed medications such as vicodin, percocet, dilaudid, morphine, oxycodone or oxycontin. Once young adult opiate addicts can no longer obtain prescribed opiates they often turn to heroin which is readily available in most urban areas around the country. Many young adults drive into the most dangerous parts of the inner city from their suburban towns in order to purchase heroin.Once a person begins using opiates they initially develop a mental craving for the drug. Eventually the body becomes physically dependent on the drug and the addict will go into severe withdrawal without their fix. Symptoms of opiate withdrawal include hot and cold flashes, vomiting, diarrhea, aches, pains and severe mental anguish. Heroin and opiate withdrawal can be deadly so medical detox is recommended.Medical detox can be made more comfortable by drugs such as subutex which ease withdrawal symptoms. Occasionally, psychiatrists and other medical professionals will recommend a client begin taking suboxone as a lesser evil than heroin or oxycontin. However, we at NorthStar Transitions believe that generally speaking (and this is not a medical opinion, seek guidance from your physician) suboxone is a crutch for most young adults and is only appropriate for older chronic opiate addicts who have little hope of living a life of total abstinence. Methadone is another alternative treatment to chronic opiate addiction but is only appropriate for those who have no hope of staying clean from opiates but for the methadone. Methadone withdrawals are brutal and often last for as long as a month.After medical detox, the heroin addict or opiate addict should attend a 30 day primary treatment program. Denver drug rehab CeDAR, Denver drug rehab Harmony Foundation and Denver drug rehab Raleigh House of Hope all offer effective substance abuse treatment for opiate addiction and heroin addiction. Both CeDAR and Harmony offer medical detox for heroin and opiate addicts.Once a client has completed a Denver drug rehab or substance abuse treatment program, they should attend aftercare for a minimum of three months. Substance abuse treatment aftercare is very important because this is where the “rubber meets the road” putting the tools the client learned in substance abuse treatment into action.NorthStar Transitions aftercare Boulder drug rehab and Boulder sober living program is an excellent fit for young adult heroin addicts and opiate addicts. Clients in NorthStar’s Boulder sober living drug rehab program live in a furnished month-to-month rental while working with a life skills counselor and therapist. NorthStar Transitions life skills counselors will provide relapse prevention support and coaching, provide an orientation to the twelve step program of AA or NA and help the client to secure employment, enroll in school and build a positive peer support group.If you or a loved one are in need of a Denver drug rehab or Boulder drug rehab program or a substance abuse treatment aftercare program, call NorthStar transitions today! We can help! Call 1-866-407-2240 for your free 30 minute consultation today!
