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Symptoms And Side Effects Of Alcohol Overdose

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Alcoholism, Drugs & Alcohol. No Comments on Symptoms And Side Effects Of Alcohol Overdose

Symptoms And Side Effects Of Alcohol Overdose

Alcohol overdose is a life threatening situation, can cause heart failure, and is a sign of alcoholism.

Physical: Alcohol overdose greatly impairs cognitive functioning, therefore interfering with essential motor function. Additionally, alcohol overdose can cause problems in the digestive system or failure of certain organs like the liver. Symptoms and side effects include:

  • Loss of equilibrium: difficulty keeping balance, falling over, unable to walk
  • Lack of coordination: difficulty walking without stumbling or falling, cannot coordinate limbs to make motion, cannot perform separate physical movements at the same time
  • Numbness or lack of feeling in limbs
  • Slurring, drooling, or inability to communicate clearly; incoherence
  • Head falling down with a loose neck
  • Upset stomach including excess vomiting
  • Eyes rolling back in the head
  • Passing in and out of consciousness
  • Seizures

Psychological: Significant amounts of alcohol also impair essential psychological functions, from emotional to mental states. Symptoms and side effects include:

  • Aggression
  • Violence
  • Rage
  • Crying or hysteria
  • Short Term Memory Loss
  • Rapidly Changing Emotional State
  • Paranoia
  • Confusion

What To Do For An Overdose: If you believe someone is experiencing an overdose on Alcohol it is important not to leave them alone. If they exhibit extreme signs like eyes rolling back in the head, drooling, or a seizure it is important to call an ambulance or get them to an emergency room as soon as possible. Loss of consciousness during an alcohol overdose can result in unconscious vomiting, which could result in choking and death.

After Overdose: Drinking to the extent of alcohol overdose is not a normal manner of drinking. Depending on the situation, for example if a person commits a crime or gets a DUI, they might be forced into an alcohol counseling program. Many judicial circuits mandate attending a certain number of 12 step meetings like alcoholics anonymous or narcotics anonymous.

If you are concerned a loved one has a drinking problem which has now threatened their life, call Enlightened Recovery today. We can refer you to a detox center and set you up to move through our levels of care. Rehabilitation for alcoholism requires therapy, holistic healing, and creating meaning in life. Our program is inspired by the tradition of the twelve step spiritual program while integrating holistic healing modalities and progressive therapeutic methods. For more information on our programs, or for guidance on a loved one suffering from alcoholism, call 833-801-LIVE.

Opioid Addiction Is Severe; Treatment Should Be Unique

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Drugs & Alcohol. No Comments on Opioid Addiction Is Severe; Treatment Should Be Unique

There’s a problem with claiming to have the solution to addiction. Addiction doesn’t look the same to everyone. That is why Enlightened solutions provides individualized recovery and treatment plans to each resident. Through a series of intensive screenings, diagnostics, and evaluations, the specific diagnoses of each resident is created. From there, our certified and experienced clinical staff is able to work with the patient to suggest and provides the best course of treatment possible. Meeting the needs of each individual client is a necessity to ensure successful treatment and contribute to lifelong sobriety.

Individualized Approach

Individualized treatment methods are important because not everyone comes to their addiction i the same way. Part of the appeal of twelve step recovery is learning that while each person’s story may be different, the generalities of addiction are the same. More often than not, however, treating only the generalities of opioid addiction will not lead to lifelong recovery. Opioid addiction especially needs to be treated with specificity.

Opioids are powerful narcotic substances which are highly addictive. Currently, America is undergoing multiple opioid crises, primarily in the Midwest, New England, and along the East Coast. While typical treatment has helped some up until now, professionals and government officials are calling for more. Recently, the US Surgeon General released a special report on the state of opioid addiction in the United States. The Surgeon General called form more funding for treatment, implementation of harm reduction practices, and more prevention services.

What Are Opioids?

Opioids can include:

  • Heroin
  • Opium
  • Prescription Painkillers
  • Synthetic Opioid Drugs

Derived from the opium poppy plant, opioids provide pain relief. Creating morphine in the system, opioid substances work with naturally occurring opioid receptors in the brain. Opioid receptors help to slow down the heart and increase feelings of euphoria to combat the onset of pain. Morphine and morphine based medications are used to treat patients recently out of surgery or having been through a traumatic accident. Synthetic opioids, as well as regular medications, are used for treating chronic pain patients.

Opioid addiction treatment requires a multifaceted approach. Enlightened Recovery offers a program combining spiritual practice with evidence based therapy as well as holistic healing. Our residential treatment programs are designed for men and women who are ready to live different lives. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

Why Are Synthetic Drugs So Dangerous?

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Synthetic drugs can include popularly well known substances such as crystal meth, flakka, krokodil, and bath salts. Methamphetamines are central nervous system stimulant drugs. Compared to other substances, synthetics hit the system faster. With quicker access to the brain, synthetic drugs create a nearly instantaneous high which is powerful. Having direct impact on the central nervous system, synthetic drugs go racing through the nervous system and blood stream. Those who have abused synthetic drugs or have found themselves addicted report the sensations of euphoria firing on all nerves from brain to body. Unfortunately, the wild high of a synthetic drug does not last long. Synthetic drugs are cheap and sold is disguise in many easy to find places. Developing an addiction to synthetic drugs is easy when the drug is cheap, available, and ready to take one dose after another.

The Allure Of Synthetic Drugs

Powerful delivery of chemical substances to the brain results in a wide array of effects. Synthetic users report fantastical hallucinations, as well as severe paranoia. Crystal meth can keep someone up for ten days at a time in a blackout while simultaneously providing an excess of hormones and increasing sexual arousal. To those on the outside, the negative effects of synthetics would be a deterrent. For those who have experienced them, however, the positive is too good to pass up.

Problematically, continuing to use synthetic drugs is equivalent to gambling. Due to the chemical nature of synthetic drugs, the compound of one batch to the next will not be the same.

The Danger of Synthetic Drugs

Synthetics are made from an unpredictable variety of chemical substances from phosphorous to liquid drain cleaner. In an ongoing effort to fly under the watchful radar of local enforcement agencies, manufacturers of synthetic drugs are constantly changing the chemical recipe. As a result, synthetics addicts or those who recreationally experiment with them, are at risk.

At its worst, synthetic drugs can cause paranoia, elevated heart rate, high blood pressure, and overheating. While some report seeing God on synthetic drugs, many others report seeing the devil, from whom they run for their lives. Synthetics can cause stroke and cardiac arrest as well as permanent psychosis.

Enlightened Recovery is a coed treatment facility for men and women who want to heal and be liberated from their abusive relationship with chemical substances. We provide multiple levels of care and take insurance. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

Does Marijuana Help Mental Health?

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Marijuana is legalizing and medicalizing around the country. 2016 alone has seen the legislative approval of recreational marijuana use in 4 states. Many others have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana as well as medicalized it. As the normalization of marijuana grows, research continues to grow as well. CBD oil, which removes the high-inducing THC molecule from marijuana, is being used to treat cancer, autism, ADHD, depression, and more.

A recent review of research has found that marijuana can benefit mental health disorders. Social anxiety, PTSD, and depression can all be benefited from the use of marijuana, according to the review. Specifically, these mental health disorders benefit from the use of marijuana. Other mental health disorders like bipolar might not benefit from the use of marijuana as they result in more negative effects.

According to Time.com, one of the main encouragements for expanding research into the positive benefit of marijuana in treating mental health is to aid in the war on opioids. Quoting Zach Walsh of the University of British Columbia, Time cites, “If people use cannabis as a replacement for opioid medications, or to get off of opioids or cut back, we could see some pretty dramatic public health benefits.” Walsh continues to explain what millions of Americans know to be true: “The level of opioid overdoses is so high right now.”

Isn’t Marijuana Addictive?

Marijuana is not considered to be an addictive or habit forming drug by most. However, marijuana use disorder has become a realistic problem. Marijuana today is stronger than it has been in previous decades, causing more a chemical alteration and creating a dependency. Regular marijuana users do experience symptoms of withdrawal without using marijuana. For this reason, recovery professionals are concerned about the use of a mind altering substance to treat the addiction to another mind altering substance.

As controversy still reigns regarding medication assisted treatment and the use of natural substances like Kratom, it is unlikely marijuana as an addiction treatment will gain traction. Additionally, marijuana, though legalized at state level for some states, is still a federally illegal drug. Until the DEA lifts the Schedule 1 label on marijuana, conducting further studies will be difficult.

 

Enlightened Recovery provides a continuum of care to men and women seeking a creative approach to treatment. Our programs combine evidence based treatment with twelve step philosophy and include holistic modalities for care. For more information, call 833-801-5483.