Lindsay Lohan’s back in the news. Not for a movie premier, or an awards ceremony, but for a parole violation that could land her in jail for the second time. As part of her probation, she was to perform 360 of 480 hours of community service for the Downtown Women’s Center, but was let go for failing to show up for 9 scheduled meetings. Furthermore, when she did show up, she wasn’t staying more than an hour, when her requirement was to perform at least 4 hours of work per visit. After being let go from the Downtown Women’s Center, she began volunteering at the Red Cross, but the judge in charge of her case had not approved the switch, and in considering her release from the center, ordered her to go directly to jail for the violation. She was released shortly after on $100,000 bond. She will return to court on November 2nd to learn if she will be ordered to serve the rest of her sentence in jail.
Lohan appeared unkempt at her court appearance, and her father has recently stated that she is doing illegal drugs that are rotting her teeth badly. She recently appeared in public with yellowing, decayed looking teeth, a clear sign of smoking meth or crack from a pipe. When asked about her teeth in a televised interview, Michael Lohan said: “That’s from smoking a pipe with meth or crack, … she’s smoking either crack or meth, one or the other. I’m not going to shade it.”
Although the conviction Lohan is serving probation for is not drug-related, she has been the poster child of drug and alcohol abuse for years. It’s clear how badly damaged her judgment has become due to her addiction, and how detrimental it has been to her health, family, life and career. Lindsay’s stints in drug rehabs has been a highly publicized media circus.
We can only hope she can get a hold of her life, which is swirling rapidly out of control, before it’s too late. Too many people lose their lives to drugs every day, but it’s the celebrities that seem to get all the press. But if her never-ending and very public drug addiction helps just one person see a similarity to himself and seek help, then at least something good may come from all this.
If you or somebody you know is suffering from substance abuse, contact Novus Detox to find out about our unique drug detox program. We provide an effective Drug and Alcohol Detox Program where many of our patients have continued to stay off alcohol and drugs after they have completed our program. Call us at 1-800-505-6604 or email us to speak with an experienced drug detox specialist.
Categories: Drug News 
Novus Detox explains the signs of alcohol addiction.
Alcohol addiction is an increasingly common problem in our society. Alcohol consumption is a common and legal activity among Americans and the fact that it’s glorified on television and in the movies doesn’t help with trying to discourage people from excessively drinking. Intoxication is considered hilarious in movies like “The Hangover”, where young men go out drinking and do all kinds of crazy things, suffer from blackouts, and set out to undo all the problems they’ve created for themselves from drinking the night before. A large majority of the commercials on TV during a sporting event are beer or alcohol related. Drinking is viewed as a rite of passage, a sign that you’re “grown up”, and can do whatever you want. But don’t let that fool you. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it comes without risk. Thousands upon thousands of people simply can’t handle even the occasional drink. So how do you know that you aren’t among those that have a drinking problem instead of just the occasional drink? How do you know if you’re a candidate for alcohol detox?
There are a few simple questions you need to ask yourself if you want to find out:
- Have you ever felt like you need to cut back on your drinking?
- Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
- Have you ever felt bad or even guilty about your drinking?
- Do you ever feel a strong need to have a drink?
- Do you ever take a drink in the morning to “cure” a hangover, and drink to excess alone?
If you answer any of the questions with a yes, you most likely have a drinking problem that needs to be addressed. At Novus Detox, we have a highly successful alcohol addiction detox program that will put you back on track to getting your life together.
Novus Detox will design an alcohol detox program specifically for the individual, taking into account the actual physical condition of the person. We carefully use medicines to ensure the alcohol addiction treatment is safe and more comfortable. We understand how alcohol affects the body – that it depletes the body’s hydration and reduces the body’s ability to absorb and use nutrients, amino acids and minerals. That’s why we use specially formulated vitamin IV’s to handle the hydration, nutrient, amino acid and mineral deficiencies which will allow our patients to safely and more comfortably complete their alcohol detox without the serious and dangerous side effects of alcohol withdrawal.
We use natural supplements at each step of the way, and serve delicious and nutritious fresh food. We also provide round the clock medical supervision, for everything you need, the whole time you’re with us. Novus is a very comfortable facility. You can take walks on our 3.25 acres while you’re in alcohol detox, and if you smoke, we provide smoking areas for you to use. We offer private or shared rooms with a TV, DVD and internet access, so you’re not cut off from the world. And most importantly, we educate you on how alcohol affects your body, and the medical problems drinking causes that don’t just go away when you quit drinking. We will help you complete a comfortable and safe alcohol addiction treatment program, and teach you how to best address any drinking related medical problems you may have. And we will show you how to live a healthy life.
In short, help is just a phone call away. Novus offers a safe, effective and highly successful alcohol detox experience, and we’ll put you on the road to recovery in a safe and pain-free environment. Contact us today at 1-800-505-6604 or by email!
Categories: Alcohol Addiction Detox
When deciding on the choice of which type of detox program to enter, you’ll find that there are many options. Times have changed a lot in recent years, moving away from the typical hospital setting as the way to beat addiction. While having a good medical staff on hand in this situation is crucial, a sterile hospital environment can actually cause someone in medical detox to take longer to begin the healing process. A medical environment is not a friendly, personalized environment. By nature it’s neutral, generic feel leaves out an element that we at Novus feel is vital to one’s recovery…the feeling of being “safe” and “at-home”, of being cared for as if you’re with your own family. We’ve made sure to take the importance of that feeling into account as an integral part of our inpatient medical detox program.
Our residential facility provides living accommodations similar to the comforts of home. There are many advantages to this. For many individuals, it takes getting away from the situation to fully understand the predicament. When an alcoholic/addict is attempting an at home detox, they remain in their own environment. This makes it too easy to fall back into the same patterns and impulses that created the addiction in the first place. Novus Inpatient drug detox provides a controlled environment free from outside influences, including drugs and alcohol. It functions as a safe haven from one’s old, addicted lifestyle. In just a matter of days the substance abuser can start to look at their situation in life clearly and objectively, and begin to find ways to remedy it. This is a valuable way to begin to pick up the pieces, and repair the emotional and physical damage that addiction causes.
Throughout this process, the patient isn’t alone, left to deal with the detox by himself. We tailor a detox program customized for each patient’s body, metabolism and circumstance. We provide excellent medical supervision, 24-hour nursing care and 24-hour access to a withdraw specialist. Our safe and effective detox method cleanses the body in a comfortable manner that significantly diminishes most of the withdrawal discomforts that make so many other programs so painful.
Our medical detox program also focuses on the physical needs of the recovering addict’s body in a natural way. Natural supplements are used whenever possible, because our goal is to send you home clean and drug free, not simply to replace one drug or alcohol dependency with another drug dependency. We also provide nutritional IVs, supplements and delicious food to speed your body’s healing process and keep you properly hydrated.
At Novus, our goal is to guide you through the healing process from your addiction or dependency. A place where you’ll be shown dignity and respect. Nurturing and caring. And to provide the safest, most medically current inpatient drug detox program possible to put you on the path to recovery. Call us today at 1-800-505-6604, and take the first step towards getting your life back!
The Opiate and Opioid Treatment Program at Novus Medical Detox is designed to get you clean, and help you stay clean.
Many people with an opiate addiction are just average, run of the mill people that sought help for a painful injury, not knowing that sometimes the cure can be worse than the condition itself. The problem they face is pharmaceutical addiction. The use of drugs to treat pain. They were put on opiates or opioids to rid themselves of pain, and as a side effect, developed an opiate addition.
The word opiate refers to drugs like morphine, codeine and heroin that are made from the opium plant. An opioid is a manmade chemical substance developed by drug companies that causes a similar reaction in the body as that of opiates. Some well known opioids are methadone, Percodan/Percocet, Lorcet, Lortab, Demerol, Vicodin, OxyContin, Suboxone, Subutex and Dilaudid. These drugs are commonly prescribed in the treatment of pain caused by injury. While they are effective in controlling pain, they regularly turn ordinary people into substance abusers, either dependant or addicted to them for long periods of time. An opiate addiction can be very difficult to overcome, and opiate withdrawal symptoms can be quite painful to deal with as well.
The human body produces endorphins, natural hormones that the body uses to block pain signals from the nervous system to relieve pain naturally. But narcotic painkiller receptors are molecules on the surfaces of cells to which narcotic painkillers attach and activate the receptors to produce endorphins. Different types of narcotic painkiller receptors are present in the brain. The receptor most relevant to narcotic painkillers has been named the “mu” receptor. It is believed that through activation of the mu receptor, painkillers exert their analgesic and addictive effects and their feelings of euphoria. The problem is, the opiates that activate these endorphins are highly addictive, and difficult and painful to detox from. At Novus, we can greatly ease the discomfort of opiate withdrawal symptoms.
Part of the substance abuse withdrawal process is the time it takes the patient to again produce endorphins naturally, which is dictated by the individual’s DNA and is something which we carefully monitor. People withdraw from all drugs differently, so we tailor our withdrawal protocols for each individual person. For example, most of our patients who are dependent or addicted to painkillers are dehydrated and suffering from vitamin deficiencies. We ensure that our patients are hydrated properly. This, coupled with our individualized substance abuse programs, is a major reason that our patients who have tried other detox programs and failed to stay clean have said that Novus detox was not only faster, but much more comfortable than what they tried before.
As another part of our opiate addiction treatment, we use Suboxone®, which was approved by the FDA in 2002 and is administered in tablet form. Suboxone® contains buprenorphine, an opioid that triggers a response in the body similar to the response triggered by heroin, oxycodone, and morphine. However, unlike heroin, OxyContin® and other frequently abused narcotic painkillers, buprenorphine increases endorphin production only to a certain point and then no longer adds to the effect no matter how large the dose. Our medical staff must determine when the opiate-addicted individual is ready for the first dose of Suboxone® to be administered. If someone who is dependent/addicted to painkillers is not in withdrawal, this means that the painkillers are still activating the receptors in the brain and causing it to produce endorphins. If you were to take Suboxone® at this time it would cause a drastic drop in endorphin production from the opiate painkillers, and start a hard and painful withdrawal very quickly. When treated after the onset of withdrawal symptoms, Suboxone® will bridge the gap, and help to wean the patient off the opiates gradually.
At Novus, using hydration, natural supplements, good food and a withdrawal protocol designed specifically for each person, we ensure that the Suboxone® dose is properly tapered so that the person’s natural production of endorphins increases as the Suboxone® is tapered down. Our patients experience a much milder and more comfortable withdrawal than at many other medical detox centers. When they leave Novus Medical Detox Center, they are usually off all unnecessary drugs.
It must be noted that if a patient is dependent only, and if we are able to help them address any remaining pain through outside physical rehab and natural remedies, then the patient will likely be able to resume their life without resuming the use of opiate or opioid painkillers. But if a patient is truly addicted, then medical detox is only the first step. Unfortunately, 95% of addicted people who don’t get further outside treatment will resume their substance abuse addiction to painkillers.
Give Novus a call at 1-800-505-6604, and begin the process of overcoming an addiction to painkillers, and resuming a normal life again!
Success story from a patient who successfully completed the Heroin Detox Program at Novus Detox.
My stay at Novus was absolutely remarkable. After receiving treatment in several other detox facilities, my expectations were not very high. Those other facilities had all used a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all program. Novus custom tailored a detox program for my exact needs and then – with careful monitoring – even adjusted it as I went along. The physical and emotional problems I expected never arose. Their unique combination of hydration, IV and orally administered vitamins and supplements, medicines to ease withdrawal symptoms and excellent nutritional program worked better than I could have ever hoped for.
The entire staff – from cooks and housekeepers to doctors, nurses and counselors – treated me with the utmost respect and consideration. The counselors and medical staff were very knowledgeable. They answered all my questions, taught me a great deal about my illness and gave me the exact and simple steps I needed to continue into a full and complete recovery when I left their care. They also gave me the hope, encouragement and confidence I so desperately needed after my many previous failures. Remember – detox is only the first step of recovery.
The Novus facility was exactly as described. Clean, modern, peaceful and private. It was the ideal environment I needed to start my recovery in. The private room which included a flat-screen TV/DVD, Satellite System, private phone and internet access was absolutely beautiful and enabled me to remain connected to society. I was never out of touch with my family, friends or business.
My peers (nine or ten other patients) were from all walks of life and came from all across the US and Canada. They were a wonderful group of people and I watched as every one of them received the same quality treatment I did. Each day I could see them noticeably improve and I am sure they saw the same in me. I wish them all the best.
Without reservation, I would recommend the Novus program to anyone, anywhere that needs help breaking out of the seemingly never-ending cycle of addiction. I have absolutely no doubt that Novus can and will put you on the correct road to recovery.
Categories: Drug Detox Success Stories
In what seems to be a never-ending line of tragic and unnecessary deaths, R&B Singer Vesta Williams passed away in her hotel room in Los Angeles on September 22. While toxicology results won’t be available for 4 to 6 weeks, according to law enforcement officers on the scene, there were several bottles of prescription drugs found in her hotel room, and several were completely empty.
Underneath Williams’ tiny frame lied a powerful and soulful, larger than life voice. Her early success as a singer came as a background vocalist for numerous well-known artists, from Chaka Khan, to Luther Vandross, to Anita Baker and Sting. At one time, Williams sang in the group “Wild Honey,” which was headed by her cousin, the late R&B singer Ron Townsend. She also sang on TV commercials. Her career took off when she made the charts in 1986 with her song “Once Bitten, Twice Shy”. That song was on her first solo album “Vesta.” Her album “Vesta-4-U,” released two years later, included the popular songs “Sweet, Sweet Love” and “Congratulations”. She had also done some work in television and the movies, including parts as a saloon singer in Mario Van Peebles’ 1993 flick “Posse”, and her recurring role in the television sitcom “Sister, Sister” as actress Jackee Harry’s best friend Monica.
The 5-foot-3 Williams had also battled weight problems. At one time in the 1990′s she ballooned to a size 26 dress. She went on an intense weight loss program, and dropped 100 pounds to get back to her original size 6. She once told Ebony magazine that she began gaining weight rapidly after her singing career began to falter. She blamed her obesity on the loss of her recording contract. When asked about that, she said “When I lost my record deal and my phone wasn’t ringing, I realized that I had to reassess who Vesta was and figure out what was going wrong,” she said. “I knew it wasn’t my singing ability. So it had to be that I was expendable because I didn’t have the right look.” She later became an advocate for the prevention of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes.
She had recently been working on material for a new album. Her latest release was “Relationships,” and included a number of her original songs plus a cover of one of her favorite Stevie Wonder tracks, “You and I.” Her final performance was on September 17, 2011 in Portsmouth, Virginia, performing at the Autumn Jazz Explosion.”
Williams was scheduled to perform at the 21st annual “DIVAS Simply Singing!” in Los Angeles on October 22. The show has stated that it will now be paying tribute to her and the late singer, Teena Marie. She was also scheduled to be the subject of an upcoming episode of “Unsung” on TVOne.
Vesta Williams was 53 years old.
Categories: Drug & Alcohol Addiction Detox, Drug Overdose
My stay at Novus Medical Detox was life changing
The personal care and attention by every staff member was unlike any that I could have foreseen or that I have ever experienced in my life. From the cooks, to the nurses, to the counselors and owners, there is truly an amazing group of people working here. Going from such a cold feeling devoid of life to having emotions rush back so quickly is a terrifying and at times joyful experience. I will personally miss all of the counselors that were there day and night for me and am grateful beyond words for the hope that has grown in me through such close bonds.
Food: 5 of 5. The food was amazing and both fridges somehow magically replenish themselves in minutes. I’ve been spoiled.
Housekeeping: 5 of 5. Housekeeping was top notch. Minutes after leaving my room looking like a bomb went off in it, to smoke a cigarette, I’d return to it looking picture perfect.
Several years ago I thought I was saving my life by going onto a Methadone Maintenance Program. I thought all roads had been ridden and all measures exhausted. In a sense I may have saved my life, or at least bought myself some time, but all I had actually done was sold my entire life over to a clinic.
At first I felt relief from the chaos of having to constantly jeopardize my life with lovely pill fixes and shady people, and from the chronic pain that my pain management doctor had me convinced of. Very rapidly I went from 30mg to 120mg for a while and then in a matter of weeks up to 300 mg. It didn’t take long or me to fall into a pit of hopelessness. Every morning I was surrounded by people that had spent the last 10 – 30 years on methadone. That and the willingness of my “counselor” to take me higher and higher had me convinced of the fact that I more likely than not would be a “lifer”.
Having gone through withdrawals from just about every known substance and been able to kick them, I finally was convinced that I was beaten by methadone. My life has been one of terror for the last 3 years. Terror of arrest or a surgery in which the doctors had no way to medicate me plagued me daily. My life was once again crumbling. I was taking 300 – 600mg of methadone daily. Up to 1200 at times along with 10 – 20 mg of Xanax when I entered Novus.
All hope was gone, no detox would take me. 14 days after I leave here drug free and miraculously, my detox was 99% pain free. I leave with hope and full support of my family. Words cannot describe the miracles that I have gone through and witnessed during my stay. I truly believe that Novus Detox has been put in place piece by piece and person by person by God himself. For so many amazing people to come together, each playing their part to re-instill hope, health and life to so many “hopeless” cases is no accident.
Categories: Drug Detox Success Stories
Methadone can be highly addictive and dangerous
After confronting their problem and seeking treatment, many addicted persons enter into treatment programs that prescribe methadone as part of the “cure”. But what is a cure? If a heroin or OxyContin addict is weaned off of the drug by using methadone, all that is really happening is that another drug is being substituted for the first drug that caused all the problems. Sure, it may decrease the withdrawal symptoms, and keep the addict away from criminal activities in the search for more heroin, but the reality of the situation is that this is simply replacing one highly addictive drug with another. Not exactly something that can be considered a “cure”. All that is happening is the afflicted person has been given a more safer, more affordable and legal option to continue being addicted. Just because an addict can live a more “normal” life while on methadone doesn’t mean it’s a really a “normal” life. The addiction is still as strong as ever, the drug of choice has just shifted.
The “normal” life of a methadone addict is really anything but normal. Methadone addicts frequently have to travel long distances to get to a clinic to replenish their supply. They must associate with unsavory individuals while visiting these clinics, with a wide variety of people from all walks of life, some who haven’t bathed in weeks. They make excuses to friends and family about why they can’t leave town for a few days when the opportunity for a short vacation presents itself. They have less and less energy, lose their youthful looks, lose their libido. They can’t sleep at night, are always sick, and frequently cannot concentrate or even remember the names of people they’ve known for years. Their lives become a hollow shell, their emotions muted, and they begin to think that the only people that understand them are other methadone addicts. This is anything but a normal life.
The methadone detox program offered by Novus delivers results in as little as two weeks or less, much faster than the usual eight to 18 months of tapering-off faced by most patients trying to recover from serious methadone dependence. The program also offers vastly reduced withdrawal symptoms when compared to most other methadone detox programs. Especially for high-dose methadone dependence. Novus medical methadone detox protocols make the whole methadone detox experience much easier to get through than more traditional programs. Our protocols are based on the latest research and development in drug detoxification and treatment.
The program includes a taper-off program medically designed to match your unique health needs. Novus provides 24/7 medical supervision of all aspects of your methadone detox, daily IV’s with vitamins and other health-building nutrients, special dietary supplements to boost your health even more, great food and no restrictive schedules. We don’t have group meetings, instead we offer confidential one-on-ones with staff members when you ask for them. We provide safe medications that help control withdrawal symptoms and taper adjustments to ensure the most comfortable withdrawal. In most cases, you can expect completion of your detox program and be off all drugs in 10 to 14 days.
Addicting people to a terrible drug like methadone under the guise of a cure is simply not right. Society should not warehouse addicts, it should assist them to become drug free. We have to show them there is a way to escape the methadone prison. And Novus will be there to help them, every step of the way.
Categories: Drug & Alcohol Addiction Detox, Methadone Addiction Detox
Our personal touch, and customized approach puts us head and shoulders above the rest.
Novus Medical Detox Treatment Center in New Port Richey, FL.
When a person decides to seek help for a drug or alcohol addiction, we understand how the fear of a painful withdrawal can stop them from taking the first step. That’s why we’ve developed a new detox approach. One with a relaxed, “at home” atmosphere, personalized service and individualized treatment plans. Unlike other programs, we even allow couples to share a room while they detox together! At Novus Medical Detox, we tailor a detox program customized for each patient’s body, metabolism and circumstance. We provide excellent medical supervision, 24 -hour nursing care and 24-hour access to a withdraw specialist. Our safe and effective detox method cleanses the body in a comfortable manner that significantly diminishes withdrawal discomforts.
We use natural supplements whenever possible, because our goal is to send you home clean and drug free, not to switch you from a drug or alcohol dependency to another drug dependency. We provide nutritional IVs, supplements and delicious food with our specialized detox protocols, all designed to speed your body’s healing process and keep you properly hydrated. We understand that each person is different, so our personalized Drug Detox and Alcohol Detox withdrawal programs are adjusted frequently based upon your needs, and how you are progressing.
The amenities you will enjoy at Novus help move the healing process forward in a more comfortable way. We provide a home-like facility on 3.2 “woodsy” acres that includes a gym and walking areas. You’ll have a comfortable private or shared room with telephone, TV, DVD and Internet. Smoking, personal computer and cell phone use is allowed. You won’t be cut off from the rest of the world. Delicious food is served at every meal, in a peaceful and stress-free environment. And education on how drug or alcohol affects a person are provided to help you leave drug and alcohol free, and stay that way. Our program is set up with the goal of getting you clean comfortably, so you can begin rehab more focused, without suffering from the pain of withdrawal.
Novus Medical Detox is the ideal place for someone to begin the healing process from their addiction or dependency. A place of dignity and respect. A place of nurturing and caring. There is hope for a new life, and it starts at Novus.
