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When you’re in a lot of pain it’s hard to resist getting a prescription for OxyContin or methadone from your doctor. I believe part of the problem is that too many people are uneducated in the various disciplines and alternative therapies that could help them handle the pain without drugs. Unfortunately, they pay for it in the end because they can end up dependant on the drugs or addicted to them and need to get through a medical drug detox program, and sometimes rehab, to get off them.

What are these alternative therapies? There are hundreds of them. Everything from chiropractic, acupuncture (which can work wonders for pain) and physical therapy to herbal and homeopathic remedies. It’s amazing how well some of these things work.

A friend of mine recently had neck and shoulder pain so severe he could barely move. And even when he wasn’t moving, it was killing him. His doctor gave him a prescription for OxyContin but knowing what he might have to go through to get off them, maybe even drug detox, he took one and threw the rest out.

Then he tried Arnica – a natural remedy made from the Arnica flower that has been used to treat inflammations, promote circulation and soothe sore muscles and joints. It’s usually taken in homeopathic dosages – very small amounts that could not cause toxicity. It took a while but, within a few days, the pain was virtually gone.

Arnica may not work for your situation but there’s a very good chance that something will.

If you’re not taking any prescription drugs, it would be a very good idea to educate yourself in drug-free alternatives so if you ever are in a position where you are tempted to take prescription painkillers, you’re already familiar with other methods that may help you out. If you can avoid drugs, you can also avoid dependency, addiction, and the need for drug detox.

If you’re already taking OxyContin or some other type of painkiller, look into a medical drug detox program that can help you get off the drug safely and start your research into alternatives. Living without drugs is healthy, and could save your life.

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Sometimes I wonder why people seem to take prescription drugs so lightly. Millions of people are getting prescriptions for dangerous drugs from their doctors, millions are becoming dependent or addicted, and millions more are abusing them. And even though more people are showing up in drug detox and drug rehab centers to get off them, for every person who does get treatment, there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, who don’t.

Although the drugs themselves cause physical addiction and dependency, there’s another, underlying, reason why people continue to take them. Put simply, they make you feel better.

Years ago I had to take steroids for a while because of a severe allergic reaction. Honestly, the steroids made me feel great. It was completely clear to me why someone would want to take them.

I knew they were dangerous and knew I couldn’t stay on them for long, but I wanted to feel that way forever.

So, I spent the week I was taking them researching how they worked so I could figure out how I could feel that way without drugs. Fortunately, I had a family doctor who didn’t like to prescribe drugs and was also interested in how I could feel good without them.

Together, we discovered that I had a thyroid condition called Wilson’s Syndrome. It was dragging me down until I had absolutely no energy and was also causing both mental and emotional symptoms. My doctor put me through a program and, within less than three months, I felt better than I had in years. And I didn’t have to take any dangerous prescription drugs to do it.

The moral of the story? Find a doctor who is oriented towards ‘wellness’ rather than ‘illness’, who believes you can feel better without drugs, and enlist his help to find the physical causes of the problem you’re trying to solve. You could feel better, naturally, and avoid having to ultimately do drug detox to get off whatever drugs you’re taking. And if you’re already taking drugs that you may not need do a drug detox program to get off them, then search for a real solution to the real problem.

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Yesterday I read a blog about a new ruling from the DEA regarding prescriptions for Legal narcotics and stimulants that have a high potential for dependence and abuse – i.e. Schedule II drugs. Many groups and individuals are speaking out against this ruling and a petition to rescind it is circulating on the Internet. The ruling allows doctors to give out 90-day prescriptions rather than just 30 days. Will this ruling increase the already alarming need for drug detox and drug rehab for prescription drugs? Yes, I think so.

The list of Schedule II drugs includes many of the drugs we read horror stories about daily: methadone, morphine, OxyContin – which, along with other prescription drugs of their type cause more drug overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined - and Ritalin, normally prescribed for kids and identified by the DEA as one of the foremost contributing factors to later cocaine dependence and addiction.

So if a person is taking these drugs already what’s wrong with them being able to go to the pharmacy and renew their prescription a couple of times? Well, it means that no one is monitoring how they’re doing on the drug. And it means that anyone taking these drugs has an even greater chance of addiction and dependency than they had when their prescription lasted for only a month.

According to the DEA, this shouldn’t be much of a problem because doctors will only give the 90-day prescriptions to patients they know are going to need repeat prescriptions anyway.

However, judging by the number of people who’ve already died or gone into treatment at drug detox and drug rehab facilities – and the fact that many of those people start taking the drug when they were given a prescription by their doctor – I don’t see that doctors are any more able to predict prescription drug addiction, abuse or dependency than their patients.

Your safest bet, really, is to just not take these drugs at all or, if you absolutely have to, take them in the lowest dosage possible and for the shortest time possible. And get yourself into a drug detox program at the first sign of not being able to get off them.

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When you search the Internet for drug detox, many of the sites that come up are primarily there to help you beat the system. There are a number of ways you can do it – but, before you choose which method you’re going to use, you might want to consider a few things.

• Many people who beat the system in the past are dead now. They’ve overdosed or taken deadly combinations of drugs or used drugs with alcohol, or they’ve have accidents that would not have happened had they not been drinking or on drugs.
• Many people who beat the system have injured, permanently maimed or killed others.
• Many people who beat the system influence others to drink or take drugs – often the people they influence are their kids.
• The lives of many people who beat the system are ruined. They no longer have a driver’s license, they have trouble with their jobs, they’ve often lost a wife, or husband, and their children, and their homes. They’ve alienated other members of their family, and their friends. Or they’re in prison.

Is this really where you want to go? Don’t you think it would be better to just do an alcohol or drug detox program and get straight? Want to pass a drug test? Call Novus Medical Detox. They can help you.

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Big Pharma is getting smaller, with 40,000 jobs lost already and more to come, reports Guardian Unlimited. But don’t get too excited about it - it’s unlikely that the shrinking of Big Pharma’s massively rich corporations will reduce prescription drug addiction and dependency, or the growing need to handle it with drug detox.

According to the Guardian article, Swiss drug maker Novartis AG has announced a layoff of 2,500 employees – and this is only the latest in a rash of desperate cost-cutting measures made by Big Pharma. Just a week ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced plans to dump 10 percent of its work force and close some plants, and French drug firm Sanofi-Aventis has announced spending cuts. All the other big players have already taken steps to meet shrinking profit margins, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, Schering-Plough, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson.

The cut-backs reflect a slow-down in pharmaceuticals growth because research labs have failed to deliver new drugs on time, competition from generic drugs is increasing, patents are expiring on profitable brand-name drugs, and the pressure on prices continues to increase. Some Big Pharma players are divesting themselves of non-pharma business interests, while others are cutting less profitable operations.
 
In spite of the slowdown in the drug industry, the need for drug detox in America and abroad will continue to increase, not decrease, and perhaps increase even faster than before. Millions of people are already dependent on prescription drugs with no safety net other than a good drug detox program. The loss of valuable drug patents, for example, will just mean that addictive and debilitating drugs will be cheaper, and even more available, which of course can only lead to the need for more drug detox, not less.

If you have a friend or family member who needs a prescription drug detox program, call Novus Detox today. We are prescription drug detox experts.

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I read an article today about a guy who overcame opiate addiction. Well, nearly - he’s on methadone. We’ve had several comments in response to our blogs about methadone treatment – many from people saying that it allows them to live a normal life. If you buy the argument that having to take opiates every day to function is normal, so be it. But drug detox followed by a good drug rehab program that actually addresses the reason the person got addicted in the first place would be far more ‘normal’.

The purpose of drug detox is to get the person off the drug safely and relatively comfortably, instead of having to go cold turkey. But, often, it’s not the be all and end all.

There’s no denying that this guy’s life is better now than it was when he was on OxyContin and a myriad of other drugs – living like an addict, having lost everything. But, it’s not true that his life is better than it would be had he followed up his drug detox program with a good drug rehab that got down to the bottom of his drug addiction problem and enabled him to live drug-free.

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I read a very moving article today about the millions of people around the world who suffer pain daily because they don’t have access to painkillers – specifically, morphine.  I’ll be honest, my immediate reaction when I saw the headline was “What are the drug companies up to now?” But, as I read further, I found that this was not just another ploy to sell drugs: it is a heartbreaking story about Sierra Leone, a country that has had such severe problems with drug abuse and addiction in the past that even those suffering from the severe pain of late-stage cancer cannot get relief. The fear is that once morphine, or painkillers of similar strength, are made available the country will once again be awash with people needing drug addiction help.

While it is true that morphine can be prescribed by doctors, and prescriptions filled by pharmacists, access to doctors is almost impossible. Sierra Leone has one doctor for every 54,000 people. In the U.S. we have one for every 350. The affluent have access to these doctors, but not the very poor majority.

Critics can’t understand why officials think this is acceptable. They feel that if someone does get addicted, you can get them help through drug detox and rehab – if they recover. But some of the conditions are so severe dying with dignity is the best that can be hoped for.

Obviously, I’m not an advocate of drugs. Every day I write about the disastrous effects they create and the desperate need for effective drug detox and rehab. But, really, this is taking it too far. No one should have to suffer like the people of Sierra Leone. First, they need drugs, then they can get drug addiction help.

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I was speaking with some friends today who are involved in drug detox and rehab. The conversation turned to the outrageous growth in prescription drug addiction. There’s a lot to say on the subject – it’s a real threat to society in so many ways and news stories abound about prescription drug abuse. But of even greater concern than the ‘abusers’ are the ‘users’ – in other words, they got the drugs from their doctor. Therefore, they don’t have a problem with prescription drug addiction – they are simply taking medication.

When does the fact that they have a problem become obvious? When the prescription runs out. They’ve been taking OxyContin or some such thing to cope with their back pain, they’ve taken it for several weeks, the prescription runs out and, before they can get more, they’re in more pain than they ever felt with their back.

People who contact drug detox or rehab centers under these circumstances usually have one burning question: What’s happening to me?

What’s happening is that you’ve become dependant on or addicted to the equivalent of heroin. That’s right, heroin. Basically, that’s what opiate painkillers are.

You’ve probably never met anyone on heroin. There’s a possibility you’ve never even met anyone who takes ‘drugs’. But I can guarantee you that there are people right on your street who have the same problem you do – prescription drug addiction.  And they are also basically addicted to heroin. And to get off them, you’re going to have to go through the same process as any other addict - drug detox and drug rehab.

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Yet another step in the wrong direction in the war against drugs – Copenhagen is setting up safe ‘health rooms’ where addicts can inject their medically prescribed methadone. 275 people in Copenhagen died of drug related causes in 2005 and health officials see ‘health rooms’ as the first step in addressing the problem. Unfortunately, there was no mention of actually getting the addicts drug free through methadone detox or rehab.

Perhaps they don’t know the statistics. Do they know, for example, that 1,881 people died from heroin in the U.S. in 2004 and 3,849 people died from methadone in the same year? We don’t know how many methadone users there are, but we do know about 200,000 are in ‘methadone treatment’. And there are about 800,000 heroin addicts.

Maybe officials in Copenhagen are going to improve the scene with ‘health rooms’, but it’s still just a jump from the fire to the frying pan. Not much better.

Why not just get them off drugs for crying out loud? It can be done. Millions of people have done it. Why mess around with a solution that just becomes another problem? It amazes me that intelligent people concerned about drug addiction think some drugs are okay.

Methadone addiction, heroin addiction – what’s the difference? Really? What are they thinking? If they were really serious about handling the drug problem, they’d get these people into a methadone detox program and finish the job.

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If you’re wondering what affect the Purdue Pharma hearings are having on prescription painkillers sales, the answer, so far, seems to be ‘none’. Conflicting headlines abound - Prescription painkiller sales up, Prescription painkiller sales down. However, a few things are abundantly clear. For example, the people of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida are now among the top consumers of OxyContin. The DEA has been concerned about Florida’s rising prescription drug abuse for a while, so this doesn’t come as a surprise. Let’s hope addicted Floridians find a good Florida drug detox soon.

It doesn’t surprise me that the sales don’t appear to have been affected. Many people in severe pain are going to take OxyContin and other painkillers, regardless of the risks.

And I don’t think there are too many people thinking “what if I get addicted?”or “what if I abuse this drug?” before they take them. They’re going to think it couldn’t happen to them.

I’d like to get all the people who are addicted to OxyContin in one big room, okay, let’s make that one small state, and get a show of hands – “Everyone who thought they were going to get addicted to this drug when they first started taking it, put up your hand.”

I’d lay odds on the percentage being quite low. Wouldn’t you?

And that is exactly why prescription drug addiction is so insidious. If you take heroin, you expect it. You might even expect it with other street drugs. But when you get it from your doctor, you’re safe. Yeah, right.

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