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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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I ran across a website today for a lawyer who handles, among other things, criminal cases that involve drugs. On his site he talks about people who use drugs recreationally ‘suddenly’ being arrested, jailed and treated like criminals ‘solely because of their recreational drug of choice.’ The truth is: people who use illegal drugs recreationally are not only breaking the law, they are ruining their own lives and taking millions of people down with them. What they need is drug detox and drug rehab, not a lawyer to get them off.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t mention the ruined lives connected with taking drugs. Instead he does go on to say how much pain, suffering and financial hardship is caused by the fact that these recreational drug users are arrested and jailed, and that “responsible Americans” who merely use drugs are not the source of America’s drug problem.

Sounds like he’s talking about people who smoke the occasional joint, don’t you think? Not heavy users who are desperately in need of drug detox or drug rehab.

He then goes on to give some details about three of his cases – it doesn’t specifically state they were his cases but, since he’s talking about himself, I would assume that to be true.

The charges in the cases were ‘conspiracy to distribute’, ‘possession with intent to deliver’ and ‘possession with intent to distribute.’ In each case, the drug was cocaine.

The amount of the drugs the defendants were allegedly in possession of was 4 pounds, 88 pounds, and 621 pounds – approximately.

How someone who has 621 pounds of cocaine can possibly be thought of as a ‘responsible American’ who could have been arrested, jailed and treated like a criminal ‘solely because of their recreational drug of choice’ is beyond me.

In all three cases, the defendants were found not guilty. Let’s hope they at least got into drug detox.

Drugs and criminality go hand in hand. Recreational drug use can easily turn into dependency and addiction, and the need to find ways to support the habit. If you’ve got a drug problem, do something about it now. Get into a drug detox program that can help you get off drugs. Don’t wait until you need a lawyer.

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Cocaine and crack dealers in Florida have added something new to their menu: prescription painkillers. What brought about this turn of events? As with any market – dealers are responding to demand. But what created the demand? For many people with a prescription drug problem, it started when they received a painkiller from their doctor. And although more of them are getting help in drug detox and rehab, many more are still risking their lives.

Bradley Johnson is one of the many casualties. Bradley started taking OxyContin when he received a prescription from a doctor. In fact, that doctor, a podiatrist in Broward County, refilled the prescription for about a year.
 
All Bradley had to do was say his foot hurt, said his mother, Susan. He told her it was easy.

It didn’t stop at OxyContin addiction for Bradley. When he died – he fell asleep at a friend’s house and never woke up – it was from a combination of oxycodone and Xanax, an equally dangerous anti-anxiety medication.

I’m sure a number of things contributed to Bradley’s condition but the most obvious, and the most criminal, is the doctor who refilled OxyContin prescriptions for a year. Unbelievable. I’m surprised that Bradley’s mother is not suing the doctor.

The proposed Florida bill that will give doctors access to the prescription drug database will help some doctors – but it’s not going to do anything for a doctor who refills OxyContin for a year.

The patient’s records are right there – surely the doctor was aware of the fact that the kid had a drug problem. There’s no way someone could take OxyContin for a year and not be at least physically dependent, and the chances of him not being an addict by that point are also pretty slim.

Bradley’s mother is now out there campaigning, educating others on the dangers of prescription drugs. But it’s too late to save her son. Don’t wait until it’s too late to save yours, or yourself. Contact a Florida drug detox program, find out if you’re in trouble, and do something about it.

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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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Are government efforts at curbing prescription drug addiction and abuse really pointed in the right direction? While it’s true that Cardinal Health, Purdue Pharma and a couple of other Big Pharma guys have had their wrists slapped, that’s only when they do something illegal. What about their legal activities? What about the millions who are taking prescription drugs who don’t really need them, who may wind up in drug detox and drug rehab to get off them, and who are taking them primarily because they saw them advertised and were led to believe they would be beneficial?

I just read an article about the prescription drug trafficking case against Bo Jeremy Storedahl – the case went awry when the informant, Tina Rivard, falsely claimed she bought 100 OxyContin pills from Storedahl with $4,000 given to her by the narcotics agents on the case.

God knows how many people are working on busting this little prescription drug ring while the biggest prescription drug ring in the world is sitting at their collective desk drinking Starbucks and figuring out how to get us to take more drugs. And they’re doing it with our blessing, and the blessing of our government.

War on Drugs money is primarily focused on manufacturers and suppliers, yet our number one criminals, the perps who are researching, manufacturing, advertising, marketing, distributing and selling prescription drugs continue to do business. Even when they do something illegal, the penalties don’t even put a dent in their resources.

If an avowed enemy did what Big Pharma is doing, we’d consider it an act of war. We’d be all out in our support of the victims, getting them into drug detox and rehab en masse, and we’d be using military resources to hunt down the perps. What will it take to remove the rose-colored glasses and recognize the enemy within?

Until that happens, we’re on our own. Educate yourself on the dangers of prescription drug addiction and abuse, teach your family and friends and, if you or anyone you know already has a problem, get them into a drug detox program fast.

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It appears officials in England have finally admitted defeat when it comes to methadone treatment for heroin addiction. According to a recent news story, about 20 percent of the people who traded heroin addiction for methadone addiction - instead of going through a proper drug detox and rehab programs that will actually get them off drugs - are topping up their methadone with heroin. How are British officials addressing the problem? They’re going to give them heroin instead of methadone, and it’s free.

Having personally endured the horrors of methadone treatment, I can certainly understand why someone would feel the need to also take heroin. The effects I experienced from methadone were something anyone would want to escape.

But to put someone back on heroin because the methadone isn’t working is nothing short of crazy.

Are these really the only two options the government has to offer heroin addicts?

According to the article, the government is doing this to alleviate the crime associated with heroin addiction. What about the addicts? What about their families? What about the ruined lives? What about the vast sums of public money spent on drug treatment programs that don’t work, supporting drug addicts who can’t hold a job, arresting them and keeping them in jail? What about the lost productivity?

The methadone treatment program has been stringing people along – keeping people addicted, courting death, killing many – for decades. Is anyone concerned with that? Apparently not: They’re concerned with the fact that the guys on methadone who still use heroin are still committing criminal acts to get it.

First you treat someone with an addiction by giving them something else to get addicted to. Then, when that doesn’t work, you give them what they were addicted to in the first place. Still no drug detox, still no rehab, still no treatment.

I’m not the only one who recognizes this as insanity. There are stories about it all over the net. When will governments finally wake up - find out what kind of drug detox programs and rehab programs really work, and start funding that instead of putting public money into yet another failure?

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I read an article this morning about the Terrills, a family that lost everything to their son’s heroin addiction. It was a model family. Parents who were really involved with their kids – four boys, all of whom were promising baseball players, kids who were devoted to their parents, a new ‘dream house.’ They had it all. Then, having been introduced to OxyContin in school, one of the sons became a heroin addict. From there, everything was lost. But it could have been avoided through a good drug detox program followed by drug rehab.

The major mistake made by this family was not getting their son into drug detox and drug rehab when they first realized he had a problem. His drug use went on for years before they did something about it. In fact, they weren’t the ones to finally take action: the boy was arrested when trying to rob a convenience store.

After his arrest, he went to a 30-day drug treatment center. In my experience, a 30-day treatment program is not enough to handle heroin addiction. First they have to get through withdrawal – which, for many addicts, causes such severe symptoms they can’t stop taking the drug. Some may require a separate medical drug detox before they’re even ready for rehab. Then, in rehab, you have to address the reasons for their addiction, give them the tools to live life drug free, and build them up physically to handle the deterioration that occurs with addiction.

That can take a while. Addiction doesn’t happen overnight, neither does rehabilitation.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that a heroin addict, or someone addicted to any opiate, will get through it on their own steam. 95% of those who try aren’t successful. Drug detox and a long-term residential drug rehab program is the only chance they have. Waiting too long has devastated many families, and lost many lives. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can always do something about it tomorrow.

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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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