Not many people in the world have an opportunity to learn about what happens at an alcohol or drug treatment program, unless someone in their immediate family has had a problem and gone through the experience. Drug and alcohol treatment is better known as “rehab” (short for rehabilitation), and it is the process that someone who wants to stop drinking or using drugs usually agrees to be admitted to because their lives have become difficult and unmanageable, or some crisis has opened their eyes to their problem.

Treatment is generally an intensive process that takes place on hospital grounds where there are always Dr’s and Nurses on staff to help a patient with any immediate needs. Many people stay at treatment for usually 30, 60, or 90 days, depending on their individual situation, and it is a difficult process because patients are breaking habits that some of them have had for not just months or years, but sometimes even decades at a time.

A very important component to treatment that more and more people are learning about because of its higher success rate is called “Sober Living”. You may also have heard of the terms recovery housing, alternative housing, a halfway house, or even a ¾ house — and all these are essentially the same thing as sober living.

Sober living is a voluntary step that about 1 in 5 people take because it represents a step down from the treatment process rather than a sudden, full- fledged move back home. Statistically, of those people who go directly home from treatment thinking they are “cured”, they often find themselves facing the same problems and people that started their problem the first place, and about 90% of these patients relapse again within one year.

People who attend sober living generally do so from 3 to 12 months, and statistically their numbers tend to be closer to over 50% of the people maintaining their sobriety – a dramatic increase in the success rate. So what is it about sober living that gives people this extra edge, and how does it generally work?

Sober Living is appropriate for anybody who is exiting treatment but who feels that having a little bit of structure in their lives would be a positive thing. Additionally, living in a house where the other residents don’t drink or use drugs helps keep temptation a little further away than arm’s length. The strict “no using rules” are formal rules enforced by surprise drug and alcohol tests, and failing one would be something the person would feel mighty ashamed about after coming so far in treatment, and this is called a negative incentive.

When you take all the above and find yourself living in a nice apartment in a residential area of town with a bunch of other people who are struggling with the same problems, you all end up supporting one another in an ideal situation. The housemates become friends, and when one of them has an especially bad fight with a family member for example, and this is normally a trigger for him or her to go get a drink, he or she can rely on the rest of the group to talk it out with. Perhaps then, for the first time, that resident realizes when his father yells at him and calls him a loser, he does NOT have to go down the street and buy a bottle.

Sober livings generally cost anywhere between $350 and $20,000 per month (for the fancy Malibu executive sober livings), but the average sober living probably runs around $600-800 dollars, and may include food with the fees. You are not a tenant so you don’t have landlord-tenant rights, and that means the manager can throw you out of the house if you violate any of the rules, from not doing your chores to fighting or the like. These, also, are negative incentives that tend to keep people in line. Generally a house has from 6 -12 residents, where over 12 gets hectic and personalities may begin to clash. 6-12 is a good number, and most houses have two to a room.

So the wonderful thing about sober living and the reason it is so effective is the people living there still have to deal with the difficulties of life – perhaps not being able to find a job, or going through a divorce or financial difficulties – but ever so slowly their confidence grows and they come to realize they can deal with these hurdles without leaning on their old crutch. Because treatment is so tightly controlled, one does not have the chance to build up the same degree of self confidence during the first step in formal treatment. Now, when the sober living veteran goes back home, he or she is much stronger and more confident he or she can live life on sober terms. That is a big reason for the statistical difference of success, post sober living.

One more thing needs to be mentioned to everybody who is learning about sober living for the first time. It is slightly confusing, but the Department of Corrections in each state also sends their inmates to a type of house called a halfway house before they are released into the general population. Because of all the stress and tension, fights, and escapes, and robberies occur, and these events obviously disturb the neighbors greatly. If I had a Department of Corrections House next door to me I know I’d be nervous, too.

But because some sober livings are called halfway houses, neighbors get confused and often think that sober livings are responsible for these neighborhood disturbances, and that causes a real problem when a sober living wishes to open its doors in a new neighborhood. You will read about city councils going to great lengths to stop sober livings from opening, and this is an ongoing problem for those who want to manage sober living homes, and open them for the benefit of their fellow man who needs the help and sober living experience.

For now, sober livings are here to stay because they are protected under Federal Laws. And now that you are aware of what a great way this is for people with alcohol or drug problems to increase their odds of success, you can pass this knowledge on if you get the chance.

The author, Thomas Rees, left a 20 year career on Wall Street to own and operate sober livings and help make a difference in people’s lives. In so doing, he realized there was a bigger problem that confronts patients, and that is a lack of good information about sober living. In the past several years Tom has created Sober Living Halfway House Search , at the URL soberlivingsearch.com, a site which is designed to teach people about sober livings and eventually be the only site one will need to find a sober living or halfway house anywhere in the United States. The site currently has about 7000 listings and is the largest site on the internet or anywhere, and it is in the Top 1% of all US sites according to ALEXA traffic statistics.

Drug use can cause some symptoms in people that make them difficult to be around by anyone except other drug users. Besides the psychological effects that drugs can have, including aberrant and often violent behavior and the long term effects on the body like damage to the organs and susceptibility to certain diseases and conditions after a long period of regular drug use, some drugs can also have effects like causing your teeth and gums to rot as well as other organs in your body, and regular drug users may also emit a smell that is extremely off-putting to those around you.

Drug Use and Body Odor

Often users of what is commonly referred to as crystal meth may have a sickeningly sweet stink on their body that models the smell of the drug. Often users may not be able to smell the scent themselves because of how used they are to it, but people around them are often able to tell that they are a regular drug user, or have recently done drugs by the smell. Some users of crank or crack cocaine may have a metallic chemical smell to them, particularly noticeable after doing the drug and speed drugs will generally cause the user to sweat a great deal more causing a huge body odor problem if not taken care of by showering and general hygiene.

Drug Use and Tooth Decay

Some drugs cause severe tooth decay . In fact, this is one of the largest problems that people experience when it comes to physiological effects that they can see right away. Those that use the drug methamphetamine have the biggest problems with rampant tooth decay and prison dentists are kept busy trying to solve problems that have been years in the making with methamphetamine use such as cavities and rotting gums and teeth, resulting in the user having to get expensive bridges, crowns or in many cases permanent dentures because their teeth are simply too far gone.
Studies say that this tooth decay, which has been nicknamed meth mouth, is a problem born of several factors. First, users of methamphetamines often do not take care of their teeth, including the basics like brushing and flossing, but that combines with a dry mouth from using the drugs. Users may also grind their teeth which can cause serious problems and often users of these drugs will crave sugar and carbohydrates which can speed up the tooth decay. You can often identify the methamphetamine user by teeth that are blackened, stained and rotting, as well as by teeth that are crumbling or falling apart.

Drug Use and Rotting Organs

In some cases drug use can also cause other odor problems that stem from rotting organs inside the body and that can be a smell that is permanent and stays with the person until they die. However, these are usually only in extreme cases of drug use where the user doesn’t have long to live anyway and the drugs have destroyed much of their internal organ tissue . In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, it was reported that cocaine use can result in rotting and death of skin tissue as well.

There are a number of ways in which drugs can affect your mind, depending upon which drug that you are using, how high your tolerance is, and how much you are using, as well as your particular body chemistry. However, there are some solid ways in which drugs can affect you mentally, warning signs that you can watch out for and use to mark milestones on the addict’s path – whether it be you or someone else that is suffering from an addiction to drugs. This includes alcohol , illegal drugs and those that you get with a prescription.

Addiction

One of the most destructive ways that drugs affect your mind and take you to a level to where you will do anything to get your next drink, or whatever your drug of choice is, is by getting you addicted, or by making your addictive personality even more destructive. Originally, people though that the substance itself was to blame. For instance, alcohol and opium were believed to contain substances that made the user unable to resist using the drug over and over again, and people blamed the contents of the substance. However, later research discovered that addiction is actually born in the body itself and people that become seriously addicted to alcohol and other drugs is something that is actually wired into the brain even before the alcoholic takes the first step or shoots up for the first time. Now, drug addiction is considered a disease .
We do know that certain substances have an effect on the brain – in essence rewiring the brain in a process that is irreversible and makes the person using drugs want to use more, which combines with any predisposition to addiction that they may have already had. Today, there is plenty of data available from studies on addiction and alcohol and substance abuse but we still don’t have all of the answers, or a cure to people that can’t help themselves. Also, people that abuse drugs and alcohol are considered by society to be at fault mainly because of the fact that they chose to use drugs in the first place.

How Drugs Keep Your Brain from Making Connections

On the road to mental illness is an inability to process new information and drugs play a huge part in that. Your brain is a three pound organ that is made up of around 100 billion cells, called neurons which are responsible for communicating with other areas of the body. These neurons are in a state of on or off, and in the on state they send electrical impulses down the axon of the neuron and the end of the axon produced a chemical that is called a neurotransmitter. These neurotransmitters, like epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine are how information is communicated in the brain, traveling across the synapses of the neurons in order to perform functions in the body or thought processes. However, drugs can affect this complex process in many different ways depending upon the type of drug that you are using.

Marijuana

Marijuana for instance, or more specifically, the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, attaches to the nerve cell receptors. The hippocampus of the brain is a popular area for THC to attach because it contains a lot of receptors that are THC friendly. However, the hippocampus is responsible for memory and leaves the user unable to concentrate or react quickly and affects coordination. For some people, paranoia can happen when smoking marijuana , depending upon what the drug is laced with and there have been studies that point to marijuana causing schizophrenia, especially if used as a teen.

Cocaine

Cocaine can have a significant effect on mental health as it can prevent dopamine from being absorbed by the body . This means that the dopamine builds up, which can make you feel great and even euphoric, but when the drug has worn off, the dopamine levels return to normal, but there are less receptors available than before, which results in craving the drug desperately. The long term mental effects include the inability to function , aggressive behavior and a variety of physiological effects as well including nosebleeds , increased likelihood of hepatitis or HIV . Also, the nasal septum may eventually collapse because of snorting the drug.

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are one of the most destructive drugs out there when it comes to leading to mental illness . The amphetamines cause the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine to enter the synapses between the nerve cells, which while causing feelings of pleasure and euphoria also cause serious effects in the brain like swelling and hemorrhages . Also, the person who is addicted to amphetamines will experience hallucinations and paranoia that will eventually lead to irreversible mental illness and changes in the neurons that produce dopamine can lead to problems like Parkinson’s disease.

Opiates

Opiates are another drug that can affect your brain and cause serious damage. Within the limbic system of your brain and on the spinal cord and brain stem there are nerve cells that are opiate friendly. When opiates stimulate these opiate receptors, the brain and the body responds. Opiates can cause damage to your brain stem , which controls automatic functions like breathing and coughing, and while the opiate receptors on your spinal cord can help to stop pain signals from getting through, the euphoric feeling will make you addicted and eventually you are in danger or overdose which will cause slow breathing, convulsions, coma and eventually potential death.

Alcohol

Alcohol is another drug that can cause serious mental health problems . Alcohol depresses the nervous system affecting millions of nerve cells when it gets to the brain and keeps oxygen from getting to the blood cells . When these cells do not get oxygen they will become impaired and die and anyone who is addicted to alcohol is susceptible to permanent brain damage especially those that abuse alcohol when they are young and the brain is still in a stage of development.  Alcohol can cause serious effects on organs of the body as well in addition to the brain damage that is caused.

All about pharmaceutical uploads such as codeine, morphine, violin, ox cotton, suboxone , methadone and many others

Pharmaceutical Opioids codeine, morphine, vicodin, oxycotton, suboxone, methadone and a wide variety of other types of opioids are prescribed for a wide variety of uses usually either for pain relief or curbing drug withdrawal symptoms.

Most times pharmaceutical opioids come in pill form but may be used intravenously when given at a hospital or by a doctor.  In smaller amounts many people can take these drugs without having many (if any) side effects and are often integrated with a different type of pain reliever or anti-inflammatory like acetametaphine.

Drugs like Suboxone or Methadone among others are often prescribed treatment for getting off of stronger opiates such as Opium or Heroin.  These are often safer alternatives that can be controlled much easier than their illicit relatives.

All opiates are derived from the Poppy plant and are synthesized to make a specific drug.  Although some of the pharmecuetical grade drugs are either weaker or not as dangerous, they can still be highly addictive and one should take caution if having to be on them for an extended period of time.

A Note About Suboxone, Methadone and other prescribed opioid addiction treatment drugs

Drugs such as Suboxone are highly government controlled and a doctor must have specified licensing before being able to prescribe such a drug.

When considering seeing a doctor for such a purpose there are some things you should know before taking action:

• Most doctors require that you take a urinary analysis and test positive before they even consider prescribing these drugs to you.

• Clinics often require that you visit their establishment every day in order to obtain the drug.  For this reason many try to seek a personal doctor rather than visiting a clinic – which sometimes can require outpatient treatment.

• You usually have to be clean from drugs 12-24 hours before taking any prescribed medication and cannot touch any other drug while on the prescription during this time, doing so may cause severe health problems or death.

• Very few insurances cover the cost of drug treatments.  It is important to contact your doctor and insurance to get the full details on the various aspects of treatment.

• Many companies offer their employees an EAP or Employee Assistance Program which could possibly pay for part or all of your drug treatment anonymously.

Opium when used as a drug is smoked, injected, eaten and ingested, liquefied and snorted, or made in to a tea.  Opium, although not as strong as Heroin , its synthesized counterpart, is highly addictive and requires very little time for a person to grow a tolerance to it.

Opium has been used in Asia for centuries but only was it known to be highly addictive when people started smoking it much later in the timeline.  Previously it was only ingested.

One should take strong caution if attempting to do opium illegally and should be avoided at all costs for a number of reasons.  Know ahead of time that once you build a tolerance it is very easily to get hooked and the withdrawals are horribly intense.

We would never condone the use of drugs in this website but we aim to educate on what to expect as a result of doing so. Once addicted, the user will need more and more to achieve the same high.  This is called “chasing” the high.  Opium addictions can get very expensive costing hundreds of dollars a day and/or month.

Opiate Withdrawal Symptoms

• Abdominal Pain
• Agitation
• Diarrhea
• Dilated Pupils
• Goose Bumps
• Runny Nose
• Sweating
• Vomiting
• Extremely Raw Nerves – Restless Legs and Muscles
• Fever Chills
• Sensitivity to Cold Temperatures

These are just some of the opiate withdrawals symptoms that can occur.  Often times, opiate withdrawals can feel like the worst flu you’ve ever had.

Opiate Withdrawal Longevity

Opiates usually stay in your system for 2-3 days depending on many variables including a person’s size, weight, amount used, overall health, how much fluids they’ve drank, exercise, rest and the bodies ability to detoxify. (Note:  This is often the length of time that a person would show up positive in a drug test as well)

For the most part opiate withdrawal symptoms last around a week however the most severe part of the symptoms subside after only a few days.  Many do not realize that they are going through withdrawals as they almost exactly mimic flu symptoms in the body.  Most commonly the onset of strong withdrawal usually occur from 12-24 hours after last use and will be severe only for the next two days, then they should significantly weaken.

The process of opiate detox can be extremely unpleasant for someone who is not prepared. Proper education about such drugs as heroin and other opiates can help in dealing with a variety of opiate withdrawal symptoms. Knowing the heroin fact and the effects of opiate addiction can give insight and enable a smoother recovery. Below are heroin facts as well as other opiate detox facts that can provide someone with some comfort when dealing with the various opiate withdrawal symptoms.

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1. Opiate Detox – The process of opiate detoxification varies from person to person. Generally, opiates stay in your system for just a couple of days. The hardest part of the opiate detox as far as opiate withdrawal symptoms are concerned are usually the worst during the first 3 days.

For those attempting to detox at home, it is highly suggested that you clear your calendar for up to four or five days at the least. During this time, it is extremely important that one stay hydrated and sleep as much as possible, although sleep may be harder at times.

The key to recovery is rest. What happens more often than not is that while a user in on an opiate, they tend to rely on that opiate more than they realize, pushing themselves further and further, getting less sleep, less calorie intake and letting the drugs take the place of good health habits. When an individual gets off of the drugs, they no longer can rely on that drug to push them further, thus can increase the oppiate withdrawal symptoms beyond what would normally take place.

2. Heroin Facts – If you are a heroin addict, or even an opium addict for that matter. The manner in which you take the drugs is going to affect the longevity of opiate detox and the severity as well. Those who shoot the drugs are going to suffer probably the strongest withdrawal symptoms, smoking second strongest and ingestion third. It may be a good idea to switch the manner in which you currently use sometime before the detox to ensure a smoother heroin detox. Also before the detox, get plenty of sleep, eat well and stay hydrated. The better you take care of yourself now, the better you’ll be during the withdrawal symptoms.

3. When going to a outpatient clinic, you may be required to pass positive on a drug test before you are prescribed any medication for recovery. Keep this in mind beforehand as it may be a useful resource to have rather than quitting cold-turkey. There are a few methods used to help those during a period of detox and most of them work quite well. Get a doctors opinion on which method is best for you.

4. Get a list of resources beforehand. Visit websites, print information, get phone numbers and so on. If you are going through this alone, it is an excellent idea to have phone numbers, websites and a number of resources ready in case you need to contact them. At the bottom of this article is a link to an opiate addiction help website that may be able to give you such phone numbers and information as well as at-home programs that are guaranteed to help.

5. Get a book or home program to help you through your heroin detox or any other kind of opiate detox you may be going through. Programs or books such as these provide you with on-demand information and resources from experts who can really help you make it through the rougher times. They may cost some money, but will save you thousands in the long run. Don’t take a chance on doing it a worse way. Make the transition as easy for you as possible, you deserve it. Having a book or program might just give you the insight and inspiration you need to really make a change.

6. Stay positive. This may be harder at times, but having a positive attitude can really make a difference when dealing with addiction recovery, withdrawal symptoms and opiate detox. Try to be the best person you can and free yourself of those negative self-defeating thoughts that make life so hard.

These tips are just a few ideas to get you through the hardest of times during opiate detox and withdrawal symptoms. Knowing the heroin facts and heroin effects among various other opiates can make the change as less painful as possible and you will come out a better person.

Heroin is an illicit street drug which is most commonly injected or smoked .  Like all opioids it is originally derived from the poppy plant and is highly concentrated and synthesized from Morphine which is prescribed as an extremely strong pain medication.

Heroin is highly addictive and easy to get “hooked” on.  Those injecting it (which is most commonly done) wear the risk of vascular problems due to collapsed veins and cardiac issues as well.  It is important as a heroin addict to never share needles or use dirty or well-used needles.  This leads to vascular problems, staph infection and blood-bourne diseases such as H.I.V., hepatitis and various others.  Knowing the heroin facts can help you make smarter choices in your health.

Heroin Withdrawals

Heroin withdrawal range from medium to severe based on a variety of factors such as longevity of use, overall health of the individual, tolerance and amount used. Treatment for Heroin is very similar if not-exactly the same as opium and morphine. Drugs such as Methadone are most commonly used by individuals to help stray themselves from heroin addictions.

Those addicted to heroin often have a tough struggle to get off of the drug since the withdrawal symptoms are so intense.

Learn more about Opiate Withdrawals and Treatment commonly associated with Heroin

Read throughout this site to learn more about the various heroin facts, opium facts, withdrawal symptom help and much more.

Recovering from a drug addiction can be extremely hard. It can be both scary and intimidating for those wanting to beat their opiate addictions. Herion addicts can face some of the most excrutiating withdrawal symptoms. For some, in-patient rehabilitation isn’t an option or may not be affordable and can cost thousands of dollars to go through. Although rehab clinics are the best way for someone to overcome a drug addiction, an at-home solution is both discrete and from the comfort of you own home.
Although illicit opiates addictions such as heroin addictions and opium addictions are often the stronger of the withdrawal symptoms, even pharmecuetical opiate addictions can be almost as hard to kick.

Below are some tips for those wanting to beat their opiate addiction from home to enjoy a drug-free clean lifestyle.

1. Get a book or program to help you understand your addiction and aid in your ability to fight the withdrawal symptoms. At the bottom of this article is a website that offers such programs designed to help you from the comfort of your own home. In addiction they cost much less than going in to a rehab clinic and can save you a lot of money. Even a hundred dollar program which is guaranteed to work cost much much less than a in-patient clinic. This is highly advised.

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2. All too often people rely on their drug addiction to keep them going. This is one of the biggest mistakes one could make. If you are currently using drugs it is important to do the necessary steps to keep yourself healthy. Eating right, taking vitamin supplements, getting lots of sleep, staying hydrated and making healthy decisions are crucial when you decide to quit or if you are in a position where you can’t maintain your drug habit. Don’t push yourself simply because a drug makes you feel that you can. Instead make every effort to keep yourself healthy, you’ll be thankful when the opiate withdrawal symptoms come around.

3. Take it seriously. Don’t plan on your withdrawal symptoms to be easy. Make sure you are fully prepared both mentally, physically and socially to handle such a process. Opiate withdrawal symptoms don’t last very long but you may be in a position where you have to miss work, family occasions and other possible commitments you may have. Again, getting a book or program beforehand is a smart way to play it safe, and you will find such resources at the bottom of this article.

4. Mind over matter. You may get some anxiety when the withdrawal symptoms start to occur. Try to think positive and think of it as your body trying to heal itself and that it is long-overdue. The symptoms won’t last forever and the first two days are always the hardest. Do your best to ignore limiting attitudes and keep in mind that every day, every second, and every minute you are getting better and better and closer to feeling better.

5. Rest as much as you can. Most opiate addicts don’t realize that they don’t get nearly as much sleep because they are not used to feeling bad from a lack of sleep. In other words sleep equals healing. The more you rest and drink plenty of fluids the more your body gets a chance to heal itself thoroughly.

6. Treat yourself as if you have the flu. Whether you are an opium addict, heroin addict, or addicted to methadone, when the withdrawal symptoms hit, it always resembles the flu. So what is the best thing to do? Treat your withdrawl symptoms as the flu. By this I mean, take vitamin supplements, vitamin c, drink plenty of juices, electrolyte sports drinks, lots of water, chicken noodles soups and other “brothy” soups, rest plenty, stay warm, if possible, take a warm bath and soak for a long period of time (this will calm your nerves) and sometimes a little bit of acetaminophen will help the body aches and pains.

7. Create a plan – Having a well-thought out plan will minimize the risk of severely uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms from a severe opiate addiction. For example if you are addicted to opium, the reading about it online or knowing what to expect can prep your mind for the rather uncomfortable experience you are about to encounter.

No matter where you live whether it is in Portland Oregon, Los Angeles California, Austin Texas or New York New York, there are countless people going through what you may be going through, and thousands have been able to overcome such addictions. If possible, seek professional advice from a doctor, counselor, friends and family you trust. There are many programs all throughout the world that offer free or inexpensive solutions to drug addiction rehabilitation. Know your options and keep your convictions strong, have a positive attitude and you can succeed at any trial you may be faced with.