Category: Addiction

People of all socioeconomic backgrounds and areas of life are impacted by drug usage. Whatever the initial motivation for drug use—whether recreationally or as directed by a doctor—the development of tolerance, patterns of increasing use, physical dependence, and addiction may occur— even before the user is aware of it.

Identifying someone you know who has a problem with addiction might be more challenging. Someone who is addicted will yearn for drugs or other behaviors. They frequently overlook other aspects of life to satisfy or support their desires. The brain’s reward, motivation, and memory processes are all impacted by addiction, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).

In this article, we’ll discuss addiction’s impact on the brain, the behavioral signs of addiction, and how to know when it is time to find help for drug abuse.

Contact Total RMH today to learn more about our innovative Beverly Hills medical center.

Addiction’s Impact on the Brain 

The effects of addiction on the brain are complex. When stimulants, nicotine, opiates, alcohol, and sedatives are used, their chemical components reach the brain and circulation. Once a toxin gets into the brain, it can make people impulsive or want dangerous substances.

The most intricate organ in the human body is the brain. It is a three-pound mass of grey and white matter where all human activity occurs. The brain is composed of several linked circuits that function as a team. Different brain circuits are in charge of coordinating and carrying out particular tasks. 

The spinal cord, various regions of the brain, and the rest of the body’s nerves are all connected by networks of neurons that exchange messages (the peripheral nervous system). Drugs affect how neurons use neurotransmitters to send, receive, and process messages. 

Because some drugs, like heroin and marijuana, have molecular structures similar to those of natural neurotransmitters, they can activate neurons. This enables the medications to bind to and stimulate the neurons. 

Even though these pharmaceuticals imitate the brain’s natural chemicals, they don’t stimulate neurons in the same manner that a natural neurotransmitter does, which results in the network sending incorrect messages.

What are the Behavioral Signs of Addiction?

Some indicators might indicate whether you or a loved one may be abusing drugs or alcohol. Addiction is generally characterized by the following:

• Lack of control or inability to refrain from a substance or action 
• Reduced socialization, such as breaking relationships or obligations
• Ignoring danger concerns, such as sharing needles despite possible repercussions
• Physical side-effects, such as withdrawal symptoms or the requirement for a greater dosage to produce an effect.

Physical Signs of Addiction

Physical signs of addiction include: 

• Having bloodshot or cloudy eyes
• Pupils that are dilated or constricted
• Abrupt fluctuations in weight
• Alterations in hygiene
• Dental problems
• Skin alterations
• Sleep issues or excessive sleep.

Behavioral Signs

Problematic drug use is occasionally connected with behavioral changes like the ones listed below: 

• Heightened hostility or irritation.
• Alterations in personality or attitude.
• Lethargy
• Depression
• Abrupt changes to a social network
• Drastic adjustments to routines or priorities
• Participation in criminal conduct
• Increased secrecy, such as lying about how much was consumed or how long was spent

Addicts frequently surround themselves with others who support their behaviors. When confronted, they can try to defend their actions by offering you justifications. Over time, you could feel more alienated.

Drug usage can potentially be fatal and may have devastating effects on the body and the brain. If you or your loved one is experiencing any of these signs, it is best to get help to avoid more fatal consequences. It’s crucial to get treatment as soon as you recognize that you or someone you love is struggling. Admitting you require drug abuse therapy can save your life; thus, there is no shame in doing so.

 At Total RMH, our approach focuses on the brain and body to bring the desired transformation. Our mission has always been to provide adequate recovery alternatives and safe, doctor-guided programs and allow you to live a free life. Our services are efficient, quick, and discreet, with a long-term focus that encompasses nutritional treatment, life coaching, and other support systems.

How to Know When It Is Time to Find Help for Drug Abuse?

Studies show that 8.6% of people in the population require treatment for a drug or alcohol issue. However, fewer of these individuals obtain care. 

Many people wait until their addiction has negatively impacted their lives almost irreparable before speaking to a therapist, whether it be out of shame, the conviction that their drug use isn’t “that terrible,” or for any other reason. It’s time to get aid if you show any or all of the symptoms above.To start your recovery journey, contact us at Total RMH or call 866-662-8763. Total RMH provides comprehensive addiction treatment in Los Angeles. You can also review our website to view our treatment approach, rebuild your life and begin your journey into a transformed life.

If you or a loved one is struggling to overcome cravings or avoid a relapse, it might be time for professional help. Too often, people try to “go cold turkey” but relapse because the withdrawal symptoms or cravings are too severe. 

What’s more, when this happens, people often end up feeling more depressed, like a failure. Those feelings of isolation and guilt or shame can lead to continued relapses.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. With Total RMH, you can get Beverly Hills medical detox today and have professional medical staff guide you through your recovery.

What is Medication-Assisted Detox?

Medication-assisted detox or medical detox is an addiction treatment program designed for withdrawal management.

Medical detox provides 24-hour monitoring and treatment. This takes place in hospital inpatient units or rehab centers where you get specialized medical services and intensive care.

The staff required for medication-assisted detox will vary based on your situation, but in general, you will have medical staff on hand to administer medications used for detox, medications that have been FDA-approved to manage the severe withdrawal symptoms, and ongoing cravings.

Setting	Care Team	Treatment Goals	Therapies Used
Medical detox takes place in a licensed rehab treatment facility or a hospital	The care team is comprised of doctors, nurses, psychologists, counselors, and assistants who can identify and treat complications with detox meds as they arise	The goal of medications used for detox is to manage your withdrawal symptoms, alleviating acute cognitive, behavioral, physical, and medication problems	Detox medications can include FDA-approved prescriptions or over-the-counter medications for each symptom

What Medications are Used for Alcohol Detox?

Different medications achieve slightly different results. In some situations, the medications involved in your treatment plan will help alleviate the severe withdrawal symptoms, and in other cases, they help you manage your cravings. 

Opioid Treatment 

Detox medication can be used for opioid treatment programs. With opioid treatments, the detox meds are primarily methadone, naltrexone, or buprenorphine. Methadone is administered daily. You don’t need to get a second prescription because your medications used for detox are part of the program.

The use of such detox medication is designed to relieve your withdrawal symptoms and reduce your opioid cravings without giving you a high.

Alcohol Treatment

Medications for alcoholism used for detox include acamprosate, disulfiram, and naltrexone. Similarly, these medications help to curb your withdrawal symptoms and significantly reduce your cravings as you continue through your treatment.

Which Medication Used for Detox can Help with Withdrawal?

Medications used for detox used for opioid treatment include:

Buprenorphine 

This reduces or eliminates the withdrawal symptoms from opioids. It does this by producing a similar, though much lower, euphoria or “high” so you can safely wean your body from opioids. 

Methadone

This has been used to reduce the cravings you have with opioids, cravings which would otherwise last for months. It simply blocks opioid cravings and blunts the effects of taking opioids. So, if you relapse, you won’t get the same effect from opioids as before, making it less likely that you will relapse repeatedly. 

Naltrexone

This detox medication decreases or blocks the enjoyable side effects you get from using. By making drug use unpleasant, it decreases how often you relapse. 

Medications used for detox used for alcohol treatment include:

Acamprosate

These medications used for detox repair the chemical imbalances in your brain brought about by severe alcoholism. Long term, this helps to decrease how often you relapse. 

Disulfiram

This medication causes severely unpleasant side effects when you drink. It won’t decrease your cravings for alcohol, but it will cause nausea, vomiting, sweating, headaches, and problems breathing. The more severe the side effects, the less your brain associates alcohol consumption with pleasurable activities. 

Naltrexone

This detox medication decreases or blocks the enjoyable side effects you get from drinking. By making alcohol consumption unpleasant, it decreases how often you relapse.

How to Find Medically-Assisted Detox in Beverly Hills, CA

If you are ready to find medically-assisted detoxification in Beverly Hills, let Total RMH help. With Total RMH, we believe that no two people struggle with addiction in the same way. What’s more, we know that treating the mind and body simultaneously is the only way to achieve lasting recovery. 

As part of our medically-assisted detox, we use FDA-approved medications used for detox as well as over-the-counter medications to ease your symptoms. With 24-hour supervision and monitoring, our staff can provide things like disulfiram to help you get through your recovery while also offering anti-nausea, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic medications to keep you as comfortable as possible. 

Let Total RMH help you through your treatment with our Los Angeles substance abuse treatment programs.

If you are struggling with addiction, you might ask, how long does it take to detox from heroin, and how long does heroin withdrawal last?

Anyone who has struggled with heroin addiction understands how challenging it can be to try and recover alone. Withdrawal symptoms can be overwhelming and physically dangerous. But you don’t have to try and quit cold turkey. You can get help from professionals at Total RMH.

How Does Heroin Impact the Body?

Heroin is classified as an opioid. Opioids have a substantial impact on the body, particularly the brain. Opioids are used under controlled circumstances to relieve pain and relax your body. Prescriptions might be used for pain management to treat chronic pain, or prescribed after surgery, accidents, or other medical procedures. 

Opioids chemically react with opioid receptors along the nerve cells in your brain and body. When this happens, it gives you pain relief, relaxes your body, and gives you a high.

What are the Symptoms of Heroin Withdrawal?

As soon as you stop taking heroin, you can experience a wide range of withdrawal symptoms that include things like:

• Shaking
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Restlessness
• Muscle pain
• Abdominal cramping
• Nervousness
• Depression
• Cravings
• And more

These symptoms of heroin withdrawal often ebb and flow, with one or two symptoms getting much worse while the rest subside, and then those symptoms subsiding while the rest get worse. The symptoms can start within 6 hours of your last hit, and it can take up to 10 days to completely subside.

How Long Does it Take to Detox from Heroin?

How long it takes to detox depends on many factors, like how often you have used heroin, how much you usually use, your current physical and mental health, and whether you have used other drugs in conjunction with heroin.

To find an evidence-based detox program in Los Angeles, contact Total RMH today.

In general, the timeline is divided into three segments: 

Phase 1	6-12 hours	Symptoms begin	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking
Phase 2	1-3 days	Symptoms peak	Intense cravings, shaking, sweating, nervousness and agitation, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting
Phase 3	7-10 days	Symptoms begin to subside	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking

Knowing answers to questions like “how long does it take to detox from heroin” can help you better anticipate your timeline.

Thankfully, there are FDA-approved medications that can be used to treat opioid addiction and manage your withdrawal symptoms.

• Opioid receptor agonists like methadone are medications that attach to the same opioid receptors in your brain, but they actually block your withdrawal symptoms, so you no longer crave heroin.
• Opioid receptor partial agonists attach to your opioid receptors and only partially activate them. Instead of being fully activated, this partial activation makes your withdrawal symptoms and cravings less severe. Some examples include buprenorphine and naloxone.
• Opioid receptor antagonists are medications that actually block any activity in the opioid receptors of your brain. These medications prevent the high from heroin and reduce cravings. Some examples include naloxone and Naltrexone.
• Adrenergic receptor agonists are medications that attach to your adrenergic receptor in the brain and help alleviate your withdrawal symptoms. Lofexidine is one example. 

All of these are FDA-approved medications that have to be used at a heroin detox center. You can’t use them on your own. Thankfully you can find heroin detox programs that offer this level of support and relief.

How to Find a Heroin Detox Program in Beverly Hills, CA

Now that you have answers to questions like “how long does it take to detox from heroin” and “how long does heroin withdrawal last,” it might be time to find a heroin detox program in Beverly Hills. Because of the impacts heroin has on the mind and the body, it is crucial to find a heroin detox program that starts with medically supervised detox. 

With Total RMH, you get medical supervision throughout the course of your detox. Having someone present to monitor your vitals keeps you as comfortable as possible during the process. We understand just how uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms can be, and there’s a great deal of fluctuation in terms of which withdrawal symptoms you experience, to what degree, and for how long.

Our team is not only here to facilitate a comfortable withdrawal process but to help you successfully detox and move forward into your inpatient or outpatient program, where you can learn how to manage long-term withdrawal symptoms and utilize strategic coping skills that keep you sober. Everyone deserves to live a happy, healthy life. Addiction shouldn’t cripple your future. So don’t let it.
Let Total RMH help you manage your heroin detox and withdrawal symptoms with our Los Angeles substance abuse treatment programs.

Alcohol affects your body in many ways. When you drink, it changes the structure of your brain. The functions of your GABA and glutamate receptors are altered. Your brain function slows down, your anxiety goes away, and you feel slightly sedated or tired. When this wears off, your neurochemicals aren’t at the levels they should be, so your brain activity isn’t what it’s supposed to be either. You end up hyper-aroused, anxious, unable to sleep, basically everything that’s the opposite of the sedation and decreases your anxiety while drinking. But how long does alcohol last in the body, and when is it time to get help?

How Does Alcohol Impact the Body?

Let’s look at a quick breakdown of alcohol’s impact on your body:

1. You start drinking. As the alcohol goes through your stomach, it gets absorbed through the stomach walls and into your small intestine. It’s broken down through the bloodstream into your liver and converted into acetaldehyde. This travels through the bloodstream, into your heart, through the blood-brain barrier, and into your brain. Within the first 10 minutes or so, you’ll start to feel the effects of alcohol because it’s already changing your brain.
2. You feel more relaxed. You get a natural level of endorphins, and your mood is slightly altered, so you drink more. As you reach the legal drunk-driving limit, you lose coordination, balance, hearing, speech, and reaction times, but you also get a boost of endorphins, so you feel great. You start to lose physical control, and as you transition with more alcohol, you get euphoric, but you also find it hard to walk and talk at the same time.
3. You wake up with a hangover. Alcohol is sedated, so it puts you in a very deep sleep, but that sedation only works for about 4 hours at a time, and then you wake up with a headache, feeling very unhappy, and usually very hungry. Alcohol is a poison, and as you deal with alcohol hangovers, you might have rapid heartbeats, nausea, and feel flushed because of the poisonous acetaldehyde. Your inflammatory response is high, so you get a lot of inflammation; your mitochondrial DNA isn’t working right, especially in the liver, so you get a lot of free radicals, and in general, you have stomach symptoms and a headache. This is the start of withdrawal. 

How Long Does Alcohol Last in Your System?

How long does alcohol last in your system? This is a complicated question. The amount of alcohol in your system will determine how long it lasts because it takes your body a certain amount of time to process what you have consumed. Factors that contribute to how long alcohol last in your system can include:

• Gender
• Age
• Weight
• How much you recently ate
• How much you drink
• How hydrated you are

The time of day that you drink is another factor. If you’re already sleepy, alcohol is more likely to put you to sleep. If you are a woman, that means you have a higher percentage of fat and a lower percentage of water in your body compared to men, so alcohol gets diluted in your body’s water content meaning women get drunk faster than men. Food delays alcohol uptake in your stomach, so if you haven’t consumed anything all day, that alcohol gets consumed really fast. Genetically you might metabolize alcohol faster.

Below is a table indicating how long alcohol will show up on different tests:

System in your body	How long does alcohol last in your system?
Blood	Up to 6 hours
Breath	12-24 hours
Hair	Up to 90 days
Saliva	12-24 hours
Urine	Up to 72 hours depending on how it is tested

This table shows how long alcohol lasts in different systems in your body based primarily on tests that would be rendered. Even if you aren’t having something like a DUI test administered for your blood or your saliva, it’s important to understand how long alcohol lasts for you so that you better appreciate when withdrawal symptoms might manifest.

What are Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal?

When you have alcohol in your system, you feel the effects of the drug. But as soon as the drinking stops and there’s no longer any alcohol in your system, alcohol withdrawal begins. Knowing answers to questions like “how long does alcohol last in your system” can help you better understand when to expect these withdrawal symptoms.

There are many symptoms, and what you experience personally will vary based on how long you have struggled, what else you abuse, and your personal physical and psychological health. You might experience a handful of symptoms like:

• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Tremors or shaking
• Insomnia
• Fatigue
• Mood changes
• Increased heart rate
• Hyperthermia 
• Rapid or abnormal breathing
• Hallucinations
• Seizures

How to Find Detox Programs for Alcoholism

Any Southern California alcohol detox programs need to be completed in a safe, professional setting. Alcohol withdrawal brings with it some of the most serious potential complications like delirium tremens, hallucinations, severe dehydration and vomiting, seizures, and even death. Having professional staff nearby can give you access to the medications you need to remain stable and, of course, has professionals there if something goes wrong.

If you are ready to get help for alcoholism, our Southern California rehab at Total RHM can provide medication-assisted alcohol withdrawal treatment. We help provide detox and relief as well as ongoing treatment and recovery through a combination of treatment therapies like neurofeedback, withdrawal management, IV Therapy, counseling, and more. We combine a multitude of psychological and physical treatment plans to help you improve the mind and the body as you move through your recovery.

Our Beverly Hills treatment approach focuses on minimizing your alcohol withdrawal symptoms and then cleansing your body of any residual toxins with proper alcohol detox, and after that, securing your long-term wellness as you rebuild your life.

Let Total RHM help you on the path to alcohol recovery today.

If you or someone close to you has struggled with addiction, you might wonder: Is addiction genetic? Am I unable to control my addiction? What help is there?

What are the Signs of Addiction?

Addiction is characterized by obsessive thoughts and actions regarding the substance to which you are addicted. Suddenly work or school obligations don’t seem nearly as important as getting your next fix. Serious addiction is also characterized by substance use despite knowing the harm it causes yourself and others. Real addiction is when you completely lose control, and even if you want to stop, you can’t. You might also be downplaying your drug addiction, doing drugs in secret, or lying about how often you use drugs. So what causes this addiction? Is there an addiction gene or some other way you can prevent addiction?

What Causes Addiction?

The causes of addiction overlap. Most people don’t just struggle with single causes of addiction but rather multiple causes of addiction simultaneously.

Trauma

Science shows us that a predisposition for addiction can arise early. If someone is exposed to trauma or abuse, it can be a higher risk of addiction. That risk is amplified if the exposure happens during childhood. Trauma doesn’t just have to take place in childhood to have a detrimental impact on the layout of the brain, social and emotional skills, decision-making abilities, or impulse control. Witnessing domestic violence, being abused or neglected as a child, harms brain development and increases your risk of addiction.

Environment

Many environmental factors can increase someone’s risk of addiction. If you regularly see family members or friends abusing drugs or alcohol, that seemingly normal social behavior can place you at a higher risk for addiction. Likewise, if you are chronically exposed to adverse environmental factors, especially at a young age, this can change your brain’s structure and how it works. Increased poverty or living in an area with high levels of crime can alter the development of your brain such that the parts of your brain responsible for controlling your impulses and regulating your emotions don’t grow the way they should. Instead, the parts of your brain that act quickly and search for immediate pleasure get bigger. The younger someone is exposed to these environmental triggers, the worse this risk of addiction is.

Previous Addiction

People who have struggled with addiction in the past might have neurological changes brought about by their substance abuse. Many illicit substances change the way the brain works, altering the connections between neurons or the natural levels of dopamine. If you have struggled with addiction and your doctor writes you a prescription after surgery, the changes brought about by your history of drug abuse might result in an increased risk of prescription drug abuse.

Genetics

So, is addiction genetic? According to the American Psychological Association, genetics are one of many causes of addiction. 

Science has found more than one addictive gene. Cocaine dependence has been linked to modified HIST1H2BD, while alcoholism has been linked to lower and higher levels of ALDH1 and ALDH2, GABRA2, and CHRM2L. How your body responds to stress and subsequently to addictive substances can be impacted by MAOA and SLC6A4.

Is Addiction Genetic?

Genetics account for 60% of a person’s risk of addiction and 54% of their ability to quit. One of the most recently studied areas is the level of D2 receptors, which is a specific type of dopamine receptor. It is thought that levels of this dopamine receptor might one day prove a viable addiction gene. Right now, brain scans can measure the levels of this dopamine receptor. People with fewer D2 receptors are more likely to become addicted. 

How to Find Treatment for Genetic Addiction?

With Total RMH, we can help you with your initial withdrawal management, keeping you safe and comfortable during detox. After detox, your Beverly Hills addiction treatment program will be customized to your needs, including behavioral therapies, group therapy, medication, as well as neurofeedback and IV vitamin therapy to reset the changes in your brain and body to typical levels.

At our Southern California inpatient rehab facility, you get to live in a safe, supportive environment for the duration of your treatment, where we give you round-the-clock service in a space where you can turn your attention inward and focus on rebuilding yourself. Our rehab lets you live at home when you are ready but still travel to our facility for treatment based on the intensity and length of time you need most.

Let Total RMH help you understand your genetics and manage your addiction.

According to the CDC, the chronic effects of alcohol are vast and substantial. Every year excessive alcohol consumption leads to 95,000 deaths. Those who die prematurely from alcoholism shorten their lifespans by an average of 29 years. What’s more, one out of every ten deaths among adults between 20 and 64 years of age was related to the effects of long-term alcoholism. So what are alcoholism’s long-term effects, and what are the signs that it’s time for help?

What are the Signs of Alcoholism?

Alcoholism is marked by heavy consumption or excessive drinking. This is when you regularly consume more than 4-5 drinks at a single time, or between 8-15 drinks per week. Severe alcoholism can manifest in the form of addiction, where your body shows withdrawal symptoms if you are not drinking. You start to shake and have cravings. Alcohol becomes an essential thing in your life, and your need to drink takes precedence over your family, friends, work responsibilities, financial responsibilities, and more. 

Other signs include blacking out regularly, being unable to recall the events of your evening, or being unable to stop drinking even if you want to. If you are periodically drunk and notice physical withdrawal symptoms, it might be time to get help.

How Does Alcohol Affect the Body?

Alcohol affects the body in many ways. When you drink, alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream. It gets broken down by your liver, but this takes time. The alcohol builds up in your bloodstream and negatively impacts your brain and organs. If you drink too much at one time, your liver and pancreas cannot eliminate the toxins from your body fast enough, so the alcohol isn’t removed from your body. 

This is what results in feeling drunk. Being drunk is dangerous because it slows down your breathing, impacts your blood pressure, slows your heart rate, etc. Long term, these issues can compound. 

What are the Effects of Long-Term Alcoholism?

The effects of long term alcoholism impact many areas of the body:

Brain

Long-term effects of heavy drinking disrupt the pathways in your brain. This changes the way your brain works. It can damage the nerves in your brain, leading to insomnia, anxiety, depression, decreased balance, and problems with cognition. When this happens, you experience mood and behavioral changes, and your coordination is impacted. The longer you use alcohol excessively, the more challenging things like thinking clearly or recalling events become. 

For anyone dealing with memory loss or impaired cognitive thinking due to alcohol, brain optimization programs may be able to help after getting sober.

Heart

The long-term effects of alcoholism extend to the heart as well. Long-term drinking can physically damage your heart leading to your heart muscle stretching and drooping, causing cardiomyopathy. It can also impact your circulation and heart rate, leading to high blood pressure and arrhythmias. All of this can compound in the form of a stroke. 

Liver

When most people think of chronic alcoholism, they associate it with liver disease. Chronic effects of alcohol take a particular toll on the liver. Regular alcohol consumption causes inflammation in the liver, as your liver is unable to process the high rates of sugar. This can lead to a fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and fibrosis of the liver. 

Pancreas

Similarly, the pancreas plays an essential role in regulating excess sugar in the body and storing fat. With excessive alcoholism, the pancreas is exposed to toxic substances that accumulate inside, leading to severe inflammation. When the blood vessels in your pancreas are swollen, they cannot digest your food correctly, inhibiting the nutrient absorption you get. 

Immune System

All of this works in tandem to weaken your immune system. Without the right nutrients, your body does not get what it needs to keep your organs functioning. You miss out on vital nutrients that weaken you. Alcoholics are more likely to struggle with poor immune health, which means they are more likely to get infections, react strongly to regular colds and flues, and contract serious diseases like tuberculosis and pneumonia. 

Cancer

Finally, there is a great deal of research linking cancer to alcoholism. The more you drink, the higher your risk of developing alcohol-associated cancers like liver cancer, esophageal cancer, or breast cancer. 

How to Find Comprehensive Alcohol Addiction Treatment

At Total RMH, we believe that the effects of long-term alcoholism are most severe in the brain, which is why our unique and comprehensive approach to Beverly Hills addiction treatment focuses on improving the health of your brain and body. We help you improve the health and function of your immune system and your brain with nutritional therapy and IV Therapy. We reset the processes in your brain that have been interrupted because of the long-term effects of heavy drinking. Let us develop an individualized plan for you today.
Reach out to us today for help with your addiction.

Prescription opioids are regularly used for things like surgery and chronic pain management. Still, opioids remain in your system for a long time, and as such, they can easily build up if you are taking them regularly. 

What are Opioids?

Opioids refer to a class of drugs derived from the poppy plant. The poppy plant or Opium poppy plant affects the brain, specifically, blocking pain signals to and from the brain. 

Which Drugs are Opioids?

How long do opioids stay in your system? This is based on which drugs you are taking. Opioids can include illegal heroin, synthetic drugs like fentanyl, or legal prescriptions like Oxycodone (also known as Oxycontin), hydrocodone (also known as Vicodin), codeine, morphine, and others.

What are the Signs of Opioids Use?

Signs of opioid use can vary based on the type of drugs you are taking. However, common signs include weight loss, drowsiness, changes in sleep or diet, a lack of hygiene, changes to exercise or social habits, confusion, constipation, nausea, or slowed breathing.

If you are given a prescription after surgery and are using the drug as intended, showing any of these signs is perfectly normal. It becomes a problem when you develop a tolerance and become addicted. The more often you take opioids, the fewer endorphins your body releases, which means you can’t feel good doing activities that once brought you pleasure. So, where exercise might have left you with a rush of endorphins before, if you are addicted to opioids, exercise won’t give you that rush. 

If you have a tolerance to opioids, you might try to get extra prescriptions, running out long before you were supposed to. Most prescriptions are given with a limited number of refills, and those refills have to take place at a specific interval. So, if you undergo surgery, you might be given 30 pills for 30 days, and you can’t get another refill until the end of that 30-day mark. If you find yourself running out long before that 30-day time frame and are craving the drug uncontrollably, unable to stop how much you use, you might be struggling with opioid abuse.

How Long Do Opioids Stay in Your System?

So how long do opioids stay in your system? This depends on how much you use.

An individual undergoing a thyroidectomy might be prescribed hydrocodone at 325mg and be given 30 pills for the duration of their recovery. Within 6 to 12 hours after taking their last pill, they might experience withdrawal symptoms, so if they were prescribed one pill per day, within the first week, they might take two capsules per day and then later, three tablets per day until their prescription runs out.

Opioids can remain detectable in your saliva for a few days depending on what opioids you took, in your blood for another day, and in your urine for up to seven days. How long opioids remain in your system is based on how much you took, how fast your metabolism is, how often you have taken drugs, your age, your medical conditions, weight, and your gender.

Using the example of the individual with a thyroidectomy, the more often they take their prescription, the more it builds in their system. If they don’t wait an adequate amount of time for it to be wholly flushed, they might have half of their 325mg still circulating through their body when they take their next pill. This means instead of getting a single dose of 325 mg at any given time, they are now getting the 325 mg pill and the 160 mg that remained in their system from the last pill.

As this type of behavior continues, it affects how long opioids stay in system, and it affects how addicted you become. Thankfully, you can safely detox from opioids.

How to Detox From Opioids?

More than 40.3 million people over 12 years of age have struggled with a substance use disorder in the last year, and those who struggled with opioid abuse got the least amount of help; only 11% receive any form of treatment. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Knowing how long opioids stay in system can help you understand the timeline for opioid addiction and what your recovery will look like. 

With Total RMH, our team will help you safely detox from opioids. If you are asking questions like, “how long do opioids stay in your system” then it might be time that you or someone close to you get the help you or they deserve. Our staff will help assess your situation, provide medically supervised detox and keep you in a safe, supportive environment during which time you can focus on your recovery until the opioids are entirely out of your system and you have been exposed to a wide range of coping mechanisms to deal with your cravings long after you leave our facility. 
Reach out to us today for help with your opioid addiction and recovery.

If you or someone you love has struggled with addiction, getting the help you deserve can be challenging. What’s more, not everyone struggles with addiction the same way. Different substances can cause different problems and be difficult to identify. Perhaps you think someone close to you is struggling with cocaine, and now you want to know how you can tell. How does cocaine affect the body, and what does cocaine do to your body?

What is Cocaine?

To understand how cocaine affects the body, you need to know what it is and where it comes from. Cocaine is a stimulant that comes from the coca leaves of a South American plant. Although it can be used for things like local anesthesia, most people who struggle with drug addiction use illegal cocaine that comes in a white powder. 

How Does Cocaine Affect the Body?

When people first take cocaine, whether by snorting it, injecting it, or rubbing it onto their gums, they experience an immediate high because of how cocaine affects the body and the brain.

So, what does cocaine do to your body?

Cocaine can cause many problems in the body like nausea, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and restlessness. But, the short-term effects immediately after taking cocaine include extreme happiness and energy, hypersensitivity to touch or sound, and mental alertness. Some people find that taking cocaine helps them perform simple mental and physical tasks much more quickly, or it gives them a level of mental cognizance they believe they can’t get otherwise.

How does cocaine affect the brain?

Cocaine increases the natural levels of dopamine in your brain. Dopamine is a chemical related to reward. When, for example, you complete a work task effectively and receive direct praise. As a result, it releases positive chemicals like dopamine to reinforce good behavior. Your exercise produces endorphins like dopamine to reinforce the positive impact when you work out. The more reinforcements you get for a particular activity, the more your brain will turn to that activity to get the release of dopamine.

Once your brain releases dopamine, it gets recycled back into the same brain cell that released it. Then it shuts off the signal between the nerve cells.

Under normal circumstances, dopamine would be released when you do something like exercise, and then it would be recycled back into the brain cell and turned off. So you would only get to experience a limited amount of dopamine under a controlled length of time. However, with cocaine, that ability to recycle dopamine gets cut off. 

Cocaine prevents that recycling, so the dopamine builds up in your brain and literally floods your brain with positive reinforcement after taking drugs. The more you take cocaine, the more this positive reinforcement is renewed. What’s more, you become less sensitive to cocaine, so you find it challenging to achieve the same level of dopamine with the same moderate amount of cocaine. This causes people to take more frequent doses and more potent doses to get the same positive feeling.

What are the Signs of Cocaine Use?

Knowing how does cocaine affect the body is only part of getting help. The other part is recognizing the signs of cocaine use in yourself or your loved ones. 

Common signs of cocaine use include:

• Physical signs like a loss of appetite, dilated pupils, sudden overconfidence or overexcitement, regular runny nose
• Behavioral signs like a sudden shift in mood, not engaging with friends or family anymore, no longer participating in hobbies, being constantly irritable or depressed, missing work or other obligations regularly without an excuse
• Financial signs like money problems, stealing, not having enough money even if they make enough money or recently got paid, legal trouble

How to Find Cocaine Addiction Treatment

Once you learn to recognize how cocaine affects the body and the main signs of drug abuse, you can recommend help for a loved one or find help for yourself. With Total RMH, we don’t limit our approach to detox. Cocaine has one of the longest periods of cravings and a high risk of relapse. For that reason, we focus heavily on targeting the mind and the body as one. To achieve this goal, we use therapies like NAD IV or IV vitamin therapy and nutritional therapy to give your body the essential vitamins and nutrients it was missing. We help undo the neurological damage that cocaine has done with things like neurofeedback and long-term withdrawal management.
If you or someone you love is struggling with cocaine, contact Total RMH today.

If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, knowing the heroin detox timeline can help put into perspective the process of withdrawal and recovery. But to understand the timeline for heroin withdrawal, you need to understand what it is and how it affects your body. 

What is Heroin?

Heroin is an opioid that is derived from the opium poppy plant. It is an illegal substance that is highly addictive and brings with it a lot of side effects and a high risk of overdose. 

How Does Heroin Affect the Body?

Heroin has the most significant impact on your brain. It binds itself to a specific receptor in your brain referred to as the mu-opioid receptor or MOR. Your body naturally produces neurotransmitters that bind to these receptors and help regulate things like hormone production, feelings of happiness, and pain. Whenever these MORs are activated, it stimulates the release of dopamine, so your brain gets a jolt in the reward center. The more often you use heroin, the bigger the jolts you get in the brain’s reward center and the more reinforced that behavior becomes.

Heroin also slows down your central nervous system, so your brain function, breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, and even body temperature can become irregular. With too much heroin, all those things can result in a loss of consciousness or coma. Taking heroin can result in feeling sick or vomiting, feeling cold with a lowered body temperature, shallow breathing, relief from physical pain or a rush of pleasurable feelings, as well as a narrowing of the pupils and a diminished sex drive. When you detox from heroin, it causes other interactions in your body. 

What are the Symptoms of Heroin Withdrawal?

The symptoms of withdrawal are vast and vary throughout the timeline for heroin withdrawal. The symptoms of heroin withdrawal can be very serious and include things like shaking, nervousness, cravings, depression, nausea or vomiting, restlessness, muscle pain and abdominal pain, and more. 

The symptoms can be better managed and overcome with things like medication and therapy. With heroin withdrawal, many people try to undergo detox on their own, at home, but when the cravings or the intense pain and nausea become too much, they relax. But with help from trained professionals at a detox and recovery center, your withdrawal can be managed with medication and therapy, increasing the likelihood that you will be able to move through all the stages of the detox timeline safely and successfully. You deserve to be your healthiest and happiest, which sometimes means getting help.

What is the Timeline for Heroin Withdrawal?

The timeline for heroin withdrawal or heroin detox timeline is based on many factors such as:

• How long you have used heroin
• If you have used heroin and other drugs together
• How much heroin you have used
• What your current physical health is
• What your mental health is
• Whether you have help from a treatment facility when you detox from heroin

For example: Someone who has used heroin for many years, and abused heroin in large doses with other prescription pills will likely undergo a longer, more severe withdrawal timeline. Someone with a history of mental illness or previous opioid addiction might experience more intense withdrawal symptoms compared to someone for whom this is the first time they have struggled with drug abuse. 

6-12 hours	Symptoms begin	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking
1-3 days	Symptoms peak	Intense cravings, shaking, sweating, nervousness and agitation, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting
7-10 days	Symptoms begin to subside	Nausea, abdominal pain, muscle spasms, sweating, shaking

The timeline for heroin withdrawal can vary for each person. Some people feel symptoms of withdrawal intensely the entire time, other people experience intense withdrawal symptoms just for the first day and then get better. Heroin will leave your body within a few days. Your digestive system will metabolize it and remove it, but how healthy you are and how much you have used will dictate how quickly this process happens. The withdrawal symptoms of heroin will continue until your body and brain have removed any residual compounds and gotten over their dependents. 

This can be very painful and frustrating but with proper help from a recovery facility, you can take medications to manage the symptoms, undergo therapy to get your brain back toward a healthy place, and develop strategies to manage your stress and remain clean. 
Reach out to Total TMH to find professional heroin detox programs near you.