Confidential Drug Rehab

Although considered the first step in recovery, is detox always necessary? Not always so, but in some cases withdrawing off of a drug can be fatal without a medically supervised detox. We have provided the following to help you to understand a little more about the detox process.

Alcohol Addiction and Binge Drinking

There are two different types of alcohol abusers, the binge drinker and the acute daily drinker. Both of which may be late stage alcoholics, just with different patterns of abuse.

Beer is the binge-drinker’s beverage of choice. Beer benders cause the most accidents and health problems. Beer drinkers are also the most likely to drink and drive. (Binge-drinking is many times defined as having five or more drinks in row.) 

A binge drinker is someone who can go days, weeks or months without having a drink, but when he/she does drink it is usually in great excess, sometimes consuming near lethal amounts. This type of alcoholic does require a medical detox if immediately after a binge. If however, it has been over a week since his last drink, detox may not be necessary.

The acute daily drinker is someone who drinks on a daily basis. This type of alcohol absolutely requires a medically supervised detox or else may develop delusions, shaking, seizures or even death.

Detox for alcohol usually involves prescribed benzodiazipene’s (Klonopin, Xanax, Valium, etc) to help counter the seizures and anxiety; and high blood pressure medication such as Catapres.

 Opiate Addiction

Opiates include Heroin, Vicodin, Methadone, and Oxycontin. If the opiate abuser has reached the point where they are a daily (or near daily) user, then a detox is usually required. Although most opiate addicts are not usually in any medical danger during the detox or withdrawal process, a detox setting is recommended because most opiate addicts simply cannot withdraw on their own.

Although the detox process for opiates can be over within a week, generally speaking, normal sleep patterns sometimes do not return for months.

Methadone Addiction

Although Methadone is considered an opiate, most clinics are reluctant to admit clients addicted to methadone because of the length of detox as well as the difficulty of the clients.

Benzo Addiction

Addiction to benzodiazipene’s can be very dangerous if not detoxed in a supervised medical setting. Rapid withdrawal from benzo’s can lead to delusions, anxiety, seizures and even death. For this reason, it is imperative that anyone considering withdrawing from benzo’s seek out professional guidance.

Cocaine Addiction

The withdraw from cocaine or crack is usually not medically dangerous and doesn’t require a detox. Someone withdrawing from cocaine or crack can expect long sleep periods, lethargy, lowered blood pressure, heart rate and respiration.

Methamphetamine Addiction

Withdrawing from meth doesn’t usually require a detox, however many clients exhibit acute psychotic symptoms as a result of their using and sometimes are admitted to a dual diagnosis or psychiatric facility to handle the delusions and paranoia. Although most meth users can safely detox on their own, some do require anti-psychotic medications because of the drug use. 

Meth addicts show the horrors of addiction: faces that seem to have had the life sucked out of them, sunken eyes that indicate days or weeks without sleep, wasting bodies from malnutrition resulting from a total lack of appetite, mouths riddled with sores and rotted or missing teeth, skin that’s been scratched or cut and incessantly picked at.
And that’s only what’s happening on the surface.
Inside, methamphetamines ravage the kidneys, liver, lungs, heart and even the brain. Long-term use can result in permanent psychological damage, stroke and failure of other organs. Addicts hear voices and see people and things that no one else sees or hears.
Women who are pregnant give birth to “crack babies” with cardiac problems, cleft palates and other birth defects, who suffer the consequences of withdrawal as soon as they’re born.
Many people believe that crystal meth is a drug used by only the most far gone of drug addicts.  It’s true that chronic meth users look like that, but they didn’t start out that way.
The facts are, meth is used by teenagers who just want a little extra edge when studying for a test.   It’s used by young girls who want to control their weight and it’s used by guys who want a little extra out of a sexual experience.   Meth users (also called tweakers) can be students, professionals, city folk or urban dwellers, dirt poor or celebrity rich, and members of any ethnic background.

If you have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Des Moines, IA and you have been ordered to take the IA state ordered Drug or Alcohol Assessment or State Required DUI Course and State Required 12 Hour or 48 Hour OWI Programs then you should consider the ALPP Institute in Des Moines, IA.

The ALPP Institute of Des Moines, IA offers many classes and services to help get your life back on track, to help get your drivers license back, to help you get back to work, etc.

along with offering Iowa State ordered Drug and Alcohol Assessments and State Required DUI Course and State Required 12 Hour or 48 Hour OWI Programs in Des Moines, IA, the ALPP Institute also offer the services below to help get you on the right track, right away!

Intensive Outpatient Treatment, SMART Recovery Meetings, Residential Treatment Programs, Detox -Hospital or Outpatient Referral AND they will file All Third Party Insurance for you and financing IS available.

Assessments / Evaluations
Every individual requires care specifically designed to meet their needs. Often the first step is to schedule an appointment for an assessment with our staff to help determine the most appropriate level of care.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Evaluations (OWI in Iowa)
Alcohol and substance abuse evaluation as required by Iowa Code Chapter 32IJ.22 (Operating While Intoxicated) for reinstatement of a driver’s license.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) 12-Hour Classes
ALPP Institute offers the 12-Hour program approved by the Department of Education for Driving Under the Influence classes for persons charged and convicted of driving while under the influence of alcohol. This program shares the philosophies and techniques of both the out-patient and residential programs teaching the Life Process Program©.

OWI (1) WEEKEND PROGRAM – 48 Hour Program
ALPP Institute also offers the residential weekend program in lieu of jail requirements [Section 321J.2, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), 2003 Code Supplement] for Iowa. A person must have already been sentenced and received court approval to attend the OWI jail diversion program to satisfy the mandatory 2 day sentence.

Each person attending the program will receive a certificate for their participation. Additionally, certifications are sent to the D.O.T. as required for driver’s license reinstatement. ALPP Staff also notifies the Clerk of Court of the county in which the sentencing occurred that the class has been completed.

www.alppinstitute.com

A new study on mice has suggested that long-term changes in the brain’s dopamine-releasing machinery may explain why methamphetamine addiction is so strong.

Dopamine is one of the brain’s major neurotransmitters.

The research team, led by Nigel Bamford, of the University of Washington, Seattle, treated mice with methamphetamine and examined how prolonged exposure to the drug affected dopamine levels.

The researchers focused on the dopamine machinery in the brain’s corticostriatal region of the brain, which is believed to have the "habit" circuitry that plays a major role in the compulsive drug seeking seen in people addicted to methamphetamine and amphetamine.

The results showed that extended exposure to methamphetamine caused a depression of the synaptic dopamine machinery in the corticostriatal region that lasted for months after the mice were no longer given the drug.

However, a dose of methamphetamine reversed the depressive effects on the synaptic dopamine machinery, they discovered.

The researchers also found that the drug produced its long-term effect by altering specific types of receptors for dopamine and another neurotransmitter called acetylcholine.

The team concluded that the mechanism they identified "might provide a synaptic basis that underlies addiction and habit learning and their long-term maintenance."

Although other teams have revealed aspects of this puzzle previously, Bamford says this is the first time the pieces have been pulled together into a single study.

"It definitely does tie everything together," said Stephanie Borgland of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Although methamphetamine seems to be particularly addictive, Bamford expects the same basic mechanism to apply to other addictive stimulants, including cocaine.

Bamford is now planning further studies of the interneurons.

"That’s really where the [addiction] ’switch’ is," he said.

The study is published in the April 10 issue of the journal Neuron. (ANI)