OxyContin is the brand name for a powerful opioid called oxycodone. Opioids are a class of drugs originally derived from the poppy plant. OxyContin (oxycodone) is a powerful opioid, a prescription pain reliever used for moderate to severe pain.
While all opioid analgesics have legitimate medical purposes, they have the potential to lead to substance abuse and addiction.
Oxycontin was initially sold as a miracle drug in the marketing from the 1990s, and its addictive effects were downplayed. Purdue Pharma (the maker of OxyContin) denied it had euphoric effects.
As alarm bells were raised risks of addiction and overdose, Purdue Pharma systematically downplayed and denied these concerns. As the opioid epidemic progressed, Oxycontin abuse became more widespread, and overdose deaths mounted, and eventually earned the moniker of “hillbilly heroin.”
There is excellent reporting about the history of the opioid epidemic in general, and Oxycontin in particular, such as Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, and Dopesick by Beth Macy.
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Medications
Substance Use & Chronic Pain
Many patients have initially been prescribed prescription pain relievers because of an underlying chronic pain condition. Unfortunately, OxyContin can be highly addictive, and what started as a problem with chronic pain develops into a substance use disorder.
As the substance use progresses, patients will find themselves going to increasing lengths to supplement prescribed OxyContin, including doctor shopping and starting to take other drugs (such as fentanyl or heroin). Pain relief ceases to be the central focus.
Other behavioral symptoms start developing, and co-occurring disorders, such as anxiety or depressMedication assisted treatment (MAT) is the term given to using medications (usually buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone) to effectively treat substance use disorders.
In 2020, the united states suffered nearly 100,000 deaths from opioid use, while about 140,000 died from alcohol abuse, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). While there are many ways of thinking about how to treat a substance use disorder, medically assisted treatment is, according to the mental health services administration, the gold standard.
Medication-Assisted Treatment is Safe & Effective for Oxycontin Addiction
Medication assisted treatment (MAT) and the most effective method to address substance abuse disorders. Different medications are used to treat different disorders. Opioid addiction (heroin addiction or the abuse of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl) is effectively treated with buprenorphine, methadone, or injection naltrexone (Vivitrol).
Medical assisted treatment for opioid use disorders has been shown to improve patient survival (in part by decreasing the risk of opioid overdose), increase retention in treatment, significantly reduce illicit opiate use, decrease criminal activity, increase patients’ ability to gain and maintain employment, and improve birth outcomes among women who have substance use disorders and are pregnant.
Stopping using feels great. However, moving away from drug use you have used every day for months or years is a big change.
Evidence-Based Opioid Addiction Treatment
There is not just one drug used for OUD treatment— three MAT options exist for the treatment of opioid use disorders. All of these medications help address chemical imbalances in the brain. At Sequoia MD, we offer buprenorphine and injection naltrexone (Vivitrol).
Buprenorphine effectively treats opioid withdrawal symptoms, as well as helps minimize cravings. Vivitrol, an opioid antagonist, is not as helpful at treating short-term withdrawal symptoms but equally effective at decreasing psychological cravings.
Vivitrol can also be used to treat alcohol addiction, so it is an especially good choice for patients who have both opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. In high quality opioid treatment programs, prescribed medication is coupled with behavioral therapies.
This combination of behavioral therapy plus medication is the gold standard of evidence based treatment options and the best option to successfully treat OUD. Moreover, medical assisted therapy not only helps patients start their recovery but also sustains recovery over the long term.
As a patient moves into recovery away from an active opioid use disorder, we start working to build treatment services and plans that can fit your unique situation.
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What to Expect During Outpatient Oxyctontin Treatment in Sacramento
The first step in getting started is to sign up here. We will reach out to schedule an intake appointment. Taking the first step to schedule an appointment and turn away from drug addiction is hard. Many people that call us for outpatient treatment do not really even feel the rewarding effects of getting high— they are just using it to avoid getting sick.
It’s almost impossible to fight addiction on your own; that is a statement of how difficult substance use disorders are to deal with, not an indictment of how much people want to change and pursue a sober life.
Our office is a regular health care office— like your primary care physician’s office. At that initial appointment at our treatment center, you will meet with our compassionate staff, who will get to know you and the details of your situation. Part of the initial patient assessment includes helping us better understand your opioid dependence.
For example, some people start using opiates in the context of prescription pain relievers for chronic pain, perhaps prescribed by a primary care physician. For other patients, prescription opioids were never a part of the story, and instead, the substance abuse disorder started with illicit heroin or fentanyl.
We believe that a treatment program must account for the whole patient and your specific needs, and the only treatment we offer is individualized to your specific situation. While its important to understand the brain chemistry behind opioid abuse, it more important is to understand what is the most effective treatment option given individual patient characteristics.
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Personalized Addiction Treatment
We’ll work together to identify the best care to fit your unique addiction recovery needs.
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The Recovery Process
Let’s discuss the process of seeking treatment at Sequoia MD.
Ending Opioid Abuse
The first step in starting your recovery journey is getting help. Some patients opt for inpatient treatment, while others come to see us directly. Regardless, recovery is a lifelong process, and an inpatient rehab should really be viewed as the first step of the journey.
In either an inpatient or an outpatient setting, medications can be used to help treat withdrawal symptoms. However, short term “medically supervised detox,” or just stopping opiate use without a long term treatment plan, is unlikely to be effective and usually leads to relapse.
Prolonged use of opiates, like OxyContin, leads to long term effects and changes in the central nervous system. Unfortunately, these changes do not disappear as soon as opioid use stops.
This is because of how buprenorphine works— starting it too soon will actually cause worse withdrawal, and this is why doctors make sure there is a short detox period before writing a prescription for buprenorphine.
However, there are many ways to manage these symptoms, and management of symptoms is a part of treatment.
There are many strategies that we can use to address this, and helping you through this period is part of the care we provide (even after hours, if needed).
Continued Recovery
Addiction treatment is a long-term process and requires a treatment team that develops a plan tailored to your needs. At Sequoia MD, we see patients on an outpatient basis. Sometimes, we transition directly from substance abuse, while other times, we start seeing patients after they have completed an inpatient treatment program.
We generally use prescription medication to help people continue their recovery. We know that opioid addiction treatment that includes medication leads to substantially lower rates of relapse, accidental overdose, and death.
Medications & Counseling
Recovery is not really about being off of drugs per se— instead, recovery is really about living a healthy, happy, meaningful life. It's pretty much impossible to do that while in the midst of opiate addiction.
Medications to aid in long term recovery, such as buprenorphine or naltrexone, are one piece of the puzzle; these medications effectively treat certain kinds of drug abuse and decrease cravings, relapses, and overdoses while leading to improved family relationships and jobs.
However, medications by themselves are only one part of the puzzle. Support groups, group therapy, individualized mental health treatment, and other therapy types and support are also integral to successful treatment, along with the treatment of other mental illnesses.
Start Your Recovery Journey
It can be scary to reach out for help. People have lots of concerns— will I be judged? Will they help me? How do I know this will work? At Sequoia MD, our team is caring and empathetic and has deep experience helping patients from all walks of life recover from drug use.
Sign up with the button below and we will reach out to you to schedule an appointment. We will then sit down with you to develop a plan to start your recovery so that you can live a healthy, happy, meaningful life.