What Approaches Are Used For Heroin Addiction Treatment In North Carolina?

At the very start, it is important to mention that heroin addiction treatment in North Carolina is considered to be one of the most crucial forms of addiction treatment in the state. Heroin is an opioid and by its very nature it is a very difficult drug dependency to treat. When an opioid enters a person's system, the first thing it will try to do is to stimulate the person's central nervous system. It will trigger the nervous system of the person to get a false feeling of happiness and felicity through the release of a hormone known as dopamine. As the person continues taking in more and more of heroin, their dependency increases because the dopamine levels in their body go higher. A time comes when the person starts equating the feeling of pleasure with this stimulation through heroin consumption. When that happens, it becomes very difficult to shake the dependency.

This is the main reason why the heroin addiction treatment in North Carolina is so difficult to perform. The substance needs to be removed not just bodily, but also from the nervous system.

One of the biggest differences that exist between heroin addiction treatment in North Carolina and treatment of other kinds of drug dependencies is in the detox program. Heroin detoxification is quite elaborately planned because of the nature of the addiction. It is almost always provided in an inpatient setting. The person is supposed to live at the treatment center in almost complete seclusion. The idea is to take the person away from any factor that might trigger a memory of the addiction in them. That is the reason they will have to stay away from friends and even family.

Within a day or two, depending on how intensely the addiction has affected the person, the withdrawal symptoms will begin to make their appearance. This is where medical treatment becomes important. Two significant medical approaches that are used during the heroin detox treatment in North Carolina are:-
1. Methadone
2. Buprenorphine, including medications containing this chemical such as Subutex and Suboxone

Both methadone and buprenorphine are opioids themselves, just as heroin is. The principle of medicating the person with these substances is to replace the dependency of the opiate in the person's mind with another opiate. It is easier to remove the person's use of these substances than it is to take them away from the heroin addiction. As these two substances are provided to the person and they slowly begin losing their craving for heroin, the dosages of the medications are slowly lessened and gradually stopped.

Between the two, methadone is more difficult to administer due to its own habit forming nature. There is a risk that the person will suffer from a methadone withdrawal when the administration of the substance is stopped. That is the reason why the treatment provider administering methadone treatment should be well-qualified and know the subtleties involved with this treatment. The provider must implement the right kind of dosage and reduce it in the right manner so that the person does not suffer a methadone withdrawal which may take them back to their heroin dependency.

However, methadone heroin addiction treatment in North Carolina is still popular due to the fact that it has been used since over three decades for the purpose and is considered to be a more effective drug than buprenorphine is.

Buprenorphine was introduced less than a decade ago in the heroin treatment scene of North Carolina. Due to that reason, it is still in the process of becoming popular, but it comes with several advantages over methadone. It is almost as effective as methadone but it is not as habit forming. In fact, the newly approved buprenorphine formulation, Suboxone, contains naloxone in a combined form with the drug. Naloxone helps immensely because it creates aversion for buprenorphine in the person's mind. Hence, even the remotest possibility of the person getting addicted to it is averted. Also, there is no danger of buprenorphine interfering with other prescription medications that the person might be taking, which makes it safer to use than methadone.

The medication is continued even after the detox signs have calmed down because the person needs maintenance treatment when they are coming out of a heroin dependency. Also, there is a very elaborate aftercare system in the heroin addiction treatment in North Carolina which is mainly targeted at equipping the person to come out of any cravings for the substance that might be present in them.

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Comments

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 at 11:04 PM, by zenith15
Your comments about buprenorphine are not accurate. Buprenorphine IS an opiate, it DOES cause dependence and it CAN be abused. The naloxone included in buprenorphins does NOT "create aversion for bupe in the patient's mind". In fact, it is completely inactive unless the patient attempts to inject or snort the drug--then it becomes active and causes unpleasant symptoms. Otherwise is is inert and has no effect at all.

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