Blog - Page 51 of 58 - Rapid Drug Detox

Smile Train

February 23, 2011 by Editor

Hi,

We wanted to tell you about one of the hundreds of thousands of children who has been helped by your donations.

Kiiza was brought to us at the age of 13.

He was born to a cattle keeping community in a very poor region of Uganda. His clan believes that a child born with a craniofacial deformity brings a curse to the herd which results in loss of cattle.

Others like him are traditionally buried alive in a heap of cow dung at birth, and never see the light of day.

Luckily he was delivered in hospital, and by the time his clan took a decision about his fate, the health care providers had already assured his mother that Kiiza would grow up like any other boy, if he receives care.

Care, however, didn’t come early since this community lives in the country side. An attempt to send him to school failed because he easily became a laughing stock in class being mocked and ridiculed.

His mother didn’t lose hope for her son. She heard an announcement, inviting all children with this deformity to come in for free surgery sponsored by Smile Train, including a promise to assist with transport. She borrowed money from her neighbors and brought Kiiza in for surgery.

After his free cleft surgery, Kiiza was so full of joy and promised that although he was starting school late in life, he would work hard and become a doctor to help other children with similar problems!

These simple surgeries – that take as little as 45 minutes – are SO important to the millions of children with cleft lips and palates.

From all of us here at Smile Train.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy

February 21, 2011 by Editor

Only a few of the 7 Rapid Detox Centers in the country talk about giving male patients supplemental Testosterone after a detoxification treatment from opiate drugs.

It is not uncommon to see low levels of Testosterone in our male patients. RDD Center does not believe in supplementing Testosterone. We realize that those levels will return back to normal and is part of the healing process of the body once opiate use stops. Turns out, there is a whole list of side effects, serious side effects with testosterone replacement therapy.

This information addresses the untold dangers of exogenous (external and synthetic) Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

One of the most undesirable side effects of exogenous testosterone replacement therapy is the shrinkage of the male genitals, including the testes. The medical term for the condition is “testicular atrophy”.

As a matter of fact, the renowned Mayo Clinic lists the following side effects with exogenous (external and synthetic) testosterone replacement therapy:

Causes skin reactions
Causes fluid retention
Causes baldness
Causes or aggravates sleep apnea (brief, repeated cessation of breathing during sleep)
Stimulates noncancerous (benign) growth of the prostate and cause or worsen urinary symptoms
Stimulates growth of prostate cancer that’s already present
Enlarges breasts (gynecomastia)
Stimulates growth of breast cancer if that’s already present (rare in males)
Causes testicle shrinkage (testicular atrophy)
Limits sperm production (infertility)
Stimulates excess blood production (polycythemia)

The number of prescriptions for testosterone replacement therapy has increased over the years. The primary reason is we believe the lack of emphasis by doctors and pharmaceutical companies on the negative side effects of the treatment and because of the increase in drug use, typically the levels of Testosterone will show up low in males using opiates.

It seems like the treatment purported to give your manhood back is actually robbing you of it. Once off of opiate drugs the levels will slowly return to normal, typically within a few months. Even if a patient decides to supplement, it should be monitored very closely by your personal physician. This treatment should never be prescribed unless frequent blood work is done to check levels.

The Abuse of Hydrocodone (Vicoden)

February 3, 2011 by Editor

The abuse of hydrocodone (Vicoden) is a major problem. Compounding the addiction issue is the toxicity of the acetaminophen contained in the drug. Users consume many times the safe amounts of acetaminophen attempting to experience the euphoric effects of hydrocodone. Acetaminophen is hepato-toxic. It damages the liver, leading to irreversible liver damage and death. The dangers are increased with underlying conditions such as malnourishment or dehydration. These conditions can lower the toxic threshold of the drug. A tolerance is developed; the physical addiction to the hydrocodone in the drug causes the user to require a higher dose to achieve the same effect. This increase in acetaminophen levels leads to acute liver toxicity, causing liver necrosis and cell death. Acetaminophen poisoning is the leading cause of liver damage resulting in liver transplantation in Britain, and has replaced viral hepatitis as the leading cause of acute hepatic failure in the U.S.

Suboxone/Subutex 20 – 30 Times more Powerful Than Morphine

February 3, 2011 by Editor

Suboxone/Subutex, which is Buprenorphine, is a controlled schedule III opiate drug which is 20 to 30 times more powerful than morphine (see the letter from the FDA). It is a very common replacement opiate drug that most drug rehab centers across the United States and a few of the 6 rapid detox centers use to maintain an opiate addiction as part of their opiate detox treatment.

This drug causes dependence/addiction very quickly and once a patient is addicted to this drug it is very difficult to “just wean down and get off of it with mild withdrawal” as we have heard many people were told by a physician when they were prescribed this drug. Once a patient is on this drug and they consult with their physician that they want to stop the drug, it is very common that doctors will tell their patients “you will be on this drug the rest of your life” or “you need to stay on it for another year”, etc. Most physicians will not tell their patients the truth about the addictive nature of this drug leading them to believe it is a “MIRACLE DRUG” and is a cure for their opiate addiction when the truth is they are still addicted to an opiate that for most patients is far harder to detox from than a traditional opiate. Suboxone physicians are an advocate of this drug and the ability to have 100 patients at a time on it, with monthly visits ranging in price from $100 to $300 per month make monetary sense for doctors to prescribe this drug.

Even the pharmaceutical company claims the drug has mild withdrawal and is easier to come off of than a traditional opiate, yet the company claims they have never done any studies to determine that. Why is that?

RDD quotes below from the pharmaceutical Professional Prescribing Information for physicians, also known as the insert that comes with each bottle supplied from the company:

Buprenorhine is a partial agonist at the mu-opioid receptor and chronic administration produces dependence of the opioid type, characterized by moderate withdrawal upon abrupt discontinuation or rapid taper. The withdrawal syndrome is milder than seen with full agonists, and may be delayed in onset.

Reducing dosage and stopping treatment:

The decision to discontinue therapy from SUBOXONE or SUBUTEX after a period of maintenance or brief stabilization should be made as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. Both gradual and abrupt discontinuation have been used, but no controlled trials have been undertaken to determine the best method of dose taper at the end of treatment.

For most “the end of treatment” never comes without suffering long lasting withdrawals or “does not come with “mild withdrawal” and again the patient is faced with yet another addiction which can be equally or even more difficult to detox from.

This is reminiscent of the sales tactic the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company used in the late 1800’s when they came up with the “miracle drug” for the cure for morphine addiction, which they named Heroin.

Suboxone Side Effects

January 31, 2011 by Editor

I have been on suboxone for the last few years after being addicted to pain pills from my many surgeries. I was never told about the many negative side effects from this drug. After reading about them I realize I suffer from all of them. I went from a happy, confident, popular guy to now having no friends, very depressed, and isolated, basically feeling like hell. I’ve been trying to get off of it for more than 6 months now and every time I stop taking it, the month or two of withdrawal outlasts my will.

I need help to get off of it and if I don’t, my fear is I won’t be alive in a year. It has ruined me in every way; most of all financially. I need advice, please help me.

FDA Approves New Formulation for OxyContin

September 14, 2010 by Editor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new formulation of the controlled-release drug OxyContin that has been designed to help discourage misuse and abuse of the medication, including OxyContin addiction.

OxyContin is made to slowly release the potent opioid oxycodone to treat patients who require a continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesic for management of their moderate to severe pain for an extended period of time. Because of its controlled-release properties, each OxyContin tablet contains a large quantity of oxycodone, which allows patients to take their drug less often. However, people intent on abusing the previous formulation have been able to release high levels of oxycodone all at once, which can result in a fatal overdose and contributes to high rates of OxyContin abuse.

The reformulated OxyContin is intended to prevent the opioid medication from being cut, broken, chewed, crushed or dissolved to release more medication. The new formulation may be an improvement that may result in less risk of overdose due to tampering, and will likely result in less abuse by snorting or injection; but it still can be abused or misused by simply ingesting larger doses than are recommended.

“Although this new formulation of OxyContin may provide only an incremental advantage over the current version of the drug, it is still a step in the right direction,” said Bob Rappaport, M.D., director of the Division of Anesthesia and Analgesia Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

“As with all opioids, safety is an important consideration,” he said. “Prescribers and patients need to know that its tamper-resistant properties are limited and need to carefully weigh the benefits and risks of using this medication to treat pain.”

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately half a million people used OxyContin non-medically for the first time in 2008.

The manufacturer of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma L.P., will be required to conduct a postmarket study to collect data on the extent to which the new formulation reduces abuse and misuse of this opioid. The FDA is also requiring a REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) that will include the issuance of a Medication Guide to patients and a requirement for prescriber education regarding the appropriate use of opioid analgesics in the treatment of pain.

Purdue Pharma is based in Stamford, Conn.

The RDD Method™ provides relief from those suffering from an OxyContin addiction by providing OxyContin detox. Contact us today.

FDA Press Release from www.fda.gov.

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