She tweeted: “I hate you kieffer!!!! why cant you leave my life alone and stay away from me..you got me strung out on heroin #BYE.”

Which Came First?

The Kieffer she is referring to is most likely her ex-boyfriend Kieffer Delp, often on the show and part of the many problems that Jenelle has had in keeping her life together. But is her addiction his fault?

It’s a chicken and egg question. Which came first: the boyfriend or the addiction? In Jenelle’s case, it appears that she had drug abuse issues with marijuana prior to meeting the boyfriend who either introduced her to heroin or used with her and helped her to develop an abuse problem that turned into an addiction. While her relationships may indeed have played a part in the exacerbation of her addiction issues, she spoke plainly to her lawyer on camera for the show about her concern for her ability to avoid smoking marijuana as ordered due to her anxiety issues. In the end, it doesn’t matter how it began as long as she and other women like her get the treatment they need to stop.

Overcoming Obstacles to Recovery

Too often relationships play a large part in the development of a woman’s use of illicit substances and can be one of the obstacles stopping them from entering treatment. Some fear losing their partner while they are away and prioritize the relationship over their own health. While it is possible to maintain a relationship while in rehab, it’s impossible to continue to date someone who is actively using when you are clean and sober without relapsing yourself. In order for the relationship to survive, both people will have to stop drinking and getting high and then put in the work to build a strong and functional relationship together. This is a difficult process but not impossible to achieve. However, both people must recognize from the start that their first priority is not the relationship but their own personal sobriety.

Learn more about how to overcome the obstacles that often cause women to miss out on the opportunities provided by intensive drug rehabilitation when you contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today.

The post Teen Mom 2’s Jenelle Evans Admits to Heroin Addiction appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

Though the DEA isn’t talking about any aspect of the ongoing investigations, one the companies isn’t keeping quiet – but they aren’t necessarily complaining about it, either. They are making it clear that they take no active part in the issue either way. That is, they aren’t trying to stop drug trafficking and they aren’t trying to help it either. It’s simply not their job, according to the spokesman for FedEx, Patrick Fitzgerald.

Said Fitzgerald: “We are a transportation company — we are not law enforcement, we are not doctors and we are not pharmacists. We have no interest in violating the privacy of our customers by opening and inspecting their packages in an attempt to determine the legality of the contents. We stand ready and willing to support and assist law enforcement. We cannot, however, do their jobs for them.”

Fitzgerald went on to say that his company had attempted to cut the problem out at the root of the issue by asking the DEA for a list of pharmacies that were suspected of illegal activity so that they could stop doing business with them. The DEA did not provide such a list.

UPS did not formally respond to inquiries about the investigation but had stated in a corporate filing that they were cooperating fully.

Certainly, the packaging companies have some friends in government. One US Representative from Florida sent a letter to the DEA and the Attorney General asking that they understand “the difficulty and unfairness of requiring those carriers to assume responsibility for the legality and validity of the contents of the millions of sealed packages that they pick up and deliver every day.”

It is admirable that the DEA is going to such lengths to cut back on the problem of prescription drug abuse. When combined with other efforts, it may be a part of the preventative process. Other measures that are being suggested or implemented in different states include:

• Increased physician education about prescription drug abuses and risks
• Increased education of the patient about these same risks by the prescribing physician
• Increased public education efforts
• Changes to the prescription regulations for certain addictive drugs

What do you think of the investigation into UPS and FedEx? A good move in the right direction or a waste of resources? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

The post UPS, FedEx are Under Investigation in Connection with Online Pharmacies appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

Newborn Effects of Prenatal Drug Use

• Fetal growth. Babies born to addicted mothers are generally smaller than their peers. Many never catch up or have poor physical health in their first year as a result.
• Congenital problems. Facial clefts in the infant have been associated with use of certain drugs during pregnancy.
• Withdrawal symptoms. Most babies born to addicted parents are addicted themselves. This means a forced detox upon birth complete with all the excruciating withdrawal symptoms experienced by adults.
• Neural issues. Low muscle tone, low levels of arousal, increased startles and tremors, and higher levels of stress are all indicated in babies born to addicted mothers.
• Breastfeeding. The number of mothers who use drugs during pregnancy and the number of mothers who use drugs during breastfeeding are similar. Depending on the drug of choice, the doctor may decide that the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the potential drug exposure. In most cases, however, doctors advise against breastfeeding if an addiction in the mother persists after delivery because all the same risks and problems can develop.

Long-Term Effects of Prenatal Drug Use

• Physical growth. Some drugs indicated stunted growth in the child born to an addicted mother.
• Behavior problems. Children of all ages who were exposed to drugs in the womb have higher rates of criminal behavior, problems at school, and drug abuse issues of their own.
• Cognitive and executive function issues. General IQ in the child is negatively impacted by the mothers use of certain drugs while other drugs decrease the child’s executive functioning, memory, and visual-motor ability.
• Language development. Language delays and difficulties have been associated with the use of certain drugs during pregnancy.
• School performance. In almost every case, prenatal drug exposure decreases the child’s ability to perform well academically.
• Predisposition to drug use and dependence. Genetic predisposition to drug use and abuse is an issue for children born into families where an addiction disorder is a problem for a close relative. When they are exposed to drugs in utero, the predisposition issue becomes an even more formidable problem.

Help your addicted, pregnant loved one stop using drugs before she harms her child. Contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today.

The post Pregnant? The Long-Term and Short-Term Effects of Prenatal Drug Abuse appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

• Children
• Spouse
• Mental health
• Friendships and/ or family relationships
• Physical health
• Career

Oddly, many who refuse to go to treatment cite many of the same issues as obstacles. How can you help your addicted loved one turn perceived blocks to addiction treatment into reasons to get well?

Internal Motivations

Most women are motivated by internal reasons, as opposed to external pressures, when it comes to getting drug addiction treatment. This doesn’t mean that the opinion of their spouse, co-workers, or friends don’t matter. To the contrary, a few well chosen words from those close to her can help your loved one realize that her life will improve in every way if she gets the help she needs to stop drinking and using drugs.

If internal motivations are primary to most women (up to 97 percent, according to the study) who agree to get treatment, friends and family can focus on how rehab will benefit different aspects of her life:

• Mental health. Many addicted women struggle with co-occurring mental health symptoms like depression and anxiety. Still others have a full blown mental health disorder like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder that they are attempting to manage through drugs and alcohol – but ultimately only worsen through substance abuse. Effective treatment for drug dependence in these cases means effective mental health treatment for co-occurring disorders as well.
• Physical health. Chronic drug and alcohol abuse deteriorate major organs in the body and without treatment, poor health can turn into life-ending disorders – or overdose or death due to accident under the influence.
• Relationship with others. Relationships with children, extended family, and spouse can be a motivating factor, but these are generally connected to a poor outcome in recovery as compared to other internal motivations that are 100 percent controlled by the actions and behaviors of the patient.
• Career opportunities. Drugs and alcohol will end every career if not addressed through effective treatment. The motivation of personal goals for success is linked to higher rates of success in recovery, according to the study.

How can you help your loved one choose to get the help she needs to heal? Call us today at Orchid Recovery Center and find out more about rehabilitation options now. Our counselors are standing by to assist you.

The post Motivations for Women in Drug Rehab appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

What Does a Heroin Addiction Look Like?

There are a number of signs that heroin abuse or addiction is an issue in someone you love – some blatant, some seemingly innocuous. These include:

• Struggling with insomnia but always seeming to be tired
• Issues with memory, racing thoughts, and bouts of anxiety
• Not eating for days at a time
• Constipation
• Being unable to perform well at work or school despite high intelligence or capability
• Lying
• Stealing money
• Showing track marks or developing abscesses

Kacie’s parents knew for sure that she had abused heroin on occasion when she developed a large abscess on her arm. After her surgery, she promised never to use the drug again. Today, they have started an organization to help other parents avoid losing their children to drug abuse and addiction as they did.

Promises That Can’t be Kept

Addiction is a medical disorder and addiction to heroin is one of the most difficult to escape. Even the addicts who sincerely want to quit and want more than anything to remain drug-free find it impossible to do so without medical and psychotherapeutic assistance. Cravings are even more difficult to get through without relapse than withdrawal symptoms associated with physical detox – and the physical withdrawal symptoms are fierce.

If your loved one is struggling with heroin abuse, the best way to help them avoid overdose is to enroll them in an drug rehab that will be able to provide them with:

• Medical treatment for withdrawal symptoms as well as medical problems caused by drug use
• Education that enables them to understand how their drug of choice and addiction changes the brain and the body
• Personal counseling to help them address underlying issues of anxiety, depression, trauma
• Treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders, if necessary
• Family therapy to help mend broken relationships at home
• Aftercare services that offer ongoing support as they learn to live a life without drugs and alcohol

The more intensive and comprehensive your loved one’s treatment, the more likely it is that they will be successful in recovery. Contact us today at the phone number listed above and speak to a counselor here at Orchid Recovery Center now.

The post Kacie’s Cause: Heroin Addiction Can Strike Anyone appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

This is the sixth time that Lohan has gone to treatment. Does her multiple attempts to get clean and sober followed by multiple relapses that resulted in a return to rehab indicate that her time spent in treatment will be more or less successful? There are two theories.

Addiction is a Chronic Disease Defined by Periods of Relapse and Remission

It’s not uncommon for people to go to multiple rehabs. Though six times is a higher than average number, each one of these attempts may not have been made with the best of intentions. Rehab that is undergone for any reason other than recovery is generally unsuccessful the first time around. Often patients go to treatment for the wrong reasons, including:

• To get out of going to jail
• To appease a loved one
• To keep a job
• To avoid loss of custody

Choosing to stop doing drugs for any reason other than a genuine interest in changing the course of one’s life for the better decreases the chances of success. While the reasons listed above are good ones, one of the defining characteristics of addiction is an inability to stop drinking and getting high despite the negative consequences. In other words, it’s normal and just part of the process for some patients.

“Lifers” Will Never Get Better

Some believe that “lifers” or “retreads,” people who return to treatment over and over, are caught in a cycle that they are powerless to break. Some say that they become “institutionalized” and find it impossible to live a drug-free life without someone standing over them 24 hours a day. They find value in living with an active addiction and seek treatment when they “hit bottom” only to go back out on the street and relapse when treatment becomes difficult or ends.

The fact is that the seed of sobriety may be planted during the first stay in rehab but the patient may not be ready to grow. A return to treatment may find the patient with a new perspective and give them a chance to hear the principles of recovery in a way that is meaningful. Their ability to live a sober life may increase the more often they are exposed to positive coping skills in treatment. This just takes more time for some than others.

What Will Work for Your Loved One?

Contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today and speak to a counselor about your loved one and what she can hope to gain from an evidence-based treatment program that offers personalized care and evidence-based therapeutic intervention.

The post Lindsay Lohan Goes to Rehab appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

• Publicize information in the Federal Register that will inform the public on these changes
• Review public commentary
• Conduct additional research into the addictive nature of hydrocodone-based combination medications

Potential Changes

What will it accomplish to reclassify hydrocodone-based drugs as Schedule II substances? The difference between Schedule III and Schedule II is substantial in terms of the regulations that limit the patient’s ability to have large amounts of the drug at one time. Changes include:

• The institution of a requirement for a new written prescription for every refill (no refills will be given with any prescription)
• No faxed prescriptions or prescriptions called in by phone will be allowed.
• The medication will need to be stored in a vault reserved for the purpose.
• Physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners would be unable to prescribe the pills.

Potential for Concern

If increasing the restrictions on hydrocodone combination drugs would serve to decrease the rate of prescription drug abuse and overdose in the country, why would anyone be against it? Those who would abuse their prescriptions, of course, are not excited about the potential changes but others say that the new rules would make it more difficult for certain populations to get the medication they need, especially the elderly. Repeated trips to the doctor for a paper prescription that must be walked into the pharmacy may be too much for some patients to handle, especially if they are using the medications to treat chronic pain. Rather than jump through hoops, they may simply skip their medication.

What Do You Think?

Would increasing the regulations that govern how hydrocodone-combination pills are prescribed decrease the rate of painkiller addiction to these drugs? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts about whether or not the FDA should go through with the reclassification and why.

The post Hydrocodone Reclassification Could Take Awhile, Says FDA appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

It seems like it would be a selling point to recovery. Without the 24-hour hustle of securing more drugs to maintain an addiction, addicts are free to live the life of their dreams – literally, any life that they choose to pursue with passion. However, the actions of participants who took part in the study indicate the contrary.

How Do You Fill the Time?

The study participants were all given state-sponsored doses of heroin twice a day to make sure that they avoided all withdrawal symptoms but also avoided ingesting toxic doses or amounts of heroin so that they could slowly be weaned off the drug completely. It’s not a practice undertaken in the United States, but in some countries, it’s the equivalent of our methadone programs.

With no withdrawal symptoms to plague them and no concern about how or where they would get their next dose, participants were free to fill their time as they pleased. Their response?

According to Mette Guul, head of a center for abused women and prostitutes who take part in the state-funded heroin detox program, her residents often don’t know what to do with themselves: “The women say they are lonely, bored and do not know what to do now that they do not have to chase the drugs anymore.”

In response, the center began offering more recreational programs for residents that included trips out into the community or the wilderness, cooking classes, knitting classes, and more.

Starting a New Life Without Drugs: A Daunting Task

It’s no small task to start a new life for yourself after addiction. With literally innumerable options, it can feel overwhelming. How do you meet new people? Take the first steps toward a new career? Decide what you want if you don’t know? It’s a problem that every single person in recovery faces. How do they do it? They:

• Consider their resources. Are their classes, counseling, or life coaching available to you? Find out what you can access.
• Take the plunge. Resources are useless if you don’t take advantage of them.
• Follow through. If you start a class, do the homework, keep showing up, and finish the course. If you apply for a job, go back and inquire about it – and then call again, and if you don’t get it, repeat the process until you get hired.
• Find support. Stress can come from the social aspect of sober life, learning how to schedule and manage your time successfully, or figuring out how to accomplish the basics like getting a photo ID or setting up a bank account and paying rent. Get the help you need from people who care.

A sober and balanced life starts with effective treatment. Contact us today at Orchid Recovery Center and find out how we can help you conquer addiction and take the first step toward your life in recovery.

The post Is Boredom – Not Withdrawal Symptoms – the True Enemy in Recovery? appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

The Latin Times reports that Bon Jovi told Katie Couric that he didn’t know about his daughter’s drug abuse issues before she overdosed, and stated: “It was the worst phone call ever.”

He went on to tell Couric that Stephanie is doing much better and that he appreciated “everyone’s thoughts and prayers.”

Rock Star Problems

Usually it’s the rock star himself who struggles with drug abuse and addiction and ultimately seeks addiction treatment – or overdoses. Not in this case. Though his job may seem to elevate Bon Jovi above the problems that strike others, he says: “What I do for a living seems glitzy and glamorous but if you don’t take it too seriously it’s a great way to make a living. And then life goes on. Things happen.”

Handling those “things,” when they include addiction, effectively is the key to limiting the harm they cause. Intensive detox and drug addiction treatment can help those who struggle with drug abuse to learn more healthful ways to:

• Have fun
• Get to sleep
• Relieve stress
• Escape
• Deal with trauma or other problems
• Socialize with others

Many people who have a drug problem began using illicit substances in order to deal with a problem in their lives. Stopping drug use doesn’t eliminate that underlying issue so without effective treatment that addresses that problem, relapse is imminent.

Rock Star Treatment

If drug abuse or addiction is plaguing someone you love, it’s natural for you to want them to have the best care possible. You can find this when you choose an evidence-based treatment program that offers everything necessary for your loved one to successfully address any and all accompanying or underlying issues. This means choosing a rehab that offers:

• Detox assistance
• Personalized treatment plans
• One-on-one therapy
• Group therapy and support groups
• Holistic treatment
• Aftercare services

Contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today and speak to a counselor about the treatment services we provide and find out whether or not we are a good match for your loved one.

The post Bon Jovi Breaks Silence On Daughter’s Heroin Overdose appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.

Stress Response Development

Methamphetamine use stimulates the nervous system in the mother, and prenatal exposure to the drug can adversely affect the nervous system in the baby. The response to stress during childhood can be extreme or easily triggered due to this prenatal exposure, and if the child is consistently exposed to stressors, the result can mean an almost constant state of high stress, says HealthDay.

The study that identified this issue included more than 100 two year olds, all of whom were exposed to methamphetamine in the womb. The children’s cortisol response – or stress response – was measured when separated from their mothers for a short period of time. The children who lived in a high stress environment created by a mother’s continued substance abuse or mental health disorder like depression did not experience a normal increase in the levels of their stress hormone. Children who came from stable homes experienced normal increases in cortisol.

Namik Kirlic of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma was the lead researcher on the case. In a news release, Kirlic said: “The lack of hormonal stress response that we observed in these children has serious implications, such as a greater risk for depression, anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.”

Prenatal Drug Abuse and Post Natal Care

It’s important to note that this study highlights the fact that mothers who abused drugs during pregnancy still have the opportunity to mitigate the harm done to their child when they get the treatment they need for addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders.

Barry Lester, Ph.D., is the director of the Brown Center for Children at Risk at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and one of the researchers on the study. He said: “It’s not the meth alone. It’s the combination of meth exposure and adversity after birth. We see other things coming into play—the mother’s psychological health, alcohol use, exposure to violence at home or in the community. The postnatal environment is hugely important.”

Treatment Changes Everyone’s Lives

If a mother you know is in need of addiction treatment, contact us at Orchid Recovery Center today. We offer women a comprehensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation experience that can help them be more successful in every aspect of their lives – including parenting. Call now.

The post Using Meth in Pregnancy Could Mean High Stress Toddlers appeared first on Orchid Recovery Center.