Fast, Comfortable Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment In Richmond, VA

How Big a Problem are Prescription Opioid Medications in Virginia?

The clinical use of prescription medications that contain opioids like Oxycodone, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, Percocet®, Tramadol, and others has been a major driver of the opioid epidemic in Virginia and the United States at large. These medications are very good at managing pain, even chronic pain, but because they are opioids and can stimulate powerful reward centers in the brain, they are very addictive substances, especially when taken over a long period of time. And the withdrawal symptoms can be extremely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous, so it is very difficult to stop using these prescription drugs once dependence or addiction has been established.

The Stamford Institute for Economic Policy Research released a policy paper in 2019 using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to show a strong correlation between the drastic increase in the clinical use of prescription opioid pain medications between the years 2000 and 2010 and a 300 percent increase in deaths involving opioid overdose during that same period.

In recent years, doctors have written fewer prescriptions for these opioid pain medications in an attempt to slow down and reverse this trend, as data from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) shows, but the dangers remain for the people who are still given these medications, and

Doctors have tried to do their part to reverse the trend by writing fewer prescriptions for opioid pain medications, as this data from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) shows, but addiction remains a danger for the people who are still getting these prescriptions, and these medications can still be obtained on the street, often in an adulterated form that contains Fentanyl.

The Virginia Department of Health released data from 2022 that shows how opioid use is still affecting the lives of many Virginians:

• 2,490 total drug overdose deaths
• 79% of drug overdose deaths in Virginia involved prescription drugs like Fentanyl and Tramadol
• 22,398 emergency department visits due to drug overdose
• 412 Virginia infants under 1 year old hospitalized with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) due to maternal opioid use

If you or a friend or family member in Virginia have been negatively affected by prescription opioid drug use, know that you are not alone. Call us now at 877-773-3869 or schedule a callback below to learn more about our outpatient prescription drug detox.

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What To Expect From Our Prescription Drug Detox Program In Richmond, VA

Prescription drugs containing opioids can be very potent and difficult to detox from. Choosing the right detox program is a very important first step on the road to recovery. We’re here to help you through this process from start to finish. Here’s what to expect when you call the Coleman Institute and schedule pain medication detox:

Getting Started:

Get started by calling us now at 877-773-3869 or request a callback from a Care Advocate. During your initial call, your Care Advocate will answer any questions you have about our unique approach to prescription medication detox, and they will help you choose dates to schedule your own detox. We can typically start detox within a week – there is no waiting list.

Before Your Appointment:

We ask that all of our patients stop taking the prescription drugs they want to detox from 16 to 48 hours before their first appointment, based on guidance from our physicians. We also ask our patients to make arrangements to have a support person who can be present for the duration of the detox program and for 48 hours after detox is completed. Patients undergoing detox treatment should not drive motor vehicles and should be monitored at all times to ensure their safety and comfort.

Your First Appointment:

When you arrive at your 1st appointment, you will be in mild withdrawal from stopping the use of your prescription medication 16 to 48 hours before the appointment. An experienced, licensed practitioner will give you tailored doses of comfort medications to help relieve your withdrawal symptoms. You will also be given micro-dose Naltrexone.

Intermediate Appointments:

Intermediate appointments in our prescription drug detox programs are similar to the first appointment. Your practitioner will continue to give you tailored doses of comfort medications based on your individual needs, and you will continue to be treated with micro-dose Naltrexone.

Final Appointment:

You will have made significant progress in detoxing from your prescription meds by the time of your final appointment. On this last day, you can rest comfortably in a private room in our Richmond, VA detox center while the remaining opioids are gently removed from your brain, a process that can typically take around 6 to 8 hours. You will be monitored closely to ensure that you are safe and that detox is proceeding as it should. Once this process is over, detox is complete. You will be given long-acting Naltrexone in the form of an implant or an injection to support you in the coming weeks. This formulation of Naltrexone will slowly release into your system over the course of several weeks to block your opioid receptors, which can reduce cravings. Most patients find that long-acting Naltrexone gives them the freedom they need to start building their new, addiction-free life.

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Why Choose the Coleman Institute for Prescription Drug Detox – The Fast And Comfortable Option

Most people who attempt to stop using prescription opioid drugs on their own after developing a dependence or addiction are not able to do so on their own. These drugs are powerful opioids that can cause serious withdrawal symptoms when use is stopped. Professional help is usually needed to stop using them for good. Here are some common prescription drug detox options available in the Richmond, VA area:

Self-Detox:

As we said above, trying to stop using prescription opioids after addiction or dependence has been established can be very painful and potentially dangerous. People who try to stop suddenly (“going cold turkey”) often experience extreme physical and mental distress, and these symptoms could even be life-threatening in some cases. Some people try to quit by tapering off their usual dose gradually in an attempt to wean themselves off of their opioids, but this almost never works. Either method usually results in the person relapsing to stave off their withdrawal symptoms. Because of the potential health risks and the high probability of relapse, we do not recommend that anyone attempt to self-detox.

Inpatient Detox:

Inpatient detox for prescription opioids requires the patient to have an extended stay in a hospital or rehab facility where they can be monitored by addiction specialists and given medication to relieve the pain and discomfort that comes with withdrawal. The length of the stay depends on the drug the patient has been using and the patient’s condition, but it isn’t unheard of for stays in rehab to last upwards of 30 days. Such a long stay in rehab can be extremely disruptive to the patient’s life and can be very expensive.

Ultra Rapid Opioid Detoxification (URD or UROD):

Ultra rapid detox is an inpatient detox method where a patient is hospitalized, put under general anesthesia, and given large doses of opioid antagonists like Naltrexone intravenously to flush the drugs out of their system as quickly as possible. True to its name, this method can work very quickly – sometimes in as little as 5 minutes. But it is a very expensive method of detox and it can have serious health risks. There have been some fatalities reported following this treatment. We have not used ultra rapid detox since 2001 because of these potential dangers.

Methadone or Buprenorphine:

Methadone and Buprenorphine have been very useful tools for transitioning people away from more dangerous opioids and onto a safer legal (when prescribed) alternative. But it’s important to keep in mind that Methadone and Buprenorphine are still opioids. Like all other opioids, they’re still addictive, and attempting to stop using them without medical assistance can result in severe withdrawal symptoms. Many of our patients who have used Methadone or Buprenorphine to stop using a stronger opioid have told us that detoxing from the Methadone or Buprenorphine can be more difficult than withdrawing from other opioids.

Our Outpatient Prescription Drug Detox Program:

The Coleman Method of prescription opioid detox uses a tailored regimen of comfort medications along with Naltrexone Therapy to help patients detox from their prescription drugs as quickly and safely as possible without the risks or costs of other detox methods and with as little disruption to the patient’s daily life as possible. Over the past 20 years, we’ve treated over 8,500 patients for opioid addiction, and the program has a 98% completion rate. We think those numbers speak for themselves.

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