The Coleman Institute Blog

The 4th and final law in James Clear’s Atomic Habits refers to the final part of the habit loop, the reward. In order for a new habit to form and be sustained, any reward must be satisfying.

If you think tramadol is a benign drug, think again.

This past spring we met Frank, a middle-aged man from the southwest who was using large amounts of tramadol daily, originally for back pain. His doctor prescribed a certain amount, the rest he purchased online.

He educated himself enough to recognize he had developed quite a tolerance to the tramadol, and although he was able to wean himself down to a slightly lower dose, the side effects of withdrawal prompted him to seek help.

The more I work with successful patients at the Coleman Institute for Addiction Medicine, the more I recognize consistent qualities: resilience, gratitude, and ownership of their problem, to name a few.

Rebecca was here for a follow up after her alcohol detox at the Coleman Institute for Addiction Medicine. Two weeks earlier she and her husband of 38 years had spent the day with us in a quiet, private, comfortable room to help Rebecca carefully stop drinking alcohol. While she had been a daily drinker for some 40 years, over the last 3 years her drinking has escalated to a minimum of 2 bottles of wine each day.

B. called to schedule an Outpatient Alcohol Detox with us earlier this week. It will be her second time coming to the Coleman Institute for Addiction Medicine for the same purpose.

J. was in last month, repeating his Accelerated Opioid Detox for the third round.

S. came back and completed his rapid detox off fentanyl two weeks ago. He was with us several months ago but didn’t complete it, admitting at that time that using the drug was just more compelling to him than getting clean.

Relapsing is not an uncommon phenomenon for people with substance use disorder.