The Coleman Institute Blog

Last month, a long-awaited research study was published that will help patients and physicians make decisions on which treatment to use for opioid dependence. For quite some time, Suboxone, (Buprenorphine combined with Naloxone) has been the most recommended type of treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Suboxone is a partial agonist, which means it turns on the opiate receptors, and so it is quite addictive.

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To choose nursing or medicine as a profession usually means that sometime in your career, you will be covering weekends and holidays. So when my children were young, I had to take my turns doing shifts on Thanksgiving and Christmas for many years.

As much as I loved being home during a holiday, from the beginning I was always grateful to be the one ‘wearing the uniform’ rather than being the patient when I did have to work. Being in the position to help someone who has to be stuck in a hospital over the holidays was actually pretty gratifying.

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Last week was busy and wonderful at The Coleman Institute’s main office in Richmond, Virginia! We helped a married couple with two children detox off a variety of opioids, most recently heroin, which they had been using for several years. Amazingly, they had kept it a secret from their family, but their lives had turned into a series of exhausting, shame-filled activities centered around getting money for drugs, hiding, and trying to hold things together with a very thin thread. (more…)

I always like to forward good tips about staying sober during the holidays. We see so many patients who talk about their ‘triggers’ during those times. I thought this article contained some great ideas. He clearly references things from The Recovery Book, so unless you read the book, some of the things may not be completely fleshed out.

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There are multiple suggestions for detoxing after indulging in the overabundance of food and drink that many people experience during the Thanksgiving holidays. Warm water plus lemon, drinking green juice, using a body brush, yoga, and meditation are a few. While all of these may be great idea for a post holiday detox, I just want to make you aware that if you or a loved one needs help detoxing off opioids, The Coleman Institute is available 365 days a year to help you.

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