Naltrexone Implant for Heroin Treatment
Do you live in the United Kingdom and suffer from opiate addiction?
Detox Plus UK can offer help and advice in finding you a naltrexone implant clinic in the UK for those struggling with an addiction to drugs or a substance misuse problem.
Withdrawal from Opiates
Often called the heroin implant, naltrexone inserts are well known for treating opioid addiction.
One of the main challenges with treating people with a substance use disorder is the trouble with withdrawal.
The withdrawal process is often thought of as the most challenging part of recovery. It is uncomfortable, painful, and, in some cases, can be life-threatening.
Withdrawal is often the reason that some people keep using it. They want to avoid withdrawal symptoms and will do anything they can to avoid feeling so bad.
While most withdrawal symptoms are over within a week, some of the mental ones are more long-term and can last up to a year.
Cravings people experience for their drug of choice after they stop using can last even longer.
The good news is that there is medication available in the Naltrexone implant clinics the UK has to offer. This helps people get through the withdrawal period a little easier.
Withdrawal Process
This is the part of recovery where the drugs are leaving your system for the first time.
After using opioids for so long, your body has adjusted to them and gotten used to them. It is so accustomed to having drugs in the system that it now needs the drugs to feel normal. When the drugs are not present, the body is out of balance and will experience mental and physical symptoms as a result.
Detox doctors use a Naltrexone implant to create a steady release of the medicine daily.
Different treatment centres recommend that patients be on Naltrexone therapy for anywhere from 3-6 months to 12 months. During this time, they also advise additional recovery treatments. These include 12-step programs, a recovery plan with professional support by qualified therapists and physicians, and other practices to seek overall well-being and healing. Many programs offer different methods of treatment.
To begin Naltrexone implant therapy, you must be clean from opiates. It is good to go to a heroin detox clinic or alcohol detox to prepare for treatment properly.
Physical Symptoms during withdrawal
It is important to remember that while uncomfortable, the physical symptoms will be over within about a week, depending on your body and how long you have been using. Their severity will depend on the same factors. Fortunately, just as the body gets used to having opioids in it, it will reset back to normal without drugs.
Cravings for Drugs
A severe part of the withdrawal process, which can typically last a year, is the cravings for the drugs. Cravings are the desire for the drug and to start using it again. It is like an echo of the past use that still goes around the body.
These are unwanted and sometimes unconscious thoughts that come into the mind. You might be doing one thing, like focusing on work, and all of a sudden, you are thinking about popping pills and that feeling again. It can get to the point where you are sweating and breathing hard.
This is a normal part of the withdrawal process and does not mean recovery is in jeopardy. Cravings can also come in the form of using dreams. This is where a person is dreaming about using drugs again or getting high.
While cravings can be unsettling and may lead to relapse, they are something people going through withdrawal typically experience. That is unless they are on a medication regime, like in a Naltrexone implant clinic.
How Naltrexone Works
Opioids bond with certain neuroreceptors in the brain that give people both relief from pain and the euphoric and high feeling that comes with the drug. These are very specific neuroreceptors that need to be available. If they are not available, the opioids do not bond with medications, and there is no effect.
Naltrexone is a prescription medicine that actively bonds with the same neuroreceptors as opioids. However, it does not provide the same high and euphoria as opioids or alcohol. The brain’s neuroreceptors are missing their usual bond with opioids. So, they are telling the brain that it needs them now, which is where the cravings come from.
With naltrexone, the neuroreceptors are in use. That means they are not giving off the craving signal, and the person can go through withdrawal and recovery while having limited cravings. The idea here is to help you recover as quickly as possible.
The other benefit that comes with naltrexone is that it ruins the high that a person would get if they start using again. The naltrexone implant is continuously releasing the medication into the body.
Therefore, the neuroreceptors are unavailable for any drugs the person may use. They will not get high if they use it again. By ruining the high from narcotics, it cuts the chances that they will relapse.
Does Naltrexone Cure Addiction?
Naltrexone may sound like a miracle cure for addiction. It is easy to see why people may think that if it reduces cravings, the addiction is cured, right? Sadly not.
This is just a possible treatment for the biological part of addiction. Substance use disorder is much more complicated. If medication is the only cure, much of the problem will be missed.
Opioid addiction is often a way to escape from a problem that already exists. For example, an untreated mental illness, relationship issues, or financial problems. In other words, there is often an underlying condition, and the person was using drugs or alcohol as a way to treat it themselves.
If a person begins taking naltrexone as a means to fix the addiction, well, the cravings for the drug might be minimised, and the biological need for it may be gone.
The problem is that the underlying problem will still be there. Using drugs or alcohol as a quick fix and a coping skill will still be in their head as the go-to method when something is wrong. So, the psychological aspects of addiction still need to be addressed in treatment.
What is a Naltrexone Implant?
A naltrexone implant is a small pill that goes under the skin. It slowly releases the medication over several months. This is a more effective form of the medication. One dose, either taken orally or in a shot, of naltrexone will usually work for 2-4 days. Then, it needs to be born again.
With an implant, the medication is released continuously and will last for months. There is no chance of the person missing a dose, forgetting an appointment, or skipping it to start using again.
Naltrexone Side Effects
Like most medications, naltrexone has few side effects and can be used safely. Some people have experienced increased tiredness, anxiety, or sudden mood changes. Due to its effects, naltrexone is not suitable for people with kidney or liver disease.
Naltrexone is prescribed only after you’ve stopped drinking alcohol or taking opioids.
It is important to tell people that once they start using naltrexone, they should avoid using opiates of all kinds. In the beginning, naltrexone will trigger withdrawal symptoms in some people. A person who is newly on naltrexone and takes opioids risks their health and life.
How Effective is Naltrexone?
Naltrexone may not be approved in all countries for the treatment of addiction, but some studies are coming out demonstrating how effective it is. Studies in Europe show that naltrexone helps increase the commitment to recovery and lowers the risk of relapse in people who use it. A naltrexone implant will reduce that risk further since doses cannot be missed.
Medication combined with traditional counselling and support groups provides some of the best chances of living a life in recovery. Naltrexone does not interfere with a person’s quality of life or enjoyment of fun things.
Drug Addictions that may be treated with a Naltrexone implant
- Heroin addiction
- Morphine addiction
- Dilaudid addiction
- Fentanyl addiction
- OxyContin addiction
- Codeine addiction
- Alcohol addiction
A research report contributed to by The King’s College London, England, compared the effects of naltrexone implants and methadone treatment on heroin and other illicit drug use for people with addiction after prison release. It concluded that Naltrexone implants might be a valuable treatment option in prison settings.
A naltrexone implant may be another tool in the fight against addiction. A person with a severe substance use disorder, using opioids like oxycodone or street drugs like heroin, puts their lives at risk when they operate. Opioids are deadly when used often enough and in large enough doses. If using a naltrexone implant can remove that high feeling and cut back cravings, it can give people with an addiction a solid chance to overcome it and help treat the underlying causes. A naltrexone implant gives people the relief they need and the chance they deserve to finish treatment and live a life in full recovery.
