subject: Dosing and Drug Treatment for Opioids [print this page] A controversial method used in the detoxifications of opioid chemical dependence is making the news.
Why are Rapid Detox, or the Waismann Method, controversial and what are the success rates? Perhaps these results will remain subjective. Success here, is based on individual results, each would have to be their own judge. If detox alone is the measure of success then obviously this shows promise, and offers very good news for any person with a serious opioid dependence problem. What this treatment offers is another choice. The medical community continues to break ground in the evolving treatments for substance dependence.
So, why the controversy, Isn't good news, good news?
If cost is a factor, then obviously not every person can qualify for a twenty thousand dollar treatment. However, to be fair and unbiased, there are much more expensive treatments rehabs or treatment centers that do not offer the same results and take much longer to complete, as the videos also points out. Thirty, sixty, ninety day or longer treatment stays, in safe, drug free environments can address co-occurring disorders, COD, which the Rapid Detox does not address. But the discomfort of withdrawals is not addressed by most inpatient or outpatient programs, so you can see the trade off. There are mixed opinions on treating a drug problem with a drug. In some medical and non-medical circles, this is seen as simply swapping addictions, and opinions do make a difference in your treatment, ego, and ignorance, lack of continual education and training, sadly does dictate treatments in some facilities. You can hear the biased opinions,when images of "circled chairs" are insertedin the second video watch the videos at www.recovery2day.org ; this implies the need for an ongoing aftercare meeting style recovery system or fellowship style recovery. Many believe that "going to meetings" is the only way to combat substance problems.
This brings in the other success or failure factor, what will be the client's treatment plan, of "what happens next?" Do you want to get well, and how do you stay well, now that you are detoxed? Common sense must be injected in substance problem/solution based scenarios. Not all people have or share the same needs or recovery plans.
A simple analogy, let's say you have a car and the front tires are showing early signs of wear. And you are told: that in their current condition, it is not safe and all you need to do is have the front end realigned and replace those unsafe tires. So you spend the money to have all the work done professionally and you trust your service supplier, and buy the best tires your budget can afford and of course, your automobile insurance did not cover the costs. You feel great, you have your car repaired for being out of alignment, and had the money to have your car's tires replaced, and while expensive, your family's safety is much more important. But you drive the same rocky road going home, how long with the newly front end alignment and new tires, will they stay in alignment? Caution is a must, is removal of the substance all that is needed? Or was there another way to same destination? If we only look at one side of the story, we fail to see the possibility of a second entrance home.
Rapid Detox shows great promise, when you look at the possibility of a painless withdrawal while the client is sedated. Opioid dependence people are no different than anyone on the planet, as a whole. We are a progressive world, and due to medicine we do not "suffer well," and with our reliance on modern medicine, most men and women, feel we do not have to. As the video's show, a retired man, became dependent from a pain problem that was work related, it can happen to anyone. He was trapped, and found a solution. This man shows how easy it was to become dependent. What starts out possibly, as a legitimate pain problem, can move to a chemical dependence problem, if given enough time, to cause dysregulation in the receptor uptake sites in your brain. What happens innocently, typically from a dosing recommended by doctors perhaps, what happens when the dosage, stops working and the patient starts taking "more," this would be called "misuse," with misuse, can easily turn to abuse, and move to the physical tolerance that increases overtime, "it takes more" to achieve the results desired, which the origin was, "pain reduction," not willful misconduct.
Seeing the future, is not within our powers, so a pain management plan, turned into a dependence nightmare for the people in the videos. As the second video's pointed out, the anxiety of withdrawals when "sudden" detox is left up to abstinence based inpatient rehabilitation has mixed reviews. Rapid Detox gets the job done quickly. Without the waiting game of inpatient or outpatient treatment, what is missing, is what happened when they went home? R2D believes Detox is not recovery, it is what it says it is, the removal of the toxins, and recovery starts after detox, if recovery is needed. Cost is always going to be a factor in the treatment for any man or woman facing a substance dependence problem. Who pays for the treatment, if you cannot afford it? The problem is not the process, it works. One question is the hour after leaving the treatment. Life without the substance problem can be the problem.
There R2D can help. As with any treatment, the "after care" is the issue. How to move from the normal life of substance dependence, to the new normal life without the chemical dependence must be considered when any form of detox is needed.
