If everything hurts, and you’re becoming sensitive to pain, it’s time to ask why. For a significant number of people suffering from chronic pain, the source of their increased sensitivity may be the drugs that are supposed to fight the pain. This is cruel and ironic. Long-term consumption of opioid painkillers like OxyContin®, Vicodin®, Percocet®, […]
Everything Hurts? It Could Be Your Pain Medicine Read More »
By Kate Sprague, LCSW, CCTP, Therapist at The Ranch PA I knew I wanted our next pet to be a therapy dog when my daughter and I went to pick out a puppy in January 2014. Cooper was just six days old when I met him, but I realized right away there was something almost
How One Special Dog Helps People With Addictions Read More »
By Robert Matylewicz, DO, ABAM, Medical Director at The Ranch PA The opioid epidemic continues to surge ahead with seemingly no end in sight. Drug overdose has surpassed motor vehicle deaths as the leading cause of U.S. accidental deaths with opioids leading the charge, contributing to 33,091 deaths in 2015. We don’t have a foolproof
Why Medication-Assisted Therapy Is Critical in Opioid Addiction Recovery Read More »
By Jack Gilbert, LCSW For many, the holidays are a wonderful time of year, but for people in recovery, the holidays can sometimes be painful and overwhelming, making them vulnerable to relapse. Gratitude is a practice that can be helpful all year round, but particularly during the holiday season. For instance, simple practices like keeping
Gratitude as a Recovery Tool During the Holidays Read More »
For anyone in recovery, especially those new to recovery, the holidays can feel frightening and overwhelming. For some people, this can be a time when old behaviors re-emerge and they are at risk of relapsing.
Protecting Your Sobriety During the Holiday Season By Jack Gilbert, LCSW Read More »
Demerol, also known as meperidine, is a powerful — and powerfully addictive — painkiller. Similar in nature to morphine, Demerol is an opioid narcotic that can cause serious side effects when abused or used in conjunction with other substances, including alcohol. Withdrawing from meperidine alone is not only extremely challenging, it is also unwise because
In the 1990’s an epidemic of babies born addicted to crack cocaine called attention to the problem of drug use and addiction in pregnant women. Effective drug rehab became more available to pregnant women and seemed to help this trend subside.
An Alarming Trend in Newborns: Mothers Sharing Their Addictions Read More »
Designer drugs (or legal highs) have presented a legislative challenge since they first appeared on the market, but the U.K. is looking to defeat the designer drug trade with sweeping legislation that will cover existing legal psychoactive substances as well as newer designer drugs. The new laws could land anybody who sells or produces such
Drug abuse is a matter of life and death in the U.S. — and a recent look at the statistics shows death is becoming an increasingly more common outcome. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injuries, which are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 1 and 44, according to
You’ve decided to get sober, either as the result of an internal or external desire to turn your life around. Perhaps you were in danger of losing your job, family or freedom. There may have been a compelling thought that “enough is enough.”
