Monthly Archives: January 2018

Safe Pain Management Options in Sobriety

Pain sure is a fun topic! Pain always finds us somehow some way. There’s no way to avoid it in its entirety. Sometimes it’s physical pain from waking up in a hurry and having stubbed your toe because you were trying to overcompensate for hitting the snooze button on your alarm 4 times. Other times its emotional pain from the love of your life leaving you after 4 years of marriage because you wouldn’t stop turning the alarm clock off. One way or another pain shows up unwarranted, waiting for a reaction.

You know what else is always waiting for a reaction? Addiction- and it’s always a negative reaction to that. This is one of the reasons why pain and alcoholic thinking have always gone together so well. One causes the other and the combo then sucks individuals into a cycle of misery that only gets worse before better. Everybody is always searching for their little slice of happiness but we never take into account that its contingent upon the pain that we’ve found while in pursuit. To find the beauty sometimes we have to endure the ugly.

Then there are times the pain can is so immense that we would do anything not to feel it. Some of us turn to painkillers while others turn to booze, but with no relief. Addiction only feigns to hear the cry for help and provide a temporary solution. “Getting high will fix my broken marriage or repair my broken toe”, or so we tell ourselves. At the very least getting loaded will help where we don’t have to feel our pain. Most addicts can attest to the obsession awoken thru this manner of thinking; influencing all impulses and actions. However, addiction doesn’t have to reign with an iron thumb. If we can find ourselves on the recovery end of the spectrum, safe pain management options and healthy ways to deal with our problems become the norm.

Sober Pain Killers

Entering recovery, most of us are suffocated by the avalanche of emotion that rockslides our way. For years we kept all emotions we didn’t want to deal with at bay thru numbing agents. Some of us kept our feelings muted through forms of self-mutilation, some thru gambling, and others by engorging themselves in chemical buffets. Nonetheless, all of these are forms of alcoholic thinking preying upon the insurmountable pain we’ve deemed ourselves to be in. As you can imagine, these are nowhere near the basis of safe pain management. These are forms of alcoholic thinking winning.

Safe pain management options always work in a proactive way that benefits recovery. These methods are just various forms of band-aids that will help the healing in a more productive manner. Some safe pain management options recommended to those in recovery can be as simple as:

Acupuncture
Seeing a Chiropractor
Seeing a Therapist
Exercise
Yoga/Meditation
Vitamin Therapy
Fellowshipping

Of course, everything depends on the type of pain being endured. For physical pain, sometimes surgery is necessary as a safe pain management option. It all just depends. A lot of our pain comes down to the nitty gritty acceptance of it and how we allow ourselves to deal with it. Everything we do in accordance with that pain is a reaction that we are in control of.

External Pain

Whether it’s the toe stub or the alarm clock was thrown at you in a fit of anger, there are many options for physical pain aside from the drug lobbyist pushed painkillers spewing out the pharmaceutical labs. For less serious injuries there are plenty of non-narcotic options such as Ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil, Tylenol, etc.

In other scenarios where the hurt is a little greater, some consider Tramadol and other non-narcotic painkillers as such to be safe pain management alternatives.

Depending on the form of pain, even changing diet and various things can improve some injuries beyond belief. Of course with some problems, it’s best to consult a doctor for the safest advice if there is a level of uncertainty ever. As addicts, we are great at undermining and “overmining” everything we do.

Internal Pain

A large percentage of pain management options are associated with a level of understanding. If we can understand the problem, we can understand a solution. Sometimes it’s about looking just a little deeper into the pain perceived. This is where the serenity delivering art form of meditation walks in.

Meditation is a state of mind and body that can bring about relaxation while we search for answers to our pain. Meditation is a mental form of stretching that evokes introspection to help understand things we were previously unaware of. An inspection of the pain thru spiritual understanding allows an overall greater understanding of everything encompassed in that pain. Practicing meditation is an excellent safe pain management form in sobriety. It creates a mental bridge between the gap of knowledge and learning thus helping to heal our emotional pain if we allow it.

Unfortunately, pain is a vital ingredient to the relationship with self. Fear, self-esteem, and happiness are all different emotional aspects that weather thru pain endured. It’s all such an enormous growing process. Much of our pain is self-chosen an safe pain management helps us to realize this. Pain is necessary for balance, but it doesn’t have to dictate the quality of life.

When the Pain Clouds are Gathering

Being trapped in active addiction is a way of life with a steady dosage of pain. Most of that pain is self-chosen though. While the disease of addiction causes extremely bad decisions to be the norm, recovery will advocate for the opposite. Sometimes becoming willing to address that pain is all it takes to find a better way of living. If you or a loved one is struggling with chemical dependency and are ready for help, please call 888-481-1993 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. We are ready to give you any suggestions possible and set you or your loved one on a path that we can all be proud of.

Types of Depression You May Experience in Early Sobriety

Every human being that is currently living or has ever lived is made up of a different genetic composition than the last. We are all so similar yet unique to every step and breathe. Every being has a journey they’re taken thru as they discover the lessons of their lifetime. Fate is quite the mysterious creature. Yet, even with all the differences at hand, there are core responses, diseases, and reactions to the world that many of us share in common. Addiction is one of those.

Addiction brings a lot out of people. Sure sobriety is one of the prettier factors, but there are many who have to endure a rough patch of early sobriety to get their recovery down right. Many find themselves battling with newfound feelings of irritability, multiple versions of anxiety, or different types of depression. However, these are not emotional death sentences. There are so many addicts/alcoholics that have overcome the same uncomfortable feelings. Sometimes a little awareness makes all the world a difference.

The Irrationality of Depression

They say that all emotion stems from one of two places: love or fear. No matter what the person is feeling, it can usually be traced on a psychological level to one of those two deeply rooted emotions. Anger, anxiety, and different types of depression are all surely derived from fear. Sometimes fear is the appropriate response, but way too often we feed the irrational fears lurking upstairs. Irrational fears are fears created out of another existing fear. Much of the time, these are fears that we have created that are not even happening to us. They’re huge “what ifs”.

Much of the time, human beings like to assume as they let their imaginations take full throttle. We are observant animals for the most part, but this tends to get in the way with our character defects such as arrogance, humility, and open-mindedness. We hear and see what we want to hear and see. Then we build off the subject matter in our heads and often times conjure an alternate story in our minds. Then thru our perception of reality, we have concocted a perfect set of fears to poison us from the inside out. We manifest the majority of our problems right between our two ears. Not all, but most.

The Eeyore Daze

They say that happiness comes from within unless you are locked under different types of depression. The hypnosis that mental illness can add to alcoholic thinking is one that should not be wished upon even the worst of enemies. It is a heavy toll that can make it harder to see things clearly in early sobriety. Anxiety and different types of depression will only drown us in negativity. Most of us didn’t get sober just to me miserable in recovery either.

Types of anxiety will feed types of depression and so forth and so on. Upon recognition of the dual diagnosis battle being waged, it’s vital to understand what type is at hand. Depression is not something to just be lumped into an overall category. There are many types of depression in early sobriety such as:

Major Depression
Dysthymia
Postpartum Depression
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Atypical Depression
Psychotic Depression
Bipolar Disorder related Depression
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Situational Depression

For some of us, we don’t really know how to deal with them. We don’t see the black and white, but only the grey in the center. Most types of depression are widely correlated to stressors or outside variables that are weighing us down. There are those that may need to be medicated to find their balance and then there are those that may not. It all depends on an individualized basis. Taking a look at some of the patterns such as people, places, and things we occupy ourselves with is often where an answer can be found. Knowing the types of depression out there and their slight differences are the beginning of that answer.

Finding Your Tail

The idea behind recognizing the types of depression is so that we can become aware. Aware of when we start feel downbeat about things. Aware of that the voice of addiction is starting to wake up and maybe we don’t like the headspace we’re in. Aware that we can reach out for help because other people are dealing with the same anxieties or types of depression that we are. Giving attention to the emotional discomfort is how the personal development keeps growing.

Addressing the type of depression at hand instead of stuffing it back down is the only way to get past it. Much like alcoholic thinking, depression or any other emotional disorder will not just disappear overnight with an “Abra Cadabra”. It’s going to take action, time, and help others. For some, help from others is the scariest part. Addiction and depression will tell us we don’t need anybody. Recovery will plead the exact opposite. Listening to the healthy side is the only way to triumph over illness.

Swallowing pride and asking for help from somebody that understands will be one of the greatest things we ever do for ourselves. We are not destined to suffer alone in this world. This is not meant to be a “misery loves company” type of way where others should suffer equally, but more so that everything is best when shared. There’s just some level of ease knowing at the end of the day that somebody understands you and the mental blockades you may go through. Having these people to chat with, help out, and relate to will help decrease apprehension faster than the time it took to read this.

Calling Out Depression

At the end of the day, sometimes certain types of depression have a hard way of separating from you. For some of us, it can lead us right back into the depths of addiction. Most of us will do anything to avoid that. Don’t let depression take you back out. If you or a loved one is struggling with chemical dependency and are ready for help, please call 888-481-1993 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. We are ready to give you any suggestions possible and set you or your loved one on a path that we can all be proud of.

More Online Pharmacies Have Been Shut Down by FDA

The internet is such a remarkable tool. The dot-com era came in the 90’s with a BOOM! All of the sudden the World Wide Web was introduced and life as we know it was set in motion. Certainly, Tim Berners-Lee had no idea of the lasting impact he would leave on the soon to be new millennium. The internet runs so many aspects of our life today. From banking transactions to artificial intelligence or from the stock market to airports. Hell, the porn industry relies on the internet almost 100%. It’s incredible how dependent we have become upon it.

However, being that it’s the World Wide Web, the internet in all its glory is available in every corner of the globe. This means that anybody can use it for any means deemed necessary. A large fraction of our world sees this as an opportunity for financial gain. Some do it in an honest way, while others lack morality in their pursuit of happiness- or what they perceive to be. Specifically, there are thousands out there that have created online pharmacies. These internet apothecaries tend to be the root of many issues plaguing the United States.

Avoid the Pharmacopia Utopia

Living in a world that is just as dependent on its medications as it’s the internet, it seems like an online pharmacy would be the ultimate convenience. Sadly it is an opportunity to take blind advantage of those that need help and are looking for cheap methods of help. In other cases, these internet drug stores are used to spread illicit prescriptions onto the streets to those that have no business being prescribed. However you look at it, it’s a corrupt method of medical help that is finally being addressed.

These online pharmacies pose as legitimate medical drug stores that are providing much-needed prescriptions at discount prices. Often times these discount prescriptions are expired, counterfeit, or contaminated in some form or another. In other cases, the prescriptions are illicit by U.S. standards or they are FDA unapproved medications. Some of the more commonly seen prescriptions ordered through online pharmacies include:

Pain Pills
Antipsychotics
Nutritional Products
Dietary Supplements

Some of the pharmacies have been solely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of addicts as well as the wrongful distribution of medication to many innocent “clients”. The worst part is that most of the time the people that run these internet dispensaries couldn’t care less. When money cloaks a person’s conscience, at what point will enough be enough?

Operation Pangea X

The Food and Drug Administration is beginning 2018 by launching Operation Pangea X. Those that are actually in charge of the distribution of pharmaceuticals are putting their foot down. The FDA has recognized the full potential a threat like online pharmacies provide in this day of age. The United States is undergoing an opioid epidemic that is loudly feeding an alcoholism contagion. Statistics for overdoses are ever rising while more and more are depending upon other substances as a form of escapism.

Nobody wants to feel anymore. At some point thru the day in and day out, too many people turn on some form of autopilot. Taking substances just becomes second nature as we attempt to have an affair with life and death. What a lot of people aren’t aware of, or they are and just don’t care, it that these prescriptions are crutches that we’ve self-concluded as necessary. Much of the time, the prescriptions abused through the online pharmacies are just band-aids advertised in an effective manner to those that don’t know any better. For those in actual need, the idea of “you get what you pay for” is more applicable. Online pharmacies are just well-disguised scams.

Points for the Home Team

Despite the authenticity of alcoholic thinking or the poor decisions made by some, it in no way justifies those that are trying to profit off the misfortune of others thru. So along with the work of Interpol, the FDA has been sending hundreds of cease-and-desist letters to specific internet domains registered to online pharmacies. The FDA has also intercepted 500+ packages from some of these online pharmacies, while simultaneously having closed more than 3,500 independent sites. It is safe to say that action is being made.

To top all that off, the FDA has tripled their staff members in international mailing facilities. Many of the online pharmacies that provide a threatening stance to the United States are located outside of American territory. Extra government officials like such will increase the chances of illicit substances being caught coming in and out. Whenever there is a demand, there is always somebody ready to be the supply. If money makes the world go round, then you could say some will do anything they can to keep it spinning.

The FDA stamping out all the online pharmacies is a direct response to just that. The United States is finally starting to recognize the addiction crisis that has slowly been sucking the life out of this once proud nation. Operation Pangea X and the actions of the FDA are a sign that preventative measures are being implemented. The changes that is needed won’t happen overnight, but through these actions, hundreds of people will live to see another day.

Finding Death Online, Finding Life Online

Addiction is a disease that feeds off flaw. Our country is enveloped in it. Greed, fear, selfishness- all of these are prominent characteristics of this nation right now. Nobody planned for things to turn out this way- it’s just kind of happened. There’s no turning back time, so now it’s about future prevention and treatment assistance. There is a way to get away from the ugliness of addiction. If you or a loved one is struggling with chemical dependency and are ready for help, please call 888-481-1993 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. We are ready to give you any suggestions possible and set you or your loved one on a path that we can all be proud of.

Opioid Epidemic Now Killing More Than Cancer

What a tumultuous year 2017 ended up becoming. The year brought about a change in the presidency- that has been for the better and worse, to say the least. It brought about the deaths of many pop culture figures as well as manifested the near brink of Nuclear War. However, uncorrelated to these events but just as alarming, the United States has also seen a large spike in the opioid epidemic that is corrosively deteriorating the masses of this once boastful country.

A now largely known opioid crisis has rooted itself in the very center of this great nation, yet it hasn’t always been as well known. The opioid epidemic has been silently fueling itself for decades behind the closed doors of just “addicts and alcoholics”. For years the pharmaceutical companies have fed this monster that has now reached its way onto everybody’s doorstep as it begs for more. More money, more pills. More this and more that. More more more. Sometimes addiction takes larger forms in the big picture of things. This opioid crisis is like Voltron and every addict happens to be a little piece to the constantly evolving transformer at hand.

Alcoholic thinking is an imminent threat that grows each day. Once something that was not taken as seriously, now something killing people left and right while we all try to figure out how we overlooked it. Addiction numbers have gotten so bad that they have bypassed the dreadful statistics of cancer. With specific chemicals flooding the streets and accessibility to narcotics evergrowing, it’s truly terrifying to think of what 2018 will leave in its wake.

Poppy Seed Genocide

One of the larger threats to be delivered to the United States in 2017 was the introduction of Carfentanil. That seemingly harmless word is responsible for the premature deaths of thousands across the country and globe at that. This is the narcotic that is essentially guilty of the terrifying increase in overdose rates throughout 2017 specifically. It is the most potent opioid used commercially for large animals typically. Never ever was it meant for human consumption- but then here we are. The smallest dose of this narcotic can bring a 2,000-pound elephant down. It is reported to be one hundred times stronger than Fentanyl- the other ugly step-sister that only wants the worst for us.

Carfentanil makes regular Fentanyl look like child’s play, but both will create your pine box story. Statistics show that between the terrible two, the rate of fatal overdoses has increased an average of 88% each year since 2013. That’s alarming sure, but it’s even more vivid when you’ve known people that have contributed to those known statistics. There go what could be I.

The Spread Wings of An Epidemic

There are so many promising people that are really looking for help but are brought down by the greedy intentions of others who flood the streets with the opioids. Too many lose their moral compass when the dollar bills replace the pupils of their eyes. The disease of addiction and alcoholism want us dead and is getting its way. The disease of alcoholic thinking is now at the forefront of this country’s mind because of the casualties being left behind.

Almost every state is suffering slightly, but a few to mention at the top of that list include:

Ohio
West Virginia
New Hampshire
District of Columbia
Pennsylvania

The numbers don’t lie as well as they are likely to increase in 2018 unless more preventative care is put forth. Kellyanne Conway has been recently appointed in charge of the Trump declared “public health emergency”. Let’s cross our fingers that something big is going to come of this new year.

Funding a Solution

Unfortunately, there isn’t really a thorough solution to the problem at hand. The 50+ solutions that have been proposed by the Trump administration lack funding. Treatment is not always accessible to masses of those that need or want help but lack the insurance required. To top that off, a bill is soon to be passed that will make it even more difficult to obtain treatment or detoxification. It’s almost like help will be granted, but down the road after more occurs that could’ve been prevented. Optimism through cynical lenses.

Some of the major pharmaceutical companies have even been brought to court by states like Ohio, but with still fruitless results. It seems like our country is doing it’s best to find a solution but also hindering itself in the same breath. The country needs to band together to put lobbyists down while creating more addiction treatment services.

Finding a Solution

The best way to deal with the statistics is addiction treatment services, but there seem to be so many obstacles in between sometimes. The best we can do as of now is to just simply educate and promote. On one hand, we have this ever-increasing opioid epidemic, and then on the other, we have a growing awareness of the disease of alcoholism because of the epidemic. It’s kind of like the battle between good and evil. One often sheds light on the other. The war between addiction and recovery will wage on forever.

It’s really just a matter of which beast is being fed. As of the last couple years, the epidemic has found itself superior in ways, but nothing is forever. Maybe 2018 will be the year for the recovery advocates. Alcoholic thinking fueled by a river of opioids won’t be disappearing anytime soon, but with a team effort, we can learn to swim in it. Commission member and former Republican Patrick Kennedy said it best, “We’ve got a human addiction tsunami. We need all hands on deck.”

Make 2018 Your Year

The epidemic is ever increasing but only if we give it power. Drugs and alcohol suck us addicts into a whirlwind of chaos that we typically haven’t the tools to escape. Recovery gives us those tools. It points us in a direction opposite to the plague that these synthetic chemicals have swept upon us. If you or a loved one is struggling with chemical dependency and are ready for help, please call 888-481-1993 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. We are ready to give you any suggestions possible and set you or your loved one on a path that we can all be proud of.