Testing It Up

Every person is different and, therefore, every person’s addiction is different and needs to be treated in a unique way. It’s this philosophy that guides Cali Estes when she helps recovering addicts as The Addictions Coach.

The Addictions Coach company combines yoga, nutrition and fitness, along with traditional talk therapy, all done at a location of their clients’ choosing. Cali has accompanied clients to high risk situations like weddings, worked ‘on set’ of movies and film productions, worked directly with pro athletes, sat in on business meetings, been ‘on tour’ with musicians and has worked directly in the home of clients for a more intensive ‘rehab’ setting.

Unlike traditional rehabilitation centers that convince the addict that they have a disease that is incurable and they must attend meetings, recite prayers and follow steps, Cali tailors her program to fit each client and says every addict needs not just therapy sessions but also a coach.

“People in addiction need to be held accountable for their actions. That is why you will see clients relapse after treatment settings and rehab stays,” Cali says. “They do not have anyone to answer to anymore and go back to their own ways. Rehabs allow people to be ‘in the bubble of safety’ and then dump the client right back in the same environment with minimal therapy. Imagine having a coach to call, text and be present as you go through life. I offer intensive 24/7 services, daily, hourly and then also hourly with unlimited text and email. I instill in the client a sense of being accountable and having help immediately available.”

To read the full text of the interview, visit Interview With Cali Estes on Addiction.

Prescription drugs are meant to help us, not harm us, but some people turn these tools for health into weapons of self-destruction by abusing them. 

Operation UNITE, based in Kentucky, held the second National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando, Florida April 2-4 to help raise awareness of prescription drug abuse and to facilitate solutions to the nationwide problem.

This year’s event featured a congressional panel with members of the Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse, as well as a bevy of keynote speakers that included many of the top names in the fight against drug abuse (both prescription and illicit) in the country.

But keynote speakers were just one element to the summit, which also included educational sessions specific to pharmacists, clinicians, law enforcement, workers’ compensation administrators, insurance administrators and others involved in the dissemination of prescription drugs.

If you happen to have missed the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit, check out my Twitter summary and what I garnered from Twitter about the summit.

Debra Jay, addiction specialist and intervention consultant, describes addiction in older adults a “silent epidemic.” The reason behind is that unlike teenage addiction or substance abuse in younger people, addiction in seniors is often undiagnosed and underserved.

“The American Medical Association reported that more older adults are admitted to hospitals for alcohol and drug related illnesses or injuries than for heart problems. But the full story isn’t told in statistics. The cost to families is measured in broken relationships, the burden of care giving, diminished grandparenting, and grief and loss,” Ms. Jay explained in an interview with TestCountry.

Ms. Jay is the author of No More Letting Go: The Spirituality of Taking Action Against Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, and co-author of Love First: A Family’s guide to Intervention and Aging and Addiction: Helping Older Adults Overcome Alcohol or Medication Dependence. She regularly appeared as addictions expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show for three seasons.

In the interview, Ms. Jay eloquently shared with us juicy facts about substance abuse in elderly — details that many of us are unaware or have probably ignored because of the overwhelming information about addiction in other populations.

She tells that some symptoms of substance abuse in older people are often confused as signs of aging because of their similarities, such as incontinence, shaky hands, insomnia, and isolation.

To read the full text of the interview and have basic understanding about addiction in elderly, visit Exclusive Interview with Debra Jay.

So how was the National Conference on Addiction Disorders 2012?
Well, full disclosure; I wasn’t there.

But I did follow Addiction Professional magazine’s Twitter feed to keep up to date on the proceedings. This was a bit of an experiment for me, as I wanted to know just how much information I’d be getting from the conference in 140-character snippets. So what did I learn about the conference from just following the tweets?

I learned that it’s important to talk about recovery with an addict from day one of care because patients start worrying about post addiction treatment from day one. That came from Lorie Obernauer, Director of Alumni and Volunteer Services with the Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation.

6 drug users in Scotland seem to have been killed by contaminated heroin which is thought to have  infected at least 12 people overall in the area. All of those infected with the bacterial disease were thought to be heroin users, according to Scotland’s Health Protection Agency. Contaminated heroin or another powder-like substance was used to dilute the drug and is thought to be the source of the outbreak. More cases could be detected beyond Glasgow, where 4 other deaths have happened. 2 other people died near Dundee and Forth Valley.

Anthrax ( an animal disease that regularly infects people in Africa,Asia, and parts of southern Europe) can be treated with antibiotics if caught early enough, and doesn’t usually spread from person to person but if it’s left untreated anthrax can be fatal. Usually cases of human infection are linked to contaminated animal hides and other animal products.

“Heroin users all across Scotland need to be aware of the risks of a potentially contaminated supply,” said Colin Ramsay, a consultant epidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland in a statement.

“It is highly probable that the contamination of heroin by anthrax is accidental,” said Gordon Meldrum, director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, in a statement. “Production processes (of heroin) can be basic and often be conducted in areas where there is contamination from animal carcasses or feces.”

Investigation into the contamination is still in progress. In the meantime heroin help organizations are watching the users that come to their centers for signs of infection and handing out pamphlets that talk about how to know if anthrax is present. In 2000 a similar incident occurred in Scotland and killed 60.

“Heroin users do need to be on their guard,” said Ramsay.”I would advise heroin users to stop using heroin and seek advice.”

Redness or swelling around a needle injection site or a fever warrants a trip to the doctor to determine if anthrax is present.

Extended exposure to cocaine can actually cause permanent changes to how genes are switched on and off in the brain and the finding could help lead to effective addiction treatment according to the same research. Ian Maze of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and colleagues established their finding utilizing mice. In the study it was found that continual cocaine dependence prevented a specific enzyme from shutting off other genes in the pleasure circuits of the brain causing the mice’s craving for the drug to increase.

During the study the group gave one grouping of young mice frequent doses of cocaine and another group repeated doses of saline, then a single dose of cocaine. This lead to the discovery that cocaine alters the reward circuits in the brain by inhibiting gene 9A, which makes an enzyme that plays a critical role in switching genes on and off. This isn’t the only study to link cocaine to gene changes and intensified drug addiction symptoms but it is the first time that the way these changes occurred could be documented.

The study also lead to the discovery that the effects could be reversed by increasing the activity of gene 9A. The increase completely reversed the effects of chronic cocaine use in the test mice, leading to the belief that the same method could help human addicts of the drug and could even help with other forms of addiction including nicotine and alcohol.

Normally a prisoner will make a plea that his sentence will be reduced but Damon Conrow made a plea that his sentence be stepped up to a higher charge and it’s a decision he wouldn’t take back. Conrow is a heroin user who has fought his addiction and failed to overcome it asking for a higher sentence is his way of trying to kick the habit for good. Conrow was being charged for a second degree felony (1-15 years jail time) related to sale of heroin and he was demanding a first degree charge (5-life).

The judge took up his plea and gave him the sentence he asked for. “My friends who are criminals say, ‘Dude, you want to plea bargain down,’ but I’ve thought about this a lot. Most people are like, ‘That’s stupid.’ But I don’t care what they think. … Obviously I keep messing up.”

Now at a point in his life where most of his family and all of his non-user friends have left him as a lost cause the man wants to get clean badly enough to think that prison and the treatment programs there are worth the prison term. Having started his drug addiction like many his age with OxyContin add the age of 17 and progressed down a hard road of addiction Conrow is done with heroin. He knows how addiction can lead to loneliness through other prisoners he met during a 3 year term he served previously. It was an awakening for the 25 year old.

Conrow’s goal is to try a tough, two-year drug rehab program at the prison called the Conquest program. If he does well there it could reduce his prison stay, but if he fails Conquest it could lead to serious time.

Recent information about a shot that can help cocaine adducts break the habit  and the HPV drug Gardasil have kicked off an interest in the possibly of treating addiction with medication and now the U.S government would like to see drug companies make many more of these treatments for addiction. Drug companies were already very drawn to the idea of such drugs due to the major success of Gardasil despite recent deaths and illnesses associated with the vaccine. The government wants to encourage real growth in medicine that fights disease and encourages successful research into disease treatment over time.

Among these treatments currently being researched is a new nicotine addiction vaccine called NicVAX which works by stimulating the immune system to make antibodies against nicotine much like the cocaine addiction treatment that is receiving such buzz. In fact the vaccine for cocaine was developed by the same doctors that made the tobacco vaccine. This new wave of vaccines and treatments are expected to be able to help addicts if they get through the studies that often make or break such drugs. It’s thought that the government is backing such medication development to get pharmaceutical companies to pay for the trials themselves and feel motivated to pursue them. If this effort pays off we may have some real progress in treating addiction of several forms, something that could save billions worldwide every year.

There’s been a lot of focus on rising drug abuse problems in teens and younger adults but little has been said about the problems faced by elderly people who face these same addictions. The fact that treatment is often focused at younger people causes the elderly to avoid treatment as much as the perception that drugs like those prescribed for pain aren’t really addictions or unsafe. Even those who do seek treatment face problems as elderly addicts are treated as lost causes and go almost entirely untreated. Resolving drug addiction in this age group is made worse by the frail health state of elderly people and the pain levels that occur as a result. For many the problem begins in their younger years but terrible pain that doesn’t seem to respond well to even prescription pain relievers can results in a desperate search for relief too.

Many of the elderly have families that either don’t see the problem, ignore it or mistake it for dementia rather than addiction. Growing older can be boring and depressing. Watching your loved ones pass on and not knowing what to do with your time can contribute to drug use to relieve stress and pass that time actively. It doesn’t take much to become addicted to it and makes it more likely that the addict will be that much less likely to give it up even if it has become a problem.

Burt Reynolds (star of such films, as Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance, Cannonball Run and Boogie Nights) has revealed that after a recent back surgery he became addicted to pain killers. Having dealt with addiction to another drug ( Halcion, a sleeping pill) after suffering a broken jaw and a subsequent joint disorder in the late 80s he began to realize he had become addicted to the drugs he’d been given after his back surgery. He then sought treatment at a drug rehab center in Florida and overcame them.  The actor urges others in a similar situation to seek treatment rather than trying to resolve it on their own.

Prescription drug abuse has become a serious problem across all age, race and class lines in the US. With many who abuse these drugs either in denial about their use or rationalizing it as “safe” because their production is regulated and prescription based, it can quickly become a serious problem. Painkillers and mood stabilizers like those prescribed to treat ADHD are the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Many adults become addicted after surgery and accidents that require medication to help aid recovery. The problem is worsened by the secrecy many abusers begin to take on over time which often means that family and friends aren’t aware there’s a problem.

Florida Drug Screening