Expanded Use of Opioid Addiction Treatment Needed: Government Health Officials

By Join Together Staff | April 29, 2014 | 3 Comments | Filed in Drugs &Treatment

Health care providers must expand their use of medications to treat opioid addiction, in order to reduce overdose deaths, according to government health officials. Misperceptions have resulted in limited access to the medications, they argue in The New England Journal of Medicine.

“When prescribed and monitored properly, medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone are safe and cost-effective components of opioid addiction treatment,” said lead author Nora D. Volkow, MD, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). “These medications can improve lives and reduce the risk of overdose, yet medication-assisted therapies (MAT) are markedly underutilized.”

Methadone is usually administered in clinics; buprenorphine can be administered by qualifying doctors; and naltrexone is available in a once-a-month injectable, long-acting form, MedicalXpress reports.

According to Dr. Volkow and her colleagues, the public, insurers, patients and health care providers have misperceptions about these medications. Some people mistakenly believe these medication-assisted therapies simply replace one addiction for another, they wrote.

Many treatment facility managers and staff favor an abstinence model of treatment, the officials note. Or they may prescribe inadequate doses of MAT. “Systematic prescription of inadequate doses further reinforces the lack of faith in MATs, since the resulting return to opioid use perpetuates a belief in their ineffectiveness,” they wrote.

Insurance rules also place barriers to effective MAT treatment, they said. “These barriers include utilization-management techniques such as limits on dosages prescribed, annual or lifetime medication limits, initial authorization and reauthorization requirements, minimal counseling coverage, and ‘fail first’ criteria requiring that other therapies be attempted first.”

The Affordable Care Act can increase MAT use by expanding the number of high-risk people who receive treatment through either public or private insurance, the government officials noted.

High Antidepressant Doses Could Raise Risk of Self-Harm in Young People

By Join Together Staff | April 29, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Mental Health, Prescription Drugs, Research, Young Adults & Youth

When patients under age 24 are prescribed higher-than-recommended doses of antidepressants, they are more than twice as likely to attempt to hurt themselves, compared with their peers who are treated with the recommended dose, a new study concludes.

“If I were a parent, I definitely wouldn’t want my child to start on a higher dose of these drugs,” study author Dr. Matthew Miller of the Injury Control Research Center at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston told HealthDay.

The findings are published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning in 2004 about the risk of suicide in children and adolescents treated with antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The FDA warning came after a government study found young people who took SSRIs were twice as likely to hurt themselves, compared with those who took placebo pills. In 2007, the FDA expanded its warning to include anyone under age 25.

The new study is the first to look at the rate of suicide risk by drug dosage, the article notes. The researchers evaluated data from more than 162,000 patients with a diagnosis of depression, who began taking an SSRI between 1998 and 2010. The study looked at patients who took Celexa, Zoloft or Prozac. Almost 18 percent of patients began taking SSRIs at doses that were higher than recommended.

The researchers found among patients younger than 24, the rate of self-harm was 32 per 1,000 for those taking a higher-than-recommended dose, compared with 15 per 1,000 for those taking the recommended dose. They did not find a significant increase in the risk of self-harm among patients over age 25 who took a higher-than-recommended dose.

APRIL 29 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
To flatter friends
is to lay a trap for their feet.

STEP 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

This is a big one for me . To avoid conflict I will tell you what you want to hear .This is not good because it will give who ever I am talking to a false perspective of reality . We gotta tell people the truth even if it is gonna hurt some feelings. I would rather you tell me the truth and I be mad at you for awhile then you lie too me and I go to hell . Even the small stuff matters ! In active addiction you have trained yourself in what the Proverb says , I call it manipulation and deception , I used it too control and get what I want. It will be a fight to change this behavior but with Gods help working step 7 , practice and a lot of self- discipline you will change it and it will change you !




John 8:31-32 … So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
By Joseph Dickerson

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"When someone is suffering deeply within themselves, their suffering spills over and they start making others suffer as well. What they truly need is our help, not punishment." - Thich Nhat Hanh

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APRIL 28 v 14 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Blessed are those who fear to do wrong,

but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

STEP 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

As I get older I get spooked a lot easier , you could say my nerves are shot . I look back and cant believe how quickly I was willing to do stuff I am afraid to talk about now. My stubbornness almost killed me !I could not wait for step six ! Pride , stubbornness ,and fear of nothing has left me with anxiety at times even though I am fourteen years sober. Get out while you still can , their are way too many gone too soon because of stubbornness and pride.

By :Joseph Dickerson

Proverbs 17:11, "An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him."

April 27 v 1 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
 

Don’t brag about tomorrow,
since you don’t know what the day will bring.

STEP 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.

How many times are we gonna spend countless hours of planning whats gonna happen next. So many times no matter what we plan to do or get done it never works out the way we planned. The Proverb is giving you a warning to save you from worry , disappointment , fear , and uncertainty . These four triggers can be just the ticket to get you a seat on the relapse roller coaster. Step three is key because we really dont have control whether we are sober or not . God is in control and you can stay on your program and continue to use , suffer , and struggle or his program. His program is a destiny , it is a plan to prosper you to give you a life of peace and joy .I am not saying you wont face difficult times on His program but He will take you thru it no matter what life has to throw at you. If you live in the past you will never find your future and if you live in the future you will wind up missing the present . Live each day as if it is your last , love like you never loved before , Forgive fast and laugh always .

Jeremiah 29 : 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

By:Joseph Dickerson