10 Tips for Recovery in Vicodin Rehab
Opioid analgesics, otherwise known as pain-relief drugs, do an effective job at eliminating pain symptoms. Vicodin, one of many narcotic analgesic drugs, is one of the most commonly prescribed prescription medications, according to Harvard Health Publications. While effective at treating conditions involving pain, Vicodin also carries a high potential for abuse and addiction when misused.
Anyone considering entering Vicodin rehab well knows how difficult it is to try to stop taking the drug. Getting needed treatment help can definitely make the process more bearable, though still challenging to say the least. Vicodin’s effects on the brain’s pain-reward system essentially blocks and/or slows pain messages or signals between nerve cells.
Vicodin’s mechanism of action can have dire consequences when repeated over long periods of time. After a certain point, the brain becomes unable to regulate pain signaling on its own, which accounts for the withdrawal effects recovering addicts suffer after stopping the drug.
By following these 10 tips for recovery in Vicodin rehab, you can help create a successful recovery process.
1. Be Honest about Your Addiction
Being willing to enter Vicodin rehab is one thing; knowing an addiction has caused serious problems in your life is another. Honesty with self can be a great motivator in terms of having the courage and desire to confront a destructive “lifestyle” behavior head-on.
2. Ask for Help
Interestingly enough, the people most affected by an addiction may very well be the ones most willing to help you get well. Asking for help from family and friends not only lets them know you want to get well but also provides a source of much needed support to get through the Vicodin rehab process.
3. Consider Detox Treatment
Vicodin’s effects on the mind ultimately changes how the brain works overall. Even people with the strongest of resolve to fight an addiction soon become overwhelmed by an inability to follow through. Vicodin rehab detox treatment provides the extra supports needed to stop using.
4. Consider Your Treatment Needs
Vicodin rehab treatment offers many different treatment levels from which to choose. While some levels may be more restrictive than others, the option that best treats your severity of addiction will be the one worth choosing.
5. Take an Active Role in the Treatment Planning Process
Most, if not all Vicodin rehab programs devise a treatment plan before the actual treatment process begins. Taking an active role in the treatment planning process can better prepare you for what’s to come.
6. Consider Medication-Assisted Therapies
Medication-assisted therapies help to ease drug cravings and withdrawal effects. People who’ve used Vicodin for a long time will have a better chance at remaining drug-free using medication therapies.
7. Confront Underlying Issues
Therapy and group counseling work make a large part of the Vicodin rehab process. The more open and honest you are in therapy and group counseling the more progress you’ll make in recovery.
8. Join Support Groups
A 12-step support group becomes the safety net you’ll need to stay drug-free after completing a treatment program. The friendships and supports available through 12-step groups can make all the difference in recovery.
9. Settle In for the Long Haul
Recovery from Vicodin addiction is ultimately a new way of life compared to the drug-using lifestyle. Approaching recovery as a process will make it easier to remain drug-free for the long haul.
10. Stay Connected
The key to a successful Vicodin rehab process lies in staying connected with the people who have your best interests at heart.