Bakersfield Outpatient Painkiller Addiction Treatment

Signs of Prescription Painkiller Addiction

Nearly every adult has taken a prescription painkiller at one point or another. How do you know when your prescription painkillers have become a problem? Ask yourself if you have ever:

• Taken prescription painkillers recreationally (not to treat pain).
• Asked your doctor for a refill, even when you’re not in pain.
• Gone to another doctor to get a new prescription, so your primary care physician doesn’t know how much you’re taking.
• Gone to different pharmacies, sometimes out of your way, to fill prescriptions for painkillers, so nobody knows how often you get a prescription.
• Taken more just to feel better.
• Felt sick, nauseous or jittery when you don’t take the medicine.
• Stolen money or someone else’s prescription just to get more.
• Hid your pills around the house, so no one takes them away from you.
• Ended up in the emergency room, hospital or another medical facility for your prescription medication use.
• Thought you may have a problem.

All of these are signs your prescription painkillers may be taking over your life.

Painkiller Addiction Treatment in Bakersfield CA

At Synergy Recovery Services, we know prescription painkiller addiction is common. Addiction to Norco, Vicodin, OxyContin and Percocet are rampant among people who otherwise wouldn’t encounter drugs in their lives. Through no fault of your own, you may have become addicted to these drugs.

If you think you have a problem with prescription drugs, please call Synergy Recovery Services today. Dr. Jan Trobisch, our medical director, is board-certified in addiction medicine and has been treating patients with addiction problems since 2004, especially opioid addiction. We can help you safely withdraw from Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet or other prescription painkillers while you continue to live at home.

One of the latest types of opioid addiction treatments available is Probuphine, which is an implant treatment that helps significantly subside cravings for opioid drugs, such as painkillers. This long-lasting treatment consists of four small implants placed under the skin in the upper arm, and only takes about 15 minutes to insert. You can find more information on this new treatment here.

Not sure if you’re struggling with a painkiller addiction? Click the button below to take our free Addiction Test.

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Outpatient Prescription Drug Addiction Treatment in Bakersfield CA

Synergy Recovery Services offers outpatient prescription painkiller addiction treatment programs in Bakersfield. Our clients go home every night and return to the center during the day for treatment. No one has to know you’re receiving help for your prescription drug addiction.

We offer a combination of medication, therapy, counseling and education to help you recover from prescription drug addiction. Medications prescribed by Dr. Trobisch can ease the symptoms of prescription painkiller withdrawal, help you deal with cravings and prevent a relapse.

Depending on your needs, Dr. Trobisch may prescribe SUBOXONE®, VIVITROL® or other medications. When the withdrawals and cravings are taken care of, you can focus more effectively on learning about your addiction and developing the skills you need to continue your recovery.

Types of Outpatient Prescription Painkiller Addiction Treatment

We offer several types of outpatient addiction treatment for Norco, Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet and other prescription painkiller addictions. All of our services are offered on an outpatient basis from our Bakersfield, CA office.

Prescription drug addiction rehab includes:

• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Partial hospitalization is an intensive, five-days-a-week program. It’s a good fit for people who may be addicted to prescription painkillers and other medications, or for people who have tried and failed to quit before. This program includes five days a week of recovery work at our office. For six hours a day, you’ll attend individual and group counseling, support meetings and classes to help you manage your addiction. Each evening, you’ll return home. It’s the highest level of support you can get outside of a residential or inpatient treatment program.
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): An IOP program is similar to PHP, but you’ll stay with us for a little less time. IOP includes nine hours of group counseling per week at our office. For three days per week, you’ll participate in three-hour counseling sessions. These sessions are a mix of education sessions, in which you’ll learn how addiction affects your brain and body, and “process” groups, in which you’ll share your feelings and thoughts and get feedback from the group. Most PPO insurance plans cover IOP, and clients report they get a lot from these sessions. One of our experienced addiction counselors leads all group sessions.
• Individual counseling: As part of our commitment to helping people recover from prescription painkillers, you’ll also receive individual counseling. When enrolled in the IOP or PHP programs, you’ll have an assigned staff counselor who works with you privately a few times a month to help you continue your recovery. With your counselor, you’ll create a personal plan of recovery that helps you live a successful &  sober life as well as helping you develop coping strategies and skills, so you can deal with future problems without returning to drugs.

Who Benefits From Outpatient Prescription Painkiller Rehab?

You might be surprised to learn that most of the patients we see in our outpatient prescription painkiller rehab program look just like you. They’re businesspeople, housewives, teachers and teenagers. They work in a variety of fields and endeavors. The one factor they share in common is a problem with prescription painkillers and a desire to be free from their addiction.

Prescription Painkiller Addiction Treatment With Dignity and Respect

One of our goals is to help people addicted to prescription painkillers maintain their dignity while in recovery. At Synergy Recovery Services, you’ll come to our pleasant, spa-like office for treatment. You’ll meet with Dr. Trobisch or one of our skilled addiction counselors in private or group sessions. During the daily recovery groups at our center, you will learn how addiction affects your body, mind and spirit. You’ll develop coping mechanisms, so you can live successfully without prescription painkillers once you complete your treatment.

Our offices are like any other medical office and we offer several other medical treatments including medical weight loss and cosmetic treatments. Since other patients may have appointments for body shaping, medical weight loss or other services, no one knows you’re attending prescription painkiller rehab. We protect your privacy and confidentiality throughout treatment.

Ready to get sober? Schedule a consultation appointment with our dedicated and caring experts.

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Which Prescription Painkillers Are Abused?

There are many prescription painkillers and other prescription medicines that people abuse. The most common ones include:

• OxyContin (Oxycodone): This powerful opioid prescribed to treat severe or chronic pain blocks pain receptors, so you can’t feel as much pain. It also relaxes you, so you don’t care about the pain.
• Vicodin & Norco (Hydrocodone): Vicodin & Norco are among the the oldest prescription painkillers on the market. They’re a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone, two painkillers. Hydrocodone is an opioid painkiller. When combined, acetaminophen amplifies the effect of hydrocodone. Vicodin & Norco are prescribed for mild to moderate pain, and they can be very addictive.
• Fentanyl: Fentanyl is a very strong opioid which is usually used in form of a patch for chronic pain or in a hospital setting. In recent years, fentanyl has been responsible for many overdose deaths. In 2015 the DEA issued a nationwide alert due to the “alarming rate” of overdose deaths involving heroin laced with fentanyl.
• Percocet: Percocet combines acetaminophen and oxycodone. It’s prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain.

There are many other non-opioid prescription drugs that can become addictive, too. Certain benzodiazepines including Xanax, Ativan and Valium can be extremely addictive. Teens often abuse Ritalin and other stimulant drugs, stealing or trading them with one another to use recreationally. Any of these drugs has the potential for being abused.

How Prescription Painkillers Work

Prescription painkillers are most often taken as a pill. When you swallow the pill, your stomach acids dissolve it, and the medicine is absorbed into the bloodstream. You’ll feel the maximum effects about 90 minutes after taking a painkiller.

Once the medicine enters your bloodstream, it binds to one or more of the four different types of opioid receptors in the body. Prescription painkillers produce a feeling of euphoria and sleepiness. They slow down your respiration as well as digestion, which can lead to constipation.

Over time, tolerance to the drugs develops. Tolerance means your body becomes used to the initial amount. It takes more of the same drug to produce a similar effect and abruptly stopping the drug produces a severe withdrawal.

Taking more prescription painkillers or mixing them with other medications or alcohol can be deadly. Because they slow down the central nervous system and your breathing, taking any more than what your doctor thinks you should take can slow down your breathing too much, leading to respiratory distress or even death. Mixing other medicines with them, especially ones that increase the effect of prescription painkillers, can also be deadly.

Prescription Painkillers: A New National Epidemic

Pain is your body’s signal that something is wrong. When you’re out running and twist your ankle, the pain forces you to stop, so you don’t damage it further. Pain also keeps you from returning to your previous activities too quickly.

Some people also suffer from chronic pain. Old injuries or poorly understood diseases such as fibromyalgia cause chronic pain that makes people’s lives miserable. Doctors prescribe painkillers hoping to alleviate suffering.

Unfortunately, many people taking painkillers become addicted. In 2012, doctors wrote 260 million prescriptions for prescription opioids or painkillers. To put that number into perspective, that’s enough painkillers for every adult in the United States to have one bottle in the medicine cabinet.

Prescription Painkiller Abuse

Today, people have become used to taking a pill for any ache or pain. Often, we don’t question when our doctors give us prescriptions for painkillers. It seems as harmless as taking an aspirin or a vitamin.

Prescription painkillers, when used appropriately according to a doctor’s directions, can be lifesavers for many people recovering from surgery or accidents. When taken recreationally or long after healing from an initial illness, they can become problematic and addictive. Eventually, the addiction requires greater amounts of prescription painkillers, and many sufferers even turn to drugs such as heroin. It’s a dangerous, slippery slope — one we see all too often.

If you’ve developed a problem with prescription painkillers, or you think you may have a problem, please call Synergy Recovery Services today. We’ve successfully helped many people with their addiction to prescription painkillers.

Are You Ready to Get Help?

Prescription painkillers can lead to further addictions and even death. We’ve seen some people turn from prescription painkillers to street drugs such as heroin just to feel the same effects once they’ve developed tolerance to prescription drugs. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed an all-time high of overdose deaths from prescription painkillers and heroin.

Your addiction won’t go away on its own. We can help you in the privacy of our medical offices. Please call Synergy Recovery Services today at 661-529-7030 or fill out our confidential contact form today.

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