Articles

Today, effective fentanyl treatment is needed more than ever before. For the first time, accidental drug overdoses are the number one accidental cause of death in the United States. For decades, car accidents have held the top spot on this dark list. Indeed, fentanyl abuse is a national calamity, and such a crisis makes access to fentanyl treatment critical.

When it comes to fentanyl treatment, there are three essential parts. The crucial aspects of fentanyl treatment are as follows:

1. Overdose Prevention Opening the Door to Treatment
2. Medications for Addiction Treatment Making Treatment Possible
3. A Willingness by the Patient to Do the Work and Receive Help

Overdose Prevention and Fentanyl Treatment

Given the extreme overdose rates, overdose prevention is the first step in fentanyl treatment. By preventing a person from overdosing, you save their lives and open the door to getting them help. The critical tool in fentanyl overdose prevention is Naloxone.

According to the MAT Medications, Counseling, and Related Conditions page on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, “Naloxone is a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist—meaning that it binds to opioid receptors and can reverse and block the effects of other opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone.“

In addition, Naloxone is now available over the counter at most pharmacies. Given its power to save lives, it has become an essential tool for parents to have in their medicine cabinets. If a person overdoses on fentanyl, particularly an adolescent or teenager, they will likely require professional help.

Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC) is an integrated healthcare nonprofit organization that helps people recover from fentanyl abuse and addiction. Moreover, knowing the importance of overdose prevention in fentanyl treatment, TTC provides training for all our staff and communities.

Preventing an overdose opens a person’s eyes to the possibility of treatment and recovery. After all, these addicts almost lost their lives to drug abuse. When the stakes are that high, fentanyl treatment becomes a sane option. TTC knows it is essential to take advantage of a person’s openness to getting help.

Medications for Addiction Treatment and Fentanyl

When someone is addicted to fentanyl, it is an example of opioid use disorder. Like heroin, opium, and prescription painkillers, getting off fentanyl leads to withdrawal symptoms. Hence, withdrawal management is an essential tool in the modern recovery toolkit. Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) like Vivitrol and Suboxone are vital elements of withdrawal management. Linking again to the opioid receptors in the brain, these recovery drugs reduce the pain of withdrawal, allowing for medical management of the process.

When addicts do not fear the pain and difficulties of opioid withdrawal, they are more willing to embrace a path of recovery. Since its introduction, TTC has been a trailblazer using MAT services to help patients recover. However, we do not see these medications as long-term, ongoing solutions. Instead, they are short-term treatments that lead to a patient embracing the path of being and staying clean.

A Willingness to Accept Fentanyl Treatment

The last part of fentanyl treatment is a willingness to accept the treatment process. After all, given the extent of the opioid use disorder crisis nationwide, it is obvious that getting clean and sober is not easy. Given the challenge, patients need to take part in the recovery process.

There is no magic pill to make a person willing to be or to stay sober. Rather, they have to open their eyes to the positive prospects of recovery. By opening their eyes, patients open a door to exiting the desperate merry-go-round of addiction and embracing a new and beautiful life of a clean and sober human being.

To learn more about how Tarzana Treatment Centers can help make this change a reality for you or a loved one, please contact us today.