If you are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, then your doctor may recommend that you enroll in an addiction recovery program. While psychological counseling and medical monitoring will help you overcome your addiction challenges, you may need certain medications to help you cope with severe withdrawal symptoms and emotional pain. Here are some prescription medications that are often used in addiction recovery programs.
Muscle Relaxers And Anti-Seizure Medications
Your physician may prescribe muscle relaxant drugs to help treat muscle pain and spasms that can develop during withdrawal from opioid medications. Muscle pain can be debilitating. However, muscle relaxers can help keep you comfortable without interfering with your treatment program protocol.
Anti-seizure medications that are often prescribed for people with epilepsy can also help minimize some of your withdrawal symptoms. Anti-seizure medications are typically prescribed for those who are in treatment for alcohol abuse.
While effective in managing alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, anti-seizure medications can cause drowsiness, confusion, blurred vision, dizziness, weakness, and increased thirst. If you develop side effects from either your muscle relaxants or anti-seizure medications, your doctor can lower the dosage. If a smaller dosage fails to relieve your side effects, the medication will be discontinued and replaced with a different one that may be less likely to cause adverse reactions.
Disulfiram
Disulfiram is often prescribed for those who are struggling with alcohol abuse. Your doctor may prescribe disulfiram to help deter you from drinking. If you take this medication and drink even the smallest amount of alcohol, you will have very unpleasant side effects.
This reaction is caused by the buildup of acetaldehyde, which is an enzyme that plays an important role in metabolizing alcohol, or ethanol. When ethanol cannot be broken down or metabolized, acetaldehyde buildup is the end result. When your blood levels of acetaldehyde are high, you may experience a severe headache, nausea, vomiting, profuse sweating, vision problems, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Simply knowing that you will become severely ill if you consume alcohol may be enough to deter you from drinking. When you are taking disulfiram, not only will you have a reaction from drinking alcoholic beverages, but you may also get sick if you take cough or cold medications that contain alcohol.
If you are struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, talk to your doctor. They will recommend an addiction recovery treatment program suited to your individual needs. While you may face challenges during your treatment, you will have renewed hope, better health, and a brighter future once you complete your program.