OPIOSTOP FOR DRUG PATIENTS

In most cases, opiate dependency is the result of using of non-prescription  opiates, (the use of illegal drugs). Such patients are referred to as drug patients. The gateway drug is usually heroin, and there are many different reasons for starting: Curiosity is often a factor, as its the desire to feel part of a group. Distressing problems or shortcomings may feel much more bearable while taking the drug. At the outset, users often feel that they have control over their drug use until they realise that the drug has taken hold of them. This is followed by the first attempts at abstinence, which often fail.

 

Continued dependency with substitution

They then often turn to a government substitution programme, replacing the use of an illegal drug with a permitted one. This eliminates the daily need to score and the additional harm that contaminated drugs or infections can cause. It may also enable them to regain some stability in their lives and reintegrate into the workplace. It does not, however, change their continuing dependency: they have merely replaced an illegal opioid with a legal one, making the chance of a cure and a life of abstinence no more likely. Even after a long period of dependency, many drug patients continue to want to become drug-free, but their previous experience of several failed attempts at withdrawal makes them resigned to their dependency.

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Dependent on painkillers

Over the last two decades, opiate dependency due to medically prescribed painkillers has become a major issue. Such patients are referred to as pain patients. The number of these patients is on the increase and has already reached endemic levels in the US, where a national emergency has been declared. OPIOSTOP is suitable as a treatment for both types of opiate dependency. Cocaine, amphetamines (crystal meth), cannabis, alcohol, benzodiazepines, ecstasy (MDMA) and other hallucinogenic party drugs are not opiates.

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OPIATE DEPENDENCY

Continued use of opiates not only creates physical dependency, which manifests itself in severe physical withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued, but also causes significant biochemical changes in the nervous system. The balance between our body's own natural opioids (endorphins) and opioid receptors is severely disrupted. The idea that a successful withdrawal and abstinence from opioids will cure the disease immediately is a false one. It does not remedy the disrupted balance in the brain and the craving for the opioid continues for years, because the imbalance means that the positive properties of the endorphins are unable to be fully effective.

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Characteristics of drug patients

Patients' lives are dominated by their dependency, which often sets in motion a downward spiral that increasingly diminishes the patient's prospects. A decline in the quality of life and self-determination, unemployment, isolation, secondary psychiatric ailments, infections and financial problems.

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Fear of withdrawal

The former highs, feelings of warmth, completeness and love disappear over time as the dependency takes hold. In the end it is only a matter of doing anything to avoid withdrawal, which causes great physical discomfort. What remains is the fear of withdrawal. 

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ADDICTION VS. DEPENDENCY

To understand how OPIOSTOP treatment works, it is important that we draw a clear distinction between dependency and addiction. Dependency corresponds to the irrepressible «craving», the direct physical dependency. Addiction, on the other hand, corresponds to the «desire» for the euphoric feel-good effects of opioids, the «kick» or «flash», which is under conscious control.

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OPIOSTOP only delas with dependency

OPIOSTOP treatment only treats the dependency. The success of the treatment is directly linked to the relative weighting of the dependency or addiction mechanisms in the patient's drug consumption behaviour.

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BEGINNING A DRUG-FREE LIFE

Experience has shown that dependency is the dominant phenomenon in the majority of patients. Blocking the opioid receptors during anaesthesia in line with a patient's individual needs allows the natural balance between opioid and receptor to be re-established, almost completely preventing the otherwise typical «craving» or «tearing», the insatiable desire for the opioid, 
which probably explains the good results obtained as a result of the OPIOSTOP treatment. The vast majority of our successfully treated patients had already undergone several withdrawal treatments and therapies, but they were only able to begin a drug-free life after OPIOSTOP treatment.

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ARE YOU SUITABLE FOR TREATMENT?

Both prospective patients and their relatives can contact us at any time to obtain information about the procedure without any obligation whatsoever. We would be happy to answer your questions.  

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Are you specifically interested in opiate withdrawal under anaesthesia? To find out whether you are suitable for OPIOSTOP treatment, please complete our medical questionnaire and return it to us – we need to be able to make a realistic assessment of your situation.