As a detox facility that treats patients suffering from addiction, substance use disorder, and co-occurring disorders, we admit patients using, misusing, and abusing many different types of substances. One of the larger stigmas associated with addiction is that people who suffer from substance use disorder are typically individuals using illegal or illicit substances. That is often not the case.
Here at Innovo Detox, we see many different types of individuals dealing with substance use disorders of all kinds, which can include illicit or illegal substances like cocaine or heroin, legal prescription substances like prescription opioid painkillers or benzodiazepines such as Xanax, or legal substances such as alcohol. We often see people that are considered individuals with a polysubstance use disorder, meaning that they are regularly consuming and having difficulty with more than one substance at once. An example of this could be an individual misusing alcohol and cocaine, or another example could be an individual having issues with their prescription stimulant Adderall, as well as misusing prescription opioids they are purchasing off the street, while also using alcohol.
The types of people that are in need of detox for addiction are as varied as the types of substances they need detox and medical stabilization from.
Most Commonly Used Drugs People Need to Detox from
Alcohol
A legal substance once an American adult turns 21, alcohol is a psychoactive drug that is the active ingredient in drinks such as beer, wine, champagne, and hard liquor.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines are prescription drugs commonly prescribed as mood regulators to help individuals deal with issues such as anxiety, panic attacks, and stress. Examples of common benzodiazepines are Xanax, Valium, Diazepam, and Klonopin.
Cocaine
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive illegal stimulant. Typically a white powdered substance, cocaine is often snorted, but can also be smoked, injected, or turned in the cheaper, more potent form known as crack cocaine.
Fentanyl
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, similar to both heroin and prescription painkillers. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, another synthetic opioid. In this case, Fentanyl is in its own category, as it’s popularity over the last decade has both caused skyrocketing numbers in overdoses and fatal overdoses, as well as individuals using opioids are now specifically searching for and using fentanyl as a substance.
Hallucinogens
Examples of hallucinogens are LSD or PCP. They are diverse group of drugs that alter the awareness of an individual, including their perceptions of reality, their surroundings, and their thoughts and feelings.
Heroin
Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine; a natural substance extracted from the seed pod of various opium poppy plants. Heroin is an illegal substance that can be injected, smoked, or snorted. Like other opioids drugs, the use of heroin causes a physical dependence and has associated several withdrawal symptoms.
Inhalants
Inhalants are a class of drugs that includes solvents, aerosols, and gases found in household products such a spray paints, markers, glue, and cleaning fluids. Individuals “huff” these substances to produce a high.
Ketamine
With common or street names such as K, Special K, or Vitamin K, ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic most often associated with veterinary use in animals. It is a hallucinogen that makes the user feel detached from reality.
Kratom
Kratom is a substance that contains a mind-altering opioid that can be chewed, eaten by being mixed in food or brewed in a tea. Many people attempt to use kratom as a substance to help them detox themselves from other opioids to manage withdrawal symptoms.
Marijuana
Marijuana, or Cannabis, is made from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, with the main psychoactive chemical being THC. Often considered harmless, due to people remembering marijuana as being the same marijuana from the 1960s, there has been both a statewide and nationwide push to decriminalize or legalize marijuana. While the use of marijuana is now more socially acceptable than it was several decades ago, today’s marijuana products (which can be smoked, but are also used in edibles or vaped as oil) are often way more potent than in previous decades, and there has been considerable research done on the harmful effects of marijuana on the developing adolescent and young adult brain, especially as it relates to the impact on mental health and psychiatric issues.
MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)
MDMA, often called Ecstasy or Molly, is a drug that has similarities to both the stimulant amphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. This drug, typically discussed as a “club drug” due to often being used in a nightclubs and similar social settings, produces feelings of increased energy, pleasure, emotional warmth, and distorted sensory and time perception.
Methamphetamine
Often referred to as Crystal Meth, methamphetamine is an extremely addictive stimulant amphetamine drug that is manufactured in a laboratory setting (or a home laboratory setting.) Extremely cheap and addicting, methamphetamine can be snorted, smoked or injected and creates a false sense of happiness and well-being for the user, often created a rush and followed by an emotional and physical crash 6-to-8 hours later.
Prescription Opioids
Examples of prescription opioids are OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, morphine, methadone, Hydrocodone, Dilaudid, or codeine. Prescription opioids are pain relieving drugs prescribed by doctors and medical professionals to treat and manage pain. They are, however, highly physically addicting and users can easily develop a physical dependence that ensures the user must continue to take these painkillers multiple times a day or else they will go into physical withdrawal.
Prescription Stimulants
Amphetamines such as Adderall or methylphenidates such as Concerta or Ritalin are examples of prescription stimulants. Prescribed by a doctor or medical professional, they are medications that increase alertness, attention, and energy. They are often prescribed as medicine to treat issues such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.
If you or someone you know needs help for addiction or co-occurring disorders, please give us a call. Innovo Detox offers the latest in evidence-based medical, psychiatric, and clinical care for those in need of detox and medical stabilization in Pennsylvania and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic area. If we aren’t the best fit for you or a loved one, we will take the necessary time to work with you to find a detox, rehab, treatment center or provider that better fits your needs. Please give us a call at (717) 619-3260 or email our team at info@innovodetox.com. For more information on our company or services, please visit our website at www.innovodetox.com.