Heroin Addiction TreatmentFind Recovery

Neurochemical rebalancing for heroin addiction involves several key components. First, a comprehensive neurochemical deficiency assessment, spanning across four pages, is conducted. This assessment helps identify specific areas of neurochemical deficiency. Next, a personalized approach is taken to provide individuals with tailored amino acids and supplements.

Additionally, an abstinence-based symptom sheet is utilized to monitor and track 25 different symptoms that are correlated with neurochemical imbalances. Based on the information gathered, the amino acid protocol is then adjusted accordingly to address individual needs. Clients will receive the amino acids and cofactors they need to help restore healthy brain chemistry. For those recovering from heroin addiction, it is common to receive D-phenylalanine to balance endorphins. This helps to reduce or eliminate cravings and eradicate uncomfortable side effects of recovery, also known as post-acute withdrawal.

Excessive use of heroin can be damaging to the body. In order to repair this damage, it’s important to prioritize restoring physical health and wellness:

Improve Nutrition and Teach Healthy Habits: Heroin can suppress appetite, leading to decreased food intake and weight loss. This can be especially problematic for individuals who are already struggling with malnutrition or chronic diseases that require proper nutrition for management. Heroin also interferes with the absorption, metabolism, and utilization of essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. This can lead to deficiencies that can have long-term consequences on overall health and well-being. At Bridging the Gaps, we understand that healthy eating is essential for those recovering from opioid addiction to replenish their bodies with essential nutrients. Proper nutrition helps to stabilize mood, reduces cravings, and improves energy levels, cognitive function, and overall well-being. Our clients work with a nutritionist to create healthy, balanced meals and learn how to shop for healthy foods and effectively read nutrition facts. The goal is to establish healthy eating habits here that will help our clients when they eventually leave and navigate recovery outside of our walls.

Exercise Regularly: Exercise is another crucial aspect of restoring physical wellness during recovery from heroin. Long-term heroin use leads to muscle atrophy, which is the wasting away of muscle tissue. Our clients exercise every morning and attend a private Yoga class once a week with a certified instructor. We prioritize exercise for several reasons. First, exercise releases endorphins, which can improve mood and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression – common triggers for relapse. It can also help regulate sleep patterns and improve quality of sleep. Lastly, engaging in physical activity also provides a healthy outlet for emotions, reducing the risk of turning to heroin as a coping mechanism.

Promote Healthy Sleep Hygiene: Sleep is essential for the body to heal and repair itself. However, heroin disrupts normal sleep patterns, inhibiting rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the deeper restorative stages of non-REM sleep, leading to insomnia and trouble staying asleep. Incorporating good sleep hygiene practices is crucial for those recovering from opioid use to improve their overall health. Establishing a regular sleep schedule and avoiding caffeine, heavy meals, and electronics before bed can help regulate sleep patterns. Getting enough quality sleep can also aid in mood stabilization, reducing cravings and improving overall mental health. We encourage our clients to maintain proper sleep hygiene.

People who have experienced trauma may develop coping mechanisms such as substance use to deal with the overwhelming emotions and feelings associated with their trauma. This can include turning to heroin as a way to self-medicate and numb painful memories or emotions. The clinicians at Bridging the Gaps are dedicated to helping our clients work through these painful events and uncover the hope that lies within.

The first few weeks of group psychotherapy and individual sessions aim to educate the client about their disease, help them begin to address some of the behaviors or thoughts that lead them to use, and begin to build community.

After about 4-6 weeks of stabilization, clients who have suffered significant trauma will begin working on processing these events. The caring, compassionate clinicians at BTG are trained and experienced in trauma-informed care and trauma treatment techniques. Instead of asking, “what’s wrong with you?”, trauma-informed clinicians instead seek to understand what happened to you. Using trauma treatment tools like Brainspotting and DBT, we help our clients to work through their trauma and understand what they need to adequately heal.