When parents watch kids struggle, they want to jump in and help. They want to support them in taking back their lives. In order to help a child who has gone off the trail, it is important to know how to support them without judging or shaming. If an adult child uses drugs, they are…
The first months of recovery are never easy. There is a focus on progress and even the feeling of changes going on. When this finally stops, it seems you are working towards rebuilding trust with loved ones and things are coming together (finally). You are allowed to miss your addiction. For a little while at…
Going to see family around the holidays can bring out the most challenging emotions for people. It is a great time of celebration, but it is also challenging in many ways. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years can be daunting to face when sober. That first holiday sober can be especially difficult, especially if others may…
With diabetes, drinking alcohol can cause a rise in blood sugar. It may also fall, depending on the person’s metabolism and other factors. Alcohol has a lot of calories. If a person is following a calorie-controlled meal plan, one drink of alcohol should be counted as two exchanges of fat. Drinking alcohol may not be…
The opioid crisis has been spiraling out of control for some time. Pain management is a real challenge for some people who cannot find measures that work. They turn to addictive substances in order to curb their pain, alongside opioid addiction, and end up feeling worse off than before. Once people understand pain management, they…
Dependence and heroin use has grown a lot over the last decade. Heroin used to be less prevalent, but now dependence is increasing across all age groups, regardless of income or socioeconomic status. Heroin use has doubled among those who used to have lower rates of use (women and people who are white). For some…
There have been many people recently in the headlines who were noted as passing away suddenly, ‘without explanation,’ in the Dominican Republic. There have been almost 10 people the FBI is investigating as to why they died sudden deaths in their hotel suites. One of those reasons they are exploring deals with counterfeit alcohol. This…
Not everyone becomes addicted to drugs but some people really struggle with this challenge. When people use drugs, they smoke, inject, snort, or swallow. This can dictate how much drug gets into the brain, how quickly, and how often brain levels of the drug rise and fall. When a person smokes marijuana, the brain levels…
Adderall is the brand name of medication people use for many things. One of them is ADD/ADHD. Methamphetamine, on the other hand, may be prescribed for use, but is also an illegal drug made in labs and sold on the black market. Meth and Adderall are from the same class of drugs called amphetamines, with…
Rehab is the best place to get drug and alcohol treatment. Not everyone likes thinking about rehab, but it is helpful for so many people because it is a safe space to be vulnerable and think about their addiction while healing their bodies. Group therapy is a helpful part of the process because people get…