Lortab, a combo of hydrocodone and acetaminophen like Lorcet, Norco and Vicodin, seems to be a supplemental drug of choice for those addicted to OxyContin and other oxycodone derivatives. Note: I have met a handful or two that somehow stumbled onto Lortab without realizing the addictive effects and ended up “strung out,” but more often I hear people say that they are addicted to other drugs and then couldn’t keep up with their body’s tolerance and so supplemented with Lortab.

Either way, this stuff is scary. A look at HealthBoards.com shows just how many people are struggling with their Lortab addiction. The side effects alone are devastating—blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, constipation, dizziness, fatigue—but on the other hand, withdrawal is so much worse. Constipation turns into stomach cramps and explosive diarrhea. Fatigue becomes overwhelming weariness but combined with involuntary leg movements and restlessness that amount to insomnia that is miserable. The intense craving for the drug combined with the irritability and vomiting, profuse sweating and overall achiness make this and every opiate withdrawal an absolutely miserable experience, one that makes the side effects look good.

A fear of withdrawal keeps a lot of people away from attempting to get clean, and it doesn’t have to be that way. While it’s uncommon for methadone or LAAM maintenance treatment to be prescribed for prescription painkiller addiction, it may be a possibility depending on where you live and what the regulations are. However, a more convenient option might be Suboxone and Subutex, the two pill forms of buprenorphine, a drug that is also an opiate but is reported to have fewer and less severe side effects.

The way it works is this: you stop taking the Lortab immediately and take Subutex for the first couple of days. After that, you take the Suboxone. You may choose it as a maintenance measure, taking as long as you need to detox. Or you may opt to slowly cut back on the drug at a measured rate so that you can be drug-free, sometimes in as few as six weeks.

Why take lower and lower doses of Suboxone instead of Lortab? Suboxone is reported to shorten the length of the detox and mitigate the withdrawal symptoms. Also, though getting high is rarely even a possibility for those who are using the drug to supplement another pain pill addiction, Suboxone definitely doesn’t have as much of an effect in that area, especially if you have a high opiate tolerance.

If you’d like more information on the effects of Lortab, why it’s prescribed and what to expect while you’re taking it, check out MedHelp.com.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin there is an organization called United Amerindian Center. They provide medical services and drug and alcohol counseling free of charge to American Indians who don’t live on reservation land. Or they did. The center has been forced to close its doors to due to a lack of funds, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Stephen Crowe is the director at the United Amerindian Center. He says, “We’ve cut back wages, services … whatever I could do to keep it open longer, we’ve done it. But we ran out of money.”

To remedy the situation, Crowe has put in a request for funds from a Connecticut American Indian tribe and the Oneida Tribe of Indians. Crowe says, “It’s just a matter of time before the grants get approved. I can’t even justify thinking of closing this place on a long-term basis.

A deficit of funds is a common problem in the world of substance abuse treatment. Those who need treatment are concerned about how they are going to find the money to pay for treatment and those who provide it need to pay the rent and the salaries of those who provide the services.

If you are addicted to opiate painkillers, however, treatment for the addiction is no more expensive than the prescription for the drug you are addicted to. A prescription to Suboxone will help your body stave off withdrawal symptoms without the overwhelming characteristics of other opiate painkillers that make it difficult to keep up with commitments at work and at home. The catch is that any doctor can prescribe opiates but the only doctors who can prescribe Suboxone are the ones who are certified specifically in the dispensation of buprenorphine in the form of Subutex or Suboxone. To make it as simple as possible, Meditox is staffed by doctors who specialize in drug addiction treatment and are certified to prescribe Suboxone. If you think that Suboxone might be your way out of prescription medication addiction, call Meditox today.

Half of drug addiction is physical: your body builds up a tolerance over long-term use, requiring significantly higher doses of the drug to continue to effectively block pain. The other half of drug dependence is mental, the compulsion to pop that pill even though you know it will only harm you, your health, and your ability to maintain relationships at home and at work. Compulsive behavior is the root of many addictions and it’s not something that you can cure with a pill.

If you’re taking buprenorphine—Suboxone or Subutex—to detox off of an opiate painkiller, then you are effectively treating your physical dependence to a wide variety of prescriptions including Vicodin, OxyContin, Percodan, Percocet, Lortab, Norco and more. If you have only recently begun using prescription medications to control pain, then you may very well have no real problems with the compulsive aspect of drug addiction. If, however, you have been taking prescription pills for a long time, then you may find yourself craving the euphoria and sedation that often accompanies the drug. If so, then this study is speaking directly to you.

There were two major findings in this University of Toronto Scarborough study that are important to note. One is that self control is a not a never-ending resource. Exert it to control your impulses once and the next time you are faced with an opportunity to indulge, you’re less likely to be able to stop yourself. This means that constantly putting yourself in situations where drugs are available (or sweets, if you’re compulsion is eating or around casinos if you’re a gambler) the more likely you are to relapse or fail. Removing yourself from temptation is a huge part of successfully breaking your addiction to drugs.

The other major finding of the UT Scarborough research was that if people do not realize that they have an issue with self control that they will be unable to change their behavior. It is for this reason that it is a cliché that “admitting you have a problem is the first step.” If you are currently taking buprenorphine to treat your opiate addiction, you have already accomplished this. If not, getting a prescription for Suboxone treatment from a Meditox doctor will take care of that for you.

For more information about the psychological studies being done on drug addiction treatment, check out Association for Psychological Science. www.psychologicalscience.org