When you’re thinking about entering rehab, one question you may wrestle with is which rehab facility is right for you. Every day of your life brings innumerable choices, and if you’re reading this, you may suspect that some of the choices you have been making are not the best ones for you. In this post, we will go over what sets Alpine Recovery Lodge apart from other inpatient rehab facilities, and we’ll present some reasons we believe it might be a good choice for you. While the list of benefits of choosing Alpine Recovery Lodge for your journey to sobriety is long, we have found that one of the main draws for our clients is the peace of mind that having a licensed medical doctor on staff can bring.
The “detox paradox” generally refers to the fact that those going through detox often feel worse before they feel better. This is well known throughout the community of those who struggle with substance use disorders, and likely comes as no surprise to you. In fact, the detox process can even inspire feelings of fear in those considering attempting it. But the detox paradox we’re going to talk about now is how sometimes it’s other drugs — prescription drugs — that can help you on your road to recovery.
Much has been written about going “cold turkey” and how difficult it can be. If it was easy, no one would wrestle with addiction. Many people attempt detox at home, but it is very difficult to go through the process alone, and that’s why it rarely works.
While quitting alcohol or some drugs can bring on symptoms such as agitation, sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and more, some other types of drugs such as opioids can cause actual physical ailments such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, muscle pain, tremors and a racing heart in addition to the aforementioned mental health symptoms. These very real symptoms, combined with the sudden loss of well-being that comes from being off the drug, causes some patients to become convinced they are seriously ill or even dying.
For this reason, being in an inpatient rehab facility during detox helps tremendously. Here, you are surrounded by professionals 24-7 — people you can rely on when the going gets extra tough. This is the case in most any rehab facility, but at Alpine Recovery Lodge, we have something many other inpatient centers don’t — a medical doctor.
A medical doctor can examine you to see if the symptoms you are suffering are normal for drug withdrawal. In most cases, once the initial detox is complete, you will begin to feel better. This type of evaluation can provide comfort and alleviate some of the worry that accompanies withdrawal. But a medical doctor can also prescribe pharmaceuticals to help ease your withdrawal symptoms.
Here at Alpine Recovery Lodge, we know that a number of our clients prefer not to use prescription medication during the detox stage. This is understandable; some people view using prescriptions during detox as replacing one drug with another. While our staff believes that some prescriptions can be effective tools to ease the symptoms of withdrawal, by no means do we require any of our clients to use them.
Additionally, keep in mind that prescriptions such as methadone are quite different from medications to quell nausea, reduce pain from muscle cramps and inhibit vomiting and diarrhea. You can discuss with the doctor ahead of time which medications may be best for you — if any — and the type of detox you envision.
Here at Alpine Recovery Lodge, we have a dedicated team to help our clients achieve their goal of becoming sober and taking their life back. This team includes a registered nurse and a nurse practitioner as well as counselors and therapists. The team works together to ensure clients have the type of care and environment that provides them the best chance of success.
Our nurse and nurse practitioner work alongside our medical doctor and our osteopathic doctor to create a treatment plan that works for you. Our nurse’s duties include dispensing medication, taking vital signs, monitoring your condition and providing any support necessary to help you through detox and the recovery period immediately following.
Having these medical professionals on staff is a great benefit to the inpatient drug rehab process, because so often clients have medical issues outside of their addiction — sometimes caused by drugs and alcohol, but not always. For instance, even though high blood pressure is usually associated with older folks, younger people can also face this life-threatening condition if they have been misusing certain classifications of drugs. Drugs can also affect your kidney and liver function, harm your immune system, cause serious dental issues that can result in tooth loss, and can bring about headaches, skin rashes, nosebleeds and a host of breathing disorders. If caught early, however, many of these problems can be reversed.
A big part of inpatient rehab is therapy — individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, marriage counseling. When you choose a residential rehab facility staffed with medical doctors and nurses, you don’t have to spend time suffering and worrying about your physical health, because you know you’re in good hands with our trained staff. This allows you to let go of what otherwise might be a major concern, and focus instead on changing some of the thoughts and behaviors that played a part in leading to your addiction.
Dual diagnosis treatment is a critical component for many patients. Whether our inpatient clients choose to use prescription medication as part of their detox program or not, they still take great solace in being under the care of doctors and nurses who have spent years working in the field of addiction and rehabilitation — professionals they can trust to help them under any circumstances. If you’re thinking about inpatient rehab, consider the benefits of Alpine Recovery Lodge, and read what our former clients have to say about our program.
Alpine Recovery Lodge
