Stimulant Addiction Treatment
You’ve noticed your young adult child has started to act differently. They’re staying out later and slipping away to hide when returning, yet seeming more energetic than before. You’re not sure about the people they’re hanging out with. Should you be concerned about their behavior changes?
Your spouse works a high-stress job. You’ve been trying to help them out but it hasn’t seemed to help. One day, however, you notice they seem more chipper. At first, you’re relieved, but slowly these chipper moments are followed by higher stress and aggressive attitudes. You’re not sure where this is coming from and you’re worried for them.
You heard about cocaine from a friend, who suggested you try it out when you were at a party. You were already drunk so you thought “Why not?” It was a fun time, so you decided to try it again. Now, whenever you drink, you need to grab an eight-ball. Being young, successful, and partying was fun, but now it has turned into something else, something you don’t have control over. You’re afraid you may lose much more than just your job.
Substance use is more common than most people think, and it doesn’t always look the same from family to family, situation to situation. Did you know that, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the second most misused substance in 2020 across the United States was central nervous system stimulants? SAMHSA found in their report that over 10 million people aged 12 and older reported stimulant misuse within the past year.
What about here in Indiana? Between cocaine and methamphetamines, both types of stimulants, over 130,000 Hoosiers reported using at least one of them within the past year.
If you or a loved one is looking to recover from stimulant use, you must find a place that understands what you’re going through. Here at Recovery Centers of America, we’re equipped to help you with just that. One of our goals is to help educate those in our community on the nature of drug use and addiction. Let’s talk a bit more about stimulants, what a stimulant use disorder is, and how it can impact you in the long run.
A Full Continuum of Care for Stimulant Use Disorder
We offer a full continuum of care, from detox to inpatient and outpatient services. All of this is offered right here in Indianapolis. We also have a very active and fun alumni community. With weekly alumni meetings and monthly events, you can connect with other happy, successful locals in recovery just like you will be. Now, let’s take a look at our programming, why it works, and what else we do to enhance your chances at success and recovery.
We Make Accessing Substance Use Disorder Care Easy
One of our most important promises here at RCA is to make sure that it is as easy as possible for someone to get the help they need to address substance use. We know that things like distance and money can be a big concern. We’re in-network with most insurances and we offer transportation up to 2 hours away from our facility, both here and back.
Our admissions team is available 24/7, and clients are seen in an average of 30 minutes. The second admission is over, clients get assigned a case manager to assist them along their recovery. They work alongside the client and their therapist to build a long-term recovery plan.
To help see you succeed, we offer continued support even after you leave our doors. That’s because we know that having access to care and connection more long-term, but especially within the first year, leads to better outcomes. This is why we have an outpatient program, alumni support, and peer recovery programs. These can help people have access to the tools and support systems they need down the road.
Our inpatient program has detox, as needed, as well as other programs built into it. We know that substance use impacts more than just one facet of a person. Oftentimes it can impact almost every corner of their lives, including those around them. We offer family and work support for clients, as well as nutritional and wellness programs.
Give us a call today at 1-800-RECOVERY to get a free assessment for stimulant use disorder.
Don’t wait to get the help you or a loved one urgently need
What Are Stimulants?
Substances can be categorized into different groups, and one of these groups is known as stimulants. This refers to substances like cocaine and meth, which speed up the central nervous system Not all stimulants are illicit substances, however. There are prescription stimulants as well as weaker stimulants, like caffeine, that also fall into this category.
People often use stimulants to enhance social activities like parties, dancing, or dates. A person may use a stimulant to help them work faster, or longer such as in construction or even a job with long hours like a lawyer or truck driver. Others just use them, simply because they make them feel better than when they are sober.
Stimulants feel good because they interact with the dopamine systems in your brain. Dopamine is a natural reward chemical in your body that makes you feel good after doing things like eating or having sex. It encourages you to do more of these things which are essential for survival. Stimulants artificially increase this dopamine production while also making it stick around longer, making people feel more euphoric and high energy than without them.
Identifying a Stimulant Use Disorder
While no level of drug use is safe, at what point does “trying out” or partaking in stimulants turn into a stimulant use disorder?
Some of the key factors of a substance use disorder revolve both around a person’s ability to safely end substance use on their own, as well as how much it’s impacting their life as a whole. The following should be used to help a person ascertain if seeking help might be a good idea, not a means to self-diagnose. These are the subjects that are covered during a substance use disorder assessment with a qualified healthcare professional.
If substance use is:
- Regularly taking up large portions of your day (from thinking about it to partaking in it to recovering from it).
- Becoming more important to you than events or activities you used to enjoy. Maybe you stopped going to weekly game nights with your friends because it takes away from the time you need to get more of your substance of choice.
- Causing you to have mental or emotional distress. The additional anger, anxiety, or even depression that’s seemed to creep into your life.
- Something you’re unable to cut back on or stop, even if you want to.
- Causing you to experience side effects and strong cravings when you aren’t using your drug of choice.
- Impacting those around you, from your behavior to your choices. This can range from yelling at someone you normally wouldn’t, to ignoring your friends or kids more and more.
- Causing you to make risky decisions that you normally wouldn’t when partaking in the substance. Like unprotected sex, or infidelity.
… then it might be time to start looking into getting some help. There’s no shame in that. Recovery is always possible and at RCA we make it easy for you to get started.
How Does Stimulant Use Disorder Impact Hoosiers?
Hoosiers are not immune to stimulants and the effects they can have. Across the state, about 1.8% of Hoosiers reported using cocaine in the past year, and 0.8% reported using methamphetamine, two common types of stimulants.
In the same study, it shows the rates at which people are going to recovery centers regarding specific substances. Over 41% of admissions for treatment facilities reported meth as a primary, secondary, or tertiary substance. In addition, 10.3% reported cocaine as a primary, secondary, or tertiary substance.
While the number of meth labs being found and seized in Indiana each year continues to drop, being able to access proper treatment for stimulant use disorders continues to be important across the state.
What Can Stimulants Do to the Body?
The exact effects of stimulant use can be impacted by certain things like your age, weight, metabolism, and history of substance use to name a few. As with many substances, there are both long and short-term side effects. Short-term side effects normally refer to those that you might experience during substance use, whereas long-term effects usually develop over time with continued use.
Common Physical Side Effects of Stimulants
Stimulants impact the central nervous system, which sends and processes messages throughout the body. They speed up the messages that are sent along through your brain and body which can leave a person feeling jittery or energetic during stimulant use. Additionally, it can make people feel more awake and cause a loss of appetite, as well.
With long-term use, those who regularly take stimulants might start to develop side effects such as:
- Tremors
- Headaches
- Heart palpitations
- Excessive sweating
- Abdominal cramps
- Seizures
Common Mental Side Effects of Stimulants
One of the most common, short-term side effects of stimulants is the feeling of euphoria that it can cause. It can also make people feel an increased sense of well-being while also making a person more talkative.
Unfortunately, those who regularly partake in stimulants, especially in higher dosages, have a chance of developing depression, anxiety, or paranoia over time. These can be treated alongside substance use here at Recovery Centers of America. Our Pathways program for dual diagnosis is designed specifically to assist those who are managing both substance use and mental health disorders.
Stimulant Addiction and Treatment Options
Like with many substances, especially those used illicitly or outside of medical recommendations, there is a chance for withdrawal or overdose to occur. These odds can increase the longer someone partakes in a substance, or the larger the dosages they partake in.
Withdrawal occurs when the body becomes accustomed to something, altering how it works. In the case of stimulants, the body could become used to the sped-up central nervous system. When you remove that substance from your body, it has to adjust back to operating without the substance to help. This can sometimes cause side effects, which are known as withdrawal.
One of the toughest aspects of withdrawal when it comes to stimulants is the incredibly strong urge to use them. Outside of a treatment facility these urges are usually followed through upon. How many times have you sworn off using one minute and then you find yourself on a binge that very evening? Surprisingly, that is normal behavior for someone with an SUD. Just as the sun rises and sets, a person with an SUD will seek out their substance of choice despite the negative consequences and promises to themselves and others. Our point is that you are not alone, you are not beyond help and you are reacting in a very normal way to substance use. Here at RCA, you will be with others who have the same shared experiences and you won’t feel alone in your actions any longer. This makes dealing with the inevitable withdrawal symptoms easier.
Then there are overdoses. An overdose occurs when there’s too much of a substance in your body for it to handle. When it reaches high levels, it can even cause parts of your body to shut down. In the case of stimulants, some of the symptoms of overdose often include:
- High body temperature
- Rapid heart rate
- Tremors
- Hallucinations
- Increased aggression
- Muscles pain
- Seizures
With stimulants, there is also a chance they may be mixed with an opioid like fentanyl or heroin which can also cause an overdose. If you think you or a loved one is experiencing an overdose, don’t hesitate to call for medical help. The Good Samaritan Law in Indiana prevents you from getting into legal trouble for seeking medical help for an overdose.
There is no shame in seeking help to recover from substance use of any kind. Recovery Centers of America is here to help you get onto a path of healing by treating your addiction at the source. We know you can do it, and we want to help you get there.
If you have any questions about how to get started or what our programs entail, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-RECOVERY. Our team is available to assist you whenever you need it.
After Stimulant Addiction Treatment, the journey continues…
While treatment gets you through acute periods of withdrawal, other symptoms—particularly psychological ones—might persist past the initial detox period, making continuation of treatment after the initial detox period critical. Our continuum of care includes:
FAQs About Stimulant Addiction Treatment
What is the first-line treatment for stimulant use disorder?
Helping a person manage withdrawals while working with them to establish a baseline for recovery is important for the beginning of any substance use disorder recovery.
What medications are used to treat stimulant use disorder?
Medication-assisted treatment is utilized to assist those recovering from opioid or alcohol use. There is no medical protocol for medication-assisted treatment for stimulant use.
What are stimulant medications most frequently used to treat?
There are some very useful legal stimulant medications. Prescription stimulant medications can often be utilized to help people with narcolepsy or dopamine deficiency disorders such as ADHD.
