July 2022 - Laguna View Detox

What are the Physical Symptoms of Chronic Alcohol Abuse?

Long-term alcohol use and abuse can result in significant physical and physical health difficulties. Unlike some other substance addictions, alcohol addiction develops over time. It typically requires many months or even years of frequent, regular drinking, often to excess, for physical and biological changes to occur in the body based on alcohol consumption. For long-term alcohol abuse, the physical symptoms of chronic alcohol abuse can be difficult to manage.

Once these changes have occurred and tolerance for the effects of alcohol has developed, it can be challenging and often dangerous for someone to give up alcohol without the support and guidance of a Southern California addiction treatment program.

How Does Alcohol Effect the Body?

It is common knowledge that prolonged substance use and abuse can significantly impact your body and influence several life-sustaining functions. What many people do not realize is that different substances affect your body in different ways. Additionally, they can have both physical and mental health impacts that last for varying durations of time, depending on the substance used.

Many people believe the short or long-term impacts of alcohol use and abuse won’t be an issue if they are just a casual drinker, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Many substances, including alcohol, can start to affect your health immediately, and the effects may continue long after “one-time” experimentation. One such substance is alcohol. Because alcohol is a legal “drug,” many do not realize the dangers of chronic alcohol abuse.

What are the Physical Symptoms of Chronic Alcohol Abuse?

Alcohol addiction will look different from person to person and based on how much or how often you drink. Other factors related to alcohol abuse that will affect your physical health include how long you have experienced symptoms of alcohol addiction. Although each drug can produce symptoms of addiction that are unique to that substance, several common indications of substance addiction occur in the majority of cases, regardless of the substance used. Common symptoms include appetite changes, dramatic weight changes, altered behaviors, lack of energy, new or worsening financial problems, problems at work or school, lack of personal hygiene, and new or worsening medical health problems.

Some of the more common signs of alcohol addiction include lack of control over how much one drinks, preferring to drink alone, continuing to drink despite adverse effects related to alcohol, mood swings, and other emotional disturbances. If left untreated, you will typically experience withdrawal symptoms if you attempt to reduce or stop drinking. Common examples include agitation, tremors, nausea, racing heart, and sweating.

Many people believe that drinking, especially if they only do so in moderation or on a casual basis, is not or will not evolve into a problematic relationship with alcohol. It is also a widespread misconception that if you do not “drink often enough,” you cannot develop an addiction to alcohol. Unfortunately, in many cases, the reverse is often true. Even if you only drink on occasion, doing so regularly over a long period can lead to increased alcohol tolerance. It can also increase the desire to achieve the feelings of calm and relaxation produced by alcohol intoxication. Once you become dependent on the effects of alcohol, it can be far more challenging to achieve lasting sobriety without addiction treatment.

How to Find a Comprehensive Alcohol Treatment Program in Laguna Beach, CA

Unlike many chronic illnesses, you can successfully defeat alcohol dependence by seeking addiction treatment and completing detox and rehab. At Laguna View Detox Center, we realize the decision to begin an alcohol addiction treatment program comes with difficulty. Despite the changes in the last decade to how society and treatment providers view addiction treatment, there are still many challenges and misconceptions surrounding chronic alcohol abuse and the desire to seek help to get sober.

At our Laguna Beach, CA, alcohol rehab, we will work closely with you to develop an individualized detox and treatment program based on your specific treatment needs and goals. Our Orange County inpatient rehab programs are designed to help ensure the best opportunity to attain and maintain sobriety.

Contact our admissions team at Laguna View Detox Center today if you are ready to start your journey to a life without substances.

What are Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms?

An opioid is a broad term for various prescription and illicit drugs. Opioids include prescription painkillers and “street drugs” such as heroin. Without Southern California addiction treatment, many with a heroin addiction succumb to overdose due to its powerful effects.

How Addictive is Heroin?

Heroin is a dangerous and highly addictive drug. Its effects on the body quickly appear, and tolerance to its effects can develop after a short period of regular use. Once tolerance occurs, they require larger or more frequent doses of heroin to achieve the “high” they remember from the first time they used. In recent years the rates of heroin use and overdose have increased dramatically. As with many substances, the rate of those seeking treatment to help conquer heroin addiction has not increased as rapidly.

In 2020, more than 13,000 people lost their lives to heroin overdose. Because prescription opioids like Vicodin and Oxycontin have similar effects on the user as heroin, research indicates that some prescription pain medications may serve as a gateway drug to heroin use. Recent studies suggest that some people who misused prescription opioids switched to heroin when they could no longer obtain opioids.

How Does Heroin Affect the Body?

Heroin can be taken into the body in various ways, including snorting, smoking, and injection. Each method produces its specific side effects and risks. When snorted, heroin creates an intense, euphoric high followed by feelings of sleepiness and deep relaxation.

Regardless of how it is used, heroin is still highly addictive, leads to significant damage to the brain and body systems, and has a high potential for overdose. Many who use heroin believe it is less addictive when snorted, but this is a dangerous misconception as heroin is no less harmful or addictive no matter the route of use.

The short-term effects of heroin use often include flushed (warm) skin, dry mouth, drowsiness, pinpoint pupils, a euphoric rush (or high), and a feeling of heaviness in your arms and legs. As the initial high wears off, most users experience reduced mental function, slowed heart rate, and reduced respiratory rate. Sometimes, their breathing rate can be slow enough to be life-threatening.

As with most drugs, chronic or regular use of heroin can lead to dangerous physical and psychological consequences. Repeated, habitual heroin use leads to structural and functional changes in the brain. These changes lead to alterations in vital body functions that can be very difficult to reverse, even with comprehensive heroin addiction treatment.

Without help from a heroin detox program, these effects will worsen over time. Some of the most common long-term effects of heroin use include nose bleeds, loss of sense of smell, kidney and liver damage, difficulties swallowing, reduced immune function, malnutrition, gastrointestinal problems, decreased cognitive function, damage to the nasal cartilage, overdose, and death.

What are the Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms?

If you are addicted to heroin and have developed a tolerance to its effects, you will experience withdrawal symptoms if you reduce or try to stop using. Heroin withdrawal symptoms can vary from person to person, but there are common symptoms to watch for. Examples include diet changes, changes in sleeping patterns, jitters, shaking, uncontrollable leg movements, and stomach problems such as nausea and vomiting.

In more severe instances, withdrawal symptoms from heroin (as well as other opioids) could include severe and life-threatening withdrawal symptoms. These may include abnormal heart rate, abnormal respiratory rates, and seizures. Withdrawing from heroin is different for everyone. While some may experience mild symptoms, symptoms for others may be intense and potentially dangerous. The unpredictable nature of heroin withdrawal makes it crucial to start your sobriety journey in a safe and supported heroin detox program.

How to Find Heroin Detox in Southern California

Recovering from heroin addiction is a journey best done with support and guidance. No two people experience the same challenges as they take their first steps toward putting dependency on heroin in the past. At our Southern California heroin detox, the team at Laguna view detox can help you safely and successfully overcome heroin addiction.

Each of our Los Angeles detox programs is uniquely designed around your specific treatment needs and goals. Let us help you achieve lasting sobriety. Contact a member of our admissions team today to learn more.

How Can a Luxury Rehab Improve Recovery Outcomes?

Addiction rehab programs vary in many ways; each location and facility may offer benefits and amenities unique to the rehab itself. When choosing the best treatment program in Southern California to help you achieve your sobriety goals, you will want to research and learn more about the differences between the programs each rehab offers. The differences in benefits (such as holistic or alternative therapies) offered, levels of care, or services available at a particular may guide you to choose one program over another. You will also want to consider the type of treatment environment where you believe you can get the most out of treatment.

While researching addiction treatment options, you may come across programs that provide luxury drug rehab and addiction treatment services. When a program advertises its services as luxury, it might cause you to wonder why choosing a luxury drug rehab over another type of rehab program might help you reach your sobriety goals. There are several characteristics of a luxury drug and alcohol rehab that set these programs apart from the rest.

What is Luxury Addiction Treatment?

State and federal regulations impact many things about the addiction treatment environment. All addiction treatment centers must provide the vital therapies and services necessary to help you safely detox, get sober and learn how to maintain lasting recovery. Where luxury rehab differs is in how they achieve this goal. The type of care offered at a luxury rehab like Laguna View Detox differs from what is generally expected at a traditional rehab.

At a luxury drug and alcohol rehab in Los Angeles, CA, we provide our patients with a more individualized, luxurious, private treatment experience. While the level of care and evidence-based therapy services are equivalent to those offered in a traditional rehab, a luxury drug rehab provides certain benefits and amenities that enhance the treatment experience and ensure a more “luxury” treatment process.

How Can a Luxury Rehab Improve Recovery Outcomes?

Luxury rehabs can be of benefit to anyone looking to overcome addiction in a luxury environment. For some, the addition of luxury amenities and alternative treatment options that are typically not part of the traditional treatment environment can help to improve treatment outcomes.

Because the luxury rehab setting allows patients to maintain immersion in their day-to-day responsibilities, they are a popular choice of treatment for those who cannot take time away from work or family obligations to seek addiction treatment in a residential program. Examples of patients frequently served in a luxury rehab include corporate executives, working professionals, and more. Luxury rehabs also offer a high level of privacy, with many having gated entries or secluded locations. These characteristics of many luxury rehab ideal for celebrities, entertainers, and anyone else who wants to get help to overcome addiction without interference from outside triggers.

While luxury rehab facilities are a popular choice among the specific demographics listed above, it does not mean attending a luxury rehab is restricted to particular portions of the population. If you want to get sober and learn how to avoid relapse but are looking for a luxurious, private program with amenities and services above and beyond what is often found in traditional rehab, a luxury rehab in Los Angeles, CA, may offer the most significant opportunity for positive treatment outcomes.

How to Find Luxury Treatment in Los Angeles, CA

If you or a loved one has a drug or alcohol addiction and want to learn more about how luxury rehab may help you achieve lasting sobriety, the team at Laguna View Detox is here to help. Members of our caring and compassionate treatment team at our luxury Los Angeles area rehab understand your treatment goals, and the reasons for choosing luxury rehab are unique to you. We also understand the vital importance of developing individualized therapy plans that focus on your specific needs and goals as you begin your sobriety journey.

If you are ready to take the first steps towards overcoming addiction, our luxury Los Angeles rehab can help. Contact a member of our admissions team at Laguna View Detox to learn more about how luxury addiction treatment in Los Angeles, CA, can help you achieve lasting sobriety and freedom from addiction.

Does Insurance Cover Inpatient Treatment Programs?

Deciding to seek addiction treatment is often accompanied by several concerns and questions. One of the first that most people think of is usually, “how can I (or my family) afford to pay for rehab”? The total cost of addiction treatment depends on your unique treatment needs and goals; however, there are affordable treatment options for everyone, regardless of income. It can be challenging to commit to a costly rehab program. Still, it is essential to remember that seeking and completing addiction treatment is an investment in your mental health and physical recovery from addiction. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the ability to pay for therapy using personal, employer-sponsored, or federally funded insurance plans opened doors to treatment once closed to many.

What are the Benefits of Inpatient Rehab?

Many different levels of care are available across the country for people seeking substance abuse treatment. There are outpatient care programs, intensive outpatient programs, partial hospitalization programs, inpatient hospitalization programs, retreats, and residential care. It’s easy to see how making the best choice for you could be overwhelming.

So why choose Orange County inpatient treatment over another treatment option? Although people choose inpatient (residential) for several reasons, there are particular treatment needs that are best served in the residential environment. These include lack of adequate support at home, severe addiction, having tried lower levels of care previously without success, experiencing a relapse, and addiction to specific substances from which detox can be dangerous.

Although each inpatient program differs from others in some way, there are common benefits of inpatient rehab that make this level of care the most effective treatment environment. Typical examples of the benefits of inpatient care include:

Medically supported detox and withdrawal
MAT treatment
Individual therapies (such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and other forms of therapeutic counseling)
Family or couples counseling
24-hour support
Structure and routine
Nutrition counseling
Alternative therapy options
Comprehensive aftercare planning

Does Insurance Cover Inpatient Treatment Programs?

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law. One significant benefit to the act is expanding treatment options for those covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Additionally, it required insurance companies, including private pay and employer-sponsored programs, to include addiction and mental health treatment options as part of their standard health insurance coverage. These pivotal changes to how insurance companies paid for addiction treatment helped millions more Americans to gain access to potentially life-saving addiction and mental health treatment services.

The Health Insurance Marketplace offers Affordable Care Act-sponsored insurance programs that provide addiction treatment benefits. These plans must provide financial coverage for addiction treatment services like any other medical procedure. Covered services also include inpatient (residential) and outpatient treatment options.

Affordable Care plans assist with treatment services at all levels of care, including therapy, medically assisted detox, MAT medications, nutritional counseling, and aftercare services such as medical appointments, drug and alcohol testing, and clinic visits. ACA insurance plans are available to anyone who needs private medical insurance.

It is essential to remember that the amount of coverage available for treatment services depends on a few factors, including (most importantly) the level of coverage purchased. In most cases, insurance will cover between sixty and ninety percent of inpatient or outpatient treatment expenses.

How to Find In-Network Rehabs in Southern California

Most health insurance plans provide coverage for addiction treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, access to substance abuse, addiction, and mental health treatment services increased for people across the nation. Depending on the type of plan one has, coverage options and duration of coverage will vary. Some insurance plans may require a rehab to be “in-network” for treatment services to be covered. Choosing an in-network rehab in Southern California helps to ensure you receive the best coverage possible using your insurance benefits to help pay for treatment costs.

If you are unsure about your insurance benefits or want to learn more about coverage options, our admissions team is here to help. Contact our admissions team today if you want to learn more about insurance coverage for addiction treatment and finding an in-network provider in Southern California.