Addiction differs from person to person and the treatment methods at Journey Healthcare will reflect your individualized needs.
People struggling with addiction have regularly experienced:
- Continued use despite consequences and self-destructive behaviors.
- Increased cravings and inability to control impulses around substance use.
- Decrease in self-care and quality of life.
Drug and alcohol addiction are a complex brain disease and despite good intentions and significant motivation towards recovery we continue to see ongoing struggles to sustain lasting change and achieve long-term sobriety. Journey Healthcare has found that combining Medication Assisted Treatment through FDA Approved medications outlined below and professional counseling many patients can and do meet their goals and take their lives back. We find that a ‘person-centered’ approach to addiction assist in treatment compliance and commitment to care where we aim to work at your pace towards your goals. We offer a highly flexible schedule to reduce barriers to treatment engagement allowing individuals to attend to other important areas of their lives such as family and careers. We also offer convenient telehealth options for Medical and Therapeutic appointments.
Our effective programs are aimed to treat various forms of substance abuse including Alcohol and Opioid use disorders.
What is opioid use disorder?
The issue of opioid use disorders has become a public health crisis with devastating consequences including an unfathomable number of fatal overdoses. Opioid addiction is a chronic, progressive disease that can cause major health, social and economic problems. Opioids are a class of drug that act in the nervous system to produce feelings of pleasure and pain relief. Some opioids are legally prescribed by healthcare providers to manage severe and chronic pain. Some other opioids, such as heroin, are illegal drugs of abuse. Opioids change the chemistry of the brain and lead to drug tolerance overtime. Taking opioids over extended periods of time creates dependence, such that when people stop taking the drug, they have physical and psychological symptoms of withdrawal. Opioid addiction can be life-threatening due to risk of overdose.
Narcan / Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Many states have laws that allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription known as a
standing order. Journey Healthcare can provide you with Narcan or place an order to your pharmacy at any time.
Administer Opioid Use Self-Assessment ( Download OUD Form )
What is Alcohol use disorder?
Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, becoming preoccupied with alcohol consumption and is accompanied with significant consequences as a result of continued alcohol use. If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. It can range from mild to severe, however, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems. Engaging in treatment through the early stages is imperative as chronic, long-term alcohol use can create serious health risks including impact on your liver, heart, bone damage, diabetes complication and more. Many long-term alcoholics experience irreversible destruction and scarring of the liver tissue (known as cirrhosis).
Administer Alcohol Use Self-Assessment ( Download AUD Form )
Other Substance Use disorders
Journey Healthcare also treats individuals for an array of addictions including: Cocaine Use disorder, Cannabis or Marijuana Use, Gambling disorders, and other addictions.
Medication Assisted Treatment
Addiction is almost always a multi-faceted, complex disease with a multitude of underlying problems. In order to provide you with the tools to be successful in your recovery we offer not only behavioral and therapeutic interventions but believe it is imperative to, whenever necessary, treat your addiction with expert medical interventions.
These interventions vary depending on the substance(s) abused. The following medications have proven effective to treat substance use.
- Buprenorphine or Suboxone treatment for opioid use disorder
Treatment is a partial agonist therapy which aids in withdrawal symptoms and has been found to reduce cravings and fatal overdose. Suboxone works by tightly binding to the same receptors in the brain as other opiates. By doing so it is able to blunt intoxication with these other drugs and prevent cravings. Suboxone can allow people to transition back from a life of addiction to a life of normalcy. Suboxone will likely create or continue opioid tolerance or dependence but due to its significant half-life can be used as a safe way to titrate from other opiates.
- Sublocade is a long-acting injectable buprenorphine treatment product that comes in two doses 100mg and 300mg. Journey Healthcare has found great success with increased compliance to Medication with this once per month injectable. Many patients find the convenience of an injectable medication to support a daily or multi-daily dosing regimen.
- Naltrexone / Vivitrol for the treatment of opioid and alcohol use disorder
Naltrexone is approved for the treatment of both opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. Naltrexone (oral daily medication ReVia or Extended-Release monthly injectable Vivitrol) is designed as a relapse prevention medication which works by binding to opioid receptors in the brain. Naltrexone is not a controlled substance and therefore creates no levels of dependency. It works by stopping the euphoria and sedation that central nervous system depressants, specifically alcohol and opioids, can cause. The medication binds to those receptor sites in lieu of the intoxicating substance. If a person taking naltrexone relapses it makes it difficult for the drug to bind to the receptor sites, so there will be little response associated with using the substance at time of relapse.
Sparrow Therapy
Now offering “Sparrow Therapy” a drug-free, personalized solution that is FDA cleared for opioid withdrawal relief. It’s called the Sparrow Therapy System and it’s a wearable therapy designed to provide an easy, safe, and effective way to withdrawal from your current opioids and help you achieve a better quality of life. It works by delivering personally tailored, mild electrical signals through the skin on and around the ear. These signals target specific nerves that activate areas of the brain which release endorphins. The boost in endorphins helps to aid in the reduction of withdrawal symptoms in as little as 60 minutes of use.
For more information please visit: https://www.sparkbiomedical.com/
Other Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments
Campral (acamprosate) and Antabuse have been used to assist in controlling alcohol use disorders. Campral has been approved as an adjunctive treatment for alcohol use disorder. It is believed that Campral addresses cravings and urges in individuals who have alcohol use disorder. Antabuse (disulfram) on the other hand has been used as an ‘aversion’ therapy. This modality is used as a treatment for chronic alcoholism by discouraging the consumption of alcohol. The medication causes individuals to suffer from very unpleasant side effects when taken when even trace amounts of alcohol have been ingested.
Areas Served:
We offer addiction treatment and counseling in the following areas in Pennsylvania.
Areas: Robinson Township, Murrysville, Pittsburgh