Question by Liza Shevchuk: Natural Remedies For Brain Damage After Drug Abuse?
My older brother has done many drugs from about 16-21. Its been a year since his last use, and he’s been having some serious problems. He has high anxiety and he’s been having frequent episodes of “weird” (as he calls it) feelings. He doesn’t label it as feeling sick. During these episodes he feels jittery, emotional (even cry’s sometimes) out of control, his heart rate goes up. This also causes him to have insomnia. Maybe they’re panic attacks, but the thing is, what triggers it? This occurs randomly on a normal day. We believe its typical withdrawal symptoms, because he abused quite a few drugs. (Marijuana, cigarettes, ecstasy, crystal meth, shrooms, hookah, cocaine, inhalants, “uppers” (as he calls them))
He has gone to see his doctor several times to get treatment, and his doctor said he has migraines.
-____-
He prescribed him anti depressants and that didn’t help my brother AT ALL.
He does this herbal drop treatment (echinacea, other oils, etc) That help him sleep.
Now we’re trying to find him herbal remedies that would help repair his brain damage from all of the abuse he has done to it.
Thank you very much.

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
I’m not sure that there will be repairing of the brain damage (presuming that he has that as I’m not a medical doctor :), but researchers believe that the brain is very “plastic” and may form new nerve pathways to *help* compensate for the injured areas.

With regard to inhalant use, my friend actually has a severe Brain Injury from huffing at the age of 12, now in her 30s. The chemicals in products used for huffing are actual *poisons* that were never meant to go through the bloodstream.

Please be *very* careful with herbal supplements or “remedies” (e.g., echinacea, ginkgo biloba, chamomile) as they can result in side effects and/or drug (medication) interactions. It’s best to check with a licensed pharmacist before taking any of them. Not everything that is “natural” is safe 😉

Regarding the panic attacks, some people have generalized anxiety (to know specific event) or other types of anxiety. The antidepressants may help to lessen the intensity and/or frequency of the anxiety symptoms. Such medications tend to take about 6-8 weeks before possibly noticing results. A caveat (warning) is that some antidepressants may cause insomnia (trouble getting to and/or staying asleep). However, there are medications that one may take to help counteract the insomnia.

Even though benzo’s (e.g., ativan, valium, xanax, klonopin) may be prescribed to help with sleep, they’re not always recommended as a medication due to their physical addictiveness. (Some withdrawal symptoms from benzo’s may include seizures, psychosis/mental break from reality, or even death.) Some psychiatrists (it’s best to get medication for mental health issues from a board-certified psychiatrist as opposed to “just” a family doctor) prescribe seroquel (or other medications), which is classified as an antipsychotic but in smaller dosages may help with sleep.

You’d mentioned that he’s gone to the doctor several times, and I’m wondering if he’s gone to a neurologist which is medical dr who can help rule out disorders of the nervous system – brain, spinal cord, nerves. I’m just thinking that to help “cover all the bases” (not trying to give false hope though, know what I mean).

I’m not sure that he’d still be going through withdrawal symptoms a year after stopping the drugs, but it’s a good idea to ask a doctor about that as well.

Pertaining to the anxiety, please show him this government site which may have some local counseling agencies: http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ and can click the second link. Then one can click “near you” on the left-hand side of the page under “find facilities” and can type one’s city and state of residence into search. Their toll-free 24/7 referral helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357). Just an fyi that the first link is for those looking for substance abuse counseling/treatment, and that may be an option if he’s still “using” or having cravings for substances.

A 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), may have some local support groups. The only requirement is having a desire to get sober. One may attend an “open” AA meeting if there is no drinking problem: http://www.aa.org

This site has some common mottos pertaining to those 12-step programs, including “One day at a time”, “First things first” and “People, places and things”: http://www.royy.com/toolsofrecovery.html

Al-Anon is a 12-step program for the *friends and family* of the problem drinker, but one may attend an “open” Al-Anon meeting if the loved one doesn’t have a drinking problem: http://www.al-anon.alateen.org

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Question by Christina: What do you think about methadone as a treatment for heroin addiction?
Alot of people look down on iy, bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like. If you agree its good why? If you don’t why?

Best answer:

Answer by Sick of Butt-Hurt People
“bu its been proved to work better than the 12 step groups and the like.”

Please provide evidence for this assumption.

Methadone is good for pregnant women trying to stop IV Heroin Use, what can lead to all sorts of contaminants entering the bloodstream and adversely effecting the fetus and Methadone is great for people that, basically, have to either go on it or continue activities that will result in their immediate death…

But in the long term, “maintenance” therapy does nothing but prolong the suffering of the Addicts.

Addiction is a horrific biological and mental illness that has nothing to do with the Substance or even the Actions because “Addiction” is defined as the inability to stop doing something despite mounting consequences.

Withdrawal doesn’t have anything to do with addiction.
“Only Doing It Once And A While” has nothing to do with addiction.

People that are profoundly addicted to meth/speed only do it 2 or 3 times a week and they use their delusions of “Control” to make the claim that they’re not hurting themselves… The same is said for heroin addicts.

They are on an opiate that is MORE addictive and hard to get off of than Heroin and just because they have doctors giving the opiates to them doesn’t make it any less of a “Problem”.

By giving Methadone or even Maintenance Heroin does nothing but allow the problem to continue.

By allowing the problem to continue, you are harming the addict and, more importantly, the family, friends, and culture of the addict.

An impaired parent is an abusive and abandoning parent… As the child of an addict, I think that the children of these people should be removed from their custody immediately or, if possible, get them to consent to sterilization as they do with:

? Project Prevention – Children Requiring a Caring Community
http://www.projectprevention.org/

If you can’t care for yourself, you are unable to care for others… period… end of story. Addiction does nothing but cause damage to the brain development of the offspring and cause their own addiction biology to activate at an early age and the children then go on to perpetuate the generational transmission of trauma onto THEIR kids, leading to the next generation of homeless, impoverished, victimized addicts.

By telling people they can just “Coast” on maintenance therapy, you’re telling them that they’re “Better” when they’re not… It’s a quick and temporary fix that will still almost always lead back to relapse, cross addiction, etc.

Since it isn’t legal to just put addicts down for the good of everyone around them, the way we put down rabid dogs that can’t be trained to not try to bite, we have no choice other than to get these people to do as little harm as possible to EVERYONE ELSE and this means long term TREATMENT that includes supervised withdrawal, mental health treatment, and a structured environment that will train their brain to not seek drugs as a coping mechanism.

Maintenance Therapy should be nothing more than a temporary crutch as a part of a much greater treatment program, which includes 12-Step among other types of therapy and treatment.

Suicide would be the best thing that a heroin addict could do for themselves, their children, their family, their friends, and the whole human species. It’s the only way to both stop the suffering of the addict and the way that they do nothing but cause harm to anyone they are in contact with.

Give your answer to this question below!

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Question by mark: Do inhalants trigger lsd flashbacks for anyone else or is it just me?
I’ve noticed whenever I do inhalants I sometimes get lsd/mushroom visuals. Does this happen to anyone else?

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
Unfortunately, it can be from the inhalant use. Even people who’ve used lsd or “shrooms” in the past and then marijuana on a different day have had those symptoms.

With regard to the huffing, my friend actually has a severe BRAIN INJURY from inhalant use at the age of 12, now in her 30s.

Other risks of huffing include sight loss/blindness, heart/liver/kidney damage, seizures, limb spasms, bone marrow (the fatty inner lining of the bones that make blood cells) damage and even death, all of which can happen after the very FIRST time of use

For more info re: the dangers of huffing: http://www.inhalants.org

To search for counseling and treatment programs for those with a substance abuse problem(s), and some programs may have state and/or county funding for those without health insurance: http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ and can click the first link and then can click “near you” on the left-hand side of the page under “find facilities”.

For a free Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting(s), and one may attend an “open” AA meeting if there is no drinking problem: http://www.aa.org

This site has some common mottos pertaining to those 12-step programs such as “One day at a time”, “First things first” and “People, places and things”: http://www.royy.com/toolsofrecovery.html

Please decide to take control of your life and make good, *healthy* choices 🙂

What do you think? Answer below!

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Question by Jack: Why are the conditions in most mental hospitals awful?
Some are even dangerous e.g. patients can often be at risk from other patients. And I’m not even talking about the ones that use electric shock “treatment”.

My question is how are mental hospitals actually supposed to HELP patients? I would think that feeling unsafe and being around people that scream and bang their heads off walls and stuff would make anyone’s mental problem 10 times worse?

Best answer:

Answer by asp2write
First, they aren’t all like that, but the ones that are, they are usually public funded, where the patients are unwanted by anyone else, so there is no one to complain about the bruises, or the filth, they are just deposited there to die, it really pretty sad, we need better laws that both check up on, and punish these places.

Add your own answer in the comments!

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Question by Chloe: Should my friend go to rehab or will it further hurt her chances of losing custody of her child?
My friend has a bad alcohol problem where she goes on binges and forgets about her son. I know the boy’s father is sick of it. He drinks too but he is what they call a “functioning alcoholic”. I want to really get her into a free rehab (she has no job nor house, everything belongs to her boyfriend who is the father of her 5 year old son). Alot of his relatives (parents, aunt/uncle) live very close and she is terrified of losing custody. She also wants to save her relationship but in order to do this, he needs to keep leaving cases of beer around the house. I went to a 30 day rehab that was free that was decent, I’d like her to go. However, if she admits her problem and goes will this further her chances of atleast having shared custody of her son?

Best answer:

Answer by Mother Martha
Don’t get involved with her problem. You can’t help an alcoholic…she needs to see a professional…a doctor or the police who can direct her somewhere maybe.

Keep out of it !

What do you think? Answer below!

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Question by Angie: Will medicaid pay for alcohol rehab in Utah?
If you had a brother, sister, son, or daughter that needs help. Would you do anything you could to help them? This is a disease!

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
No. Although alcoholism is considered a disease by some, it is treated as a behavior by the government.

http://askjan.org/media/alcohol.html#ADA

Most rehabs are 12step-based, based on AA. Rehabs have a slightly better success rate than Alcoholics Anonymous which is estimated to be about 5%, the same as no treatment at all. People who fail in AA and 12step facilitation tend to fall harder than those who were not exposed to 12step treatment, which teaches people they are powerless to do anything about their addiction, that even God cannot cure alcoholism, only grant a daily reprieve from the desire to drink.

Dr. Brandsma found that A.A. increased the rate of binge drinking, and
Dr. Ditman found that A.A. increased the rate of rearrests for public drunkenness, and
Dr. Walsh found that “free A.A.” made later hospitalization more expensive, and
Doctors Orford and Edwards found that having a doctor talk to the patient for just one hour was just as effective as a whole year of A.A.-based treatment.
Dr. George E. Vaillant, the A.A. Trustee, found that A.A. treatment was completely ineffective, and raised the death rate in alcoholics. No other way of treating alcoholics produced such a high death rate as did Alcoholics Anonymous.
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-letters85.html

What works? A summary of alcohol treatment research:
http://www.behaviortherapy.com/whatworks.htm

“About 75 percent of persons who recover from alcohol dependence do so without seeking any kind of help, including specialty alcohol (rehab) programs and AA. Only 13 percent of people with alcohol dependence ever receive specialty alcohol treatment.”
Alcoholism Isn’t What It Used To Be:
http://www.spectrum.niaaa.nih.gov/features/alcoholism.aspx

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!