Nitrazepam Treatment and Rehab
Nitrazepam Info
Nitrazepam is categorised as a benzodiazepine and has some potential for abuse. Drugs classified as benzodiazepines (or ‘benzos’) are hypnotics and administered to promote sedation. Typically, physicians prescribe nitrazepam for treating insomnia and other sleep related ailments, as well as some seizure disorders. It is only prescribed on a short-term basis of about a week, as long-term treatment tends to have limited efficacy.
While you may not set out with the intention of becoming addicted, it is possible if you engage in substance abuse. Abuse may take the form of using the medication in a manner not intended by the doctor or using someone else’s prescription, because you want to induce similar results. Before you know it, abuse can cause you to become addicted to the drug. Regardless what stage you find yourself (in terms of dependence), it‘s best to consider treatment options now.
What is Nitrazepam Addiction?
Addiction is a chronic condition that affects your brain, causing you to compulsively seek and use a drug, regardless of its harmful effects on you and those around you. By abusing medication, you put yourself at risk of developing addiction, especially since nitrazepam has the potential to cause dependence by making changes to the chemical makeup of your brain. By the time you become addicted, taking the drug is no longer voluntary.
Once you find you’ve become addicted or are beginning to show signs of dependence (such as experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you’re not using the drug), you should seek treatment sooner rather than later. If untreated, addiction will continue to cause serious damage to your physical and mental health.
Nitrazepam addiction treatment
Treatment for addiction is focused on getting you off nitrazepam and helping you return to a better quality of life. Depending on the circumstances, treatment could extend to include remedies for any co-occurring disorders or diseases resulting from long-term drug misuse. It might also include therapy for the family if your loved ones have also been badly affected by your addiction. There are a number of options available, so you can be certain of finding one that suits you perfectly.
One of the most successful methods is inpatient or residential treatment. This involves staying in the rehab facility for the duration of treatment. Whether you choose this method or decide to go for outpatient treatment instead, your rehabilitation plan will feature the same stages. These include detox, therapy and aftercare. The entire treatment plan can be tailored to suit your specific needs.
Call our admissions line 24 hours a day to get help.
Nitrazepam dependence: Treatment suggestions
You know you’re dependent on nitrazepam when you continue to use it, even though the harmful consequences are glaringly obvious. You could also spend a lot of time trying to source more of it, need higher doses over time in order to achieve the same results, and experience cravings and withdrawal when you are not using the drug. Should you notice one or more of these signs persistently over a period of time, you must seek treatment.
Before commencing treatment for substance dependence, your physician will have to determine the reason you started using nitrazepam in the first place and whether it’s been resolved, as well as your pattern of usage. If you never previously obtained a prescription – or are unable to return to the doctor who did provide one – don’t hesitate to contact an addiction specialist for help.
Warning signs of nitrazepam abuse and addiction
When you consistently begin to notice one or more of the following warning signs, your loved one could well abusing nitrazepam:
- Impaired judgment
- Lack of coordination or dizziness
- Lowered blood pressure
- Memory problems
- Reduced attention span
- Respiratory depression
- Diminished reflexes
- Slurred speech
You might also notice that they’ve been sleeping in longer and become withdrawn, exhibiting a distinct loss of interest in their usual hobbies.
If their abuse leads them down the path of addiction, you could also notice signs like:
- Always ‘losing’ prescriptions in order to get more
- Hostility or excessive mood swings
- Jumping from doctor to doctor for multiple prescriptions
- Poor decision-making
- Reduced or increased sleep
- Seeming to be sedated, ‘high’ or unusually energetic
- Stealing, forging or selling prescriptions
- Taking higher doses than prescribed
Why you should seek treatment for nitrazepam abuse and addiction
Abuse and addiction are dangerous for a number of reasons – particularly the risk of overdosing (especially during long-term nitrazepam usage). An overdose can be dangerous, as it can result in severe illness or even death. To avert such consequences, seeking treatment and checking into a rehabilitation centre is recommended, if you think you’re addicted.
It’s important to remember that addiction not only affects your personal health and well-being, but also those around you, including your closest friends and family members. You might even begin to lie and steal just to obtain more nitrazepam. This can deeply hurt your family – as much as your isolation and unusual behaviour towards them. For their sake, seek treatment today.
How to help a loved one seek treatment
If a close friend or family member is addicted, there’s no doubt you’ll be duly concerned and want to do everything within your power to help. Although you can’t force them to get treatment, there’s still a lot you can do. The first step is to learn as much as you possibly can about addiction. Meanwhile, don’t wait until you are an authority on addiction before you speak up and offer your support.
Be persistent and encourage your loved one to get the help they need. Remember, you must not appear pushy or judgemental, but supportive and understanding. If your efforts don’t seem to be going anywhere, involve other close family members and consider staging an intervention. However, throughout the whole process, don’t forget to take care of yourself too.
Why seek rehab at a treatment centre for nitrazepam addiction?
Are you considering rehab for your nitrazepam problem or wondering whether you really need it? There are a number of reasons why you should undergo rehab. If your doctor has expressed concern about your drug abuse causing health problems, then you’d best seek rehab. It may even be your relatives who have brought it to your attention. Please, do listen to them.
It’s important to seek rehab if you experience withdrawal symptoms when reducing your nitrazepam dosage or completely stop using it. Has your addiction been affecting your output at work and threatening your livelihood? Seek help immediately. You should also start looking at treatment options if you’ve started lying or stealing in order to obtain more nitrazepam.
Call our admissions line 24 hours a day to get help.
What’s nitrazepam rehab like?
An inpatient rehab programme offers treatment for both your physical and psychological nitrazepam addiction. As soon as you’re admitted to a programme, you’ll be assessed by a physician, who may prescribe medication to help deal with withdrawal symptoms. Such medication can be a great help as you go through the detox phase of your treatment plan. Throughout detox and withdrawal, you will be closely monitored by medical personnel.
Once the worst of withdrawal is over, you may commence therapy and counselling, which is aimed at helping you understand and challenge your addiction. During your sessions, you’ll learn how to identify affective behaviours and trigger points and how to navigate them in order to maintain long-term sobriety. Therapy may take many forms (including individual and group therapy) to provide a well-rounded treatment plan.
Types of nitrazepam addiction treatment
There are a range of options available for nitrazepam addiction treatment, including medication, therapy/counselling, 12-step programmes and treatment for co-occurring disorders, amongst others. Medications are typically applied to help manage withdrawal symptoms as you go through detox. This can be crucial, considering that withdrawal can be dangerous in certain circumstances.
Therapy can be regarded as ‘rehabilitation proper’, as this involves the bulk of the work. It can take on various forms, including individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, dialectal behavioural therapy (DBT), expressive therapies (such as art and music therapies) and recovery-oriented challenge therapy, amongst others. Often, 12-step programmes are included as part of aftercare.
Which to choose? Inpatient vs. outpatient
Deciding between inpatient and outpatient treatment doesn’t have to be difficult. It often takes into account your special circumstances, with considerations such as the severity of addiction, whether you have any co-occurring conditions, what you can afford, the logistics involved and so on. Inpatient treatment is most likely to be recommended if your addiction is severe and detoxing at home may be dangerous, especially if you have a co-occurring condition.
While inpatient treatment is the recommended option for nitrazepam addiction, such an arrangement simply won’t work for everyone. Outpatient treatment might be a better option if you cannot afford inpatient treatment or are unable to take sufficient time off school or work. If you’re still unsure which option will be best for you or your loved one, your doctor or an addiction helpline can help you to decide.
Choosing the best nitrazepam rehab centre
Given there are many options to choose from, it can be difficult identifying the absolute best rehab centre for you or your loved one. While many facilities appear to offer similar services, most are actually very different in terms of available treatments and styles that may best suit your needs.
Some of the most important considerations will include matters like whether to opt for inpatient or outpatient treatment, how involved your family will be, how close or far away the rehab centre is, the quality of facilities available and so on.
Specialised treatment and therapy options
While conventional treatment options tend to work for many, they don’t for everyone. Whether your situation requires special attention or you haven’t responded to previous recovery efforts, a specialised treatment option might be more useful. While abstinence is importance, specialised treatment and therapy go beyond that to address deep-seated and complicated issues that may remain after undergoing conventional treatment.
Specialised treatment involves the use of multiple strategies, designed around your needs. Often, approaches used in general treatment are combined with alternative methods. Available options include age specific rehabilitation, gender specific rehabilitation, drug abuse treatment for people with pain management issues, dual diagnosis rehab for those with eating disorders and treatment for victims of sexual abuse.
Withdrawal from nitrazepam
If you’ve started experiencing withdrawal symptoms, you’re likely dependent on nitrazepam. Withdrawal is your body’s response to the absence or reduced dose of the substance it has become dependent upon for normal functioning. You can become both physically and psychologically dependent on this benzodiazepine after a few weeks or months of using it repeatedly or regularly. During withdrawal, you may experience symptoms such as:
- Seizures
- Cognitive impairment
- Panic attacks
- Perceptual disturbances
- Recrudescence of anxiety
During treatment, you’re bound to experience withdrawal as you negotiate detox, but this will be carefully managed by medical personnel. They might employ techniques like flexible dose tapering or switching your prescription to a longer-acting medication to ensure withdrawal is easier on you and does not lead to any adverse consequences.
Continuing and follow-up care
Often, follow-up care turns out to be the most crucial phase of your recovery journey. This is because not having the appropriate care post-rehab can cause you to land right back where you started. It’s so important, because after treatment, you are catapulted back into society without the structured environment of the rehab facility. Ostensibly, it’s just you and your temptations.
Many rehab facilities understand the importance of aftercare and duly include it in their treatment. Such continuing care may take the form of therapy sessions at pre-agreed intervals, as well as support groups and sober-living homes. At this stage, your family may become more involved by attending counselling sessions with you. Even outside of organised programmes, it’s important for your family and friends to be part of your support system.
Relapse prevention
A relapse involves you regressing to use nitrazepam once more. Contrary to popular belief, there is still scope for getting back on your feet, even after a relapse.
In order to prevent relapse, you need to be aware of some of the most common triggers. They include:
- Friends engaged in substance abuse
- Isolation
- Places where you used to buy drugs
- Poor self-care
- Post-acute withdrawal symptoms
- Pride and over-confidence
- Stressful relationships
- Things that remind you of using drugs
- Uncomfortable emotions
Call our admissions line 24 hours a day to get help.
You need to be aware that relapse occurs in stages and actually begins weeks or even months before the event itself. These stages are:
- Emotional relapse (signs include isolation, mood swings, anger and anxiety)
- Mental relapse (signs include lying, fantasising about using and thinking about relapsing)
- Physical relapse
On noticing you could be in the emotional relapse stage, you can prevent it by changing your behaviour, practising relaxation techniques and taking care of yourself better. At the second stage, allow your mind to ‘play the tape through’ by thinking of the end result of abusing nitrazepam, at which point you’d feel terrible. It’s also a good idea to distract yourself or tell someone about any urges you might have. However, it’s important to stop at this stage, before you do actually use nitrazepam again.
Nitrazepam rehab: Treatment costs and payment options
There is no black and white answer to the question of how much rehab costs. There are a number of different factors that can determine the cost of rehab and these differ from one treatment provider to the next. What you end up paying will be determined by the nature and severity of your addiction, the length of treatment involved, whether it’s an inpatient or outpatient basis and so on. However, the cost of inpatient treatment is roughly £1,000 per week on average.
It’s safe to say that addiction treatment is not cheap, except if you’re able to source it free of charge via a specific charity. As far as payment options go, you might consider private health insurance, which may well cover drug rehab. If you’re not fully covered (or have no cover at all), you could use an active credit card account or take out a personal bank loan. Donations from close friends and family are another option.
Live a sober life again
It is more than possible to be sober again and live the life that you deserve.
Living a sober life again starts with the simple step of reaching out for help. Contact your doctor or an addiction helpline today to start on the road to recovery.
FAQs
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about nitrazepam treatment and rebab:
What are the effects of nitrazepam on the body?
Nitrazepam acts as a depressant on the area of the brain that controls consciousness, meaning it produces a calming effect on the central nervous system (CNS). By depressing the CNS, nitrazepam promotes restful sleep. Some of the effects that the drug has on the body include the following:
- Central nervous system depression
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- Drowsiness
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Impaired cognitive function
- Muscle weakness
- Slurred speech
- Somnolence
By abusing this drug, you expose yourself to serious effects similar to those of other hypnotics and benzodiazepines. Given that nitrazepam loses some of its potency over time, you could be tempted to increase your dosage. If you do so, you could be putting yourself at risk of overdosing, which can be extremely dangerous. An overdose can cause serious illness or even death. Other serious effects of nitrazepam may include heart failure, comaand respiratory distress.
Is nitrazepam addictive?
Yes. nitrazepamis an extremely addictive drug and can cause both physical and psychological dependence and addiction, as well as benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. Withdrawal symptoms may be very similar to those you experience in the cases of barbiturates and alcohol. You should be careful not to overstep the boundaries set by the doctor’s prescription when using nitrazepam, especially if you’ve been addicted to alcohol or another drug in the past.
Please note that even if you have no history of drug addiction, you’re still at risk of becoming addicted to nitrazepamif you don’t strictly follow a doctor’s prescriptions. You can develop tolerance and dependency in a matter of weeks. Once that happens, the situation can quickly spiral out of control, resulting in addiction. If you’re worried that you or a loved one are addicted, be sure to consult your doctor as soon as possible.
How do you know if you’re addicted to nitrazepam?
If you’re concerned that you might be addicted to nitrazepam, look out for certain signs and symptoms. The most obvious include tremors, runny nose, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, as well as pain in the muscles and bones. You might also experience psychological signs such as anxiety and insomnia, amongst others.
Behavioural indications may involve frequently visiting the emergency room in order to procure a prescription, going from doctor to doctor in order to obtain multiple prescriptions or even resorting to forging prescriptions. You could also find yourself buying nitrazepamvia illegal means or visiting a doctor and specifically requesting the substance. If you notice one or more of these signs, please call our addiction helpline immediately.
What is nitrazepam treatment?
Treatment for nitrazepam addiction involves psychotherapeutic and medical remedies that address dependency. The aim of treatment is to help you stop using nitrazepam compulsively. Rehabilitation is made necessary by the potential harm and dangers continued abuse of this drug can cause to your health and well-being. There are various approaches that can be applied to ensure complete rehabilitation, ranging from group therapy to the use of medications.
Sometimes, treatment is not sufficient on a short-term, one-off basis, as addiction is a chronic condition. Therefore, treatment may be a long-term process with regular monitoring and multiple interventions. Though professionals will do their best to help, you are the most crucial factor in determining whether treatment will be successful or not. Treatment gets you started on the road to long-term sobriety, but it’s you who maintains the momentum.
What does nitrazepam treatment include?
Most treatment plans include major components such as detox, therapy and aftercare. Detoxification is the first phase, during which your body expunges all drug toxins from your system. This may be done naturally or with medical help. Withdrawal accompanies detox and the uncomfortable symptoms you’ll experience are the result of your body reacting to the absence of the drug in your system. Withdrawal symptoms can be managed using medication.
Typically, therapy and counselling commences once the worst of the withdrawal phase is over. Therapy is a crucial part of treatment, because it tackles the roots of your addiction problem and equips you with the skills needed to avoid triggers in the future and ultimately maintain long-term sobriety. Once you’ve completed the course of your treatment programme, you’ll continue treatment via aftercare, which may take the form of support groups or sober-living homes.
What types of nitrazepam addiction treatment programmes are available?
There are many different types of treatment programmes available. One of the most popular is inpatient (or residential) treatment, whereby you’ll receive care from a professional team whilst living at the facility for the duration of the programme. In contrast, outpatient treatment plans allow you to live at home for the duration of the programme. Each option has its pros and cons, but the best one for you will depend on your unique circumstances.
Another popular option is the 12-step treatment programme, which requires you to attend meetings with other members of a support group. The members of such groups are people like you, who are recovering from addiction. Treatment may also include your family members and friends via options like family therapy and Al-Anon, which is a 12-step programme aimed at helping loved ones recover from the effects of addiction.
Do I need an inpatient nitrazepam rehab facility?
Whether or not an inpatient facility will be the best choice for you depends on your unique situation. Inpatient rehab requires you to reside at the facility for the duration of treatment. If there’s a need for the round-the-clock medical attention such an arrangement affords you, then this might be your best option. Often, close medical attention is required if you have a co-occurring disorder or condition that must be treated alongside your addiction.
The decision of whether to opt for inpatient treatment out of medical necessity will depend largely on your physician and what they are able to ascertain regarding the state of your health. You might also require inpatient treatment if it is deemed beneficial for your psychological wellbeing to be away from home for some time.
How long does nitrazepam rehab take?
It’s not easy to predict the duration of rehab, because that depends largely on how long it takes for you to get better. The length of treatment may be influenced by factors such as how long you’ve been engaged in substance abuse and the measure of dosage you’ve been taking. The duration of rehab can also be influenced by the nature of any co-occurring disorders or conditions resulting from prolonged drug use. Your unique physiology can also be taken into consideration.
While it can be difficult to establish an exact timeline, there are basic guidelines and definitions that many rehab centres use. For instance, if you opt for a short-term treatment programme, you can expect to be in rehab for an average of 30 days. Long-term programmes may take 90 days on average. Meanwhile, a medium-term rehab might usually take 60 days. You should stay in rehab as long as you need to.
Are nitrazepam rehabs private and confidential?
Rehab facilities are careful about respecting the privacy and confidentiality of every client. You’re right to be concerned about about your privacy, but rest assured that any information you share with rehab employees will not be seen by unauthorised others. Typically, you’ll be given a copy of the rehab’s privacy and confidentiality guidelines, outlining your rights as a patient. Employees may also sign confidentiality agreements.
There are rehab facilities that take this one step further by labelling themselves as being ‘confidential’. The difference between these types of centres and others is that they often cater to well-known people (celebrities for example) who don’t want the general public to be aware of their whereabouts.
Are there nitrazepam treatment programmes for teens?
Yes. There are nitrazepam treatment programmes available to help your teen get over their addiction. Such programmes offer a comprehensive approach to substance abuse amongst teenagers, taking into consideration their unique needs.
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